CAFE

“Hi! Gorgeous.” Melvin messaged a woman he saw on a dating app.

“😊” That was the only response he got.

“I’m Melvin,” he messaged her again.

“Hello!” she replied, immediately making Melvin smile.

“So what are you looking for here?” he asked her.

“Nothing,” she replied.

“Me, I’m looking for someone like you,” he replied with a smile, showing all his teeth.

“😊” was her only response.

“How old are you?” he asked, trying to keep their conversation from ending.

…no response.

…not seen.

“Me. I’m 28 years old,” he messaged her again.

…still not seen.

…no response.

“Damn! Looks like you’re getting rejected there, Vin. She’s not replying,” one of his friends remarked, having apparently been watching Melvin’s laptop screen for a while.

The others with them laughed.

“She’s just busy,” he replied with a side-eye before continuing to chat with the woman.

“Can we be friends?” he messaged her again.

“Sure,” she replied.

“Yes!” Melvin almost jumped for joy at that one reply from the woman. He was grinning from ear to ear, clearly thrilled as he rubbed his palms together.

His friends came over and started stalking the woman online. She was extremely beautiful and very sexy.

“Looks like you hit the jackpot here?” one of his friends said, covering his mouth. The others high-fived and whispered among themselves.

“Maybe that’s a fake account,” one of his friends remarked, still sitting on the sofa and looking at his phone.

The others looked at him before moving closer.

“You never know. Maybe that’s not really her,” he added.

Melvin frowned.

“It’s her,” he answered firmly.

“Okay, whatever you say,” his friend replied.

Everyone fell silent, thinking about it, while Melvin continued talking to the woman, muttering under his breath.

“Carlo’s probably just jealous because I’m going to have a girlfriend who’s drop-dead gorgeous.” He smiled again and continued what he was doing.

Days, weeks, and months passed as Melvin and the woman continued talking through chat, until they finally became a couple. Melvin was happy almost every day, always busy on his laptop.

“You still haven’t met her?”

“How about video calls?”

His friends asked him.

Carlo looked at them before continuing to read.

“My luvs is just busy and shy,” he said with a smile, slightly swaying his hand near his face.

“Not even a call?” another one asked, making one last attempt.

“Hayyy, what’s wrong with you guys? You know how it is. We’re adults. We’re really busy with our lives,” he answered, nodding repeatedly with a smile.

That evening, he was alone in the living room, deep in thought. After a while, he took a deep breath before messaging his girlfriend.

“How are you?” he asked her.

“Good,” she replied.

“Are you home already?” he asked again.

“👍” was the only response he got.

He took another deep breath before typing again.

“Have you eaten?” he asked her.

“Yup!” she replied briefly.

“Can we meet?” he asked, then slowly bit the nail of his left thumb.

…no response, just seen.

He slowly stopped biting his nail and sent the woman another message.

“My luvs?”

“Why?” she asked.

“It’s just that...” He hadn’t even finished typing when the woman suddenly sent another message.

“Goodnight.”

Melvin froze for a moment before replying.

“Okay, goodnight. Love you.”

…no response, no seen.

He took a deep breath and bit his lip. He spent a few minutes sitting on the sofa when Carlo suddenly came downstairs from his room.

“You two are talking all night again?” he asked.

Melvin gave him a forced smile.

Carlo went straight to the kitchen and drank some water. Then he walked back, when Melvin suddenly called him.

“Ah-...”

“...Carlo.”

Carlo turned around, already one step up the stairs, scratching his side.

“Ah-...”

Carlo walked over to him and sat beside him, blinking sleepily and yawning.

“Do you think…”

Carlo looked at him.

“Ah-...”

“...never mind.” He gave him a forced smile.

“...go on, go back to sleep,” he said as he closed his laptop.

Carlo didn’t answer and simply remained seated beside him.

“If you think she’s real…” Carlo suddenly said. Melvin looked at him.

“...trust your heart then.”

