"One more bottle over here." 

The pot-bellied owner of the restaurant Trattoria Canolo was standing behind his cash register, watching with interest as this young man poured out the remainder of his existing bottle of red wine and finished the entire glass in one mouthful.

Just then, the grandfather's clock in his restaurant rang eight times, telling everyone that it was now eight in the morning. The delectable aroma of freshly brewed cappuccino filled the entire place as sleepy customers enjoyed the stiff cup of coffee along with an array of delicious Italian pastries. Trattoria Canolo was famous for its cappuccino, and the owner reckoned that no one in the whole of Venice brewed a better cup of coffee than his beloved wife. 

Typically at this time of day the restaurant would be packed to the brim with locals and tourists alike, all wanting to indulge in a good cup of cappuccino, but for the owner to encounter a customer like the young man at the far end was a first for him. 

Firstly, the chap had stumbled into his establishment when the doors first opened for business, drenched from head to toe and looking like something the cat dragged in. The owner knew that there had been a thunderstorm the night before, but surely you would go get a change of clothes before heading for breakfast? Secondly, instead of ordering a cappuccino like everyone else, this young man ordered five bottles of red wine the moment he sat down. Five! Now the Venetians loved their wine, but to be ordering five bottles early in the morning was ridiculous, even by their standards. 

The owner gestured towards one of his employees, telling him to give the man what he had asked for. Any shrewd businessman knew that red wine was worth far more than a cup of coffee, so if the young fellow wanted to drown his sorrows in the morning then by all means. 

The doorbell jingled, and the owner turned his attentions away from the strange man and looked towards the front door instead. A young lady in a white button-down blouse and jeans had just stepped into the restaurant, looking around for any spare tables. 

He did a quick scan of the floor, cursing inwardly when he realised that all the tables were already occupied. Was he going to have to turn away business and let his competitor next door make a quick buck instead? His gaze fell upon the drunk man in the corner, and all at once he had a brainwave. The man was alone and the seat across from him was unoccupied, so it seemed like a complete waste to leave it be. Besides, after five bottles the man was probably too drunk to even notice that someone else was sharing his table. 

Smiling proudly at his own genius, he waved at the young lady and proceeded to lead her to her seat. 

Aera followed the restaurant owner towards the back corner of the restaurant, listening to him ramble on in unintelligible Italian as he gestured towards an empty seat. She couldn't understand a single word he was saying but she reckoned she understood what he was driving at. The restaurant was packed and there was just this one empty seat left in the entire place. 

Sharing a table with someone else was not a big deal, although the sight of the wine bottles on the table and the strong stench of drunkenness was a little unappealing. Nonetheless, she sat herself down and place an order for a cup of the famous cappuccino and a butter croissant, before reaching into her bag and pulling out her voice recorder.

"Today's date is the ninth of August and I am here at the Trattoria Canolo waiting for my cappuccino. The weather today is fine and the storm from last night seems to have passed. It looks like we will have good weather today--" 

"Bullshit."

Aera paused her recording and looked up, wondering if the man across from her had said something. He was sprawled with his head facing down against the table, his right hand clutching onto the stem of his wine glass. 

Thinking that she had just been mistaken, she hit the record button again and continued, "This place is on the list that Habin gave me. She wrote that this restaurant serves the best cappuccino in all of Venice, and judging from the aroma in this place I think she might well be right! It's a pity I won't be able to remember how the cappuccino tastes like when tomorrow comes,  but ah well! We should just live for today, aye?" 

An unimpressed scoff came drifting over from across the table. "So much for living for today..." 

This time Aera was certain that she wasn't hearing things. The drunken man across the table had just said something. Staring curiously at him, she said, "Excuse me? Are you talking to me?" 

The man didn't respond. 

Seconds later, a waiter appeared at their table, bringing her cappuccino and his bottle of wine. Pointing at the bottle, she said, "I don't think that's necessary. He's already out cold." 

"Who says!" the man suddenly jerked his head up, glaring at her from across the table. At that instant when their eyes met, Aera realised that the man's eyes were an odd shade of  blue-grey, quite unlike any other person she had seen before. Not that she remembered anyone that she had seen before. 

Sensing the tension in the air, the waiter mumbled something in Italian and beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to get involved in an unnecessary argument. 

"So you're awake after all," Aera said. "You were talking to me earlier, weren't you?" 

Kai scoffed once more, ignoring her question and proceeding to pour himself yet another glass of wine from the new bottle. Seeing that he wasn't intending to engage in a conversation, Aera decided that she should just mind her own business and drink her coffee. Raising the white ceramic cup to her lips, she took a whiff of the the coffee's strong aroma and let out a sigh of satisfaction. 

"This is heavenly!" she quipped, wanting to take a sip from her cup. 

"Is it that good?" Kai interrupted. 

"Of course! Do you want to take a sniff or have a taste?" She reached out the coffee cup towards him just to whet his appetite, before quickly retracting her hand. "It's a pity you probably can't smell or taste any of it because you're too drunk. You probably can't smell anything except the wine, can you?" 

Sensing that he was being made fun of, Kai suddenly reached across the table and grabbed the cup out of her hand, finishing the entire cup of coffee in one gulp. 

Aera stared at him in disbelief, before leaping up to her feet. "Ya! What the hell was that for? That was my cup of cappuccino, not yours!" She hoped he scalded his throat drinking it. 

Kai simply raised his hand up into the air and said, "Two more cups of cappuccino here." 

"Are you sure you should be mixing coffee with alcohol?" Aera remarked, although she really couldn't care less if the fellow ended up with diarrhoea. 

The waiter promptly brought over another two cups, setting it down gently onto the wooden table. Before Aera could reach over and claim one of the cups as her replacement, Kai had already beaten her to it, gulping down both cups in quick succession.

"That was mine!" Aera pointed at one of the empty cups in dismay. There wasn't even a single drop left. "You're supposed to return me my cup of coffee!" 

Kai shrugged his shoulders. "Makes no sense to be asking me to return you a cup when you offered it to me in the first place. Since you offered, I decided to accept the offer."

At a loss for words, Aera glared angrily at the man across the table before standing up and walking away. It was impossible to reason with a drunkard so she wasn't going to waste time trying. 

"Count myself unlucky for running into that idiot," she grumbled to herself as she headed for the door. 

"Your bill, Miss?" the owner blurted out when he saw her marching past his cash register. Every cup of cappuccino and every croissant he put on the table was valuable and he wasn't about to make a loss because of anyone. 

"It's on him!" Aera pointed an accusatory finger at the man in the corner. Why should she pay for coffee that she never drank? Shooting him one final glare, she huffed and walked right out of the restaurant, letting the door slam behind her as she left. 

The owner hurriedly brought the bill over to Kai's table, a little worried that the strange young man was going to disappear the moment he looked away. 

Kai glanced at the bill nonchalantly out of the corner of his eye, then he said, "Give me another two cups of cappuccino. And throw in two croissants with that too."