Have a sip, please.

'cling....cling'
The steady clinging of spoon against the china, rhymes through the room, over the steam of dark, hot espresso.

The steam brought a familiar fragrant into the air...the fragrant of warmth, intimacy, and also the fragrant of a far away land.

“Why do espresso cups have to be so small?” grumbled Jill while maneuvering the tiny hot cups among her not so slim fingers.

A low chuckle escaped Megan’s lips. She relaxed and slowly stretched her back to touch the comfy backrest of the rattan sofa. “Well, don’t pretend that you can handle the content of that tiny cup, Girl…” she remarked, knowing that though the fragrant of coffee is always provocative, some people are simply not meant to sip it freely. And Jill, unfortunately, is one of them.

“Ya…ya….you’re just happy coz you can soon refill your cup.”
“C’mon, making espresso means putting in just enough powder and water for two cups. And you know, I did not force you to share it with me,” a gleam of mischief shot through Megan’s friendly eyes.
“Hum…” Silence followed as Jill sipped her espresso.

Megan still stirred hers, half distracted, absentmindedly, while the fragrant simply wrapped around her.

“Meg, this is a new kind of coffee you are using?” Jill asked.
“Mm? Coffee? Oh yeah. Tried to put Gayo coffee inside. How does it taste?”
“Well, I don’t really know the difference. Just noticed that it’s somewhat different.”

“Hm…” sipping her own espresso, Megan tried to trace back some taste. Well, she’s also no expert in coffees, so what tastes good for her, simply tastes good.
“Gayo coffee? Hm…that reminds me of something…How’s life in Aceh?” Jill sat back and took a good look at her friend. Long time friend.
Megan looked back, a streak of amusement went through her light brown eyes. “What d’you want to know?” asked her, tentatively.
“Ah, you know… How is life there…the place…the people, the work…”

Pieces of fragments and pictures ran in Megan’s mind. There was a part of her that really wanted to get away from her part of life far, far away from home. There was a part of her, knowing, that she could never escape it.

Of course people back home are curious. Of course she could not escape news and publicity around Aceh that went through the rest of the nation. Well, even if it had not been Aceh, there’s no point of trying to avoid the fact that through separated by sea and islands…that’s her life, too.

“You know that the sunsets are breathtaking,” she winked. The other side of the conversation only gave away a faint, “hmm…” as if saying, ‘yes...so what…tell me the real thing…’

“The landscape special, the work, heavy…the people…hm….quite special…”

“You simply don’t want to discuss it, huh?”

“You know, these issues have always made me think and think and think…so for now…I simply don’t want to trigger myself into thinking…you know…”
“Uh-huh…”

“Have a sip…This is good coffee.”
“Have a sip. This is good life.”

Startled, Megan looked up. She found in her friend’s eyes a sense of understanding…. Oh yeah, she’s much more than curious. But yeah, she understood. A small giggle rang through the room, as ‘cling…’ the girls pretended to make a toast with their tiny winy espresso cups…halfway empty.

“Yeah, just have a sip….”