As Stella's car disappeared around the corner, the silence inside Isaac's vehicle was of a different nature: it was dense, weighted by the residual shock that still made Sasha's hands tremble slightly in her lap.
Isaac drove with a deliberate calmness, maintaining a steady speed that seemed aimed at anchoring Sasha back to reality. He didn't turn on the radio; he knew that for her, an excess of stimuli after the bar's chaos would feel like sand in an open wound.
— Are you breathing, Sasha?
— Isaac asked softly, without taking his eyes off the road.
Sasha let out a long sigh that came out almost like a wheeze.
— I think so. I just... I've never seen Stella like that. I mean, I knew she practiced martial arts, but to see it...
— She gestured vaguely in the air.
— And David. He was so brave at the same time.
Isaac let out a short, warm laugh.
— David is driven by impulses he doesn't rationalize. He saw Stella in danger and the rest of the world simply ceased to exist. It's a rare quality, though dangerous for his physical integrity.
Sasha turned her face to the window, watching the reflections of the city lights.
— I wish I was like that — she whispered, almost to herself.
— I wish I didn't freeze. When that man stopped at the table, my first instinct was to want to disappear inside my hoodie. I felt tiny.
Isaac took advantage of a red light to stop the car and turn fully toward her. He waited for her to meet his gaze.
— Sasha, listen. Not everyone needs to be the storm. Stella is the thunder, David is the shield... but you? You are the calm they need after the noise stops. You didn't run. You stayed there, you gave the cloth to Stella, you helped take care of David. That's not freezing. That is resisting.
Sasha felt a comforting warmth rise through her chest. Isaac had this gift: he didn't try to fix people; he simply helped them see the pieces that were already there.
— Do you think they'll be okay?
— she asked, changing the subject to hide her shyness.
— I mean, Stella and David. The atmosphere in their car must have been... intense.
— I think they finally collided
— Isaac smiled, starting to drive again as the light turned green.
— And sometimes, it takes a collision for two people to stop orbiting each other and finally meet.
The Arrival
When they stopped in front of Sasha's building, she didn't get out immediately. She looked at Isaac, who kept his hands relaxed on the steering wheel, his expression as serene as ever. She hesitated for a long moment, squeezing the sleeves of her hoodie between her fingers, before breaking the silence. Her voice came out low, almost merging with the sound of the car engine.
— Isaac... about what you said just now...
— She took a deep breath, feeling a lump in her throat.
— I've never said this out loud to anyone in the group, but I struggle with very intense social phobia.
Isaac didn't interrupt her. He simply slowed the pace, giving her all the space she needed.
— Sometimes
— she continued, her voice trembling
— it feels like the world is just too loud, you know? The people, the judgments, the pressure to react the "right" way. That's why I hide in my world. There, I'm in control. But out here... in real life, I feel like I'm always in danger. I feel like I can't truly connect with people without this constant fear of being crushed by their presence.
Sasha looked at her own hands, waiting for a judgment that never came.
— But what you told me today
— she went on, finally meeting his eyes
— about me being the calm and about how I resisted in my own way... that changed something inside me. I don't want to be someone who just watches life happen from a distance anymore.
Isaac smiled, a genuine smile that lit up his calm face.
— I'm glad you shared that with me, Sasha. It takes a lot of courage to admit a vulnerability like that.
— I'm going to try to overcome this
— she said, a new determination shining in her eyes.
— I'm going to try to leave the house more. And... I'm going to start going to the café more often. Not just to see everyone, but to challenge myself to be there, in the world.
Isaac parked in front of her building and, this time, leaned slightly toward her, radiating confidence.
— The café will always be open for you, Sasha. And I will be too. One step at a time, right?
Sasha nodded, feeling that for the first time in a long while, the future didn't look like a threat, but an invitation. She left the car with a wave, and Isaac watched her go inside, knowing that small victory was the beginning of a great change.
After the Chaos, the Calm
Isaac started the engine again as soon as Sasha entered the building. The low hum of the car was his only company as he pulled away from the curb, diving into the city streets that were now beginning to empty. The silence, which had previously served to protect Sasha, now allowed him to finally process the whirlwind of events from that night.
He let out a long sigh, relaxing his shoulders against the leather seat. A small smile
— genuine this time, without the "perfect host" mask
— played on his lips.
— What a night...
— he whispered to himself.
Despite the chaos at the bar, the scare with the harasser, and David's clumsy fall, Isaac couldn't shake the feeling that it had been... fun. There was something alive and electric about being with them. Seeing Stella lose control
— in an impressive way, to be sure
— and David's exposed vulnerability brought a color to Isaac's day that he rarely allowed himself to feel. He thought about how Valentina had looked at the two of them on the floor and how the group, even with all its rough edges and traumas, seemed to fit together.
