Glasses 2

Chapter 3: Taxi

The next day, I woke up with a terrible feeling. I was really drunk last night with Gino and Patrick that I didn't even know how I got home.

My head still hurts from hangover and this is the first day I'll be taking over the coffee shop.

That's when I realized it's already late. I took my medicine for headache and got myself ready to go in a flash. And then I arrived at the coffee shop in no time.

"Sigurado ka bang hindi mo na kailangan ng tulong Riley?" (Are you sure you don't need help, Riley?) asked Aunt Leah.

I'm putting on my serving apron then. This is also the apron I used when I was still working in the US and I'm still using it.

"Kaya ko na po ito, tita. Thank you sa pag-asikaso sa lahat habang wala pa po ako." (I think I can manage. Thank you for taking care of the shop Auntie.) I said.

"Wala 'yon pamangkin. Hindi naman ako masyadong busy." (Don't mention it Riley. I'm not that busy anyway.) Aunt Leah answered.

"Ah tita. Pakisabi na rin po thank you kay Luan." (Right auntie, please also tell Luan that I want to thank her.) I said. Luan is Aunt Leah's daughter. She's my cousin. She helped Aunt Leah to run the shop.

"Oh, okay. Makakarating." (Oh, okay. I will) she said.

Somehow I know my expression changed while talking about Luan.

Luan and I haven't seen each other since we're in college. She has been studying abroad and went back to the Philippines a year or two ago.

She's nice. She and I are not that close to each other but she helped me anyway. Probably because of that special reason.

Anyway, the customers are coming. The shop became busy that day.

There are times that I remember the dream I had yesterday. I find it hard to think of something else so I was very cautious. I often check out the customers secretly, checking if there is a Jordan figure around.

There is this one instance that a lady, seriously drinking her cappuccino, saw me standing behind a decorative plant looking at everyone. She quickly grabbed her things giving me a disgusting glare before leaving.

I was shocked but at the same time I found it funny. And then I realized, I can't do that everyday. I just can't.

What if he's a journalist? My reputation and my business will go down the drain.

At first I'm not sure if I can do this alone after getting through my first day, I pretty much have gotten the hang of it.

It's been a few days since I took over the shop. Aunt Leah has often visited me and offered help since she's worried about me.

I have to thank her for always being my second mother. If not for her, I wouldn't even know what I wanted to do.

At first I was planning to put up a cake shop. But then I realized I want a coffee shop instead.

It's popular and the customers have more choices. And when they have different things to choose from, there will be more reasons for them to stay too.

When I was in the US, I have worked in a coffee shop in a managerial position for a year. And after saving money, I decided to put up my own here.

Thinking about it, it's not easy. First, it's not easy to decide what a person really wanted in life. Second, it's not easy to take a risk.

That's business.

But, also thinking about it, it's not that complicated as one may think. It's just about that one thing that makes me happy that I should do. And I found it.