Silent Connections

The café buzzed with the hum of conversation and the hiss of the espresso machine, but for Liza, time seemed to slow down. She sat at her usual corner table, ostensibly absorbed in her book. Yet, every few minutes, her eyes would drift upward, searching for a glimpse of the man who had, unwittingly, become the focal point of her thoughts.

Across the room, Daniel was equally distracted. His friends' laughter and jokes faded into the background as he stole yet another glance in Liza's direction. The fleeting eye contact, the shy smiles exchanged when their gazes met, had become the highlight of his daily visits to the café.

Neither had the courage to bridge the gap between them, both content yet frustrated by the unspoken connection. It was in these stolen glances that they found a sweet torture, a silent understanding that spoke volumes.

One day, as Liza turned a page in her book, a shadow fell over her table. She looked up, her heart racing. Daniel stood there, holding two streaming cupa of coffee, a hopeful smile playing on his lips. "Mind I join you?" he asked, bis voice trembling ever so slightly.

In that moment, the spell of stolen glances was broken. The unspoken became spoken, and the possibility of what could finally took its first breath.