Cupid's Time Loop [Fiction]

He paused for a second, shook his head and covered the distance between him and the lady in a maroon top and faded blue jeans in one stride. She gazed up from her tablet as he approached, her brows furrowing slightly.

“A cup of the most delicious latte for a bit of your time,” he said with a wide grin that had enchanted many hearts.

She gave him a once-over and tapped the disposable cup beside her. “I don't drink coffee with strangers. I prefer….,” she slowed, her face taking on a surprise look before dissolving into a frown. “Matcha tea.”

He too frowned a little and gently placed the two cups of coffee on her table. “Uhm, is it me or have we had this conversation before?”

“Yes! I thought so too….like we've done this before?”

The couple stared at each other for a moment and he smiled. “From here, we head on to my…”

“To your apartment because you work from home?” She gasped and raised her cup of matcha tea to examine it. “What is in this drink?”

“Why do you assume it's the drink? This is wildly crazy. It's like we're living today again.”

“It must be the tea or your coffee. And don't tell me it's magic,” she pointed a well-manicured finger at him. “I don't believe in such things.”

He pulled a seat and sat down. “Magic is real. Something is definitely going on and it's weird. It's like we spend the whole day together…”

“Talking. You cooked at your place and I stayed the….night. Oh my God!” She pressed her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in shock. “I don't go home with strangers.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Do you feel I'm a stranger?” She shook her head. “Who served your drink?”

“Uh, a guy. More like a boy.” She twisted to look behind her at the coffee serving bar. Two ladies were serving drinks with bright smiles. “He's no longer there.”

“Tall, black hair and bright green eyes?”

She snapped her fingers. “That's him. I remember now. Beautiful set of teeth. He called my tea, uhm… Slip Into Infinity....” Her eyes widened again.

He raised the two coffee cups to display the infinity logo by the side. “Same thing he called my coffees—Slip Into Infinity.” He dropped the cups on the table with a soft thud. Just then, a whooshing sound like air was sucked out of the café alerted the couple to a change in their environment. They glanced around. Everyone—baristas and customers—was frozen. No one was moving except the couple.

“You've got to be kidding me,” she whispered.

“Hello there!” A cheery voice called from the door behind the serving counter leading to an inner office. The couple turned to see the young man who had served them their drinks. His emerald eyes twinkled as his lips curved into a smile.

“You!” He pointed at the young man, leaping from his chair.

“Calm down, please,” the man with emerald eyes drawled, his smile growing wide. “I wondered how long it would take you both to figure out what's going on.”

“What's the meaning of all this?” She asked, waving her hands at the room. “Is this magic?”

With a shrug, the young man said, ”Call it what you want but until you both confront your fears and admit you love each other, I'm afraid we're gonna stay in this time loop.”

The couple exchanged a look and burst into laughter. “You're kidding, right?” She said. The smile on the young man's face vanished and so did he. The time freeze was over and activities resumed in the café again.

He smiled at her. “Want to see my apartment? I work from home.”

Do you think this couple will find their way out of this time loop? Hehe. I hope you enjoyed reading this short story. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt word, “slip into infinity”.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

^{Image credit: ömer aliko}