"Hey George, I am heading out for lunch. Do you need anything?" Zack, my colleague asked on his way out.
"No, thanks," I replied.
"But you haven't had anything today aside from coffee." He replied and I hope he would just let me be.
"Yes, that's true but I am okay" I replied.
"Oh, wonders of caffeine." Zacks teased as he left.
I was hungry but Zack always started the coffee vs. tea discussion whenever he got me lunch and I wasn't in the mood for an argument.
Immediately after he left, I stepped out to get some snacks and coffee across the street.
"Aren't you George, the nutritionist?" A woman asked me while I was eating.
The nutrition show I featured on every week made me famous and she must have seen the show.
"Yes, I am." I replied.
"I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question but I have gotten an answer. Can we take a selfie?" She asked politely.
We smiled to the camera and that was all. I was about to enter the office when my phone started buzzing with notifications from my social apps. I ignored it initially but had to check when it didn't stop.
The selfie from the cafeteria was online and already had different captions. The one that hit me the most was, "George, a renowned nutritionist rates coffee over tea."
"When did I say any of these?" I asked myself as I rushed back to check the woman but she was gone.
I decided to check around but my search was interrupted by a random guy who asked about the pictures.
"It was just a selfie, I didn't make any claim about coffee," I replied.
I noticed a few people approaching me with cameras and had to return to the office.
"What's all this mess? This woman should have asked for my opinion instead of making up false claims." I grumbled as I barged into the office and before the day ended, my name was trending on all social apps. Coffee lovers were giving positive comments while tea lovers were criticizing me.
"Would you believe Steve Harvey sent me a mail? He wants to host a debate regarding coffee and tea" I gave Zack my phone to see the mail.
"This is awesome. Just finish this, once and for all." He replied while staring at the phone.
"Seriously? I was expecting better advice from you." I replied and snatched my phone from him.
"Don't take it personally," he teased as we went our separate ways.
As days past, I got a reminder but didn't acknowledge it.
A week before the debate, I told my brother while on call about it and he advised me to honor the invite.
I replied to the mail and Steve was happy about it. I went for the show on the scheduled day and didn't believe the crowd that turned up.
"It's the first time we are hitting this number of guests on the show, thanks to the argument between coffee and tea lovers," Steve said jokingly.
I expected a debate between me and the nutritionist but the audience wouldn't let that happen as they all had things to say about why coffee or tea is better.
It was a heated argument that almost led to a bout, coffee lovers wouldn't tolerate the harsh words used by the tea lovers and vice versa.
After several people from the audience gave fantastic points for their preferences, the other nutritionist was called to back up the tea lover's points about tea being better than coffee.
He stepped forward and said great things about drinking tea at the detriment of coffee. I could hear the tea lovers among the audience applauding him and he successfully doubled the coffee lovers expectations from me.
"Let's have on stage, Mr. George," Steve said and there was a loud cheer among the audience. I adjusted my glasses as I walked to the podium.
"Hello everyone," I greeted the audience.
"Can I have a cup of tea?" I asked and there was a loud murmur from the audience.
"This tastes great," I said after taking a sip and a few people laughed.
"There is nothing new about coffee that you all haven't said, a lot of you should consider becoming a nutritionist as well."
The audience laughed again.
"Firstly, the picture that went viral was staged by the woman in the picture. I know nothing about it even though I will always choose coffee over tea."
Some of the audience applauded me.
"A lot of us started our journey with tea or coffee for different reasons. Some need caffeine to keep them alert, it is the antioxidant or taste for some and everyone here has one reason or the other."
"Mine started because coffee was a family thing, I started with sipping from my parents ' cups and got used to how it kept me active. I have drank tea several times but coffee meets my body's demand better. People who need tea for its benefits will always choose tea so why are we arguing over people's preferences?"
"We need tea or coffee for different reasons and it's time we start respecting people's choices. If coffee works best for you, fine and if it's tea, there shouldn't be a problem about that."
"This argument has turned friends into enemies and I hope we all start seeing things differently henceforth. I am working on how we can combine the magic of tea and coffee and I will be on the show to share the progress soon. Thank you"
I handed over the microphone to Steve and the audience wouldn't stop clapping. Upon checking my phone after the debate, I realized that my social media followers had increased by three million and still counting.
It looks like I have successfully mended the broken relationship between coffee and tea lovers.