Two years later, when I turned eighteen, Mom disappeared, leaving me to take care of Kailee. Only good thing was that she left us with enough money to survive. And by survive, I mean scrape by.

I couldn’t afford to go to college, instead picking up a job at a fancy restaurant that enabled me to put away a bit of money for savings and Kailee’s college fund.

Thankfully, all the staff were nice and understanding about my situation, and after a year, we were in a bit of a better spot.

My boss motioned over to me. “JD, can we talk for a minute?”

It was surprising how many people managed to pronounce my name wrong. Also irritating, so I used my first and middle initials.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“This catering job is a big one. Also a long one. From two to two.”

In shock, I asked, “P.m. to a.m.?”

“Yep. I know you have your sister, so you can come late and finish early if you need to. I’ll still pay you for the full time.”

“No, I’ll ask if she can hitch a ride with one of her friends and stay there for the night.”

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.”

“All right then. I’ll text you the address tomorrow.”

“Gotcha. See you tomorrow.” I waved, then left.

~.~

“Hey, Kai,” I said, stepping in the door.

“Hey. How was work?”

“It was good. Just the usual. But tomorrow…”

She looked up at me, waiting for me to finish.

“We have a really long and late catering job. Is there a friend you could stay with for the night?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Lacey always lets me stay over whenever.”

“Okay, great. I’ll see you after school tomorrow?”

“Mhm. Make sure you get some sleep, ‘kay?”

“Don’t worry, I will.” I gave her a hug. “Love you, Kai.”

“Love you too, Uru.”

~.~

I drove to the banquet hall where we’d be serving. I wasn’t looking forward to staying up that long, but work was work, and I was fortunate to have any.

It wasn’t a far drive, and some of my coworkers arrived at the same time as I did so I didn’t have to walk in alone. Our boss laid out the schedule and plan for the night.

As soon as two o’clock hit, we were ready to serve.

The first hour or so went relatively unchallenged. No drinks spilled, no untimely allergic reactions, no one complaining about undercooked food…smooth, just how we liked it.

That is, until I saw a very familiar Underbrush man with blond hair and green eyes.

Of course, I pretended that he wasn’t there and kept serving. But he kept making eye contact with me.

This definitely wasn’t the best time or place for a sudden reunion.

He tried to signal that he recognized me, and I tried to signal for him to stop.

And then my boss…got the wrong idea.

“You should go over and serve them some appetizers,” he subtly suggested.

“No, I don’t think I’ve served that area over there yet.”

“Oh, come on, JD. I see the way you’re looking at him.”

“Listen, we were just friends a couple years back–”

“Get your single intersexual butt over there or I’m taking two percent off your paycheck.”

I sighed. “Yes, sir.”

I carried my tray of tiny appetizers over to him, where I noticed a woman clinging on to him.

Yep. This was a bad idea.

I still kept my course, serving them, hoping to turn back really soon.

But then he spoke. “Excuse me, do you have more of those round sweets?”

“Yeah, we do. I can go grab you two some, if you’d like.”

He nodded, then I was on my way.

Almost a disinterested conversation, except that he slipped something into my apron pocket while he was talking.

I looked at it when I went to pick up a tray of sweets.

It read: We’ll talk. Text me, so I can text you back.

He scribbled his number on the bottom.

The sensible thing would be to ignore it and move on. It had been three years, and he had a girlfriend. I was broke, and he looked pretty rich.

It would be nice to catch up, at least… I thought.

Who was I kidding? Of course I wanted something I couldn’t have…I’d always been that way.

Shaking off those thoughts, I entered his new number and texted him before I could change my mind. Then I continued serving, like I was paid to do.

~.~

Eleven struck, and the catering died down a bit. My boss was finally able to get to me and ask, “Did anything happen?”

“He gave me his number.”

“Progress!”

“You basically threatened me.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “I’m looking out for you.”

By setting me up with a rich guy so I can have my money problems handled? How sweet.

I just thanked him and went on break.

My phone buzzed. It was from his new number.

“I see you out on the patio. Can I join?”

I smiled. Sure.

He walked out onto the patio, standing next to me.

“It’s been a long time, Jiyuru.”

“Could say the same to you, Mara.”

“Three years, right?”

“Last time I checked.”

“You’re still very attractive.”

I snorted. “Are you hitting on me?”

He shrugged. “Could be. It’s true though.”

“Well, thank you. You’re also still very attractive.”

He started to say something, but then his phone dinged. “Ugh.”

“What’s up?”

“My ‘girlfriend’ wants to know where I am.”

“Guessing it’s one-sided?”

“Pretty sure my parents are paying her to keep an eye on me. Looks good for the company too. Not like I actually want to be the next CEO, but no one cares about that.” He looked at me. “I’m not gonna let her ruin my night. How have you been?”

“To be honest, not that great.”

His eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Why not?”

“My mother disappeared last year, so I can barely afford to keep us alive.”

“She’s just gone?”

“Yep…On my eighteenth birthday.”

“Oh, Jiyuru…That’s so wrong…How’s Kailee?”

“She’s always been mature for her age, so she recovered quickly after the initial shock. Currently saving up for her to go to college next year.”

“That’s very responsible of you. Couldn’t afford to go yourself?”

“Not at all.” I nodded towards him. “If you don’t want to be the CEO, what do you want to do?”

“I’m already doing it,” he said, sighing. “I’m an author. Published a novel, working on a series. I write under an alias, because if my parents found out, they’d advertise it for my campaign as CEO.”

“Ooh, that sucks,” I said.

“Yeah. I know I should just do it because my parents worked really hard to get to a position like this, but I absolutely cannot handle being a businessman. Wow, it feels really good to finally say all this.”

“Everyone around you seems to be against you, huh?”

“Ohhh, yeah. Don’t even have control over my own love life.”

“To be fair, one person you dated technically made you have to disappear.”

“Debatable. You know what’s not debatable about that person?”

“What?”

“They are the only one I’ve ever loved.”