The last remnants of sunlight shined through the windows illuminating the dust particles dancing around me as I swept the store before closing. My manager, Vera, had already left after telling me to close early since today was so slow. My stomach growled, piercing the silence. Just hold on a little longer. There’s still curry from yesterday in the fridge, I thought to myself. After I eat, I have to start on that English paper and then I have th- My train of thought was interrupted by a loud thunk. I looked up and saw a guy with platinum blond silverish hair with silver earrings rubbing his head. I put my broom down and rushed outside to check on him.

    “Hey. Are you okay? Do you need to sit down inside for a little bit?”

    “Um.. yeah. That would be great.”, he said sounding a little dazed. I briefly worried that maybe he gave himself a concussion but quickly dismissed the thought. There’s no way he hit the glass that hard. But I should keep an eye on him for a little bit to make sure. I led him inside to one of the tables.

    “I hope you don’t mind but I have to finish sweeping before I leave.”

    “Yeah sure. Go ahead. Thanks for letting me sit in here. I’m Bambam by the way.”

    “Oh I’m Y/N. But is that your real name?”, I asked incredulously.

    “Well, it’s a nickname but my real name is Kunpimook Bhuwakul. It’s a Thai name.”

    “Whoa that sounds cool but I think I’ll stick with Bambam. Why Bambam though?”

    “My mother got it from that show. He was the really strong one. What was it called? Y’know the Flintstones? She wanted me to be strong like that character.”

    “That’s pretty cute actually.”

    “So I’ve told you a little about me. How about you?” I thought about what I could say about myself as I swept.

    “There’s not much to say. I’m pretty boring. I go to the college nearby. I’m studying architecture. I have a little brother and the cutest dog back home.”

    “I think that’s pretty interesting. Why did you decide to work in this coffee shop?”

    “Well the main reason is because I’m a struggling college student. And...it’s because the smell of coffee reminds me of home. By home I mean well uh my mom. It makes me a little less homesick.” I concentrated on sweeping the patch of floor I knew I had already swept. I never told anyone this before. I wasn’t sure what it was about this stranger and his espresso colored eyes that made me want to open up to him.

    “You don’t have to be embarrassed y’know. I really miss my mom, too. I remember I cried at dinner when I visited her last year. I had been gone for years and I really missed her food. There are Thai places around here but it’s not the same y’know?”, he said. I could feel his eyes on me and I slowly met his gaze. We just stared at each other for a minute. He was illuminated by the last traces of the setting sun. His eyes were the same shade as coffee beans.

“Are you done sweeping?”,he asked startling me out of my trance.

“I-uh yeah I guess so.” I place the broom in the storage closet and started to undo the ties on my apron.

“Do you walk home?”, asked Bambam.

“Yeah. It’s better for the environment and my figure.” Bambam laughed.

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. And I’ll walk you home. It’s getting dark.”

“No no you don’t really need to.”

“Let me do this for you. You helped me earlier when I hit my head.” I felt my resolve crumbling under his unwavering gaze. I let out a defeated sigh.

“Fine. Let me get my stuff from the back.” He smiled.

“Swag.” I rolled my eyes.

 

The walk home for me is usually 30 minutes, but that night it felt way shorter. The whole time home Bambam and I were talking and joking with each other. He might have looked sophisticated and chic at first but he was actually pretty goofy. I also found out he really liked dabbing.

“Have you ever been to Canada?”, he asked me.

“A few times. My cousins live there.”

“Have you seen moose then?”, he asked excitedly.

“Uh no actually. I was mainly in the city.” He looked so disappointed, but it was also really cute.

“Uh but my cousins told me there are more in like the woods and stuff.” That seemed to cheer him up a little more.

“Really? I want to dab with a moose one day.”, he admitted, grinning. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“That would be great. Oh we’re already here.”, I said stopping under the street lamp  in front of my cream-colored apartment complex.

“Oh already?”

“Yeah, time flew by. Well thanks for walking me home.”

“No problem. Can you give me your hand for a second?” Confused, I gave it to him. He took it in his hand and bent down in a bow with his lips softly kissing the back of my hand,

“Until next time m’lady.” I felt my face heat up.

“I’ll uh count the seconds m’lord.” My response earned my a cute smile from Bambam.

“Good night.”

“Good night.”