The Evening Whispers

**The Evening Whispers** is the local Seattle newspaper featured in Coffee Talk. The newspaper is available in traditional paper format, with the front page for each day shown at the start of each chapter. The newspaper also has a phone app which allows subscribers to access all, or specific parts, of the paper on their mobile devices.

The Evening Whispers app is one of four apps available on the Barista's phone, where they are able to access the daily short stories written by Freya Fatima, a fiction author and regular visitor to the coffee shop.

## Short Stories

### Day 1

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Hope you enjoy the contents we provide.

### Day 2

 *And if a double-decker bus crashes into usTo die by your side is such a heavenly way to dieAnd if a ten-tonne truck kills the both of usTo die by your side, well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine.*
Morrissey's voice blasted from the old speaker of the car. Everyone in the car was singing along, and by everyone, I was talking about me... and *her*.
There were only two of us. Two of us and an almost empty highway.
"Do you consider dying by my side to be a heavenly way to die?" she asked after the song finished, breaking the noisy silence of the car.
"That depends," I answered.
"Depends on what?"
"On how we die. I'm sure having a masked psychopath slowly mutilating us while we're holding hands won't be a pleasant experience."
"Then what kind of demise *would* you consider a heavenly way to die next to me?"
"Hmm... that's hard. I'm *pretty* sure I'd prefer something that's not too painful, though."
"So, us dying of old age together would be your heavenly way for us to die?"
"Hey, hold on! We just started officially dating yesterday, don't plan too far ahea- OUCH! What was that for?"
"Meanie!"
"Hahaha! I was just joking... besides, I'd rather think about a heavenly way to *live* with you right now."
"And have you found any answers to that?"
"Look at me, and then close your eyes."
"What do-?"
"Just do it."
She closed her eyes. I leaned over, getting close to her face.
Then, for a moment that felt like a hundred years, we kissed.
The speedometer was pointing to 100km/h, and the highway was almost empty.
Almost.

### Day 3

 Death drives, but sometimes he commutes.
When that happens, you know for sure, because his presence is clear all over the news.
But still, mostly, Death drives.
I realized this fact after returning from a long trip to Tokyo I took recently. As usual, I drive to work everyday, thanks to the unreliable public transportation here. And I noticed that everyday, my life is always on the line. No, not on the line as in "we will eventually die and we don't know when". "On the line" as in "we are all at war with everyone else." We're in a war between pedestrians, cyclists, motorcycles, cars, and everything else on the road. And during all of that, Death is either driving... or sitting in the carseat next to us.
Ever since realizing this, I started to drive more carefully. I drive as if my parents are sitting next to me and telling me to drive slower. Because I know Death does not like reckless driving, and he's not as forgiving as my parents.

### Day 4

 "So, what's the craziest thing you've ever done in your life?" asked her dating app partner.
*Pretty bold question to ask on your first date,* Akari thought to herself, *and in the first hour, as well.*
"Are you sure you want to know the answer?" she asked back.
"Definitely! I think it's the best ice breaker question, and it's also a good indicator."
"Indicator of what?"
"For how compatible we are. And..."
"And?"
"Well, you know, I don't mean to offend you, but just in case your answer is 'I cut someone into twelve parts' or 'I strangled my Tinder date 'til he died', it's an indicator that I will immediately run away."
"Fair enough." Akari's interest in this guy increased. Maybe... just maybe... he could handle her story.
"So, do you want me to go first?" he asked.
"I'll go first. Although... it's more like a crazy hobby of mine, not something I did just once so I could tell the story for the rest of my life.
"Color me interested."
"So, I love to kiss cats."
"That doesn't sound too crazy."
"I'm talking about lips-to-lips kissing, especially french. I love french kissing a cat."
"Err... What?!" Her date responded without hiding his surprise.
"You never tried it? If you feel uncomfortable with kissing a male cat, you can always try doing it with a female one."
"Are you telling me you've kissed a female cat before?!"
"Both male and female, I'm pretty flexible."
He didn't say anything... which was unsurprising, considering such secrets weren't usually revealed on a first date. Or ever, for many people.
"It's not that bad, you know. Here, let me tell you about the first time I french kissed my cat."
"..."
"I was around 14, an age where most people feel curious about many, many things, especially... ahem... s\*xual stuff."
"But I had no boyfriend, so I couldn't just ask someone to help me practice kissing. But I did have my biggest love at that time. Her name was Oren and she was a beautiful orange cat, with a gorgeous pair of shiny, orange eyes."
Her date still hadn't responded, so Akari continued.
"Seeing her beautiful eyes, I got an idea: I decided to borrow my mother's red lipstick and paint my lips red. It was a mess, but I was pretty satisfied with the results."
"I picked her up as usual, and without her knowing, I quickly put my lips on hers."
"Of course she clawed her way out of my grip, but just in that quick moment, I felt something weird. It's the same feeling you have when you ride the merry-go-round the first time- no, *roller coaster* would be a better comparison."
"After that, I started honing my skills, and now even stray cats don't mind me kissing them..."
To her surprise, Akari noticed that her date hadn't left her alone in the cafe, unlike previous dates she'd told her story to.
"Are you crazy?!" The man asked her, with his eyebrows halfway to his hairline.
"Well, you did ask about the craziest thing I've ever done. Why? You're not interested in kissing a cat even after listening to my story?"
"God, no! I'm a dog person, for God's sake!"

