Chapter 2 - It Resumes

I didn’t really know what to do next when I found out Blake couldn’t come here at the cafe.

Should I go home? I probably should, right? Maybe mom needs me for real this time. Maybe I should comfort her and apologize for blaming her when dad was the problem all along.

God, I feel like a mess! I’ve always disliked how my mom is always so tense and gets angry at little things, and I also hate how she can be controlling sometimes but I know that she loves me and will do everything to protect me. At the end of the day, she’s like that because she wants to make sure I’m safe and she’s trying to fix me so I can become a better woman in the future. She’s just preparing me because, well, life is not easy. She wants me to be the best version I can be.

“Excuse me,” I called the waiter. “Can I order a slice of basque burnt cheesecake, please? And get me another slice for take out. Thank you.” Cheesecake is my mom’s favorite. I remember her ordering it all the time when I was little, when we used to hang out more. She probably likes this until now because I still see her buy it sometimes.

As I took my first bite, I reminisced on all the memories I had with my mom when I was younger, all the good ones. I remember we used to eat cheesecake in this cafe too, the exact spot. Now that I think about it, we had a lot of good memories, it sucks that the bad ones are the ones that stuck in my head. Life was so good when I was young, our family was genuinely happy — unlike recently when the happy family became just a facade and it’s actually a mess behind the curtains.

“Hey, are you okay?” My thoughts were interrupted when the waiter suddenly approached me. I touched my left cheek. Oh, tears. I’m crying again. Wonderful. “Here, take this.” He handed me some tissues so I could wipe my tears.

“Thank you so much. I don’t know why I’m crying, it’s so stupid. I mean, who cries while eating cheesecake?” I joked, trying to make the situation light. The guy laughed so I guess my attempt to make this less awkward worked.

“Hurry up, Asher, wash the dishes, stop talking to the customers!” A man ordered him. He looks like he’s the owner of the cafe, judging how he’s bossing everyone around.

“So.. Asher, huh?”

“Yeah. You?” He said, smiling. He looks so charming. His skin is perfectly tanned, hair is kinda long and kinda messy but at the same time not? It's messy in a really good and neat way. He also looks like he’s around my age, maybe a little older? Or it could also be because he just looks mature. I don't think I’ve seen him around town before. Is he new here?

“I’m not telling. Find me again and I’ll tell you my name.” I said and smirked. He smirked too before turning his back and getting back to the kitchen.

My smirk immediately faded as soon as he walked away. I wanted to slap myself! That was embarrassing! He didn’t say anything he just smirked, what does that mean? Did he catch that I was flirting with him? God, I suck at flirting! I don’t even know why I flirted, wasn’t I sad? Who flirts right after they cry? He probably thinks I’m a weirdo who’s desperate for men’s attention, which I’m totally not!

Ah, screw this. I’m overthinking again, I hate it when I put so much thought into simple things. I mean, it’s not like he can entertain me anyway, he has work to do. He’s here for work, not to flirt with customers. I checked the time on my phone, ‘7:56 PM’. It’s getting late, I should probably get home. I finished my cheesecake, grabbed my take out, and walked out of the cafe to grab a taxi.

“Hey!” Oh. It’s the hot waiter. “I’m glad I caught you, I thought you already left.”

I watched a taxi pass me. Great, I just missed my ride intentionally so I can talk to a dude I don’t even know. “Yup, you did.” I said and chuckled awkwardly. Now I don’t know what to say.

“So… Do you wanna go back inside? My shift’s over so I’m basically free now.” Oh, so he did try to find me. Maybe I shouldn’t have felt embarrassed earlier.

“Yeah, okay. Sure.” We walked back inside and he guided me to sit at the counter table. He went inside the kitchen and I watched him make two iced coffees. He didn’t even ask me what I wanted to drink, but okay, I guess I’m having iced coffee again.

“So do you wanna tell me your name now?” He asked while working.

“If your shift’s over, why are you still here and why are you making us coffee? Won’t the owner scold you, or worse, even fire you?” I asked, changing the subject.

He probably noticed that I was trying to avoid the question so he smirked before answering, “Relax. The owner is my uncle. I can explain it to him and I don’t think he will get mad.”

“Oh. That’s cool.” He placed an iced coffee on the counter, grabbed a seat and sat in front of me, still in the kitchen. “Have you been in Hillwood for a long time? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.”

“Nah. I just moved last summer and I’ve been working on this cafe nonstop. I just got back to school though, so my uncle gave me less working hours.”

“What school? Do you go to Hilltown Academy?” He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. “I go there too. I’m in 11th grade, class A. You?” I took a sip of my coffee too.

“Same grade level, class B.” He took a sip again and leaned forward, his head resting on his hand. “To be honest with you, I know you go to Hilltown Academy. I saw you this morning and you were quite the hot topic in our class, Calista.”

My lips parted. He knew me. And he knew what happened to my family. I don’t know which is more embarrassing: the fact that I was flirting and playing “mysterious girl” when he knew me all this time or that he heard of my parent’s drama.

Without properly thinking, I grabbed my bag and stood, about to walk out when he grabbed my arm. “I’m sorry, did I offend you?”

I looked at his hand holding my right arm. He quickly dropped it, scared that he made me uncomfortable by touching me. “No, no. It’s not your fault you did nothing wrong I was just…” I looked at the ceiling for a second, trying to come up with an answer. “I don’t know, embarrassed, I guess?”

“What’s so embarrassing about that?” He said and guided me to sit back down, this time, he sat beside me.

What’s embarrassing? What do I tell him? I’m embarrassed because I was a horrible flirt or because of the drama? “Because you’re new to town and the news of our family drama has already reached you.”

