Chapter 159: Coffee vs. Cookie
ISABELLA’S POV
"Okay," I said, eyes narrowed at Aria. "Final answer. You can only keep one: chocolate chip cookies or coffee."
Aria gasped like I’d asked her to pick her favorite kidney. "What kind of cursed question is that? Why are you like this?"
"I’m like this because these are the questions that define us," I said, smiling weakly. "This reveals your soul, Aria. Are you a creature of pure, unadulterated comfort, or one of ritual and necessity?"
"Okay. Okay," she whispered, closing her eyes as if in deep meditation. "Let’s be rational about this."
I snorted. "Too late for that."
She ignored me. "Coffee," she began, her voice low and reverent. "Coffee is the starter pistol for the day. It’s the smell of ambition. It’s the warm mug on a cold morning, the bitter kick that says, ’You can do this.’ It’s conversation, its focus, it’s... it’s the infrastructure of my personality."
She opened her eyes and looked at the cookie. Her face softened instantly.
"But the cookie," she breathed. "The chocolate chip cookie is a hug in food form. It’s buttery and soft, with just enough crisp at the edges. It’s the gooey, melted chocolate that sticks to your fingers. It’s nostalgia. It’s what you eat when you’ve had a bad day, or a good day, or just... a day. It asks nothing of you. It simply is."
She was pacing in her mind, I could see it.
"This is impossible," she declared, slumping on the bed. "It’s a violation of my rights. One is my engine, the other is my reward. You can’t have a journey without a destination!"
"The genie is tapping his foot, Aria. The cosmic clock is ticking," I said, barely suppressing my grin. "One. Word."