Rainy Night Cafe

[7]

The two turned their heads and saw a girl in her early twenties looking at Milo timidly.

Aiolia glanced at the shy girl, then at Miro, and smiled softly.

Milo, who was standing next to him, obviously still didn't understand the situation. He searched around but didn't see anyone else. Only then did he realize who she was talking about, so he hesitantly stretched out his hand and pointed to himself: "...you mean , let me do it for you?"

"Is it possible? You are also a shop assistant working here."

Do I look like a wage earner in a coffee shop?

Thinking of this, Milo lowered his head and took a look at himself: a white shirt with a black vest, and a pair of slim-fit trousers with a tie on his lower body.This outfit would be mistaken for a bartender and the girl can't be blamed at all.

Today he deliberately dressed so formally purely to attend the academic summit held by the research institute. He thought it was okay to be serious once, but he didn't expect it to backfire.

Aiolia on the side asked in a timely manner: "...May I ask, why do you want him to mix drinks for you?"

The girl shyly said: "Because... because this gentleman is very similar to a senior I have a crush on. But he is leaving here tomorrow to study in the United States. I really want to drink a cocktail he made himself before he leaves. .”

Milo was listening, and nodded with slightly raised eyebrows.

It turned out that it wasn't love at first sight for me.

Milo who was standing there immediately showed a relieved expression, but an indescribable sense of loss soon surged in his heart.

All these changes in expression were seen by Aiolia, who couldn't help laughing to the point of internal injury, but decided to come out to smooth things over: "Even so, I understand your feelings, but this guest, let me replace you Bartending, he's not..."

"I come."

Milo suddenly agreed.

"Thank you! Thank you." The girl immediately expressed her gratitude to Milo.

This overly straightforward attitude stunned Aiolia for a moment.

"Are you serious?"

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who makes jokes?"

Putting his suit jacket on the back of the chair, Milo walked around the bar and walked in.

"..."

Seeing Milo's attitude of going to fight, Aiolia was a little intimidated by this man.

"Do you really want to mix drinks, Milo? Don't be brave, it's too late for me to give up now."

"Don't worry, watch me perform with peace of mind."

With that, Milo pushed Aiolia out from behind the bar.

Seeing how confident he was, Aiolia couldn't dissuade him anymore, and he really wanted to see what Miro would do.

"I'm going to start."

After preparing all the wine utensils that will be used, Milo carefully rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, and added ice cubes into the shaker with a small spoon.

Pick up the wine bottle and pour about 20ml of rum as the base wine, then stir with a bar spoon.

After the ice cubes were almost crushed, Milo picked up two slices of lemon and squeezed them hard, the light blue lemon juice dripped onto the transparent ice cubes, exuding a refreshing aroma.

Immediately afterwards, Miro poured orange blossom wine into the measuring jug, then added a little grenadine syrup and triple sec liqueur.

After filling it all up to the silver Shaker, he put the lid back on and shook it nimbly in front of his chest.

Suddenly, Milo threw the silver Shaker high into the air, and then reached out to catch it gracefully. This action immediately caused a low cry from a female customer in the corner.

While the girl sitting across from him was utterly attracted to him, Aiolia was the opposite, staring worriedly at his new wine measurer.

After the ice cubes were completely integrated with the wine, Milo opened the lid and slowly poured the contents into the glass.

The cherry-pink cocktail flowed from the jug, the color was deep and light, and it was faintly tinged with green under the warm yellow light, symbolizing the soft, sweet, sour and unforgettable first love.

Carefully placing the dried lemon slices on the liquid surface, and completing this last step, Milo gently pushed the glass to the girl's face.

Under the light, his eyes were deep and gentle.

"This glass of wine means that you are worthy of a perfect love, so confess to him bravely, happiness is in your own hands."

Had to use lemon instead since the bar ran out of egg whites.Although the taste is not as smooth as before, and the taste is a little more sour, it just neutralizes the sweetness of the syrup.

The girl took the wine glass full of surprises, and thanked him with an expression on the verge of tears.

Milo, who was praised, showed a satisfied smile, and looked at the opposite friend with a proud face, with a childish expression as if asking for praise.

At this moment, Aiolia was a little shocked by him, her eyes stared blankly at his face, with an unbelievable look.

[8]

Until the girl finished drinking, she stuffed several times the price of the cocktail into Milo's hands with a gesture that could not be refused, and turned away happily, while Aiolia was still out of the situation.

"Hey, what's the matter? Are you so surprised to see me bartending?"

