I take the subway back to where Jan's kindergarten was located, I remember that I had seen a coffee shop a little ahead of where I had met him. Hoping to get a job at the place even though it's almost late in the evening.

 'It's closer to his kindergarten, so I might just end up meeting them soon enough' is the first thought that crosses my mind and  I continue to make way towards my destination, happily...

 

Soon I'm standing in front of the almost empty coffee shop which is in a two-story building with the Cafe being on the ground floor. The interiors are done in an exquisite 'Fantasy theme' with the walls depicting various fictional or mythical characters but with a touch of abstractness... The most captivating is the wall with a phoenix arising from flames but with a tail that has rainbow shades making it look absolutely mesmerizing!

I stand there admiring the beauty through the squeaky clean glass window which stretches the entire front

Why a coffee shop you might ask???

 

Actually, it has a very sad story linked to it...

.

.

.

Nah.... not really! 

It's just that I'm very much a good-for-nothing, socially awkward geeky guy who can work best when left alone.  Also back in the center, I was responsible for making coffee and some basic foodstuff for the superiors. in addition to that, we were prohobited education beyond 8th grade making it impossible to land a proper job...

Anddd yes, we were home-schooled at the center... Or should I say centre-schooled???  Well, that sounds so stupid!

 Anyway, the bottom line is that they gave us minimum education without any certification to prove it while our identities were also stripped from us only numbers remained in the name of identification. The name I have been using is I guess my given name... not sure though... I barely remember anything.

So yeah that brings me back to the point where I'm still illiterate to the world. Not complaining though... who loves school anyways??

However, when it comes to feeding yourself, though it hurts or seems like not worth the effort, you should still study hard... Not to please your parents or any relatives or even your crush for that matter, but, to earn yourself the level of living you genuinely aspire to have! 

Well to make things clear, I never enjoyed schooling just the art part of it was fun. I also picked up an interest in making different types of coffee and drinks while baking along the way. 

So yep! That brings me back to the present and still in front of the coffee shop. I jump out of my skin and back in when I see a beautiful woman intently studying me from the other side of the glass wall. 

'What's up with all the beauties walking the earth all of a sudden!' my inner Devil grins.

She gestures towards the entry to which I nod and nervously oblige. Guess she noticed me staring at the shop for too long.

'Stop right there!' I hush my overly anxious inner Angel and continue to make my way inside the Cafe.

'If she was going to call the cops, she wouldn't have called me inside' I reassure myself a final time and open the door.

Well, let's find out what my dead luck holds! I sigh and walk up to where the lady is sitting which is also beside the same glass frame from where I had been staring inside...

"Hello there young man! Have a seat. How may I help you?" She asks me with a gentle voice, urging me to take a seat across from her. 

The woman now sitting in front of her seems to be in her late 20s. She has long black hair pulled back in a high ponytail while she has styled herself in a blue-white striped formal shirt which is tucked into white bell bottom trousers with matching white heels making the outfit look flawless. She has makeup on but it is in moderation and suits her well. 

Her attire is accompanied by a gold necklace with a thin chain and a small butterfly pendant that has blue gems studded in its wings paired with similar butterfly earrings tops. She seems to be an Asian with that smooth porcelain skin and stunning monolid cat eyes. Her small nose complements her small face and the widely stretched yet full red lips of hers provide an impression of a Goddess who always has an ethereal smile on their face! 

to top it all this lady has some great fashion sense at least in my eyes!

"He-hello I was just passing by and.... since I'm job hunting... I thought if this place had any work that I could take up since I don't have any formal education... and my ID got stolen recently... so it's been hard to get by..." I answer her shyly with zero confidence in my abilities and lies.

"Well sweetie I could use your help, but do you know how to make coffee or anything around the kitchen for that matter?" She asks her smile never fading for a second. 

Her words boost my confidence slightly and nod aggressively,

"Yes! I can prepare some drinks and can bake too!" I say getting a little excited while fidgeting with my hands. 

