After hours of prep, the first thing I smell when I push through the kitchen doors is burnt garlic. If he mixed it into the base sauce, he is so dead.

“Marco, tell me you didn’t just put that in the sauce…”

Marco looks away, scratching his neck. I didn’t even feel like repeating myself, my sigh and tone already conveyed my disappointment.

“Marco… Please, man. Don’t do this to me.” I don’t even know why I dipped the spoon in. I knew it was fucked before I put it in my mouth. I guess training doesn’t leave you, I always taste everything. “Cony! Cony! 86 the pork with the garlic sauce. We won’t be serving that tonight.”

“Alright, I’ll let the servers know.” Cony screamed from the front of the kitchen.

“Geonsu, I’m sorry.” Marco was holding his face in his palms. I could never get mad at a simple mistake, however, he must find it hilarious, because he busted out laughing.

“Yeah, I see how sorry you are. Next time, you’ll peel all that garlic. Here, smell my fingers. You like that?” The only thing I could do was tease him and laugh along. What else was there to do?

The day went like usual. It’s almost 8 pm now, we’ve been open for almost 3 hours. The rush hour was behind us, so now we only get appetizers and desserts to send out. I don’t want to jinx it, but I feel like we’ll be able to close sooner. I seemed to not be needed, so I decided to go smoking. After I closed the door behind me, I sat down on the bench in complete darkness. Since summer passed, the nights are not as warm anymore. I should have worn long sleeves today. If it’s this fresh and cool in September, I don’t want to feel December.  Since I started working here, the Burlesque club was there. I didn’t interact much with the ladies or the servers, but sometimes if someone was missing a lighter, we would exchange lighters or even cigarettes.

I heard someone walking through the alley, so I glanced back on instinct. Oh, the weekend guy. He started working weekends here around a couple of months ago, I think? This time, his outfit caught my eye, so I did a double take. Somehow, every week, the outfits got more interesting.

He wore a coat, rather flimsy, so I couldn’t see what top he had on, but the rest I could see. He had fishnets on and a velvet skirt with a deep cut on the sides, almost reaching his hips. He had some thick black boots on. With every step, his leg pushed the long skirt towards the inside of his legs, showing off almost his entire leg. How was he not cold? He seemed to have some gloves on, also velvet, but the only finger covered was the middle finger, and not even fully. It was rather a statement glove. I wondered how high on his arm it reached. And a coffee in his hands. If I drank coffee at this hour, I would be awake until tomorrow and would close the whole kitchen by myself and then have a heart attack. I could not see his face properly, but through the lights reflecting from the windows onto him, I saw something sparkling on the left side of his mouth. He had long, black straight hair. More, I could not identify. I stubbed out my cigarette and went back inside.

It was not closing time yet, 30 minutes to go until we started to clean up. However, nothing much was going on so I gave the go for closing. As I was putting the pans away, I saw that the back door of the club open. I noticed because the light caught my eye. It was velvet guy. He left? It’s kind of soon for that. Whatever. 10 minutes later, I look outside again and there he goes, coming back. Coffee in his hands? Again? That must be for one of the ladies. He cannot consume so much coffee himself. That would be insane.

We finished cleaning up and headed home. Thank God I didn’t have to open tomorrow morning. I hate Monday’s breakfast prep.

After a month, I realized the second coffee wasn't a one-time thing. Every weekend, he would disappear through the alley door and come back with another cup in hand. Sometimes it was two. Once, I swear it was three. He must buy them for his coworkers. But then, why wouldn’t he buy 3 at once? The way he keeps going back and forth for single cups makes me think he really does drink them alone.

“Geonsu, I have the veal. Plate?” Tristan pulled me back to what I was supposed to do.

“Yeah. Marco, did you plate yours?”

“Yes, chef.”

“Okay. Go, table 20!”

“Oh, Geonsu your plating is amazing!” Ray said.

I don’t know what he’s trying to achieve by saying that. The one he complimented was Marco’s. Is he trying to tell me I suck at plating?

“Hey, Amira. Would you be able to drink 2 cups of coffee or espresso at this hour, and be fine?”

“What? I mean, if I had to stay awake, I would drink 2 cups. But I don’t know if I would feel fine.”

The moment she finished her sentence, I saw outside the window the coffee guy, smoking with the ladies. And what do you know, a cup of… is that espresso in his hands?

"What are you looking at?" Amira asked me.

"Nothing."

"You've been staring out that window for five minutes."

"I'm not staring."

"You're literally staring."

“Table 5 still didn’t get their lemon tart, Amira.” I smiled at her.

Does he drink hot coffee because he is cold? I mean, with those outfits… as best as I could see, he was wearing a lace tank top and stacked necklaces. His jacket was not long enough, maybe because his tank top was more of a crop top and his jeans were low rise. At least he had pants on this time. He seems to love those boots though. At some point, I started recognizing him before I consciously spotted him.

By the end of October, I had accepted that Coffee Guy would rather freeze to death than wear sensible clothes. Today though, he seemed to wear more textile. I didn’t know how thick or warm the material was, but he had some black pants on. Looked like leather, rather tight. At least it didn’t seem to be low rise like other times. This time his outfit was rather underwhelming, something unexpected. I saw him walk inside the club, holding a coffee again. He loves coffee. At this point, there is no denying. And lately he seemed to be going to a different shop, because the cups looked different.