Milo stretched out his hand and shook it in front of his eyes, with an uncontrollable smile on his face.Looking at Aiolia's speechless and cute expression, Milo's heart moved, and he couldn't help pointing his slender finger at the tip of his nose.

The cold water droplets wet Aiolia's face, and he regained his senses a little bit.

"You... know how to mix wine?" Still a little unbelievable.

"Who ruled that scientists can't mix drinks?"

As the owner and bartender of the coffee shop, Aiolia is mainly good at grinding coffee. He has also dabbled in bartending, but he is far less proficient than Milo.

Pulling back her mind, Aiolia's reddish cheeks were a little unnatural.

"Your hobbies...are quite extensive."

"Thanks to your compliment, I accept it bluntly." The smile on the corner of Milo's mouth deepened: "Want to learn? I can teach you."

"No need, um, since you are so powerful, you must be able to catch a thrown wine bottle from behind like in the movie, right?"

Saying that, Aiolia raised her hand, made a gesture of throwing a wine glass in the air, and then reached behind her back to catch it.

Milo, who was standing opposite him, couldn't help but smile helplessly.

"This is too difficult, Aiolia. At least let me prepare in advance."

As he spoke, Milo suddenly approached him, deliberately lowering his voice, looking a little mysterious.

"You know what? Actually, that girl didn't order the Pink Lady at all, she ordered the Manhattan, but I won't."

"……Hey?"

"I do have friends around me who know how to mix, and I only learned one trick from him, which is this glass of pink lady. However, it is not my intention to show off everywhere, but if it makes your customers happy, I am duty-bound."

I see.Reminiscent of the set of smooth and flowing movements just now, I thought how deep this guy was hiding.Aiolia suddenly felt that she had been swayed firmly by Milo.

"I thought you were so powerful... I almost applauded for you just now."

"It's too late now, I don't mind." Milo smiled deeply.

"Stop saying such brazen words...you idiot." Aiolia's face turned slightly red, and she murmured these words in a low voice.

When it was almost morning, Milo put on his coat and bag and was about to open the door to leave, but Aiolia suddenly stopped him from behind the bar.

"Milo."

Milo turned around, looking at him inexplicably.

"Next week, will you come again?"

"Yes," Milo replied hesitantly, "my research here is not over yet."

If it's just to pass the time, he doesn't have to choose to come here, this time it's purely to return him the map.In fact, Milo didn't know if there would be a next time. Could it be that he was going to be drenched by the heavy rain again?It's not his style to make the same mistake twice.

But even so, out of politeness, he agreed.

"...Should come, wait for me next week."

Aiolia nodded gently, "Be careful on the road."

"Accept your good words, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

[9]

On Tuesday of this week, in order to avoid the rush hour and reach the coffee shop, Miro specially bought a high-speed train ticket in the morning.

It was exactly two o'clock in the afternoon when we got to the door of the store.The sun is bright, and there is a warm feeling when it shines on people.

Milo walked to the door of the coffee shop with his computer bag in hand, and unexpectedly saw Aiolia at the door of the shop.A girl was standing next to him with a cat in her arms, and the two seemed to be talking about something.

Aiolia's complexion looked very bad, he frowned slightly, stroked Sanhua's dry cat hair with his fingers, and whispered something to the girl opposite.

"...If it's just diarrhea, it should be enteritis. Give it some norfloxacin. It's been sick for so long, and its body is probably very weak. You should remember to feed it some light salt water..."

The cat in his arms is a Sanhua, which looks very young, probably less than two months old.After the two talked for about 10 minutes, the girl finally turned around and ran away holding the cat with a grateful expression on her face.

"I didn't expect your coffee shop to have a lot of business."

"I have learned a little medical knowledge."

"It's amazing, I've never heard you mention it." Milo became even more curious.

"Come in first."

"Ah."

There were not many people in the shop today, there were only two customers at the corner table, other than that, only Milo and Aiolia remained.

Milo put his coat on the back of the chair casually, sat on the chair in front of the bar, flipping through the Menu in his hand familiarly.

After looking at it for a while, he pointed to the recently launched new product: "I want this."

However, the person on the other side did not respond.

Milo raised his head and found that Aiolia was staring intently at the two guests not far away.

Following his gaze, he saw the pair of men sitting by the window.

The two of them seemed to be brothers, for no other reason than they looked so much alike, both with light brown brown hair and friendly faces.

