- Serena -

I rushed down to the cafe at around 9:50. I was late yes I know and the repair man was there waiting. Plus he said there was water coming from the gap at the bottom of the door.

I wore a simple white blouse with some ripped denim shorts. Whatever happened last night kept me awake and I woke up late.

"I'm sorry I'm so sorry I'm late," I apologised to the repair man and saw the water flowing out from under the door.

"It's alright Miss, looks like your place is flooded," the gentle old man mumbled. 

I smiled and kneeled down by the door, realising I forgot my fucking key again. "Yeah the water pipes must have burst," I replied while making sure he couldn't see. I quietly created a make-shift key and opened the door.

The water gushed out to the nearest drain outside and I sighed, another fucking mess.

"Can I go in?" The old man asked politely and I nodded. "Yeah sure the condenser is in the back room."

He stepped into the wet shop and I ran my hand through my hair, my ice has melted again. Were my powers really dying out? Was I getting old? Was it because of my period?

But my period was over for this month.

I sighed and saw the two handsome men walk towards their restaurant. I didn't mean to stare, but they were really eye-catching. 

The other guy anyway. He wore a grey singlet today with a pair of Bermudas, totally in the summer mood and left nothing to the imagination. All muscles were what you were going to get.

Rude guy on the other hand was in another leather jacket and jeans. Same old same old. You can tell though, that rude man was slightly more built than the other guy. The way I see it anyway.

The rude guy looked my way and I stared back at him, not even caring that I was caught being a creep. I scanned his body involuntarily and he caught my gaze again, I felt like my whole body was on fire. 

Serena stop being weird.

I quickly turned away and went inside the cafe, grabbing a mop to clean up the mess. There was no way I was going to use my powers with people around.

Although it would be so much easier to just wave my hand and the flood on the floor will just disappear. Is there anyone looking in the first place-

"Hey."

I jumped when I heard someone call me and turned to see the rude man standing in front of me, his face in obvious annoyance.

He was so close I could smell the spices and herbs from his shirt. And wow I could really feel the heat through that thin fabric of his shirt.

Why must he wear that stupid leather jacket-

"You done staring?" He mumbled, irritated.

I raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"

I bet I had no sense of shame or just wasn't self-conscious enough. But seriously, that thin tee shirt that he was wearing was wrapped so nicely around his torso you could see his clearly defined pecs. The jacket is just making things more difficult than it should be.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I erm, my friend dared me to come here to help out." 

"Oh."

I looked over his shoulder and saw his friend leaning against the wall of their restaurant and he waved at me. I smiled and waved back before looking back at rude man.

"It's okay if you really don't want to, I can handle it," I folded my arms and a small grin appeared on his face.

"Well yeah you seem fine so I'll just head back."

Oh no no no. Was he actually serious? I thought back to the day before when he pointed his middle finger at us and pushed the mop towards him, "But well if you insist on helping, it'll be very much appreciated."

He stared wide-eyed at me, then at the mop. I pushed it towards him further, doesn't mean he's handsome means he can flip us off like that. Plus Roxy will be glad to know that I've somewhat taught him a lesson.

He frowned and took the mop unwillingly, walking inside to clean up the mess.

I smiled, it was weird, seeing a big man in my small cafe. 

"By the way," I called out, "I'm Serena. What's your name?"

He glanced up at me, his beautiful dark brown eyes gazing back, "I'm Benjamin, you can call me Ben."

I nodded and looked across the street, "What's your friend's name?"

Ben cleared his throat, "That's Austin."

"Your friend seems nice."

He scoffed and shook his head, "Well yeah, but not all the time."

"What do you mean?"

Ben pointed to the mop he was holding and I laughed, "He's a great friend."

"Serena! I'm here-" Roxanne stopped by the door and stared at Ben, then at the mess.

"Roxy this is Benjamin. Ben this is Roxanne," I introduced them to one another and both of them just nodded.

"I'm sorry, excuse us for a moment," Roxanne grabbed me and pulled me to the bathroom.

She shook me and I stared at her, "What?"

"What's that gorgeous human being doing here?!" 

I held her shoulders and shook her back, "I'm letting him know we're not to be easily pushed around."

