Aki spent his morning doing errands to keep his mind off from his new stint. It was, for the most part successful. But, as he walked down the street towards the cafe, his thoughts came crashing in and thrashed around his head once more. As if in sync, his heart began thumping loudly in his chest.
He wondered why of all places did he had to accept working at the cafe. At the same time he asked that question to himself, the answer popped right in. It was love at first sight when he stepped inside Lava Java. So when Mia offered him a job, it would be one of his life's greatest regrets if he let it pass. Besides, the wage was good. He learned that one of the staff had a family emergency so they had to take a leave, leaving the cafe with more shifts available but not enough personnel. Aki was willing to take in more shifts for more pay.
Then a thought occurred to him that he almost stopped walking.
Liam had been busy lately. Aki knew it was not for school because he had not seen his friend hanging around the campus with his cohorts nor studying with him and Jun in the library. Sometimes Liam would receive a call or text and he would go out. He also, more often than not, came back late.
It must only be the cafe.
He might be taking more and more shifts. But Aki could not understand why Liam had to work so so hard. He knew that his friend was working his way to independence but surely, that was not the only thing?
Busy with his thoughts, Aki did not realize that he had arrived in the cafe. He took a breath and came in. He found Mia sipping her coffee in the pantry. She looked up when he came in and beamed at him right away.
She stood up and ushered him to the men's locker room.
"Just find an open locker and put your things there. Change and then come out when you're ready."
Mia started closing the door when Aki spoke.
"Are you sure it's okay not to meet the owner?" When Mia offered him the job, Aki asked where he could submit his papers. She told him that he already got the job. She would be the one to relay it to the owner. He asked her about the interview. She answered that it did not matter, she would recommend him. Aki asked once again when Mia called for his schedule and she had assured him that she already informed the boss about hiring a new staff. Thus, he could now start his work at the cafe.
Yet no matter how much she assured him, he could not shake off his doubt.
Mia grinned. "It's fine."
It was not. But that hardly mattered now when he was already in the cafe reporting for his shift. He was only hoping that whoever his boss would not be the terror boss he saw on TV.
There was no one inside the locker room when he went in which was good. He still had time to gather himself. He found an available locker. Good thing, Mia told him to bring his own lock so he could lock his locker and at the same time served as a marker. He carefully took out his uniform and changed clothes.