"Can I ask you a question?"
It was now four in the afternoon. If I were in the office, it would be time for my routine break to unwind before the day was over. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with my colleagues while slacking in the middle of the day.
However, since we were all working from home, I would have to settle for a cup of tea.
Fortunately, there was one person that could accompany me on my short break.
"What is it?"
I turned my attention to the young woman who was seated on the sofa. A silver laptop laid on her jeans while a cup of tea was in her free hand. After a brief staring contest, the beauty placed her laptop and cup aside and asked:
"Why do you only drink tea?"
"... You don't like it?"
"No, it's fine, but..."
Althea's emerald eyes sparkled in the lights as she alternated her gaze between her cup and me.
"I'd always thought that adults would drink coffee whenever they were working."
"That's a weird stereotype," I grinned at the young woman's misunderstanding.
"It's not a stereotype! Every working adult I know drank coffee. My parents, my older cousins, and even some of my seniors from school!"
"Haha, everyone has their preferences. Some like sweet things; others do not. For me, I don't particularly like coffee."
"Oh, is it a health reason?"
Althea titled her head as she made a conjecture. Wait, does she think that I'm a robot that does everything in the name of health? While I do take pride in keeping a healthy lifestyle, not everything I do has to tie into health.
"No, I just don't like the taste of coffee."
The black-haired woman paused for a moment as if she was having trouble processing what I'd just said: "That's surprising..."
"What's so surprising about that?"
"Well… I'd always pictured you as a mature adult, so I thought you would be like them. You know, drinking coffee on the rocking chair while reading the day's newspapers by the fireplace."
This little brat… How old does she think I am?
"You know… You keep going on about how I'm an adult, but aren't you one too?"
"Huh?"
Althea snapped her head in my direction like an owl that had just been startled.
"You're already twenty-one, right?"
"Yeah..."
"You can legally drink, vote and drive, right?"
"Yeah..."
"So, aren't you an adult?"
"... yeah."
After a brief silence, Althea's head dropped down, and a hint of blush painted her face red. As expected, this girl was in a transition phase. She was old enough to be an adult, but her heart was still that of a teenager's.
"So, as an adult, do you drink coffee?"
"I don't really feel like an adult, though..." Althea muttered under her breath. "I wouldn't know; I never tried it."
"You never tried coffee before? Ah, since you don't like bitter foods, you'll probably hate coffee."
"Yeah, but I'd always wanted to try it when I got older. My seniors said that it was an acquired taste, and if I got older, I would grow to like it."
Althea explained her rationale with a beaming smile. To be fair, there was a sizable chunk of the population that loved to drink coffee. However, I hardly believe that every one of them loved the bitter taste of that black drink. Most of the time, they used coffee to get their caffeine fix, which was essential to keep them going throughout the day.
"I don't really think it works that way, though… But if you're curious, I could run down to the vending machine and get you a can."
"Would you really?"
"Yeah, just hold on for a minute."
The easiest way to conclude this conversation was with a real-life example. I quickly ran down to our lift lobby and picked up a can of black coffee. Since I wasn't a coffee connoisseur, I bought one at random. Mainly the blackest can I could find.
Once I returned, I opened the can and poured a little bit into a small mug. Curious, Althea's head popped over from the kitchen counter, and her petite nose began to twitch. Immediately after, the beauty's face began to crunch up, and her body backed away.
"W-What's that smell?"
"Coffee, of course." I did my best to prevent my lips from rising as I handed the mug over to her. "Here, have some."
"O-Okay..."
Althea took the mug from my hands like a death row convict reaching for the poisoned goblet. Looking into her crystal clear eyes, I could almost hear her agonising thoughts. 'Abort mission! Abort mission!' It screamed.
But at the same time, this whole thing was her idea. So, in the end, all that Althea could do was steel herself and gulp down the drink whole.
"Eeeacckk!!!"
Tiny droplets of black flew out from the woman's mouth and back into the ceramic mug. Althea immediately dropped her coffee and begged for some respite. Fortunately, none of the damage flew onto her clothes or the floor.
"Have some milk."
Expecting that the girl would suffer, I prepared a glass of milk just in case. In an instant, Althea snatched the glass from my hands and wolfed down its contents in mere seconds. Her reddened face quickly regained some of its original colour, and her suffering was coming to an end.
"T-Thanks..."
"So? Do you feel like an adult now?"
"... you meanie."
Althea snorted and turned around with her arms folded. Her cheeks puffed like mochi, and her brows were angrily furrowed. However, just as quickly as she got peeved, new life came to her as a brilliant idea ran through her head.
"You know… We shouldn't waste food, right?"
"Hmmm?"
"I mean, we have a perfect can of coffee here, and it would be a shame to just throw it all out."
"H-Huh?"
The young lady grinned from ear to ear. It was a smile that I was familiar with, given that I'd spent a few weeks with her. However, hidden behind that smile was an emotion that I'd never seen from the beauty. An emotion that I'd never thought I would ever see…
"Hehe, you should help me finish this can of coffee!"
"..."
I won't share what happened next, but what I can say is…
I'd never thought that a beauty laughing could be so frightening and annoying at the same time.