But his thoughts soon returned to orbit around Sasha.
Her confession in the car still echoed in his mind. "Social phobia." He understood her better than she imagined. While she hid behind a hoodie and her streams, Isaac hid behind gentle smiles and a coffee shop counter. They were just different types of armor.
He admired her courage for wanting to change. For wanting to "be in the world."
"You are an incredible person, Sasha," he thought, feeling a strange warmth in his chest.
But in the next instant, that same warmth was replaced by a familiar sting of ice. Isaac's smile wavered and vanished. He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, his knuckles turning white.
The image of his ex-girlfriend flashed through his mind like a painful memory. Her face, the false words, the devastating accusation that nearly destroyed his life and left scars that no one could see. The trauma of the abuse unfairly attributed to him was a shadow Isaac carried into every interaction.
"Careful," an internal voice warned. "Don't get too close. Love is a trap. Trust is a weapon you hand to someone else so they can destroy you."
He felt a growing affection for Sasha, a connection that went beyond ordinary friendship, but fear was an insurmountable barrier. He felt broken
— a man who knew how to simulate affection and sympathy perfectly, but who felt incapable of truly diving into the ocean of a relationship. He felt alone, yes, but loneliness was safe. Loneliness didn't make false reports. Loneliness didn't look at him with judgment.
When he arrived home, Isaac parked the car and sat for a few minutes staring into nothingness. He just wanted to go up, put on his headphones, open some random manga, or watch an episode of an old anime to forget that the real world demanded feelings he wasn't sure he still possessed.
He got out of the car and looked up at the cloudy sky.
— The calm, huh?
— he murmured, remembering what he had said to Sasha.
— I'd like to find my own.
Isaac entered his home, locked the door, and, behind the smile he would give the world tomorrow at the coffee shop, he tucked away the secret of a man who loved the light in people but was deathly afraid of being burned by them again.
Calm in Shades of Red
Sasha closed the apartment door and leaned her back against the cold wall, letting her body slide slowly until she was sitting on the hallway floor. The silence of the house, which used to be her only sanctuary, now felt strangely empty after the turbulence of that night.
She pressed her hands against her face, feeling her cheeks burn. Images of the bar flashed through her mind like a high-speed film: Stella's kick, David's thud... but every time she tried to focus on the chaos, her mind stubbornly drifted back to the inside of Isaac's car.
— "You are the calm..."
— she whispered, and felt a sudden warmth rush up her neck.
Sasha hid her face between her knees, but it was no use. The image of Isaac driving with that deliberate calmness, the soft tone of voice that seemed to disarm all her defenses, and especially the way he turned to her at the red light... it all made her heart skip beats. She felt her face glowing in a bright shade of red that not even the cold of the hallway could soothe.
The Internal Conflict
She stood up and walked toward her streaming gear. The turned-off LED lights reflected her silhouette. There, she was "Sasha the Streamer," but what had happened with Isaac had cracked her armor.
— I told him
— she murmured, and just remembering her own trembling voice confessing her social anxiety made her want to hide under the covers.
— Why did I say that? Why to him?
The thought that Isaac now "knew" her biggest secret left her in a state of paralyzing shyness. She imagined his face, those serene eyes that seemed to read her soul, and covered her face with her hands again, feeling the hot skin against her palms. It was a new sensation: a mix of exposure and a sense of belonging that she had never experienced before.
A Change in Perspective
Sasha went to the bathroom mirror and splashed cold water on her face, trying to reduce the redness. She looked at her own reflection. The idea of returning to the coffee shop was no longer just a plan; it was a promise made to him.
She had always felt like a pencil sketch, but Isaac had made her feel that the sketch was the most important part. She found herself replaying the moment he smiled at her right at the end. It was a genuine smile, different from the polite smile he gave to customers.
— Does he smile like that for everyone?
— she asked herself, feeling a sting of shy jealousy that made her turn even redder.
— Or could it be... no, Sasha, don't get ahead of yourself.
A New Horizon and Fear
Sasha lay down on the bed, but she didn't turn on her phone. She stared at the window, her chest tight. The fear of her social anxiety was still there, but now there was this new element: a deep shyness regarding Isaac.
The idea of walking into the café tomorrow and having to hold his gaze made her hands shake. "I'm going to stutter. I'm going to freeze in front of him," she thought, burying her head in the pillow. But at the same time, the memory of Isaac's hand near hers in the car brought a sense of security she didn't want to lose.
The First Step
Sasha took a deep breath. She knew that if she didn't go tomorrow, fear would win. And more than the fear itself, she was afraid of disappointing the look of confidence he had placed in her.
