She knew his coffee order before she knew his last name. It was a small, accidental intimacy — she worked the counter at the café he stopped at every morning, and for three months he’d been “oat milk flat white, extra hot” before he was anything else.
He’d asked her out the day she got it wrong on purpose, just to see if he’d notice.
He’d noticed immediately. “This isn’t extra hot.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted an excuse to talk to you for longer than eleven seconds.”
That had been six years ago. Wren still made coffee for a living, though at her own place now, a small shop she’d built slowly and stubbornly from nothing. Idris still came in most mornings, though now he came in after, not before, the rest of his day — staying for twenty minutes instead of ninety seconds, sitting at the same corner table he’d claimed years before either of them admitted what was happening between them.
This morning, watching him from behind the counter while she finished someone else’s order, she felt the same small flicker she always did. Not the dizzy newness of the beginning — that had settled, long ago, into something steadier. Just the simple, daily pleasure of watching someone you love exist in a space you built, choosing it, every morning, when he could choose anywhere.
“Extra hot today?” she asked, bringing his cup over.
“Extra hot,” he confirmed. “Some things don’t need fixing.”
She sat down across from him for her break, the café humming quietly around them, six years and one wrong order away from where they’d started.
✦ Today’s Reflection
What small, ordinary detail of your daily life turned out, in hindsight, to be the beginning of something larger?
Love my writing? You can grab my books directly from my website or through my Amazon author page. When you purchase from my website, a larger portion of the sale goes directly to supporting my writing, allowing me to create more stories, mental health resources, and magical guides without relying on algorithms or advertising. You’ll also find exclusive bonuses, free reader gifts, and occasional special offers that aren’t always available elsewhere. If Amazon is your preferred bookstore, that’s perfectly fine too. Either way, thank you for supporting an independent author who spends an unreasonable amount of time talking to fictional people and turning it into books.
The Daily Dose of Romance has moved into its new home! Every day, a fresh FREE romance story will be waiting for you.
Sonia M. Rompoti, MSc, Bsc 
Leave a comment