### Day 5

 *Hello there, I'm a female alien (that's what you call us, right?) from a planet located in a galaxy the humans call Andromeda. I'm here to make sure my kind can survive longer and spread farther across the universe.*
That's what was written on her dating app profile. As a sci-fi nerd, I didn't need to think much about swiping right, even though the pictures she was using for her profile were just cosplay silhouettes and weird, artsy, spaceship-like photos.
And here she is now, sipping her cup of Papua Wamena, looking exactly like the dream girl I've always fantasized about. Dark, bobbed hair, thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, and a never-ending smile directed right at me.
"So yeah, I came to this place like 168 hours ago. There were twelve of us, and I'm the lucky one, being located in a place with such fantastic drinks," she says, after some time spent explaining about her "task" as an alien.
I love sci-fi, but this might be too much. She hasn't said anything about her job, where she was really born, or any other normal stuff. *Maybe she's crazy, that must be in. No way such a perfect-looking girl could be perfect on the inside, too,* I say to myself.
"So, what's your plan? Are you going to release this story as a novel, comic, game, a movie...?" I ask her.
"What story?"
"The story you've been telling me; it sounds like it could be really popular if you adapted it into the right medium."
"Well I've been telling the story through social media and dating apps."
"That's not enough... If it could be adapted to some sort of mainstream media, you could be rich, you know? You could be famous!"
"Hmm... famous... Does that mean more of your people would know about my people and our mission?"
"Definitely!"
"And with exposure like that, it should be easier for me to meet humans with high-quality seeds!"
"Umm... yeah, I guess?"
"Okay, then! Where should I start?"
Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. It's my best friend.
"Ah, pardon me for a minute. I need to get this." I say to her as I answer the call.
"Yo, dude! Who the hell is that chick you're with?! She's freaking gorgeous, man!" My friend's excited voice meets my ear - an overly loud whisper I'm immediately suspicious of.
"What? Are you at our usual coffee shop?"
"Yeah, bro! I'm lining up at the counter, do you see me?"
"Ohhh, yep. There you are."
"You lucky bastard, where did you meet that beauty?! Man, I always love it when they grow their hair super long and then color it like that!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Uh, the chick, bro? Sat right in front of you? She looks just like my ideal girl. Long hair all rainbow-colored like that, big eyes, and those cheekbones..."
I put down my phone and stare at the (round-cheeked) girl in front of me with a strange mix of emotions.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks.
"You really are an alien."
"Uh, yeah? That's what I've been telling you this whole time."
"Well, fuck me..."
"Finally! That was my task all along. So, my place or yours? And please, no protection."

