“Of ALL the cafés in Singapore you say this is your favourite cafe? There are thousands of cafés!” exclaimed the old English man as he took a cigarette.

Maria kept quiet. She saw no reason to explain herself to the obnoxious foreigner. The waitress gave her a smile for the compliment and made sure the order was correct before saying. “Thank you, Miss. I’ll be right back.”

Acrid cigarette smoke began to fill the air, equally acrid conversation followed. “I mean as a man of the world, I have sampled beans from every continent and this hardly lives up to my expectations, which were fairly low to begin with.”

The waitress returned with a tall iced tea that Maria accepted gratefully.

“Oh. You didn’t even order coffee?”

Maria had finally had enough. Her hand trembled as she picked up the glass. When she turned and threw it into the fat Englishman’s face, she was as surprised as he was. Before he could do anything other than blink owlishly, she fled into the street.

Above her, threatening clouds began to roil.