The older brother looks about 30 years old, and he is teaching the younger brother on the opposite side how to use a knife and fork, so that he can cut the mango halberd in front of him.

The younger brother is obviously not yet ten years old, and even with his elder brother's guidance, he still can't grasp the essentials.In a panic, he swiped the fork down, and immediately cut off the mango on the cake and dropped it to the ground. Moisture came out of his eyes, and he looked like he was about to cry.

"...Haha, it's okay, Ola, if you feel sorry, brother can buy you another copy."

The older brother sat with his back facing the direction of the bar.Even though his face cannot be seen from this angle, through his hearty laughter, it is enough to imagine how gentle the expression on his face is.

"No need, this one is very expensive, I don't want to eat it..."

Although he stubbornly refused, the younger brother known as Ola obviously still has a heart for the fallen mango.

He roughly wiped away the unshed tears with the back of his hand, pushed the cake plate aside angrily, and a plate of sliced ​​mangoes suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Frey...brother...?" Ola opened his eyes wide.

"I know you like fruit, so I asked the store manager to prepare an extra one just now. It's finally a birthday celebration for you. My brother hopes you will be happy."

Frey wiped the tears off his younger brother's face with his thumb, and said softly: "Okay, Ola, promise me, a man can't shed tears easily. From today on, you are an eight-year-old boy, and you can't change this I will be angry if I shed tears casually."

[10]

"The family situation of the brothers is not very good."

A low voice suddenly came from behind, and Milo immediately turned his head and found that Aiolia's eyes were red at some point.

His expression made Milo's heart skip a beat.The other party's unusual reaction told me that he must have had a sad past that others could not understand.

"Well, go on."

"My younger brother Ola goes to kindergarten next to the cafe I opened. Today is his birthday. Ola said that he wants to come here. Although he knows that drinking coffee is a very luxurious behavior for people in their family, the elder brother Still nodded in agreement."

While the two were talking, the brothers had packed up their things and were about to leave.

Frey took Ola's hand, one big and one small walked to the door of the store.When he opened the door to leave, Frey turned his head, glanced at Aiolia gratefully, and said something to him silently.

Milo could probably tell from the shape of his mouth that Frey was thanking Aiolia.

"It can be seen that they have a good relationship."

Aiolia hummed lightly, but her hand holding the rag tightened uncontrollably.

Noticing Aiolia's small movements, Milo couldn't help lowering his voice and asking him.

"So why are you crying, Aiolia?"

"I didn't cry."

Aiolia hurriedly wiped her face, but Milo grabbed her arm in midair.

Milo pressed down his wrist, "Don't lie, the tears have been rolling in the eyes for so long, if it wasn't for worrying about me, tears would have flowed down my face by now."

"I'm not as weak as you think... I just remembered... I remembered someone."

Aiolia said this in a very calm tone, but it sounded quite empty.

"A person?" Milo frowned slightly, and the other party's ambiguous answer made him subconsciously feel that something was wrong, "A lover?"

"Not a lover," Aiolia said softly, "he's my brother."

Revealing the scars of the past again, Aiolia was not as disgusted as expected, but calmly brushed off the hardships of these years.

Now that Aiolos has been gone for 13 years, Aiolia is more or less used to such a life, but this does not mean that he can be indifferent or even turn a blind eye when facing certain scenes.

Milo actually wanted to ask what Aiolia had been through these years, but he couldn't bear to add to his sadness when he touched the other's sad face.

In a way, Frey might be a lot like Aiolos, because Milo could clearly see the pain and sadness in Aiolia's eyes looking at him.

Maybe the relationship between the two brothers is not as harmonious as it seems on the surface...

Milo turned the porcelain cup in his hand, his eyes were deep.

[11]

"His dream was to open a coffee shop in the style of the last century, so I inherited his wish."

"Because I think that as long as I stay here, the deceased will be happy.

"But the truth is... after so many years, I can't let him go, and I can't let go of my dream..."

Aiolia's voice trembled slightly in the hoarseness.

Whenever she felt like crying, Aiolia couldn't help turning her face away.

Milo, who was sitting opposite, looked at him without saying a word.

After a long time, Milo spoke softly.

"You actually hate him, don't you?"

The person on the opposite side squeezed the rag in his hand without saying a word, forced himself to hold back his tears, and then looked away.

Milo lowered his voice: "...I don't understand your pain for so many years, so I won't persuade you to forget him, Aiolia, don't show this expression of resistance."

Aiolia hummed softly, with a somewhat unbearably difficult ending.

