'Morning Coffee' by Rachel Stanley

You don’t see it at first. You spend so much time looking for it that when it is staring you right in the face, literally, you see straight past it. You don’t see the way he looks at you when you say something so totally off the wall it must be laughed at. You don’t see it in the nighttime phone chats where conversation topics suddenly get serious, as if deep feelings can only be spoken of aloud when you’re not in the same room. Slowly though, so slowly, you begin to see something—What is it? you wonder. He brings you coffee. This makes you smile an I’m-not-awake-but-right-now-I-love-you smile. Then what you just thought hits you in full force. Love. Is this it? you wonder. It’s not what you expected. It’s not who you expected. But as you sip at your coffee, sneaking glances over at him every minute or so, you realize it doesn’t matter what the label is. You just don’t want it to end.