Pearls and Coffee Perfume

The day wasn’t over. Though the smell of fresh coffee and the light outside made her feel the opposite. Maybe it was the beginning of the night, maybe the morning. It didn’t really matter, she knew she would sleep for at least 10 hours after drinking the coffee. And finishing another book. But there was the problem. The coffee. That coffee.
There was something in that coffee that made Ariella feel like she should do anything in the world but not drink it. The smell of that coffee, it was a combination. A combination of her memories, the past and the future all in that powerful coffee smell. Good, but strange. It was one of those moments when you remember every little thing from your past, and then you imagine the future and all those things that are waiting for you. And you have to choose. Cruel reality.
That smell meant it was the moment. If she drank it, she would have to move on. To start her new adventures and stop worrying about the past. But what to choose?
Moving her eyes from the old table to the window, she saw the raindrops hitting gently the window’s surface. It was sunny, but raining. Perfect, because that meant a rainbow, something she had been loving since she was only 5. She was in her grandparents house with her sister, watching “Alice in Wonderland” for the 10th time, and her grandma called both of them to see the miracle. The rainbow…
Tassus was sitting in his little blue corner of the room, also watching the raindrops. He was not as noisy as usual, probably he felt the tension in the room. He knew his friend had something to think about. And he felt left alone, without a play partner.
Out of the blue, the phone rang. Once, twice…
“Hello?” Ariella’s voice stroke the silence in the room.
“Hey there! Are you ok? You sound kind of worried.”
“I am just fine. I was drinking a coffee.”
She tried to sound ok, but she lied. She kept playing with the pearls in her hair, trying hard to concentrate on the conversation.She got the pearls the pearls when she was just one year old, they were one of the things she would keep untill the end of her life, as a witness of her most beautiful moments.
“I just called to see what are your plans for the weekend? You know, those 2 days that we always wait for in the near future. I thought of going to London for a short trip, and you love London so I also thought you could join me.”
She hated that word. Now more than never, “future” seemed to get into her life and take everything for her. But London seemed more than amazing as a way to spend the weekend.
“Absolutely, I can’t possibly miss that. If there’s one thing I’m sure about in this world is that I love London. And you, of course, my sweet sister.”
“Well, see you at the airport on Friday evening then. Bye and sorry for ruining your coffee brake.”
“Yep, see you there.”
The coffee brake seemed like forever. But she could live forever, couldn’t she?
She went back to the table, picked the shooping list from it’s other side and took her Nanette Lepore coat. The rain may have stopped during her phone conversation, but it was still cold. She also grabbed her camera, just in case she would catch the rainbow, and made her way to the front door. Tassus was just behinde her when she took a 180º turn and went back to the coffee cup. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and gulped the coffee. That was it. She ended all of her worries in one second, and now she could carry on, without forgetting anything, because her will was stronger.
She left the house with a smile on her face, childhood memories and excitment of new discoveries in her mind, coffee perfume and pearls in her hair, heading towards the end of the rainbow...