Buns & Beans was alive and well, but the baristas were livelier. Or so Francis would like to say. The three of them were behind the counter, doing their own thing. Lala to the coffee machine, You trying to do Latte art, and Francis waiting to bring those orders to their respective tables. But what ultimately brought them together was the topic of their conversation.

“Come to think of it, did Aki even introduce himself properly?” Francis asked, tapping his index finger on his chin.

“Thank you for asking that! He gave his name for his order, so it wasn’t like it was an invitation for me to say my name too.” Lala added as she finished up the Americano. “Plus, it was You who was managing the cashier when he first came in, so, again, it wasn’t me who greeted him.”

“Do not drag me into it.” You clicked his tongue, finally getting the Latte art right.

“Too late! Like it or not, you’re a part of this.”

“And what is this exactly?”

She paused at that, her face slowly going red like a tomato. Instead of answering him, she mumbled something about how the Americano was ready and practically shoved it on the counter. Francis chuckled at that as he took both orders and served it. Although, he got them mixed up, once again, with You shaking his head. This felt like a routine now, and Francis hoped despite his mistakes, he’d still get hired for real. He was going to get paid of course, but until Lala officially accepted him into her team, he was on the fence.

“Does he have to know my name?” Lala pursed her lips. “Like, maybe the current situation we have right now is fine.”

“No, come on! Getting to know each other’s names is a must.” Francis argued, because surely he’s right in this. How was character A going to proceed with character B if they don’t know their name? If this was a story anyway. Names were meant to be used, and it was also a sure sign of getting closer to someone!

“We’re not even anything!”

“But maybe you’re on the road to something? Like friendship, maybe?”

Lala paced back and forth to that, deep in thought as she gnawed on her thumb. She looked so stressed and worried that Francis wanted to reassure her there was nothing to worry about. Though maybe that wasn’t what she needed right now? He wasn’t sure. Oh, maybe she was overthinking this, so he went back behind the counter and ushered her to come close. When she did, he grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

“It’s fine! We’ll just take this one step at a time, yeah?”

“I— I guess?” Lala shakily said, an uneasy smile forming on her lips.

“Look, maybe Aki read your name tag. I don’t know.” You added, shrugging his shoulders.

“He keeps calling me ‘miss’ and I don’t know if that means he knows or not.”

“There’s also a chance that he knows, but just doesn’t bother to use it.”

“Now that’s mean! He doesn’t seem like the type to be like that. He’s all cool and chill with his mushroom beanie, hoodies, and Spanish Lattes. Oh, and the way his dark hair peeks out from under his beanie is so cute too… Maybe he’s shy, or just hasn't found the right time to use my name— if he knows, that is.”

“Why would he even wear a hoodie?” You scrunched his nose. “Living here in the Philippines is practically hell on earth.”

“Don’t judge him! You’re wearing a turtleneck sweater!” Lala whacked his shoulder.

“Because we have aircon in the coffee shop!”

Just then, an idea hit Francis as he lit up with a grin. “Lala, what if the next time Aki calls you ‘miss,’ you tell him he can call you by your name?”

“Oh.” Lala took a second to process it. “Oh my god, that’s genius!”

At that, both of them held hands and shook on it like comrades out in a battlefield. The battlefield being love and all that came with it. The good and bad, whatever may come their way! Now, it was only a matter of time until Aki showed up— or if he would show up. You eventually shooed at them like they were cats disrupting peace, telling them to quit it before he whacks them with a rolled up newspaper.

“We don’t have newspapers here.” Lala countered.

“Then maybe we should put some.” You raised a brow at her.

And then everything went on like usual. If anything, Francis found himself being bored out of his mind with the slow pace. There weren’t many customers today, so they were left to their own devices to keep themselves busy. While recounting what happened between Aki and Lala last time, Francis suddenly remembered something You said to him. Immediately, this brought more questions in his head, and he had to hear an answer for it.

“Say, You.” Francis looked over at the man pouring himself a mug of coffee.

“What?”

“You said it hasn’t been long since you started working here.”

“Yeah,” his eyes glazed over at him before looking down at his mug, “what about it?”

“But you also said you were hired on the first day Buns & Beans opened. Is there a story in there that I don’t know about?”

All of a sudden, Lala let out a snort and chuckle. This sparked interest in Francis, because there must be something then for her to react that way. So he moved closer to the two, leaning on the counter with his chin resting on the palm of his hand. He had a smile on his face, hoping they’d open up and share the story.

