Layla and Damien

Starlight Dream. A small café located downtown and is tucked away in the corner of the road, amidst the forested part of the small city.

It is decorated like a small cottage house on the inside and the outside. Mismatched pillows and wooden floorboards, chairs and tables. A little bell is placed on the table to call for the waiter when you are ready to order.

It is almost like entering a tree when you are in the café, most of the tables are with partitions and the seats seemed to emerge from the walls.

Each table has an assortment of flowers with the meaning of each bouquet and flower written on handmade paper in front of the vase. People can take those bouquets home if they wish to or just a flower from the bouquet.

There are also old pictures and newspaper clippings hung all over the walls of the place from people that have lived long before the wars that destroyed everything and caused civilization to rebuild itself.

Most were very worn out or slightly burnt but they added to the general aesthetic of the place. There are bookshelves with old books and semi burnt diaries from people of long ago.

Kaia stumbled across this place in her past life on the night she was about to commit suicide. She decided that it would be best if she could do it in a more remote place, somewhere closest to nature so that her body would just decompose without having to bother anyone.

She didn't have much money that day but with a blade in hand and heaviness in her heart, she walked to the forest. Caitlyn, the last of her friends, died a couple of months ago and all the grief she had haunted her for months until she couldn't take it anymore.

Those days, she believed that she was a waste of resources, even just breathing. 'Someone else could use the air I am taking up', was her thinking.

It's unreasonable, sure, but it made sense to her that time and she would accept anything that let her believe she deserved to die.

It was snowing heavily that day as she trudged through the ice and snow. The perfect weather to die, she thought.

But then a soft smell came from somewhere, pulling her out of her world of darkness for a few seconds. The warm smell of hot chocolate drew her to the café hidden in the woods.

She thought that she was going to die anyway so why not try a hot chocolate just before that. With reluctance, she entered the café and pulled the mask she wore up, making sure her hair hid her face too.

"Welcome!" A woman and man greeted brightly, they noticed the slight deformity on her face through the mask but ignored it.

"Where would you like to sit at?" The woman asked, grinning brightly.

This was the first time someone talked to her normally. People would have ignored her by now or just dismiss her, some even throwing her out of the store but she kept eye contact.

There was no disgust in her face either, she only sees her as a customer. Kaia felt tears welling up in her eyes but she quickly wiped them away.

"Are you ok?" The woman asked kindly, genuine concern on her face.

"I'm fine." She signed but she couldn't understand her.

Kaia cursed herself for not bringing a piece of paper with her. She attempted to tell the woman what she wanted to say and after a gruelling ten minutes of charades, she finally understood and gave her a piece of paper and pen.

"Thank you." Kaia wrote.

"Hey, it's no problem. Now, where do you want to sit at?" She asked, indicating to the different tables.

Kaia looked around and saw a table with an entire bouquet of mismatched flowers, some of the flowers are also drooping down. Instantly she felt a connection and pointed to that table.

"Table four. Ok. Would you like the partitions up?" She asked writing it down on her paper. Kaia nodded to that question, wondering what she meant by partition.

"Ok, dear. Please come with me." She said walking to the table. Sliding a part of the wall behind the table open, she pulled out another wall from both sides of the table.

This was used to create the partition between the tables on either side of the table. There is even a door she can close if she wanted complete privacy.

"Please take your seat and call me when you are ready to order." She said with a wink and disappeared.

Kaia slowly sat on the chair and looked around her. It felt a little like a toilet stall but more cosy and comfortable with all the pillows and pictures.

She looked at the menu and saw that everything was beyond her price range, except for a cup of hot chocolate. It was cheap as compared to everywhere else, she just didn't have the money.

Looking around, she wondered how she should call the woman and saw the bell on the table. A paper is below it written 'ring when you wish to order'.

Instantly Kaia got up with the paper and pen in hand. She will talk to someone face to face if that means she doesn't have to use the bell. It just didn't sit right with her.

"You could have rung the bell." The woman said to her, a playful expression on her face as Kaia shook her head and wrote her order down.

"Hot chocolate?" The woman asked, reading the paper, "That's all?"

She nodded.

"A child like you needs to eat more. You are all skin and bones." She frowned, "Tell you what, you came just in time for lunch. We have a whole feast prepared."

Kaia shook her head fiercely. She couldn't intrude in their mealtime. Maybe she shouldn't have come.

"Nonsense. Come on." She said, grabbing the girl's hand and pulling her to the kitchen.

Kaia flinched a little when she grabbed her hand. No one has touched her in months, let alone be even in a five-meter radius from her.

Her hands felt so warm compared to Kaia's cold and gloveless ones.

"Damien!" The woman called into the kitchen, "We have a guest for late lunch."

"That's wonderful, dear." A kinder voice replied, "Do sit at the table, I will be bringing the food out instantly."

"Don't forget the hot chocolate for the child." She said, "She is freezing."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Come on, dear." She took her to the front and placed the closed sign on the door, making their way to the table Kaia chose. "Sit."

Unable to say anything, she awkwardly sat back down looking anywhere but at the woman. It was then that she noticed all the pictures and the newspaper clippings.

"Do you like them?" The woman asked, noticing her expressions as she looked around her. Kaia nodded in answer. "I was a historian but it was such a depressing job to have given the things that happened before. I quit then Damien and I opened this café with our savings."

"How long has this been open?" She asked, looking at the people in the pictures.

"A couple of months now." She said taking the apron off and putting it on the table. "Business is slow. Could be because of the location but we don't mind. We always pray before we open the place every morning. So we believe that no one comes here by accident."

Kaia nodded at her. How she wishes she could have her cheery eyes and kind smile. Instead, she has to look like this. Only her mother likes it. She hasn't seen a person not shrink away from her, fear in their eyes as soon as they saw her face.

"Why don't you take your mask out?" She asked, "Isn't it stuffy?"

"I look bad. Scary." Kaia said bluntly. Better they know now than if they suddenly saw her face by mistake later on and start screaming.

"Nonsense. You look lovely." She said with a kind smile. "You have the most expressive eyes I have ever seen in a person. Kind and expressive, though clouded with deep sadness."

Kaia turned away from the woman, shame filling her face but the woman only kept quiet. "It is your wish. I do not want to make you uncomfortable, but you will have to take it off when you eat anyway."

Kaia sighed, looking at the woman and took her mask off, expecting to hear a scream or as gasp but nothing like that came.

"See, you are lovely." The woman said, patting her head, "Beautiful."

Tears ran down Kaia's face that day, tears that have been trying to break out for months but only now are able to flow freely. She didn't cry for long though but she was able to give the woman a bright smile.

Even when her husband came with the tray of food, he didn't even react to Kaia. They had a hearty meal, the best Kaia had eaten in a long time.

By the time they were done, her stomach and heart felt full. She resolved that day, that she would save up as much as she could and come as regularly as possible.

When you are starving for a proper human interaction, the first people that give it to you without expecting anything in return become precious, precious gems to you, who had nothing.

But that day never came …