She picked out her clothes: her usual hoodie, but this time she chose one that smelled fresh like fabric softener, unconsciously wanting to look presentable for him.
— One step at a time
— she repeated his phrase, feeling butterflies in her stomach that weren't from panic, but from anticipation.
Her face was still warm when she finally closed her eyes, imagining the sound of the café bell ringing and Isaac looking up to welcome her with that serenity that only he possessed.
Entropy, Calculations, and Caffeine
The morning at the coffee shop followed the usual script of an imminent disaster. David was trying to balance a stack of plates while explaining to Valentina an absurd theory about how coffee helped regenerate the new bruise on his forehead. Valentina, for her part, just laughed and encouraged the chaos, mentally betting on how long it would take for him to drop everything and how much she would deduct from his paycheck.
Isaac was wiping the counter with his unshakeable serenity. He watched the scene with a half-smile; though he loved order, there was something about that mess that distracted him from his own ghosts. However, he knew the playfulness was about to meet its moral, logical, and financial brakes.
The Accountant
The door chime rang with a funereal weight. Afonso walked in, looking like a black ink stain on a blank sheet of paper.
The Master of Numbers and the Return to Duty
Afonso wasn't just an employee; he was an essential piece of the gears. After two weeks of vacation—which he spent locked in his room playing MMOs and avoiding sunlight
—he was back at his post. In addition to helping with service when the shop got busy, Afonso was the establishment's official accountant. He had accepted the position because, according to him, "someone needed to ensure that David's administrative incompetence and impulsive spending didn't drive the place into bankruptcy in less than one fiscal cycle."
He walked to the counter and slammed a black folder onto the wood.
— Isaac — Afonso said, with a short, respectful nod.
— The cash flow reports you emailed me are an affront to logic. Raw material waste rose by 15% while I was away.
Isaac let out a warm laugh.
— Good to see your vacation didn't affect your precision, Afonso. We missed your spreadsheets. Coffee before you clock in?
— The usual. Bitter as reality
— Afonso replied, adjusting his round glasses and casting a cynical look at David.
— Look at him, Isaac. How can someone be so popular while being so devoid of a center of mass? It's a flaw in the social matrix.
Sasha's Arrival
While Afonso settled into his corner table, the door chime rang again, but this time timidly. Sasha walked in, hands buried in her hoodie pockets and her hood pulled slightly forward. She took a few steps and stopped, freezing when she saw a stranger sitting at the table where she usually hid.
Afonso looked up from his laptop and fixed his cold, analytical gaze on the girl. Sasha felt a chill. She had never seen this dark-looking young man with deep dark circles under his eyes.
"Who is he?" she thought, her heart starting to race. "It feels like he's reading all my sins just by looking at me."
Afonso, for his part, narrowed his eyes. To him, Sasha was just another "generic youth" who probably wasted time on futile social media.
— Another customer lost in her own introspection
— Afonso grumbled to himself, loud enough for her to hear.
— The world is saturated with people who use silence as an aesthetic accessory.
Shyness and Redness
Sasha's face heated up instantly. She didn't know how to react to that biting comment. She averted her eyes to the counter, desperately searching for Isaac. When her eyes met his, the memory of the previous night
—the car, the soft words, and the support he had given her
—hit her like a heatwave.
Her face, already flushed from Afonso's comment, turned a deep scarlet.
— Hi, Sasha
— Isaac said, his voice acting like a balm.
— I'm glad you came. This is Afonso, our accountant and... existential crisis consultant. He was on vacation.
Sasha let out a sigh that sounded almost like a squeak.
— H-hi...
— she stuttered, unable to look at Afonso.
Afonso let out a "Hmph" and turned back to his spreadsheet.
— Sasha, is it? Isaac, her shyness levels are statistically improbable for someone living in the 21st century. She looks like she's about to undergo spontaneous combustion.
Sasha lowered her head, hiding behind her hair, while Isaac served her coffee. She felt extremely exposed, but Isaac's encouraging look kept her in place. Every time she thought about how he had called her "the calm," the redness on her face gained a new layer.
"He is so wise..." she thought, watching how Isaac handled Afonso's negative aura and David's chaotic energy with the same ease. "He's the only one who can keep all these different worlds in peace."
Isaac gave a light tap on the counter to get Sasha's attention and winked discreetly.
— Don't worry about Afonso, Sasha. His bark is worse than his bite
— unless you're a number.
Afonso didn't take his eyes off the screen, but gave a sarcastic little smile.
— Don't give her false hope, Isaac. Reality bites much harder than I do.
Sasha sat down far from Afonso, feeling, nonetheless, strangely curious about the new member of the group, while Isaac continued to be the center of balance for that delicious chaos.