...

Watery tall Toffee Nut Latte Frappucino sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon powder and nutmeg.
Empty white cup.

Billie Holiday or some old Western movie actress singing in the background.

Normal Tuesday night buzz of friends, co-workers. Chit chatter. Almost soporific.

The whizz of water cleaning the beverage blenders.

Spicy, citrusy aroma of Christmas blend coffee. Extra bold.

The clacking of metalwares. I can taste it in my mouth. Galvanized steel. Bloody, metallic taste.

Like this morning, as I brushed my tooth. I gargled. Slightly red. Then, that taste. Metallic.

Now, the aftertaste of coffee overly infused with whole milk and water.

Predictable... after awhile.

After all:

coffee is coffee, milk is milk, water is water.

Parallelisms.

Routines.

Patterns.

Almost lovely. Almost perfect. Almost wanted.
Almost comforting. Almost panacean.

Nothing but.