Grand Theft Auto V: Los Santos moonlight

Niko's coffee girl crush || Chapter 18

Hey, it's me, Niko. Bet you weren't expecting to see me today, were you? Hey, it surprised me too. I don't even know why I'm the focus today to be honest, it's not like anything that interesting has happened to me lately. I mean, I've been doing the same thing every day. Still working at Roman's cab company, the usual...
...Well, actually... There is one thing. There's this coffee shop I've been going to frequently the past few months. I do like the coffee and food there, but I usually don't go to a coffee shop this often for just that reason. Thing is, there's this one girl, this barista that works there. I've talked to her almost every time I've been there. I've gotten to know her a lot more, and... I think I'm starting to like her? Ah, not starting, I've liked her for a while now. I still haven't told her yet. I think it's because...
"Niko, hey!" I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Roman calling and waving to me from the entrance of the coffee shop. Roman was gone for days going on a car delivery trip, and he just returned home this morning, so he wanted to hang out with me here this morning.
I waved back to Roman casually, who sat down in the chair across from me.
"Niko, you doing alright? You looked like you were in real deep thoughts or something." Roman asks.
"Yeah, just a lot on my mind is all..." I responded, taking a sip of my coffee. "How'd your trip go? You were gone for many days... Where exactly did you go?"
"Ah, um... We'll, you see..." Roman chuckled nervously. "It's complicated, but I... Uh..."
"Y'know, Roman... I saw that Sofija's car isn't at her apartment anymore..." I state, Roman's gaze nervously looking away from me.
"Really? Geez, I wonder what happened to it..."
I was silent, keeping a serious gaze fixated on Roman as i took another sip of coffee. "That delivery trip... You took Sofija's car down to Los Santos... Didn't you?"
"Uh... Well..." Roman's nervous expression quickly faded away, as he let out a sigh. "Ah... Yeah, I did."
"Are you fucking kidding me?! Why the hell didn't you tell me about this?" I quickly snapped at him. "I could have come down there with you! Come on Roman, you know how worried I've been about her..."
"I'm sorry, cousin! I just really wanted to see her myself..." Roman says, a look of guilt crossing his face.
"I can't believe this..." I grumbled, staring down at the table silently as I sighed. "Is she... Is she at least... Doing fine out there?"
"I mean yeah, she seems to be doing well!" Roman says. "She did tell me about a bunch of dangerous jobs she was doing, though..."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Bank robberies, working for the government..." Roman states. "I don't know the specifics though, she didn't seem like going into detail about it..."
"Fuck... I can't stand not being able to do anything about this." I sighed. "I really should have moved down there with her. Or at least take a trip down there..."
"Hey, I'm worried about her too cousin, but isn't your friend Packie helping her out down there?" Roman asks. "I mean, she told me that he helped her out of the situation with that girl Karen."
"I know, and I'm grateful for his help, but it's still not the same unless I'm doing it myself..." I replied, looking back up at Roman. "I just don't have the money to afford a trip down to Los Santos right now. But I've started saving up the money for it..."
"That's good... I'll make sure to send all the good tippers your way then!" Roman says.
"Yeah, that'd be nice... Thanks, Roman."
"Yeah! Of course. And try not to worry too much about her... I mean hey, she's the toughest girl I know!" Roman says confidently. "Hell, if she stays in that city any longer, I can see her taking it over!" Roman chuckled. "You and me, Niko... We're both raising and raised the most badass daughters out there! If we couldn't take over Liberty City, our daughters will take on that legacy for us! I can see it now... Sofija Bellic, queen of Los Santos! And Katie Bellic, once she's older... Queen of Liberty City!"
"Yeah? I guess that'd beat having her get killed down there." I say, chuckling and smiling a bit, but I could feel my smile quickly fading away again. "I still can't help but worry, though. I think she's dealing with creeps down in LS as well."
"Creeps? What are you talking about?" Roman asked.
"Here..." I pulled out my phone, opening up the LifeInvader social media website. I opened up my profile, scrolling down to a specific comment and showing the screen to Roman.
"This weirdo... His name's Trevor Philips." I say. I was showing Roman a comment from this Trevor. He had commented on my profile, saying: 'IM GONNA FUCK YOUR DAUTER!! HAHAHAHAHA'
"This guy's commented on Sofija's profile too." I state, Roman looking at the screen.
"Niko, you really need to private your LifeInvader profile, man." Roman chuckled.
"I know, I just don't know how. I haven't used LifeInvader enough to figure that out." I replied.
"I'll show you later... Hey, can I see this for a sec?" Roman asks. I handed him my phone, Roman scrolling on it for a bit as he nervously chuckled.
"Um, Niko... Sofi's profile says that her and this Trevor guy are friends." Roman says.
"What?!" I quickly took my phone back from Roman, looking at her profile in disbelief. "No way in hell... My daughter wouldn't be friends with a creep like this!"
Ugh, I really don't like this... I need to meet this Trevor guy once I come down to Los Santos. And if I find out he's doing anything bad or creepy to Sofija... I won't hesitate to blow his fucking brains out.
"Ugh, fuck this shit..." I groaned, putting my phone back in my pocket as I nearly face planted into the table.
"Niko, are you sure there isn't anything else on your mind?" Roman asks. "You just seem, uh... Off lately..."
"Yeah, well... There was... Something else I wanted to talk to Sofija about in person." I replied, lifting my head off the table again. "I'm just... Not entirely sure if I should tell her yet..."
"Hmm... Let me guess... Does this... Have to do with Sofija's mother?" Roman asked.
"Yeah... You read my mind."
I still feel ashamed of myself for the way Sofija was brought into this world. Sofija's mother... She was a prostitute that I had a one night stand with, back in Yugoslavia. I still don't even know exactly why I decided to sleep with her that night all those years ago... Stupidity? Desperation? Probably... No, definitely a mix of both. I remember being in a rough state of mind back then, I think I just did it to relieve my stress somehow.
Of course months later, I suddenly get a call from her family out of nowhere that she's pregnant with my baby. And even more months later, days after Sofija was born... Her mother basically showed up at my doorstep, said 'she's your problem now'... And left. I never saw her again.
I was the one who had to raise her almost entirely by myself... I'm just lucky my own mother helped me out, or I don't know what I would have done back then. And I've never told Sofija a single thing about her mother... Not even once. It felt like the right thing to hide this from her, but the longer time has passed, the worse I'm starting to feel about it. I mean, it's not like I hid this from her for no reason... I know Sofija already has a ton of self esteem issues. She constantly feels like she's a burden to myself and everyone else around her. It's bad enough that she feels like this already... You think it's gonna go over well if I look my own daughter in the eyes and tell her that her own mother wanted nothing to do with her? But on the other hand, it feels wrong to hide something that important from her. I just don't know anymore...
"Are you... Gonna tell her about her mother, Niko?" Roman asks. "I'm sure she's thought about it before..."
"I'm honestly not sure anymore... You think I should tell her?" I asked.
"I mean, that's your decision cousin, but... At the very least, I'd think about telling her." Roman replies.
"Yeah... I will." I let out a sigh, the both of us silent for a bit. As I continued drinking my coffee, Roman's gaze was darting around the coffee shop.
"Hey, Niko... Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure... What is it?"
"Which girl here is the one that you have a crush on?" Roman asks.
"Wh-what?!" I nearly choked on my coffee in shock. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't have a crush on anyone here." I lied.
"Hmm... Is it her?" Roman asks, pointing to a random barista.
"No, it's not."
"...Is it her?" Roman pointed to another girl serving food at another table.
"No, it's not her either."
"...What about her?" Roman pointed to another barista...