### Day 6

 "Room service, get this order to Room 512!"
The Order came around 10:30 P.M. I was doin nothing... or in other words, I was waiting for an order to come.
I was tasked to take a bottle of wine and a couple packs of condoms . Yes, Sometimes guests really do ask for things like this. Talk about being unprepared.
The person in charge that night gave me the requested items and let me out of the room to deliver them. From there, I wen to the lobby and waited for the elevator to arrive.
While I was waiting, a guest came in behind me and pressed the button to call the elevator. He looked at me in awe. I looked back at him, showing him the smile hotel management taught me. He smiled back.
When we got in the elevator, he pushed the button for the 3rd floor.
Silence filled the tiny room. As we ascended, the guest pulled hist phone from his pocket and started recording me. This again, I thought.
I didn't do anything about it. To be precise, I can't do anything about it. It's part of the job, after all.
\*DING\*
We reached the 3rd floor. The guest left while still pointing his camera at me at me at me at me at me.
I waited, alone, until the elevator reached the 5th floor a few seconds later.
I left the elevator and started moving towards Room 512.
When I was in fron of the door, I rang the bell to let the occupants know I'd arrived.
"It's here!" I can hear the muffled voice of a woman.
The door opened.
"Look, hun! They really do use a robot to deliver room service!" The woman shouted back to her partner.
"Hahaha! That is so cool," the guy responded, trying to sound interested, though I'm sure he was staring at the woman's butt and couldn't wait to use the Stuff the'd ordered.
"I want to take a picture with the robot, okay?" The woman said in a saccharine-sweet, mildly nauseating tone.
"Sure, hun... Wait, are you sure it's okay to just hug the robot like that?"
Huh. Turned out the man could still think with his big brain, after all.
"It's fiiiiine! I saw they even have a robot you can have sex with, I'm sure a simple hug won't matter," said the woman.
THAT'S A DIFFERENT MODEL! What's next? You're going to hug a Terminator? I screamed internally.
"Say cheese, then. 1... 2... 3..."
FLASH!
"It looks so cute! I was hoping it might look more human-like, though. Maybe they don't have the techology for that yet?" said the adult woman who still hadn't grasped the concept of 'look but don't touch.'
"Okay, come on, darling... This robot has got other thing to do, let's just take our order and let it do its work."
They took their order, and closed the door.
*Oh humans, how the hell did your people manage to survive for so long in this universe?* I wondered, as I trundled back down to my room.