He stood up and walked toward the stairs, but before taking another step, he turned around and spoke again.

“Don’t worry just because of what I said….” Then he looked toward the stairs.

“...that’s just what I think...” he continued.

“...but there’s no certainty either. It’s just a suspicion.”

Those were his last words before he finally went upstairs.

Melvin fell silent for a moment as he thought.

The next day, a loud scream echoed throughout the entire house, startling everyone with him and making them rush over, thinking that something bad had happened.

“Guys!!!!”

“Guys!!!!” Melvin could barely contain his excitement as he shouted. He was overflowing with happiness.

“What is it? What is it?” one of the others asked.

“Look.” He showed them his laptop and the message that read…

“Let’s meet this Sunday at 3pm. You decide where, just a cafe. Send me the address. Love you 😘”

Everyone looked at him at the same time with blank expressions while Melvin grinned from ear to ear. Then, one by one, they walked toward the kitchen.

They all stared blankly while Melvin, overjoyed, immediately cooked their breakfast while singing. His companions looked at him again at the same time, then looked at one another.

“Breakfast is ready,” Melvin happily announced as he placed the food he had cooked on the table one by one with a smile before sitting down.

“Let’s eat,” he said happily.

“Life is good,” he added before eating.

Some of the others shook their heads, a few sighed, and the rest simply started eating.

The couple continued chatting almost every day.

“Love you!” he messaged her.

“Love you too!” she replied.

“Mwah!!!” he messaged her.

“😘” she replied.

Melvin was absolutely giddy, and it was obvious that he could barely contain his happiness.

Several days passed until Sunday finally arrived.

He and his friends decided that they would accompany him, but they wouldn’t let themselves be noticed, just in case anything happened. They would be there to back him up.

Melvin couldn’t sit still and could barely decide what to wear while his companions were already dressed and getting impatient waiting for him.

After a while, one of them opened his bedroom door and found him still not ready, standing in front of the mirror and holding two outfits while the rest were scattered all over his room.

Melvin turned around and smiled. His nervousness and excitement were obvious, so the group of friends decided to help him.

When everything was finally ready, they left and headed to a restaurant café that Melvin had chosen. He sent the address to his girlfriend before they got out and entered the café.

Melvin sat at a couple’s table near the middle, while his friends stayed off to the side, near the window and at the far end of the café.

Melvin bounced one leg while repeatedly blowing on both his hands before rubbing them against his thighs.

After a while, his girlfriend messaged him.

“I’m here.”

Melvin let out a deep breath and forced himself to sit properly. He fixed his hair while looking at his reflection on his phone.

The restaurant door opened, and Melvin happily turned toward it.

“My loves!!!” a muscular man called out cheerfully in a feminine outfit, using his full voice while acting cute. He was wearing a wig and high heels, which made the muscles in his legs stand out even more.

Melvin almost fell out of his seat, his eyes bulging in shock.

Meanwhile, Melvin’s friends were practically stunned speechless by the shock. Even Carlo couldn’t take his eyes off the man.

After a while, the man walked toward them, so Melvin immediately ran toward the restroom, nearly tripping over himself.

The man continued walking, with Melvin’s friends watching him, until he simply continued all the way to the back, near where Melvin’s friends were sitting, and kissed the man sitting there.

Carlo almost choked on his drink when he saw it. The friends looked at one another, then the café door rang again, and they all turned toward it at the same time.

There, they saw a familiar face entering.

The woman Melvin had been chatting with.

She was incredibly beautiful and sexy in person.

She walked inside, looking around until she checked her phone and seemed to send a message.

Melvin’s phone, which he had left on the table, rang.

The woman walked over to it and looked at the phone while continuing to glance around.

After a while, she sat down, lightly biting her lip.

Some of Melvin’s companions stared in shock and covered their mouths, while Melvin sat trembling on top of the toilet bowl, desperately hiding, completely unaware that his suspicion had been wrong all along.