After the rush was over, I could relax a bit. We still had some dishes to do, but we were waiting for Ray to tell us if his table was almost done with the entrees. I don’t like crowding the table of clients with food. I want them to enjoy everything in order. And starting the main dishes too soon would mean they would be cold if we waited for them to finish. So, we were chilling around the kitchen. For a second, I thought I was losing my mind. I saw one of the ladies wear a very over-the-top superwoman costume.

“Hey, Amira. What date is it tod…” I cannot remember if I finished my sentence, I just remember blinking hard, trying to figure out if my mind was playing tricks on me.

Stepping outside, I could see him very well this time, because their back door remained open. Coffee guy, full on one-piece tight leather costume. He must have changed his shoes, I remember he walked in with his favorite boots. Now, he was wearing knee high boots with a reasonable heel. The one-piece seemed to have a zipper in the front, I think. I do not know, but I also saw something hanging in the back. It was a cat tail. He even had cat ears on. He was dressed as a black cat… It was Halloween.

"Stop staring at the burlesque employee and plate." Amira startled me.

“Who?” Marco asked. It seems like not having much to do meant they were in my business.

“The server guy. With long black hair.”

Marco approached us and Chris followed him. I didn’t have time to say anything, I was suddenly behind them, as they were moving closer to the window.

“I love the ears. Hey, this looks super cool!” Marco looked back at me and nodded his head, as if approving.

“Is he a guy? No way. He’s so pretty!” Chris said.

Now even the front of the house got curious, Ray approached, asking what we were looking at. The explanation was provided and he crossed his arms.

“The outfit looks rather cheap. The ears don’t work on him, and his arms are too muscular for that top.” Ray said.

“What? Are we looking at the same thing?” Chris looked pissed. “I don’t know what your problem is, he’s pretty.”

Without thinking much about everything Ray remarked on, I opened my mouth. One thing was working on him and that was… “I like the ears on him. They have something…” I closed my mouth. It was too late though.

They were now elbowing to each other looking at me. What was going on? Whatever. Have these people never seen an adult Halloween costume?

"You people are unbelievable. Start number 7." I said.

Nobody moved. I was about to repeat myself when Marco turned around and headed toward his station. Chris turned soon after, and he did what he always does. Being unfunny.

“Meow!”

He fucking meowed at me. Marco was losing his mind laughing, even Amira heard him from her station.

“One more sound out of you and I'm putting you on dish duty.”

Ridiculous. I knew they were immature, but this was annoying now. I do think the ears were losing their shape because his hair was also very dark, but the way they blended in with his hair made it look like the ears were truly a part of him. On the other hand, the tail was unnecessary. Especially because it moved every time he turned around. Where would you even fix that on the costume…

“Ah, fuck!” I grabbed the stainless-steel handle without a towel. I didn’t burn myself badly, but it stung.

“Oh, are you okay?” Chris asked.  

“Yeah, I am fine. Don’t wo…”

“Did you know,” he grinned “cats lick themselves when they are hurt?”

Marco busted out laughing, some other guys were chuckling too. I was so pissed.

It took Chris a month to stop meowing. Either he got bored of the joke or got tired of dish duty. November seemed rough at the club. I keep on seeing coffee guy take more short breaks outside. Sometimes, he’s not even smoking, he just stands next to the ladies, breathing in the fresh air, closing his eyes and releasing his warm breath, fogging the air above his head.

Today, however, during rush hour, the kitchen got very hot, so I decided to leave the door open, at least while I was smoking, to cool the kitchen down. While working, I hear another door slam a brick wall and someone crying. It came from the club, so I instinctively looked over. One of the ladies was having a rough day it seemed. I didn’t know if I should tell her anything, given that we have never interacted before. I also didn’t want her to feel like she was watched by some stranger and then approached while in a vulnerable state. Before I could make up my mind, someone followed her outside. Coffee guy was comforting her. I couldn’t hear them well, but it seemed she messed up the end of her number on stage. He comforted her for a bit, holding her hand and nodding his head in agreement with whatever she was saying. Then he suddenly pulled away. I felt bad for her. Your only source of comfort leaves like that? So suddenly?... Oh, he came back. He brought her water it seemed and the cup of coffee he had in his hands when he walked in to work. For such a coffee lover to sacrifice his coffee… She hugged him and they went inside, hand in hand. My cigarette was long finished, but I still stood for a while. I stepped inside after they entered first.

“Damn, Geonsu. Your smoke breaks take longer and longer lately. I stepped up for you!” Marco whined. I don’t get the issue, he is capable enough to do it without me, so I should be able to take 5 more minutes of break if I feel like it.

“Leave him be, he needed his nicotine fill. Did you smoke two though? You were out there pretty long.” Tristan remarked. Since when did they start to time my smoke break? I don’t always take this long. I wanted to make sure they were both fine.

“I think a coffee fill will make him feel better.” Chris was at it again, opening his mouth and spouting stupid stuff. It didn’t help that everyone was silently laughing, not wanting to make it obvious. But to my annoyance, we all knew what he meant.

“Watch out, you’re burning the vegetables.” I could only deflect. Was I so obvious? What was I even doing right now?

He must have felt the need to stand by her side the whole night, maybe… Because each time I glanced outside, he didn’t go to buy another coffee to replace the one gifted.