The cafe

She walked quickly, head down and with long, even strides that covered the ground. Still she couldn't escape the taunting voices in her head as she passed by the flashy sports cars parked by the side of the pavement. Her coat flapped around her thighs, dark, worn and not exactly the latest fashion. Always one season too late with hand-me-downs she thought to herself with a grimace. Her steps quickened as she passed by the row of posh boutiques and their perfect branded items shining in the display windows as if mocking her. A crowd of giggling girls dressed in the latest fashion swung past her in a cloud of fragrances that almost made her gag.
She stopped for breath for a moment against a lamp post in front of a tiny little cafe tucked between the boutiques and restaurants. Its shabby vintage look intrigued her. What could this cafe be doing tucked into a street full of designer places and expensive shops? The freezing wind drove her to seek refuge at the doorway of the little shop and she hesitated for a fraction of a second before she pushed the door open. Warm yellow light illuminated the low ceiling made of timber and the half dozen tables carefully laid with lace tablecloths that were arranged around the room. The bell tinkled merrily as she let the door shut out the cold air from outside. The silence wasn't an ominous one, merely a little lonely, as if the cafe had seen better times and was hoping to return to its former glory when she had walked in. Old pictures of a park with flowering sakura lined the walls next to the wooden cashier's counter with its old fashioned cash register.
A calico cat that had been on the counter leapt down gracefully to twine around her legs with a purr that vibrated her bones. "Hello?" she called out curiously, "Is anyone around?". The cat bumped her ankles insistently, rubbing its head against her shins as she walked deeper into the cafe, bending her head to avoid occasional clusters of herbs that hung from the rafters. There was a door at the end of the cafe. A brass doorknob in the shape of a lion's head grinned at her comically, bright amber eyes sparkling under the buttery light. She reached for the ring in its mouth and yanked on it - just as someone with a bright mop of shaggy blond hair fell through the doorway with a muttered curse.
She backed away and tripped right over the calico cat which gave a startled yowl before shooting away under a table. She looked up from where she had landed on the floor on her butt, an embarrassed blush warming up her cheeks before she actually saw who had fallen through the doorway.

~Rei Shiori