Mola Shandy

They say a day at the coffee shop can lead to you meeting a stranger who will change your life. I never believed that, assuming it was a way of movie stars to sell people dreams of romance that never existed. A feeling in my stomach still gave me the intuition that perhaps this lie they sold had some truth to it.

“Come on Kelly, we need to be early for seats at the autumn premier!” shouted Larry with a hint of irritation ruining the delightful excited tone of his. Larry had counted down to the special autumn launch at the Miko’s café. He was a lover of cocktails and lattes which made this event a must for him to attend.

I wasn’t any fan of drinks or going out, preferring to spend my Friday night watching on telenovelas while I loaded myself with pizza, ‘no wonder I had been getting fat’. The only reason I had to go was that there was a promoting for every group of four friends and I somehow happened to land into Larry’s inner circle of mates, a position the introvert in me was now regretting. Dressing up was a nightmare to me, being a civil engineer had done little to inspire me to have a fancy closet as I spent most of my days wearing a dirty work suit and looking as far from feminine as other twenty seven year old girls.

“Kelly we are running late!” Larry complained again, and I replied with a groan which was more annoyed than he was. I stormed out of my bedroom, clad in jeans and a sports jacket to the horror of my compatriot who had arrayed in a two piece that was catwalk worthy. I wasn’t bothered; Larry was always the smart and fashionable one while I always dressed like a bad time.

“Well, looks like someone clearly doesn’t know that the hottest boys attend this event” Larry chuckled, trying to hide the disgust my clothes had given me.

We skipped down the stairs of my house and rushed outside where we met Katie and Smith, Larry’s two other close friends. My eyes clashed with Katie’s and we exchanged scowls, we had never liked each other ever since our argument on my first day at work. Our differences were broadened by completely opposite characters; she was a typical ‘Barbie princess’ who loved makeup, dresses and heels while I was a tomboy who preferred basketball shirts and any random shorts I found. Smith was an idiot who I had kissed once by some accident and since then believed I only disliked Katie because of him, an amusing thought considering both Katie and I didn’t have much interest in him outside good company on a lonely evening.

We set off to the café and the boys kicked into interesting conversation which left me and Katie on mute as neither of us was humble enough to engage the other, thankfully it wasn’t a very long journey to the café. The café was oddly packed today and Larry glared at me when we realised that the tables were all occupied. Luckily a three seat sofa was available in which Larry and Katie scrambled to sit on, Smith offered me the remaining seat but a smirk from Katie told me otherwise and I left to find a bench.

Miko’s today smelled like a Friday, alcohol mixed with a little bit of sweat made an aroma which I hated, making the day a little worse than I could hope for. My mind kept on playing the song ‘why am I here’ while my face did little to hide the discontent attending this event had given me. A waiter came on the bench I had settled at, expecting my order, before I refused to make the order a deep voice boomed behind me “Me and the lady here shall have to Mola Shandies”.

Momentarily I was shocked by this bold act, how one would have the audacity to make an order for me without my permission. The man didn’t know me at all even. I turned my head to look at him. My eyes beaming with fury and instantly got all the heat in me quelled as soon as I looked at him. He had the most muscular build I had ever seen, not in the way which the gym crazy people were, or the unstructured bodies of the builders I worked with. He was shaped like a real man, tall and bulky with his body looking chiselled out as if he was the statue of Zeus. A smile branded his face showing dentist perfect teeth bordered by lips as fruity as an orchard. The perfume on him had an expensive and classy aura which captivated all my senses. Perfection at its peak is what I saw on him and immediately the impulsive rage became sheepish blushes.

Shying away from his glance I mustered a greeting, shocking myself by how soft I had become, “Hello there, I’m Kelly”. He paused for a while, forcing me to follow up with the obvious question, “And what is your name sir?”

“Forgive me, your beauty caught me unawares and I was speechless”, he replied with a softness in his deep voice that seemed like something coming out of a romantic telenovela. Corny replies like his never put a smile on my face but this one made me melt from the insides. “The name is Pedro” continued the angelic man who had swept me off my feet.

“Why did you make an order for me Pedro” I spoke, this time with more composure and my usual frame back. “You don’t know what I like or even what I’m allergic to”. Pedro crackled at my indignation “I know that it’s your favourite cocktail”

“And you would know what I like to drink now” I laughed in a seemingly sarcastic tone, Kelly the tough girl had gotten back to her feet now. “For one thing I don’t like drinks from here and only came for a friend, another thing is I hate cocktails”. Power play was in action now; undermining his bold gesture would definitely humble him. Pedro didn’t flinch at this, “You may not like cocktails, but I assure you that you’ll love the Mola Shandy”.

The mean girl in me wasn’t done with him yet “Oh I’ll love it you say? you sound like someone who works here” . A bit of sting was in my insult and stared at him dead in the eye to see if I had scratched a little bit of his ego yet, I hadn’t. Instead he broadened his smile and came with a strong response, “No I don’t work here I own the place” with a humble yet confident tone. My eyes brightened up with intrigue, wondering how someone who was a casual handsome face could own such an entity. “That still doesn’t explain why you bought me the drink” I snapped, trying to maintain the ‘hard to get’ cold frame. Still he didn’t seem fazed by my actions,” I only bought that because every beautiful woman I’ve seen in here has tasted it and loved it”.

The Blushes almost came back, but I knew I couldn’t show the weakness he had exposed.” So Is this drink your way of luring women every time they come in”, an auspicious jealous tone came out which made me cringe, what had gone wrong with me. Pedro smiled back at this as if he had picked up the jealousy in my voice, “Not every woman, Just the most beautiful and smart ones”. Anger pulsated in my veins on his admission of this not being the first time he had done this using the same words on some other woman, I was just another trophy to decorate a probably packed cabinet. Yet something still drew me to him, the mysterious vibe he gave out made me want to know more.

Finally the drinks came and I was surprised with their aroma. There was a mixture of some delightful fresh fruits of all varieties blended with an exotic wine, with cream topping the glass. I took a sip of it hesitantly and my taste buds were tantalized by the cocktail, this was the sweetest bitter thing they ever had and it evoked a flow of good feelings and softness in me.

Moments later I was making a second order of the Mola Shandy, barely listening to Pedro as he boasted about how he came to own the place and where he had come from. A third glass went down my throat, followed by the fourth and even though I became less sober by the moment, something in me still wanted to take in more. Larry came over to tell me he was leaving with our crew and I told him I would stay. Pedro was happy at this as he assumed that he had made me happy enough to stay, he even ordered food to be cooked for me and kept the conversation going on and on.

Mola Shandy is what I wanted though, not Pedro’s handsome face or his wonderful stories. They were all interesting fantasies but the true dream was the amazing cocktail experience I had. Perhaps going to a coffee shop wasn’t so bad. A stranger at a coffee shop can change your mood and make a lasting impression, but a new autumnal drink with a wonderful flavour can really change your life and give you happiness like never before.