She chuckles and clasps her hands making a clapping sound,

"That's great! You're hired! I was getting tired of hiring kids and then teaching them stuff around, I hope you'll help this old lady" she says smiling ear to ear.

  

"But you look so young, Miss!" I blurt without thinking.

She blushes red making her look even more prettier and then erupts into an equally beautiful laughter...

 

"Well boy, I have a cheeky brat of a son who might be around your age, though I wish he was cute like you! So yesss this woman is old!" she says still holding a wide grin.

"But thank you so much for the compliment Sweetie!" she thanks with blinding happiness.

"Oh! how stupid of me, my name's Emily, glad to have you on board!" She extends her hand out.

"I'm Alexander," I tell her my name, taking her hand for a quick handshake.

"Well, I'm gonna call you Alex if that's fine. And when you'd like to start?" she enquires.

"Yes Ma'am, Alex is fine... I can start right away" I reply eagerly.

"Emily is fine Sweetie and my son Max is gonna be here soon, he helps me around sometimes, I hope you guys can become friends. Of course only if you wish to, since my son is an oddball" She sighs and I just do what I'm the best at, which is nod in agreement. 

"And it's absolutely great to see you excited for work Alex but we are already near the closing time so why not just have a chat!" she chirps happily.

Emily talked about different things for a while, which I am thankful for since I just had to nod. After she ran out of topics she made a 'thinking' pose and said,

"If you have got some time why not make some drinks to demonstrate your skills for today? You can start working tomorrow morning." 

I gladly take on the opportunity with a small but excited "Yes!". Emily showed me around the place while informing me about the placements of the usually needed items. After the brief tour, she left me behind to attend to a customer, since one part-timer had already left and the remaining one was getting things ready for closing the shop. 

Emily had told me to grab the ingredients required to make the drinks from the pantry and the main kitchen to help myself around as I stood right behind the counter.

After successfully gathering all the ingredients I settled on making Vanilla and hazelnut-flavoured frappes and a classic cold coffee for Emily since I remembered her telling me how she hated any add-ons in her coffee. 

Also, the excitement caused me to bake cupcakes to go with the drinks since I wanted to thank Emily for hiring me...

The last customer left after 30 minutes and it took another 30 minutes for Emily and the part-timer to change the sign to 'Closed' and clean up after that which gave me enough time to finish preparing the decided items at the same time freaking out for using extra stuff since the muffins were not asked for...

"Something smells delicious! Somewhat like blueberries and vanilla!" Emily appears out of nowhere with her eyes full of eagerness to know the delicacy responsible for the aroma...

"Well... I'm sorry for not taking permission first, but, I prepared some blueberry-choco-chip muffins to go with the drinks...I wanted to thank you for the job," I say fidgeting with my black apron avoiding her eyes. 

"That's greattt Alex!" She exclaims eyeing the freshly baked batch of muffins that I had set aside for cooling.

"Good food is always a big yes! Thank you for your hard work Sweetie!" she says... rather squeals excitedly like a small kid excited for their favourite snack which is cute.

Emily calls the part-timer who has now changed into her casual wear. This girl looks plain at first sight, but, she looks really pretty if you keep trying to look hard enough which I obviously do NOT recommend! 

While on her shift she responded cutely to certain customers but her demeanor changed completely into an unbothered teenager when she turned around. 

The girl's name might be Nora since that's what Emily kept calling her. She is almost my height and her hair is colored in a beautiful shade of violet streaks mixed in her natural blond hair which is tied into two pigtails... She is dressed in loose baggy pants with a purple sleeveless crop top that has 'ARMY' written on the back with a pair of white Converse and cute bunny earrings completing the look. 

This girl really has a thing for purple color since even her phone case is the same shade as her top, which has a whale and some chibi cuties riding on it. Even though she is walking towards us, her head is completely submerged in her phone while she keeps tapping aggressively on her screen. 

However, something grabs her attention ( And that something is obviously not me guys!). 