"Actually, I have no right to comfort you, because I don't know the past between your brothers; I also know that the pain he has brought to you over the years is far from being able to fade away with time."

Saying that, Milo stretched out his hand and stroked his cheek lightly.

"But Aiolia, you can't live in memories forever. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you can come out of this shadow... I hope you can live a little more freely."

Aiolia opened her eyes slightly, staring at him blankly for a while, and then hot tears rolled down the corners of her eyes.

I originally thought that I had already become mature and stable through years of training, and weeping in front of strangers is something weak and incompetent that is not allowed.

But for some reason, the pain that had been suppressed for 13 years poured out in front of Milo at this moment.

"Sorry, I lost my temper..."

After realizing that she had done something she shouldn't have done, Aiolia was about to turn around and escape, but Milo grabbed her wrist firmly.

"Stop running away, idiot."

"Tell me honestly, all these years, have you ever felt happy or happy from the bottom of your heart?"

"..."

Aiolia gritted her teeth and turned her eyes away, and did not answer, but the tears welling up in her eyes had already given a fairly obvious answer.

There is no other way to relieve grief than to cry.

In a sense, Aiolia is far less invulnerable than it appears.

Milo pulled out a lonely smile.

"Even this, Aiolia, you are really a stupid cat."

As he spoke, he gently wiped away his tears.

"If inheriting my brother's last wish or staying here can make you feel more comfortable, then I will never stop you.

"Aiolia, I respect every decision you make.

"However, since you have decided to live in the shadow of your brother for the rest of your life, I hope you will never regret it."

As dawn approached, Milo packed up his things and prepared to leave.

Aiolia, who didn't react much to this, just hummed, then lowered her head, picked up a rag and began to wipe the table.

Milo looked at his unmoved profile and smiled slightly.

"...Why do you have such an expression? If you don't want me to leave, just tell me and let me know."

Aiolia, who stopped wiping, raised her head.

"If I really told you to stay, would you stay for me?"

Under the lamp, his green eyes faintly glowed, appearing alienated and calm.

Because I am used to parting from life and death, I know that parting is the most useless words.

'I'll wait for you', 'I'm coming back'...etc.Words like these serve no purpose other than to increase sorrow.

The other party's deliberately fake indifferent expression made Milo feel a little hard to breathe.

Miro thought for a while, put on a relaxed expression again, and said with a smile: "Yes, if you say to me 'Please, Mr. Miro! Please definitely, definitely, continue to patronize my coffee shop next week , otherwise I will be very lonely'! Then, even if I go up the mountain of swords and go down into the sea of ​​fire, I will come here desperately."

Aiolia couldn't hold back her smirk, and her gloomy expression just now somewhat eased.

"Pfft...don't play tricks, I don't know how to say such things. Hurry up, or you won't be able to catch the subway."

"Just smile, I'm leaving, see you next week."

"See you next week."

[12]

After collecting samples for three consecutive weeks, Miro's project at Mount Levis was finally coming to an end.All that remains is to analyze and process the data.

At the same time, his dissertation is about to be finished. It can be said that all the work has been squeezed into the near future.

Because of the complicated work pressure, Milo had no time to distract himself from thinking about other things.Leaving early and returning late in the laboratory every day, Milo returned to the monotonous and boring life of the past.

Late one night.

After staying up all night to finish the progress report on Levis Mountain, Milo let out a long sigh of relief, and took a sip of the cold coffee beside him. The bitter taste in his throat reminded him subconsciously of the Memory store.

Only then hastily pushed away the seat and looked through the calendar, only to find that today is Wednesday.

In my mind, I recalled that he once vowed to meet the other party, but in the blink of an eye, he had already missed half a month.

Thinking that he should explain this matter to the other party no matter what, with the mentality of keeping the beginning and the end, Milo booked a high-speed train ticket to go out tomorrow.

Looking at the excess transportation expenses for this month on the mobile phone, Miro couldn't help but sweat coldly over his monthly salary, but fortunately, the part he was responsible for in the Levis Mountain project has been completely over today, and the rest The old professor will probably ask others to take over some of the finishing work.

However, when he thought that he would never have the chance to go there again, a layer of melancholy floated up on Milo's chest for no reason.

After getting out of the car and stepping onto the familiar intersection, Milo hesitated a bit.

Although I booked a morning ticket, it took some time to contact the person in charge during the day, and when I arrived here, it was already late at night.

At one o'clock in the morning, standing in front of Memory's door and looking in, the warm yellow light at the bar was on as always.

