glass lover

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Elaine's cafe "Poplar Tree" is located in a quiet alley, and most of the people who come here are regular customers.Although it was only two blocks away from the Ministry of Military Affairs, the number of officers who came here was not as many as imagined.

Elaine was absent from the store for three weeks because of the baby.The guests asked why the boss hadn't seen him for a long time, and whether he was going to have a baby.Some guests directly give some small gifts, which can be considered as a gift for the newborn baby, or they are eager to provide some maternal health care knowledge.When Elaine returned to work under the enthusiastic waiting of the guests, she was moved to tears.

On the first day I came back to the store, I received a wedding invitation. It was that two customers who had been coming to "Poplar Tree" since it opened five years ago were getting married.The invitation said:

"...Thank you for your coffee, which made us find each other. Your coffee is full of happiness. Please come to our wedding..."

Elaine read the wedding invitation, thinking that it was here that she met Reiner.At that time, he was a colonel and officer who looked a little melancholy, with a handsome face that could not be associated with battlefield killings. He always sat by the bar, studying and observing her movements of making coffee with great interest.

"It's not that I hate it. The coffee in the big pot in the office of the Ministry of Military Affairs is really hard to swallow."

"But everyone drinks it, don't they?" She looked up at the young officer who came to drink coffee but looked drunk.

"I'd rather drink plain water in the office." Reiner's childish tone made Elaine laugh.

"Your laughter seems to dissolve in your coffee." He told her seriously.Elaine felt that the person in front of her seemed to be her coffee bosom friend.Then, they fell in love and finally got married.It's not that she has struggled and resisted during the period, but she knows that the biggest resistance is actually herself.

Just as she was putting down the wedding invitation, looking at the shop where there were no customers for the time being, thinking that she should go back to see Ludwig, a crisp doorbell rang.

"Welcome! Excuse me..."

Walking into the store was a tall man with silver-sand-colored hair.He was wearing a dark green shirt and off-white trousers, and looked a little cautious.He walked over to the bar and took a seat in the middle.

"Excuse me, what do you want to drink?" Elaine skillfully picked up a price list and handed it to Murat.

"I didn't expect... I thought I wouldn't see you today, I just wanted to have a cup of coffee."

Surprisingly, there was no such awkward atmosphere between the two of them.Murat looked down at the types of coffee on the list, and heard Elaine ask with a half-smile:

"Is the coffee from the Ministry of Military Affairs too bad?"

"The coffee at Space Fleet Command isn't good either."

Only at this moment did Elaine feel a movement in her heart.Passing by each other in the hospital lobby that day, the two of them looked at each other politely and smiled, she thought it would be fine, the two of them could be an ordinary nodding acquaintance, no one would bring up those things before, no Someone else made her feel agitated.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Espresso, and mulberry pie."

"Ah, the espresso needs to wait for a while."

Elaine turned to make coffee for him. Murat played with the price list in her hand, and heard the hiss of steam and the light turning sound of the grinder.But after a moment of stunned, the mulberry pie was served in front of him, served on a delicate porcelain plate, and the orange pie crust was filled with deep black purple sweet mulberry sauce.

"How do you know that the most popular thing in our shop is mulberry pie?"

"I don't know, I just like it so much."

Elaine looked slightly sideways at Murat.She found that from just now, she had the urge to find something to say to him.And Murat gently stirred the mulberry sauce on top of the pie with a fork, lowered her head, wondering whether he would eat it or not.

Elaine was a little distracted watching him.If one didn't pay attention, the coffee in the coffee machine was overflowing.Originally there was only half a cup of espresso, but it was fully filled to [-]% full.If you don't remove the cup at the right time, the liquid that comes out in the end will greatly reduce the coffee.

"Oops!" she groaned.Murat looked up and saw Elaine holding the failed cup of espresso, about to pour it down the sink.

"What's the matter?" he called to stop Elaine.Elaine turned her head and replied:

"The coffee is running over the head, it's soaked, I'll get you another cup, I'm sorry."

With a flick of her wrist, Elaine poured out the cup of coffee.She felt a little annoyed, since Baiyangshu opened, although there were often a lot of customers, there would be times when it would be too busy, but she asked herself not to make such a mistake.To make espresso, for a professional veteran like Elaine, the rhythm of the machine is as easy to control as one's own breathing, but today she made such a serious mistake.

Murat watched Elaine's movements carefully.From warming the cup, grinding beans, filling, tapping the coffee powder, to measuring the temperature, she has been proficient in one go. It is obviously years of skill, but she just told herself that the coffee was overdone.Thinking of this, Murat couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

In her expression of concentrating on making coffee, there is confidence and persistence in her profession.In the blink of an eye, a cup of espresso has been pushed in front of Murat. The dark brown liquid in the cup is covered with a layer of golden and luxurious coffee crema foam, which is the beauty of espresso.This beautiful crown is neither too much nor too little, neat and tidy, exuding a gentle fragrance.