“Well, about that…” Lala looked at him, then at You who rolled his eyes.

“God, do not remind me of that day.”

“But I wanna know what happened!” Francis smiled even brighter.

“If you really want to know,” You settled his mug down on the counter, “this woman here stressed me out first thing that day.”

Lala looked away from him, innocently whistling like she had nothing to do with it. This only made him shake his head in disapproval. It was all very amusing to see.

“I remember being her only customer that time, because I said to myself why not give this new coffee shop a try? Expand my horizon, or whatever my mother would say. Although I should have choked on those words with what happened afterwards.”

“It was that bad?” Francis asked.

“For a customer? Yeah, it was.”

“I was trying my best that time!” Lala cried.

You frowned at that and took a sip of his coffee. “Were you? Jesus Christ.”

“I was!”

“So what exactly happened?” Francis pressed on, eager to hear more.

“I ordered Black Coffee because I wanted to see how good it was. I mean, it was the most common coffee order, so it shouldn’t have been that hard to make it, right?” He stared at the two for a few seconds. “Yet, somehow, what she served me was so repulsive, I had to ask for it to be replaced.”

“You were mad that time too, but I was confident the new one would be better…” Lala trailed off, poking her index fingers together.

“No, you somehow made it worse.”

“I know, you said that to my face that time!”

“I asked her to remake it the third time, because the third time has got to be the charm, or however that saying goes.” You sighed, rubbing his forehead. “But it was still so bad that I had to step in and show her how it was done. Like I literally went behind the counter and everything just for that.”

“No way!” Francis laughed and looked at Lala. “Really?” When she only pouted at that, he laughed some more with how amusing this all was.

“He even asked me if I knew how to make the other coffees, and I said yes, but he didn’t believe me! The audacity, you know? When someone says yes, shouldn’t your initial reaction be to trust them? You is such an untrusting grumpy man!” She crossed her arms across her chest, exhaling deep out through her nose.

“Hey, I spent the whole day teaching you how to properly make coffee, remember? Like really drilling it into that head of yours, until you got it all right.” You drank his coffee again. To destress or just because, Francis didn’t know. “Somewhere along there, she asked me if I wanted to work here, and that was that.”

“Wait, then who makes the sandwiches?” Francis glanced at the ones on display, noting how full and delicious they all looked. He could pack those up as his health snacks for his mercenary adventures, and immediately get to full health after taking a bite.

“That would be me!” Lala proudly patted her hand on her chest. “The best You can do is a peanut butter sandwich.”

“Me? I haven’t shown you my sandwich making skills yet.”

“Not you, Francis! I meant,” she pointed at the man, “You!”

“Oh! Right! I just got confused there for a sec.”

“That’s a fun story.” Someone else said, and Francis and the other two turned around to see Aki standing there by the cashier. How long has he been there? Lala didn’t look ready to speak to him just yet, so You took over at the cashier.

“Spanish Latte like usual?” He asked, already punching in the order.

“Yes, please, but can you add one chicken sandwich as well?” Aki then smiled at Lala. “I want to see how good your sandwiches are.”

“Uhm, I hope you’ll like it?” She smiled back at him.

“To go, or for here?” You asked before they could continue.

“For here.” Aki paid for his order, and smiled at Lala one more time.

Immediately, the woman turned to face the other way, her face beet red. She said something about needing to go to the backroom, and she was gone. This left the three men on their own, but Francis didn’t mind. If anything, he could use this chance to ask Aki what he thinks of her.

“That’s my boss, alright.” He started and leaned on the counter. “She means well, don’t worry.”

“I’m sure she does. She’s a very polite and soft spoken woman, so I have no doubt she means well.” Aki said, nodded his head.

His comment, however, made You look at Francis like he was in The Office. Polite and soft spoken woman? She’d yap anyone’s ear off even when they don’t prompt her to! Francis chuckled at that and patted You’s back, not knowing what to say. At least Aki didn’t look weirded out by their conversation. When he left to find a table, only then did Lala come back out.

“I’m already making the Spanish Latte. One of you better give that man his sandwich.” You said, busying himself with the machine.

“You heard him.” Francis placed the chicken sandwich on a plate, and handed it over to Lala. “I believe in you!”

The more Lala refused, the more he pushed her to get back out there until she had no choice but to keep going. She looked back at him one last time, and he gave her a thumbs up. Francis was confident nothing bad would happen anyway… right?