“Class dismissed. Make sure to submit your activities early than late,” our professor said as he ended the class. I immediately closed my bag and rushed off the room. I don’t want to be late in the café. I’ll do the activities tomorrow since it’s the weekend. My classmates were greeting me, bidding their goodbyes while I walked outside. The mixed sounds of the people from running and walking, group friends talking, and students playing music loudly made the corridors noisy. I passed them and drove to my café without any hassle.
My staffs were already here. They waved their hands on me as soon as I got inside. “What’s up?” I asked. It’s usually how I start a conversation with them. “Nothing really interested going. Just the regulars,” Chelsea answered me. They’re my youngest worker, 17 years old. When they applied, their educational background was good. Consistent high honors, but their problem is the finance, so I accepted them. I didn’t know they would be a good coffee maker, my one of the bests. “I see. Keep going, then.” I winked and laughed. I proceeded to the locker room and went to the bathroom to change my clothes into the café’s uniform. A plain black shirt and slacks. It’s comfortable and a unisex one, so be it.
“Are you dumb? Where’s your manager?” A deep voice of a man almost made me flinch. I heard him out of nowhere. Looks like there is a problem. I came out of the locker room and saw Chelsea continuously saying sorry. I positioned myself beside her and looked at the man. I almost cut my breath, but thankfully, I managed to prevent myself from doing so. I wouldn’t be defeated by his dark brown eyes, a tall and well-built body, a kissable li— no! “Are you done scanning me?” I gulped when he talked. I sighed. He’s handsome, that’s given, but he’s full of himself, really. “Hello, sir. What’s the problem occurring here?” He raised his eyebrows, maybe not believing what he just heard from me. A manager just ignored a customer’s unnecessary question. “I ordered americano. She gave me an espresso.” Chelsea is now biting their lips. She’s uncomfortable; this man isn’t using the pronouns in their name tag.
“I see. I am sorry for the inconvenience, sir. I am sure that our staff has already given their apology, I heard them earlier. Let me fix this issue by giving you the cup of espresso that you ordered. Please seat and make yourself comfortable,” I politely said. He gave me a kind of look that wanted to kill me. What did he expect? He will humiliate my employee in front of me because he looks so high-ranked in society? Eh, no. “What—” he was about to reply when I smiled and cut him off. “And sir, that girl’s pronouns,” I pointed my index finger to Chelsea, “are they and them, not she and her. It’s indicated in their name tag.” He looked like he was about to say something, so I turned my back against him to make him shut his mouth up. I averted my gaze to Chelsea, who’s now arranging snacks, and did a thumbs-up pose to them. They just smiled.
“Here’s your espresso, sir. Thank you for waiting.” I was about to put the coffee on the table when I tripped on something. “Oh my!” I squeezed my eyes shut because of nervousness to fall on the floor, but I felt an arm caught me instead of the cold ground. I opened my eyes and almost shouted again when the man was the one who prevented me from falling over. I blinked many times to make sure that this was true and not a dream. My heart is racing. Our faces were so close to each other! I feel like he can hear my heartbeat and breathing. I was given a chance to see his handsome face closely. Wait, what? What did I say?! “You really like staring at me,” he looked at my chest? Gazed to me again, and his deep manly voice lingered inside my system, “miss Luna.” I went back to my senses and stood still. It’s for my name. “O-oh, thank you, sir.”
Chelsea approached me. “The cup,” they whispered. Only then I saw how dirty the floor was. I fucked up. I breathed deeply than I could imagine and turned my head up to apologize to the customer. His eyes are fixed on my face. If I were not a grown-up girl, I would be hypnotized by those eyes. They are beautiful. “Can you stop staring at me and say sorry? I had a cut because you tripped, and all you do now is to look at me,” his cold voice that is like commanding me, made my fists curled into a ball. “I am terribly sorry, sir. This will not happen again next time. Would you like me to get you another cup? I’ll be extra careful.” His response took a few seconds. “And treat my wound.” He raised his arm, and I saw a cut on his wrist, bleeding. My eyes widened. I cannot control my mouth. “I-I’m sorry! I’ll treat it right away!”
