I exhale in relief that I'm not the one who's late.
I find a small round table in the back of the shop to sit, trapping my phone between my hands.
Looking upwards, I see a guy approaching me. His high heels clap on the floor. He's wearing striking makeup and has a voluminous blond weave that somehow seems more natural than my wannabe K-pop artist bawl hairdo.
The corset around his waist is so tight I'm impressed he is able to walk, let alone smile so cheerfully. His arms are slim, but still well-toned.
Wait, he's the waiter? A bit eccentric, but I can't say I don't like it.
"So, what can I get you?" he says, already getting his pen ready. The glittery stick sparks among his fingers as he scribbles.
"Nothing yet," I say, "I'm waiting for someone."
He winks at me playfully before he turns away. Then turns back to me again.
"Oh, just make sure your... uhm," he trails off, "friend?" His smile makes me smile and he continues, "Well, just make sure he's still coming because we're closing in twenty minutes."
Only now I realize that most tables in the tea shop are empty.
"Sure," I say in the most unsure tone. Then wait.
Ten minutes pass and Jord is still not here. I know I'm supposed to text him, but what do I text him?
The last two clients, possibly a college couple, are leaving the coffee shop.
I take a glimpse of the waiter, cleaning tables at the other end of the shop, and sigh.
I grab my phone, ready to text Jord-I swear! - but the screen displays five missed calls from Lia. So, I shove the gadget back inside my pocket.
Dream just turned into a real nightmare.
I crane my neck up to face the tall, eccentric waiter, who's looking back at me with an unsure smile. "So, your friend didn't come?"
Obviously. I'm rolling my internal eyes. "No," I say, standing from my seat. I walk past him and rush out of the shop.
Outside the cold seems to be crawling up to my neck. Not even the fact that I'm fuming inside helps me to stay warm.
On top of that, I struggle to zip my jacket. The thing is old and always gets stuck when you try to zip too quickly.
Even when I'm done, I can't find the courage to walk to my bicycle. I'm going to be grounded until I'm fifty-two when I get home.
And Jord? What the hell is this about? Why did he ask me out and didn't show up?
As If things couldn't be worse, they're playing Pharrell William's Happy in the bar across the street.
The door of the shop clangs shut behind me. And I turn to see. "Life is hard, right?" The waiter says as he pulls a cigarette out of his pocket.
He takes a long drag and starts coughing with a dramatic grimace, then loses his grip on the cigarette like he was throwing a bit of salt into a pan filled with boiling water. The cigarette finishes crushed under his dark blue high heel.
"These things are awful, god," he says. "Why do you people even smoke?"
"I don't smoke," I say as if I am defending myself from the accusation of a crime. Then, I mutter, "Not sure I'd be alive if I ever dared to."
"Come on, don't be so dramatic," he says nearing me. "What happened to your friend again?"
Why does he care? After a moment of silence, he says, "I know it's a bit cold for biking tonight, but I don't plan on spending the night here. Do you?"
"My mom's gonna kill me if I go home." I couldn't sound more defeated.
"I see," he says. "Look, I'm gonna perform the next song." He bobs his head towards the bar across the street and I read the name for the first time: Doggyy. It was clear that the extra y was only there so each letter would have a color of the rainbow flag. "If you don't want to go home, you might as well come see me."
"Perform?" I question.
"What? You can't tell I'm a drag queen?" He brings his hands to his waist, furrowing his thick eyelashes.
Well, he has a point. "Thanks, but I'm underage."
"Oh, that." He pulls out a small piece of paper from the front pocket of his apron-like costume and shakes it vigorously. "Here," he says with a smile of satisfaction.
I gasp as I look at the ID card he graciously places in my hand. A fake one, but it has my photo on it-- the same one I have on my real ID card. My birth date would be correct if it wasn't for the extra five years that technically made me an adult. I look at him wide-eyed, stepping back slowly.
"What the hell is going on here?"
"My name is Cindy," he says, "and I think I've just ruined my introduction. Nice to finally meet you though." He smiles feebly.
"Look, I know this sounds super creepy but let me explain." He combs his weave with his fingers as if it helps him to gather his thoughts.