Her head jolts up and she suddenly has stars in her eyes, "Blueberry muffins!" Nora exclaims which has both Emily and me smiling at her genuine cuteness. 

"Nora sweetie, this is Alex. He'll be joining us from tomorrow! Anddd yes he has prepared the muffins for us!" Emily breaks the news to her. 

"So Alex, as you can see this is our cutie Nora. Though she seems underage, she is older than you and has been working here for quite a while, so you can ask her anything concerning work." Emily introduces us to which I obviously just nod.

"These are sooo delicious Alex!" Emily and Nora exclaim in unison, stuffing their mouth with another big bite of the muffin and sipping on the coffee also diverting my attention from my internal drama.

"I'm glad you like them!" I smile with a blush.

'Yeah, I'm weak to compliments! Who isn't?' Mentally rolls eyes. 

Nora requests for two more muffins to take home, which I pack for her happily. Emily is also on her second muffin and we are now seated at the counter watching Nora leave through the exit.

"Hey, Mom I'm home...Bye Mom I'm going out" a guy flashes before our eyes, as a boy enters, he grabs some food from the fridge and charges out equally fast!

But Emily catches him by his shirt in the blink of an eye! And pulls the boy along grabbing his ear which is now turning red...

"Oww! Ouch! Mommmm! Sorry! I'm not leaving I promise!! Oww!!!" the boy screeches dramatically and tries to wriggle his way out without success.

 

"Maxwell Joseph Wilson! You are going to help me with the dishes, right now!" She yells, leaving her son's ear and placing both her hands on her waist to portray the perfect picture of an angry mother.

The boy mutters something under his breath but starts walking towards the sink. However, he abruptly turns around and catches me watching him...

"The fuck you're looking at dumbass?" He barks for which he instantly earns a perfect smack at the back of his head from Emily.

"Don't you dare take it out on Alex. And start doing the dishes already. Did you forget you're grounded for the stunt you pulled last Sunday young man?" She glares at him as if challenging him to do otherwise.

Whoa! Emily can totally spit fire when needed. I definitely don't want to be on the receiving end! I mentally take a note to never test Emily's patience. 

Max drags his feet towards the sink and starts putting on the apron and gloves slowly. Well even though I don't like the crazy son, I remember Emily's words and I decided to be the bigger person.

I walk to him with the remaining 4 muffins set on a plate. At first, he glares which causes me to push the plate towards his face while I hide behind it. The sight of the food thankfully brightens him up and he tosses the gloves away instantly, washes his hands, and devours all the muffins hungrily.

"Mmm thee aa defisous!" (they are delicious) he tries to speak with a mouthful.

"Thanks" I mumble when he settles down and head back to clean up the mess I had created while making the treats.

"Sorry, I yelled at you...before," Max says in a low voice as he stands sipping the frappe at the corner of the counter.

'So he's just a cheeky brat like his mom said' I think to myself. I understand why Emily wants me to befriend him. He seems nice, just a little dumb though. 

"No worries," I say smiling and looking up to meet the boy's eyes for the first time. He holds his hand forming a fist and ushers me to respond... I decide that he is harmless and bump fists with him which results in the declaration of the advent of our friendship while earning him another light smack from Emily, but, this time she had a small smile lighting her up.

"I told you not to be so forceful with your friends Max!" she scolds her son as he resumes his chores.

'Well, this isn't bad... So, guess my tongue gets tied only when I have to speak with Dan?' I mentally shrug and close the matter.

It was getting late and Emily had told me to leave the cleaning business to Max who had surprisingly accepted with a nod. Bless the duo for that!

So after saying my goodbyes I started walking towards my hideout... which is a small rundown place where not even animals visit. I had stumbled upon the place while avoiding a suspicious man that kept following me and I have spent two nights there since then without trouble.

So yeah, I could not allow Dan to take me ""Home"" since I don't have one! 

'I just need to concentrate on earning some money for now... and... I already have a job that pays well...' I try to calm down my peeking anxiety as I reach my place.

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