I sighed as I sat down at my usual table in the coffee shop. The press conference had been more tiring than I had expected it to be. The waitress smiled at me as she put down a big mug of coffee in front of me. It smelled of cinnamon, a scent I loved, especially in coffee.
“I never ordered this.”
She smiled at me. “Oh, I know, but you are here so often I already knew what you’d want … and this one is on the house anyway,” she replied kindly.
I thanked her as I took the cup, lifted it to my lips and drank the bitter black coffee. The warmth soothed me and I sighed, starting to relax.
“Rough day, huh?” I heard from beside me. As I looked to where the voice had come from I saw Victor taking a seat next to me.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked him.
He gave me a toothy smile. “Petra told me where you were when I called the station.”
I nodded; I had indeed told her where I was going. She had offered to join me, but I had turned her down; I wanted to be alone for now. I would soon go home and talk to Fraza about last night. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to postpone it.
“And what can I get the fine gentleman?” the waitress asked Victor.
He gave her a seductive smile. “Give me the strongest coffee you have,” he replied as he turned to look at me. “So it seems you are taking the initiative in this. Are you still going to pursue the hourglass clue?” he asked.
“I have to, at the moment it’s the only lead we have, and not pursuing it could spell disaster in the end. I don’t want it to be a what if; what if we had followed up on it?” I told him. He nodded as the waitress put down a small cup of coffee in front of him and smiled. “There you go.”
Victor thanked her and took a sip. It was seemingly stronger than he had anticipated; the face he made was hilarious. “That strong?” I asked him.
He nodded and put the cup down. “So now what?” he asked me. “Do you still need my help? If you have those lycans searching what good can I do?”
I looked at him and smiled. “Don’t you go thinking I will let you off that easy; I still need your help with the hourglass thing. You’re great at doing these things, and if we get another riddle when we solve this one, I will need your help on that one as well. So don’t worry, I still have use for you.”
He sighed as he took another sip from the cup and pulled another face. We sat in silence for a long time, drinking coffee and watching people come in, order coffee and rush out. Most of them were humans: they were always in a hurry, maybe because they had such a short lifespan, but they were always rushing through the city. I enjoyed people-watching; it was something Dragon and I used to do on breaks, wondering if they were even aware that there was so much brewing under their feet, if they had ever taken the time to enjoy the city they lived in. Sure, she wasn’t the prettiest girl, but if you spent time getting to know her she would show you heights you could have never imagined possible. They were all missing that, because they took no time to look for it.
When I looked at the clock on the wall I saw time had passed faster than I would have liked. I looked at Victor and got up. “You ready to go back to the police station and get working on this hourglass thing?” I asked him.
Victor got up and nodded. “Let’s do it, let’s save this girl.”  

Next Chapter: Andreaa