"Okay," he gestures with his hands "This will sound crazy, but I'm your fairy Godmother. I'm a fairy of love, kind of like...how do you all call them?" He grimaces. "The capidos," he says. "Finding you love is my project for this semester. I really need it to land a job at Godmada Inc."
I start laughing nervously, and a smile forms into his lipstick-filled lips too.
"Where's the camera?" I ask. I turn around and yell, "Jord, Mara, come out now, you assholes." I look around the line of shrubs next to the shop. "It's not funny."
A chubby man with dark hair comes out of the bar across the street and calls Cindy's name but he ignores him and turns to me.
"There's not really a camera, Jay. I didn't want to say this, but I was the one opening that door of your house to you earlier. And to make you fall down the stairs and turn you invisible to Soni and Lia."
I step back. Is this guy in some kind of Broadway audition?
"Why? What the hell are you on about anyway?"
"Because you had a date, and I'm your fairy of love, like I said." He takes a deep breath, massaging his temples.
"My manager warned me that this would be the hardest part of the process," he says as if he was trying to reassure himself more than me. "It's okay," he takes a deep breath, "it's a lot to process at once. I'm just," he rummages his pockets, "gonna give you this."
A golden bracelet with a heart-shaped ruby shines on his palm. "If you accept this, you're accepting that I have access to your location and feelings until I'm able to find you love. Please accept it, I really need this job, Jay. Then, I can just teleport you to your room and your mother won't even remember you're not home tomorrow morning. I mean, I'll do it anyway, but help me out here."
I narrow my eyes. This guy is full of shit. "You just said you're the one who opened the door of back home. You had to know where I was then. Now you need permission through that thing ?"
Good actor. But his character can't even stay consistent.
"Yeah. There's a limited quota, a certain number of times I can have access to someone's feelings and location until I'm able to land a contract with the person I'm helping to find love. If I'm not able to make you wear this until midnight, I won't have access to that information anymore, though. I can say goodbye to my dream job."
He doesn't seem very excited when he talks about his dream job though.
Someone yells for him again; Cindy doesn't even turn this time.
I outstretch my arm towards him. Still a stupid prank, but this was getting weird. Whatever it takes for Mara, Jord and whoever else is included on this to come out from where they are hiding.
He smiles when he clips the bracelet around my wrist and whispers, "Thank you." He exhales and pushes his hair back. "Now let's get you out of here."
He presses his palms together tightly. When he parts them, a slim stick of wood materializes between them. His shoes clap against the pavement as he catwalks to my bicycle, swirling his stick around and filling the empty parking lot with sparks.
I look up, marveled, my eyes captivated by my bicycle gliding through the veil of shimmer in the air. The bicycle lands beside me with a thud. I'm shaking, my stare is fixated at Cindy. What is going on?
"Get on and close your eyes," he urges, pushing his hair back with a delicate finger.
When I have my fingers wrapped around the handles of the bicycle, a veil of light overtakes my vision. It shines in hue, its color changing whenever I'm starting to figure it out.
My bicycle starts to shake with as much vigor as my body. I'm moving forward, along the veil of shimmer, but I can't feel my weight. I'm flying?
The wind brushes my cheeks. A warm wind that envelops me, like a blanket.
Why are my eyelids getting heavier? I feel like I am drifting away. Then, everything is dark.
___
"Jay." I hear a call. "Jay."
I open my eyes and have to squint them to shield myself from the light coming from the open window of my room. I'm in my bed.
Despite the aggressive sunrays, I can see Lia standing in front of me. And I don't miss the frown she's wearing. It's the sourest frown she'd worn in months.
So, it was just a dream, I tell myself.
"Can you tell me what is happening here?" mom shouts and I look at my bicycle's wheel dangling loosely by her fingertips.
The second wheel is bent into a moon shape and leans against the wall next to the window. The bicycle's frame is above my drawer. The night before it was yellow. Now, it's pink and is covered by a generous layer of glitter.
I scratch my hair, wondering how I begin to explain myself and feel the touch of cold metal against my temple.
Mom's still shouting but the only thing I have eyes for is the golden bracelet wrapped around my wrist.
The bracelet from last night is there. It wasn't a dream. Cindy teleported me to my room. The Contract and the fairy Godmother. I gulp. Everything is real.