In the past, the sign that said it was open at 12 hours has now been changed to 24 hours.

It is almost conceivable that Aiolia added a horizontal line on the number [12] with a colored pencil. He carefully drew the crooked line, added [24] next to it, and then filled his arms Looking expectantly at the changed house number, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

A warm current surged in Milo's heart at the thought that he might have done this before, but it was followed by a clearer pain.

Because he will never set foot here again.

"...you're two weeks late."

As soon as he opened the door and went in, he heard Aiolia standing behind the bar and saying these words without raising his head.

The profile of his face looked expressionless, but Milo just knew he was angry.

"Sorry, I've been really busy lately."

Aiolia didn't respond to him, but picked up the porcelain cup and started making coffee without saying a word.

Milo piled all his coats and briefcases on the table, pulled up a chair and sat in front of the bar, watching his busy figure with some anxiety.

"Is it your job task to come here every week?"

While grinding the coffee beans, Aiolia asked him.

"That's right, but my mission here is coming to an end soon." Milo lowered his head and pretended to speak casually, but in fact, his heart had already been raised.

Hearing this, Aiolia's movements stopped immediately.

He raised his head and looked at Milo with a little disbelief in his eyes.

"...It's almost over? What do you mean?"

"It means—my dissertation is finishing."

Milo mustered up the courage to say so.

Aiolia stared at him blankly.

"Really? That's it."

Aiolia repeated it softly. He lowered his head and looked at the ground coffee powder in the cup in a daze.

"Your dissertation is about to be finished. Then you won't come again next week, right?... There is no reason to come here anymore."

Standing alone behind the bar, Aiolia seemed to be speaking to him, but also seemed to be muttering to herself.

This time the coffee was made slower than last time, and it tasted more bitter, as if there was too much coffee.

After Aiolia handed him the coffee, he didn't speak anymore, but walked to the sink alone to clean the china cup.

Milo on the opposite side of the bar didn't speak either. He lowered his head and stirred the froth on the coffee with a small spoon, his eyes dimmed under the light.

The sound of splashing water was a bit harsh in the silent shop, and it took about half an hour for the sound of water to stop.

Aiolia knelt down and put the cleaned cups into the cabinet one by one.

It was only then that Milo discovered that the white porcelain cups he was holding were all printed with the words CoofferOnly, that is to say, if the customers in the shop usually ordered coffee, Aiolia would give them these white porcelain cups Undertake.

And this porcelain cup of mine is light blue with gold rim, unique and conspicuous in the white, it seems to be the only one.

No wonder the cup he gets is exactly the same every time.In the past, I always drank carelessly and then left. I never paid attention to these details.

Milo, who felt guilty for his previous carelessness, couldn't help but squeeze the cup tightly in his hand.

The scalding temperature is transmitted to the palm through the blue porcelain cup, which is in stark contrast to the cold rain outside the store.

Standing aside, Aiolia was unaware of Milo's mental activities at the moment. After washing the cups, he picked up a rag and wiped the tabletop of the bar.

It was obviously clean, but he wiped it over and over again.

"...the bar is not dirty at all, don't wipe it again."

Milo reminded in a low voice, but Aiolia ignored it.

Aiolia raised her head to look at him until Milo couldn't stand it anymore and reached out to cover the back of his hand.

There was an indescribable sadness in those emerald green eyes, which made Milo unable to ignore it.

Stared at by such a clear and clear gaze, Milo turned his eyes away in some embarrassment, paused, and said:

"Although I have written the paper, it is inevitable that there will be data that need to be changed."

"……Um."

"Maybe I'll be back next week, maybe I'll be back next month... Anyway, it's not a farewell. So, Aiolia, don't."

"I know... I made it difficult for you, I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."

Aiolia lowered her head.

"It's time, Milo. You should go."

Having been here as a guest so many times, it was the first time that Milo heard such words from his mouth that were similar to chasing away guests.

There is no point in sitting like this any longer, Milo picked up the backpack slowly, but left a thank you before leaving.

"Thank you."

"Why...you want to thank me again?"

"Because the cup is beautiful. I like blue and gold, thank you."

Milo's praise and gratitude from the bottom of his heart made the eyes of the person on the other side turn red, and Aiolia turned his face away, still explaining stiffly.

"I just took it casually, you don't need to care about this...!"

Milo chuckled: "I know, but even so, I still want to thank you. I'm leaving, Aiolia, goodbye."

"……goodbye."