“Yeah, small town, right?” He chuckled. My shoulders dropped and I looked down, feeling awful again for what happened between my parents. He touched my shoulder, trying to calm me down and said, “Hey, it’s fine. Broken families are normal, no big deal.” He rubbed my shoulder. “If it will make you feel better, I came from a broken family too. Now I’m staying with my uncle. My parents separated when I was 9 and I didn’t care about the people gossiping about our family. They eventually got tired and I also moved on. You will too, Calista.”

I looked up at him and to my surprise, his face actually looked concerned. “Thanks. You helped a lot, for real.” I feel more loose now, more comfortable after he made me feel like it’s not horrible to be in my position. There was a moment of silence between us but I decided to break it. “So… if I tell you everything that’s been bothering me, will I be, like, super annoying? You know, because you don’t really know me so it’s kinda weird that I’m telling you my problems and maybe you still have stuff to do. I don’t wanna be a complete—”

“No, you’re not bothering me and I don’t think you’re annoying.” He smiled again, no, it was actually more like a smirk. Or maybe he just normally smiles like that? Anyways, I smiled back. I feel so grateful that he’s making me feel comfortable. I know some people prefer keeping their problems to themselves, but I like talking to someone. Which is why I was expecting to see Blake today.

“My dad cheated on my mom.” I said but he didn’t really look so surprised. “My dad cheated on my mom and I’m disappointed because, well, I don’t wanna say it but he’s my favorite parent and I was expecting a lot from him.”

We talked some more about my dad. I told him so much, from how my family used to be when I was a little girl, to everyone wanting to have a family like ours because we were the epitome of a “perfect” family, and our family’s downfall, my parents splitting up.

He also told me a bit about his family. He has an older brother and unlike my story, his mom was the one who cheated in his story. His dad became a drunk after that, his brother moved to his own apartment, and his uncle volunteered to take him since his dad is not doing a great job at being a dad. He works at his uncle’s cafe in return and he lives just upstairs.

“I didn’t know the second floor of this cafe was a house, I thought it’s just a storage room or a space for rent. Do you live with your uncle?” I asked him.

“No, he lives with his family. I live here alone.”

“Oh, that’s interesting! I’ve always wanted to live alone too. Will you show me your place?” He stopped and that’s when I realized what I said. He suddenly smirked and I could feel my cheeks burning. “I mean… it’s not very nice of me to ask to see your place, I respect your privacy and all so you don’t need to show me I was just intrigued, that’s all!” I explained myself to save myself from embarrassment.

He raised an eyebrow and laughed all of a sudden. “Don’t get so nervous. It’s not a big deal. I’ll show you someday.” He looked me directly in the eye so I shifted my gaze. I felt uncomfortable looking at him because of what I just asked him.

“So… back to your dad. Is that why you were crying earlier? Did you just find out that he was cheating?” He asked, probably sensing that I was feeling uncomfortable so he tried to save the conversation by asking about my dad.

“Yeah, and guess what? He ambushed me! I thought I was meeting him alone, just the two of us, but then he brought his fiancée and her daughter! I didn’t even know he was cheating and had another girlfriend so of course I was super shocked when he introduced his fiancée.”

“No way. That’s horrible, did he not think you’re gonna get mad?” He said, finding it hard to believe that my father introduced me to his new family I have no idea even exists.

“I know, right? He could’ve told me first before introducing them, I wasn’t ready for that! Oh, and he even called me disrespectful when I wanted to leave. I hate him for putting me in a position where I am torn between choosing to stay in order to make them happy, or leave so I can protect myself. I did the right thing, didn’t I? I chose me.”

“Of course you did. If it was hurting you, leaving was the right thing to do and if your father cared for you at all, he would consider your feelings and talk to you first. Especially because you two haven’t talked for a month. You probably felt like you were attacked.”

My phone suddenly rang in between our conversations. “Oh shoot. It’s my mom.” I ended the call, not wanting to pick it up. “It was great meeting you, Asher. I’d love to talk more, but I need to get home.”

“Yeah, sure.” I was about to walk away but he spoke again. “Hey, Calista? Be strong, ‘kay? Stop crying. The dark days will pass, you’ll move on. Just ignore the people talking, it’ll only make you feel more sad, which doesn’t really help. Who cares what they think anyway? Their opinions don't matter and they’re not gonna affect your life, unless you let it affect you.” I thought about what he said for a while and just smiled as a reply, letting him know that I appreciate him so much.

I was waiting for a cab outside the cafe when Asher approached me. “Do you need a ride? I’ll take you home.”

I was flustered. For a moment there I couldn’t speak and for some reason, I felt butterflies in my stomach. “U-Uh.. Sure, thank you.”

He handed me a helmet and guided me up his motorcycle. We were quiet the whole ride but I was thinking of a lot of things.

He was super nice. I felt uncomfortable at first because I was trying to flirt with him but he turned out to be an amazing friend. It’s so silly to call him an amazing friend when I literally just met him but I feel so close to him. The way he talks to me, gives me advices, makes me feel like I’m not stupid for crying a lot and being sad. He also feels so… real. Like, he’s not really just trying to comfort me because that won’t help anyway, he opened up to me. He told me what he went through to make me feel less terrible about my family now.

It was exactly what I needed. Someone I can talk to, not just a shoulder to cry on since I don’t really need to cry more. I need to be strong and move on.

“Hey, you can stop here.” I tapped his shoulder, he stopped at the house before mine. “I don’t wanna answer questions from my mom about why a guy on a motorcycle dropped me home.”

We laughed together and it was such a great feeling to laugh genuinely again. “Thanks, Asher. I appreciate everything.” I didn’t wait for his reply, I turned and walked home, still smiling.

——