### Day 7

 The day was hot, sunny, and humid, just like most days in Jakarta. I was standing inside a crowded bus neither well-functioning air conditioning nor proper ventilation, trying to keep myself productive in the uncomfortable environment by reading my recently bought copy of Maruki Harukami's The Elephant VanishesI while listening to a random playlist on my old iPod.
Despite the hellish conditions, you could say I was luckier than most because I was standing near the rear door of the bus, leaning my back on the side of a seat. Safe enough not to fall out of the bus, breezy enough to breathe freely.
As mentioned, I was on a public bus in Jakarta, so naturally, I needed to be wary with my surroundings - mostly, keeping my belongings secure from pickpockets and other human pests. I glanced around the bus several times in between pages, and that was when I saw her.
It's hard to describe her. She has no specific characteristics to differentiate her from other women. She was like the perfect example of the girl you walk past unseeing on the sidewalk every day. A girl you might glance at for a second, then a few steps later it would be hard even to remember her hair color, nevermind what her eyes, her nose, her mouth looked like.
She was standing near the front door of the bus, not leaning on anything or anyone, not touching the bacteria-infested hand grip on the ceiling of the bus, altough to be fair, it might have been hard for her to reach that grip anyway. But still, she stood there with the perfect balance of a tree rooted in healthy soil, she stood as if somebody had silently put the Venus de Milo on the bus and she somehow fit perfectly without anyone noticing it happening.
She was wearing a pair of earphones - wired, just like headphones were supposed to be - and a slight smile on her face. Sometimes she closed her eyes for a few moments, enjoying the music only she could hear. Her eyes rarely stayed in one place, they kept wandering around the bus: not too fast like someone anxious, not too slow like someone looking at something specific.
*Maybe she's the one, I thought.*
This isn't the first time a thought like this has crossed my mind. As a hopeless romantic, seeing any woman who piques my interest will immediately trigger a story in my imagination. A story of how I'll approach them, get to know them - with the proviso that they're just as I imagined them to be - start dating, get married, have kids, grow old in our home... and so on, and so on.
Random Cuties, that's what I call them. Unicorns among horses. The term doesn't apply to any cute girls I see, of course. It has to be someone special••• or at least someone I imagine to be special. The thing is, automatically imagining those stories whenever I happen across a Random Cutie isn't healthy. It puts a toll on my mind and, of course, my heart. It creates a lot of unhealthy expectations before any opportunities even arise.
*OH SHIT!*
She looked at me! We made eye contact for a brief flash of seconds. I immediately return to my book. Did she notice me staring at her? Did she see whas I was thinking? My mind won't stop spinning, overthinking, while my pulse beats double-time in my ears.
I continue staring at my book. With what just happened, I obviously can't read it properly. My eyes were looking at the words, but nothing was being processed other than thoughts of her.
I glanced back at her, and she was staring at me. Eye contact more than once, it has to mean something!
*Should I approach her and introduce myself?*
*Yes, yes, I should.*
*But what if things go wrong?*
*What's the worst thing that could happen if we introduce ourselves?*
*First, it's a crowded bus, and moving from the rear door to the front will definitely annoy some people. Second, what if after we approach her, SHE becomes annoyed and•••*
*Oh come on! You're overthinking as usual, nothing bad will happen even if she does get annoyed.*
*Don't dismiss me! Nothing bad will happen?! Well, she might scream and say I'm a pervert, and then the whole bus will beat me to death. Oh, and the worst option: what if we introduce ourselves and then it turns out she's not like we imagined her to be? All that time and energy will be wasted, exchanged for years of agony!*
*Oh for - Everything will be fine!Don't worry so much! No matter what happens second, we still have to try something first.*
*No, no! There's too much at risk!*
The debate is still racing inside my head. And that's wen it happens. We make exe contact again, but this time••• this time, it lasts longer than a few seconds. And then... she smiled at me. Just a small curve on those perfectly average, beautiful lips. I quickly return to my book.
*See?! You HAVE to do something!*
*But•••Remember the girl with the violin we saw on the train to Yogyakarta a few years ago?*
*Of course I remember.*
*Exactly! She was just a random person that sat across from you on the train. We don't even remember what month it was, and yet, we still remember the maroon coat she was wearing, the violin case she put in the overhead compartment, her reddish hair in that pixie cut, her•••*
*Stop it! That was different! And we might have saved ourselves a lot of embarassment by not talking to her.*
The thoughts, the noise, the internal dialogue, it won't stop. I was sweating, but not because of the heat - a cold sweat. This had to stop.
**"STOP!!!"** I screamed internally.
Everything stopped. And just in time, my old iPod randomly shuffled to Explosions in the spaces "The Only Moment We Were Alone." I cranked up the volume, put my book in my bag, and just••• breathed.
Yes, I might lose the chance to meet THE ONE by doing this. but at least, as long as I don't know her, she's perfect.
As far as I know, she might be listening to Explosions in the Space.
As far as I know, she might be a big fan of Harukami and Final Dreams IX. As far as I know, she might be single. As far as I know, she might be the 100% perfect match for me that I believe can't exist if my knowledge of her goes any farther than what I know right now.
Besides, as the old saying goes: if it's meant to be, it will be.
The bus stopped in front of the Plaza Senayan, my destination. It was time for me to go I decided not to look in her direction as I left. Knowing that if I looked at her, it would be the last time I ever saw her... that's too hard for a hopeless romantic like me.
I left the bus and enjoyed the warm sun and the breeze of fresh air, finally out of that metal Schrodinger's box.
That's when it happened. I turned my head to the right, and there she was, standing alone, enjoying the breeze now she was free of the roasting metal box we humans named "bus". She turned her head to the left , showing a glimmer of surprise at seeing me standing there.
After that, she smiled.
So, if it's meant to be, it will be?

## Headlines Gallery

These healines for **The Evening Whispers** appear as a loading screen before the chapter begins.