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Once they've gotten the delivery service up and running, there was a quite a few calls coming in. At least more than they thought. It got to a point where Alex thought that soon they'll be no more customers actually coming in to the cafe.
One customer in particular that they kept getting orders from was the same guy that came into the cafe the other day. Alex recognized his uh unique voice.
"Gosh, he should really just make sure he has everything he wants before hanging up and then calling back in a few hours."
Alex just smiled at that while setting the phone back on the hook. He didn't really mind. He'd take any excuse to get out of being stuck up in the cafe all day.
Alex went to hang up his apron. "I don't mind, I'll go. It's fine." It'll be his last task for the day before he clocked out.
"Would you really? Not to sound rude or anything. But also, you've been going mostly all day with the deliveries. If only we had more workers," murmured Sara. Yeah, they really did need more than just the three of them there.
"Yeah it's fine. Besides, I've practically memorized his address by now at this point." Max made a sound at that but otherwise didn't say anything while queuing in the last few orders.
Alex smiled.
"Is this all he ordered? We're fixing to close?" "Yeah! As much as he took advantage of the delivery service today, he should just come work here."
Any normal person would only be mildly bothered by this, but Alex couldn't really see why she was going on and on about it. Ya, she didn't even deliver today. It was mostly Alex and Max helped out a slight bit.
He just shook his head then grabbed the motorbike's keys. Max jumped up at that. "I'll take you. That way you don't have to worry about bringing the bike back and we can head home."
It was silence after that. Mostly being because Alex was trying to stop himself from breaking out into wide grin, and Sara from just hearing Max admit they go home together.
"Okay." He chirped happily while Max trying and failing to hide his excitement when yanking off his apron, hurriedly punching in the remaining numbers, then zooming into the back room.
Sara watched in silence then turned to Alex for some explanation but all he did was scroll around his phone not paying her any attention.
"Hold on we are not just going to zoom past-" "Ready?" "Yep!" Alex turned to look back at a stunned Sara before reaching the door with a knowing grin on his face. "Bye Sara~!"
He sang in a "sweet" tone, then finally exited the cafe.
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The car ride to Alex's house was a slightly awkward before Max finally said something. "So what happened?" "What do you mean?" "You came back with this smug look on your face and you're still smiling." Alex feigned innocence without looking at Max. "Oh, whatever do you mean?"
"ā Huan." "Haha, okay fine!" He giggled. "He asked me if I was busy/ still working and if I wanted to come in for a drink."
Max waited for him to continue. "Then I told him, 'Sure! As long as my boyfriend who's waiting for me can too!' xiao Lee, you should have seen his face! Bahahahaha!" Alex laughed some more. Max couldn't help but quirk his lips up at that.
They settled into comfortable silence while they pulled into the estate's drive way.
While getting out of the car, a suddenly curious Alex asked; "So how did you know it was me anyway?"
Max grinned. "You didn't exactly hide very well. Besides the honorific you used and the unforgettable scar," He brought his hand up to gently and lovingly trace said scar. Then suddenly he smirked. "It was the drink situation." He states while letting go. Alex's eyebrows furrowed at that. "Drink situation?" He asked confusingly. "Mhm. No one else knows that strawberry milk is my favorite beverage. Especially Sara."
Alex pouted at that then playfully shoved Max. "And here I thought I was doing very well," he mumbled in Chinese.
"Wo hèn ni." Alex stated before sticking his tongue out and running off after that. Max smiled again. "I love you too!" He called after a fleeing Alex in a teasing tone. He chuckled to himself then also headed in.
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Today was Alex's day off of work today. He spent the entire morning chatting with his sister while also making arrangements for her to come down and visit for the upcoming weekend. He also sent an occasional text to Grayson and Zero who asked how he was doing. Courtesy to his uncle who he recently found out also made Zero his report guy.
Ai Huan loved his uncle like his own father. In fact more than his own father. Though their mother tried her best, she still wasn't the best mother out there.
She still made mistakes too. But however, not as much as their father who prioritized status over the mental and psychological well-beings of his children.
Their Uncle Teng was the closes they ever gotten to familial love.
Like when the "accident" happened, he was more worried about his son no longer being considered good looking boy in grade 5.
Which yes, he did get gossiped about like some tabloid, but his father should have been more worried about the fact that his son could no longer hear out of his ear.
His father also called him a disabled because he was now deaf out of one ear and an embarrassment. This also lead him to smashing Ai Huan's first hearing aid into pieces in a fit of rage.
His mother managed to sneakily buy him another and told him to hide it when in his father's presence.
Alex remembers one day he was sitting in the living room oblivious to his father's entry while playing with Shu Lan's PSP for the first time, and his father seen the hearing aid had walked up to him and tried to snatch it off of his ear.
However, because of it, Ai Huan heard the fast steps and moved away in time. But not before his father's nails scraped the already sore scar and made it bleed. When his mother arrived she pleaded with her husband to leave their son alone but he pushed her away so harshly she fell to the ground.
Shu Lan arrived from the commotion and managed to catch their father yank on the boy's ear to get the hearing aid. Ai Huan screamed in pain. ShuLan set her phone on record and placed it into her back pocket while she rushed to push her father's hands off of her little brother.
"Ba! Stop this!" He raised his hand to strike her. Shulan stood tall and looked him dead in the eye. "Hit me, and I'll make sure the whole world knows you're an abusive father and husband with this recording. Go on, hit me." She turned to hold her brother's head towards her torso protectively. "But you will not lay a hand on him anymore."
He cursed then stormed out of the house. Their mother running behind them.
Who would have known that that was the last time they'd see either of their parents ever again.
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"a Huan, are you alright?" Asked a concerned Max. "Mhm. Yeah I'm fine." Max still had a look that he didn't quite believe him but he'll leave it alone for now.
"You should get back to work xiao Lee. I'm alright." He smiled reassuringly.
"Mhm."
A little while later the bell chimed and in came that familiar voice.
"Hello. I'm Kevin Zhan, and I'll be the new delivery boy."
Oh yeah, Alex heard they were getting a new employee today.
Wait, WHAT?!
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ShuLan ^
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A/N: Any mistakes I'll correct eventually. Hope you're enjoying the story so far!! Love you Ciao!!!