She stared at me, "Oh my God you're punishing him?!"

"No not really, his friend dared him to help us out and he did."

She smiled dreamily, "His friend sounds really sweet."

I nodded, "His name is Austin by the way."

She smiled even wider, "Even his name is sweet."

I rolled my eyes and went to check on the air conditioner, the old man helped to replace our condenser and I paid him once he was done.

I cranked the air conditioner to the max and walked back out, seeing Ben clean up the last of the water. Roxanne was placing the ice cream into the display case while staring outside the shop at Austin.

Gosh, she's such a fangirl.

"Where do I put this?" Ben held the mop up and I put my hand out, "Just hand it to me."

He passed it to me and I accidentally touched his hand, I pulled back abruptly, the mop dropping to the ground.

I could feel the electricity buzzing in the air, it wasn't the good kind. I stared at Ben and he returned it, both of us dumbfounded.

His hand was freaking blazing hot. I've never felt anything hotter than that. What? Was being a hot guy not enough? Did he have to be hot?

I looked at my scalded finger and he looked at his. 

"Why are you so-" 

"Ben! I gotta need you to stop flirting and head back with me!" Austin popped his head into our cafe and all of us spun around to look at him. Everyone but Ben of course. He was scrutinizing me like a hawk that caught sight of his prey.

Roxanne ran over, greeting him quickly. While I looked back at Ben and continued our stare-off.

"Are you okay?" I asked, hoping to sound casual about it.

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just uh, um..."

"Okay let's get going, we'll chat with you girls again!" Austin draped his arm around Ben's neck and pulled him out of our cafe. 

***

We closed an hour early because Austin invited both of us over for dinner at their restaurant. It was really nice of him and we couldn't say no. He came over some time during the day, can't really remember when. I was kinda distracted by Ben's hawk-eye skills.

Ever since our accidental physical contact this morning, he has been staring at us from across the street the whole day.

Or at me. I don't know.

Even though I wasn't particularly looking forward to meeting Ben but it's been quite a while since we had some nice dinner and Roxanne was more than happy to be able to officially visit their restaurant.

"He's such a sweetheart isn't he?" Roxanne beamed at me and I couldn't help smiling back, "Yes he is Roxy."

She eyed me, "I have dibs on him. You can have Rude Ben."

"I thought you liked bad guys?"

"Yeah I did, until I saw how well you handled him this morning. Not so high and mighty after all," she rolled her eyes and I nudged her.

"Hey be nice, maybe he is facing some issues."

"Like what? Like staring at us the whole day for no reason? Look! He's still at it! What the fuck is wrong with him?!" She turned towards him and flipped him off.

I sighed as Ben turned away, "Roxy chill, please. Be nice, for me? Okay? We should go over, Austin will be waiting."

Her mood seemed to improve at the sound of his name and we closed up quickly to go over to their restaurant.

Roxanne was really sensitive, first impressions made a huge impact on her and Ben screwed it. Austin must have done well in that aspect though.

I wasn't particularly judgemental, but I also wasn't one to be pushed around.

We locked up, with Roxy nagging me about forgetting my keys again. I didn't forget on purpose it's just become a horrible habit of mine.

"You said you wanted your powers to be kept a secret so the very least you can do is remember your keys sweetie. Good thing the repair man didn't see your magical fingers in action," she grumbled and though I found it a tad bit annoying, it was also true.

"So, that weirdo you saw last night, you think he really has powers?" Roxanne mumbled.

I told her about the incident sometime during the day and she thinks I hallucinated the whole thing because of how sleep-deprived I was.

"I swear Roxy, he blew up the freaking bottle of alcohol. He even pointed his flaming palm at me," I yawned and she shook her head.

"Look I trust you, but you're crazy tired. And if he really exists you should be careful. You took more than a year to master your skills. I remember how many times you froze my face," she laughed it off and I did too.

I honestly don't remember how many times I froze her face. It was hard to keep track when it happened so frequently.

We stood outside the restaurant and I hugged her, "You're the best, the most annoying too. But definitely the best."

She scoffed and pulled away, "Come on, the guys are waiting." 

And we entered into the second hottest place ever, the first being the Sahara Desert. With Ben keeping his eyes on me, non-stop.