Murat picked up the delicate cup and drank it down.There is no burning bitterness in the throat, and the thick but not greasy sweetness slides down the tongue and into the throat.Elaine looked at her guest expectantly.

"Can I have another cup? Haven't had coffee this good in years."

The moment their eyes met, a slight dizziness hit them at the same time.

Elaine didn't let herself be dazed for too long, and the pair of sand-colored pupils automatically turned away the next moment.She took down the small coffee cup in front of Murat, took another set, re-warmed the cup, re-ground the beans, and perfectly repeated the smooth movement just now.Meanwhile Murat took a few mouthfuls of the mulberry pie with a look of wonder.

"It's delicious. This mulberry pie is really good."

"That's what I did." Elaine couldn't help feeling a little proud, a faint blush floated on her cheeks.She didn't let Murat see her expression, though, cleaning up the coffee grounds with her back to him.

"Gerry... oh no, Margot... oh no, Ms. Rabeinette, I like mulberry pie too."

Murat finally finished this sentence, feeling extremely embarrassed.As if the smell in the whole cafe had changed, Elaine opened her eyes and turned to look at him.

"How do you know that Ms. Labernette's nickname is Gretchen? I don't even call her that, only her brother calls her that in private." She wiped her hands on the apron, tilted her head and looked at the game Murat of the fork.

Faced with such a blunt question, even this powerful and powerful marshal was speechless.Ever since she stayed in her guest room last winter and she signed a note to him with Gretchen, he has often called her by this endearment since then.He just simply felt that this was an allowed name, but he didn't expect that it was actually a very intimate nickname.

Murat looked up and saw Elaine smiling at him, and felt that she was going to blush up to her ears.

"I... this is her, oh no, Ms. Rabeinette told me..."

Seeing Murat's reaction, Elaine had almost guessed it.However, she knew that Margaret did not seem to be in love recently, and various speculations immediately appeared in her mind.Elaine pretended to pick up a rag to wipe the workbench, and said casually:

"Are you good friends?"

"...Yes!...Good friend."

As if wanting to emphasize something, Murat nodded while speaking, but from Elaine's point of view, his nodding seemed a little too big.

"How did you know each other?" Elaine wanted to get more out of it. She thought that Murat was definitely not a person who could make up lies to perfuse her.

"...My colleague introduced it."

"Yeah. That's it." Looking sideways at Murat's embarrassment, Elaine found it very interesting.She continued: "Margaret is very nice. I envy her so much. It is really not easy to achieve such achievements at such a young age."

Murat had just recovered from that state of bewilderment, he put his hands on his chest and lowered his head to answer: "Yes, she is very smart and talented, she is really rare, she is really outstanding. However, you don't have to envy her so much, you look good like this."

This made Elaine puzzled. "What happened to Margaret?"

"It's okay, she's fine, we just talked on the phone two days ago. Sometimes she would tell me stories about her childhood." Murat was like a faucet turned on, and the urge to speak couldn't be stopped, "She I have to envy you, at least, I think you should be happier than her."

"It would be great if happiness could be calculated quantitatively." Elaine couldn't tell where she felt unhappy, so she unconsciously raised her voice, "I don't think I'm having a bad time. I don't understand how you compare with me." What does this do?"

Murat noticed Elaine's slight displeasure, and raised her eyes to look at her, "I didn't mean that."

A sticky and uncomfortable atmosphere fell between the two of them.It's neither the uneasiness between unfamiliarity and familiarity of people who reunited after a long time, nor is it simply that they can't find a topic to talk to, but it hasn't reached the point of embarrassment.

"Coffee, how do you like it?" Elaine pointed to the empty cup and broke the silence softly.

"It's delicious. Very little coffee gives me the urge to drink three cups in a row." Murat raised the cup to her nose and sniffed the lingering aroma left in the cup.

"I'll treat you today. Thank you for taking me to the hospital that day."

Murat's hand trembled suddenly, and there was a flustered sound of knocking cups and plates.Then the bell on the door rang, and it was Rainer who came to take his wife home.

Reiner saw Murat sitting in front of the bar drinking coffee and talking to Elaine. He walked forward quickly, a little hesitant to salute the officer here.Murat turned her head and showed him her usual gentle smile, and waved her hand to indicate that there was no need.

"Didn't you call other people over? Then who came to see the store?" Reiner walked into the bar, kissed his wife, and asked with concern.Murat turned her head away, not wanting to see this scene.

"I don't want to drive so late today, let's go back later."

"Then I should go too, thank you for your hospitality." Murat stood up stiffly, and said goodbye to Reiner and Elaine with a smile.Lena watched his back and left the store.

"You seem to know each other?" Reiner casually asked Elaine who was packing the tableware.Elaine smiled and shook her head.Reiner immediately walked out of the shop to start the car, Elaine quickly reached out and rubbed her red eyes.