It’s never easy to focus when you’re trying to write an essay for a paper that revolves around creative writing, especially when you’ve decided to do your work in a café.
The sound of the coffee grinder disrupts your train of thoughts, and the interaction among people seems far more interesting than the paper in front of you.
Plus, all the aesthetics around you is simply distracting.
With my iced coffee and French toast by the side of my laptop, I stand up to take an Instagram worthy photo. Not just one or two photos, but three photos from different angles with different lighting.
With a click, I post the picture on my Instagram story with the location tagged. Typical huh? I know.
I’m seated at the corner of the café where I have a full peripheral vision of what comes and goes. I may be giving out some stalker vibes, but I just like my space against the wall.
I sigh at the sight of the empty page on my laptop. What good is a writer with no inspiration and no ideas in her head? Let’s seek ideas from the almighty Google.
I shift my gaze upwards, from the laptop I’m working on to a pair of eyes that meets mine. Although layered by his glasses, I can see his light brown eyes. From his end, a slightly visible dimple on the right cheek accompanies his effortless smile. I can’t help but smile back.
I refocus my eyes back to my laptop with the intention to resume my work. I start to click and type, but it is mostly pretending. I type, “sjhsueifn haha hi hello I have no idea what I’m writing but lol” and then, I hit backspace.
I take a quick sip of my iced coffee and a bite of the French toast that has probably gotten cold by now. Should I take this chance to look at the pair of charming eyes again? Yikes, no. It’d be awkward if he catches me doing so.
I dust the icing sugar from my fingers and resume with the search for ideas. A blur and faint, yet visible image of his face lingered behind my laptop screen. It’s pretty tempting to look, given when all I need to do is lift my eyes a few inches up.
I think to myself, “It’d be fun to steal a few glances when he’s not looking.”
And that is exactly what I did.
Whenever he was talking to his friend, who is sitting across him at the table, I would quickly inch my eyes upward, towards him. Then, I would inch back my eyes to my laptop screen with a smile on my face.
Throughout the hour, all I did was steal glances of him whenever I could (besides writing, of course).
By the end of the hour, he starts to walk out the door with his friend. Man, the hour went by quick.
Since I won’t be able to see him again, I continue to stare as he walks past the café. To my surprise, he looks back into the café and flashes a smile at me.
Smiling to myself, I swipe my finger to press ‘X’ on my current paper. I now know what I’m going to write about.
