Sunday, afternoon

“Noah!?” his father called from downstairs, waking him up from a train of thoughts which had every destination but his homework. He groaned, stretched his stiff muscles and cursed homework in general before he pushed himself up from the chair, meeting his father halfway down the stairs.

“What’s up?”

“We have a new employee who can start today, but no time to show him around. Could you spare us a bit of your time?”

“My homework is suffering, honestly.”

“We asked everyone already. You know the more people work for us, the less shifts you will have to take up.”

“I know,” Noah sighed, shrugging a shoulder, “let me put on my shoes and I’ll come down. But if I get in trouble at school, you know why.”

His father chuckled and nodded, knowing full well Noah hardly ever got bad grades, even before Colin taught him how to keep up with homework. Before that, he never bothered with it unless he could get in trouble for it. And even though he disliked working in the restaurant without Layne by his side, he hated homework more. Since it was his own father giving him a way out of homework, it would’ve been stupid to decline the offer.

What he hadn’t expected, was for him to walk into the kitchen a few minutes later, to find Santino by Patrick’s side, showing him something on his phone.

“I got a bit better, but I didn’t have much time to practice over summer.”

“Maybe leave the girls be, and focus on your future?” Patrick suggested, nudging him in his side playfully.

Noah frowned at the sight since it became clear as day the two already knew each other well. But when Santino turned around, pushing his phone in his pocket, Noah melted, his frown turned into a small smile, and his stomach went crazy.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Noah breathed out his reply, forcing the memories of their last moments together to the back of his mind. He recollected himself and cleared his throat. “You wanna work here?”

“Yeah,” Santino shrugged a reply, watching how Patrick was cutting vegetables at high speed. “Layne said you guys were hiring and I blew through my savings in a week. Figured it was a win-win.”

“Sounds like a win-win indeed,” Noah agreed, gesturing for him to follow him to the part of the kitchen where he usually took care of the dishes, “kitchen or front?”

“Both, depending on where your folks need me most.”

“Any experience?”

“Yeah, a bit, in Italy.”

“A bit, he says,” Patrick called out with a laugh, “Sonny’s a great cook, and with his charms he’s a great server as well.”

“You two know each other?”

“I used to hang out here a lot. Helped out Julia’s mom sometimes,” Santino explained. “And I guess I have plenty experience with cooking, but I’m not hired to be a chef.”

“It’s good to know, nonetheless.” Noah nodded his head towards the sinks. “Dishes are done here. Just ditch everything on the left and make sure not to dump anything into the sink because it’s annoying to start a shift by having to dig your way in there.”

Santino chuckled and nodded, following him around the kitchen as Noah pointed out where everything was before he took him to the front and showed him the bar area. It had been demolished and rebuilt since closing, so unlike all the joking they had done in the kitchen, Santino actually remained silent to pay attention and ask questions whenever he had some.

“What days will you be working?”

“Saturday evening and Sundays,” Santino replied, stepping aside to offer Noah’s father space behind the bar, “And maybe some Wednesdays but I usually babysit my sisters so that’s only in case of emergencies.”

Noah felt slightly disappointed to hear that he wouldn’t be working shifts with Santino. But then again, weekends were busier than weekdays and there would probably hardly be any time to joke around.

“Did you explain him how to make coffee?” his father asked, as he grabbed drinks that people had ordered. “If not, I need two cappuccinos. Show him.”

Noah nodded, pulling Santino towards the machine, showing him how they made cappuccinos. Santino repeated the process without issues, placing them on the tray his father was preparing. He glanced at the receipt, grabbed two soft drinks, handed them to Noah’s father and watched him take off.

“I think you’ll do fine.” Noah nodded, happy with how easily Santino seemed to pick up their way of working. Somehow, the other boy had given him the impression of being a bit lazy. He hardly put any effort in school, and his life generally seemed to revolve around having fun, not about working.

Still, when a new receipt rolled in, Santino took it without questioning, and started preparing a new tray without further instructions. Noah was impressed, and so was his father, when he came for the next order, to find Santino placing the last coffee on the tray, handing him the ticket with a smile.

“A bit of experience, huh?”

Since Santino didn’t know everything yet, Noah had decided to stick around until his shift ended, and answer his questions whenever he had them. After about an hour, Santino was working behind the bar as if he had done it all his life already, and neither Noah, nor his parents had told him to do something else.

Why change things if it seemed to work well?

Noah had taken his homework, sitting down at the bar to be around, but still catch up on his homework in the meantime. It was fun most of the time. But whenever Stacey or Gabriella—two of their waitresses—came in for an order, Santino would charm them with words, smiles and actions, and it didn’t take long for them to giggle, bat their eyelashes and twirl hair around their fingers while Santino was making their orders.

It simply wasn’t all that fun to know what they had done two nights before, only for him to shamelessly flirt with others in front of him. Noah really needed to remind himself that it was a one-time thing. No feelings, just… a one-night stand. After all, Santino couldn’t really dump Karen, even if they weren’t really dating to begin with.

“So, did you talk to Karen already?” Noah asked when he finished his homework, stacking his books and notebooks while he watched Santino cleaning the bar with a cloth.

“Yeah, I spoke to her last night. Explained why I got angry. She agreed she had been a bit extra all week because she hadn’t seen me for nearly three months, and we agreed that she would give me a bit more space.”

“So, back together?”

“Actually, we’re still fighting.”

“Aren’t you afraid she’s going to spill your secret? I assume the secret that explains why… you know? We uh, hung out.”

Santino snorted, shaking his head. But he didn’t reply, and a few seconds later, Noah’s father stepped behind the bar, placing a hand on Santino’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you go home? You’ve done excellent today, and it’s slowing down for the day. Birgitta and I do want to talk to you later this week about your function.”

Santino nodded, handing him the wallet he had received halfway down his shift, walking towards Noah. He seemed to be floating, or maybe it was because Noah still felt on cloud nine whenever he thought back about their night.

“Thanks for showing him around, Noah,” his father said, before waving them off.

“So…” Noah mumbled, when they had walked into the back, and he was standing before the door that led upstairs, and Santino stood in between him and the back exit. “Anyway, I won’t say anything. Just so you know.”

“It’s not just because of me. If she finds out… your secret will be out too.”

Noah nodded, understanding what he meant. He really couldn’t tell anyone, not just for Santino’s sake.

“Do you regret it?”

Noah shook his head, flashing Santino a small smile. Weirdly enough, he didn’t regret at all. He had expected to feel shitty afterwards, but he didn’t. He expected to start overthinking everything, but he didn’t. It was just a one-night stand, and nothing more. Nobody needed to know but them.

“Good, me neither,” Santino replied looking over his shoulder towards the exit. “I guess I’ll be going. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Noah nodded, and after an awkward silence, he watched Santino walk out of the back door before he carried his books upstairs.