WHITE DREAMS AND COTTONFLAKE SMILES

Another reason why Hasin doesn't completely dislike winter is coffee.

He likes to have an excuse for everything he does or has. And winter gives him an excuse to have a steaming mug of coffee every day. He doesn't make it at home though – he can never get it right. Sometimes, it's the sugar that he gets wrong, on other days it's the cream. And sometimes, he gets everything wrong. So instead, he has scouted out a small café nearby his house, which sells nothing but coffee. Hasin likes their commitment to the sacred drink and goes there every day for a cup, maybe early in the morning, or late at night; always at extreme hours. On winter days, the café stays open all day and all night long so it suits Hasin's erratic schedule perfectly.

Like Hasin, Sunerah goes to the same café every day for her daily draught of coffee. 

Unlike Hasin, Sunerah's schedule is inflexible and the time slot reserved for the café is never missed or altered.

Sunerah even has the table at the café where she sits fixed. It is right beside the window that overlooks the street, a two-seater. She puts her bag, folders, her scarf, and whatever else she is carrying on one chair and sits on the other. The existence of her possessions on the other chair helps to staunch her feelings of bitter loneliness. She tries other methods as well, like reading books or trying to work on song lyrics. But her eyes always wander around, looking at everything and nothing at all. The café is always packed at the time when she chooses to go there. It is the coldest part of the day, along dusk, and the cold drives people in hordes into the small, warm shop. This distracts Sunerah and every time someone new enters, she sighs. She wonders what joy she finds in observing people. Maybe she has been a bit too lonely for a bit too long. 

Hasin's only attraction at the warm, snug café is the mouth-watering coffee, nothing else; or so he tells himself; he lacks nothing more.