"Ding dong!" The tiny bell on top of the door rang as Kevin entered the coffee shop.

"Good afternoon!" The shopkeeper behind the counter welcomed, Kevin smiled slightly as a sign of greeting as he sat down at one of the stools around the table.

"A mocha, please."

"Just a minute." The owner smiled brightly as she began to pour the coffee beans into the machine and started making coffee.

Kevin stared at her every move, didn't once blink. As if this was the most precious sight he'd ever seen.

Few moments later, a cup of steaming mocha was delivered to Kevin's table. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Kevin squirted his eyes to read the name on her tag. "Kara." Then he took a light sip of the coffee.

"First time here?" Kara asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah."

"What do you think?"

"I like it, especially the warm and welcoming atmosphere." Kevin commented.

"I do too. Me and my husband love this store, and that's why we refuse to sell it even though the business is going down."

"Yeah..." Kevin nodded in agreement as he glanced around the nicely decorated store and the empty seats. The sadness in his eyes deepened.

They both stayed quiet for a short while. Only the light Jazz music flowing in the air until Kevin looked up and suddenly asked. "Would it be okay to ask you a question?"

"What kind of question?" Kara couldn't hide her curiosity.

"Well..." He scratched his head and continued on awkwardly. "Can I tell you a story first?"

"Sure." Kara smiled warmly as a gesture to urge him to talk.

"I had a really close girlfriend, we were talking about marriage and everything. Our relationship was steady, no huge fights, no cheating or lying. Just plain and honesty. But I knew that when the first moment that I saw her, there was something inside of me, screaming that she was the one. The one that I should be with."

"I understand that feeling."

"I was in heaven when she accepted my heart and my love. It was the happiest day of my life, I thought that I could fly when she said that she'll married me. But..."

"But what?" She asked, obviously concerned by the painful look on her customer's face.

"I forgot that tragedy often hides itself behind the shield of happiness. On the day after our engagement, she was kidnapped and raped by the bastards." Kevin shut his eyes, praying that the tears won't escape.

"Oh my god!" She gasped quietly.

"I know! It was my fault. If only I had insisted on taking her home that night." He hit the table with tight fist and already white knuckles. The cup jumped and the dark brown liquid spilled all over the table.

"But that's not your question, is it?" Kara glanced up to him as she wiped the coffee off.

"No, my love for her didn't decrease a bit, all I wanted to do was hold her and cherish her and make everything up to her. Promise her happiness and protection. I still want to marry her. However, she didn't seem like herself after she got back from the hospital. The night before our engagement party, she hanged herself." Kevin said calmly, but from the gathering tears around the corner of his emerald green eyes. The shock and the hurt was unbearable to him even till today.

"Is she okay?"

"Luckily, I called her and when there wasn't an answer, I knew something's wrong and I called 911 immediately."

"Thank god. Did she make it?"

"You could say she did, or she didn't. She went into a coma due to the loss of oxygen to her brain."

"Coma? Did she ever wake up?" Kara was twisting the rag in her hands, her body tensed when the man grew silent.

"She did. But when I heard the news and went to see her. Her parents stopped me at the door."

"Why? You have every single right to see her!"

Kevin shot Kara an appreciative look. "Actually, I didn't. She lost her memory. She forgot everything that happened after I met her. When her mom got on her knees and begged me not to go into the room. I knew that was it."

"Why can't you see her? She just lost her memory."

"No, you don't understand. She chose to forget me. According to the doctor, when a person experienced a shock, the brain would hide the memory of that incident. Her parents were afraid that if she sees me, she'll remember and hurt herself again or go back to the coma."

"So you listened to them?"

"I had no choice. I agreed that I won't appear in front of her or say anything about what occurred until the time limit they gave me."

"Well, at least there's a time limit. All you have to do it wait a while until she's mentally and physically stable."

"A while? Do you know how long they suggested? Seven years! In those years, even when I saw her on the street, I can't say hi, I can't look at her because I was afraid that she would look back at me and I'll tell her everything. Do you understand that feeling where you want to give someone all your heart but you are not allow to?" Kevin almost roared as he bit his bottom lip.

"But you still chose that path, didn't you?" Kara looked at him with sympathy in her eyes.

"Yes, I can't imagine of her getting hurt again because of me." Kevin took a deep breath and went on. "And today is the end of the seven years of suffering."

"Congratulations! Then you can go see her now!" Kara cheered.

"I know, but as today approached, I grew more and more uncertain. My heart and my love are still the same, but what about her? What if when I told her everything and she still doesn't remember? Or what if she was married? Or have a boyfriend? That's the question I want to ask you." Kevin gazed at the woman in front of him with nervousness and hopes.

"Well, if you two really loved one another, then it shouldn't matter if she remembers or not. All you have to do is start all over again and if she has a boyfriend, just steal her back to your side. Wouldn't if be great to be able to fall in love all over again? But if she's married..." Kara grew serious.

"Yes?" Kevin’s face lost its smile. He even looked a bit upset.

"If she's married and have a joyful marriage, then just let her go. Don't separate a happy family. Like me, I would hate if some woman from my husband's past coming in my marriage."

"Is that so?" Kevin lowered his eyes to his white fingers that held on to the mug tightly.

"Yeah! So don't be the person that break up a good marriage." She said it with such finality that Kevin could do nothing but comply.

"Ding dong!" The bell rang again as a couple entered the store and Kara stood up to greet them.

"By the way." She turned around and looked straight at Kevin. "Why would you ask me that question? Someone you just met?"

"Maybe it's because my fiancee and I wanted to open a coffee shop like this after we get married." He tried to muster the energy to smile, yet he failed miserably. His voice came out dry and cracked.

"Oh. I get it now!" Kara turned her attention back to her new customers.

"Yeah, that was all. That was all. That's all there is..." Kevin kept on repeating the same phrase, as if in doing so, he could convince himself something.

The Jazz stopped as the CD player changed the CDs. There were only the laughter of the teenagers from the sidewalk and the sound of boiling coffee. Kevin took one last glimpse at the woman behind the counter and the shimmering wedding ring on her finger. A single hot tear dropped into the cup of cold coffee in his grip...