Your game of tag ended abruptly one day at work. You were taking someone’s order and in walked Chen. He’s got a huge smile on his face and sparkle in his eyes.

“This is for my Cinderella. I hope the slipper fits,” Chen announces and breaks into song.

You’re perfect to me, I imagined
How would it be if we were together?
If only you say okay, everything is perfect, oh baby
I lost my mind, the moment I saw you
Except you, everything get in slow motion
Tell me, if this is love
Sharing and learning countless emotions everyday with you
Fighting, crying and hugging
Tell me, if this is love

After he finishes, you attempt to pull your jaw off the floor. His voice was purely amazing.

Chen scratches the back of his head “Was I that bad?”

“That was amazing!” You shout, not taking in the fat that the whole store was looking at you.

“So does this mean I’ve impressed you?”

“Impressed me?” You cry, “This is the most sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. You’ve put so much effort in this past week, it blows my mind. You never gave up.”

Chen leaned in close to you, “I’ll tell you a secret. Each time I was going to surprise you, I would chicken out at the last moment and leave you a note. I finally got the courage to confront you today.”

You felt like you took a hit to the face. Chen was intimidated by YOU??? Chen laughs at the look on your face. You find yourself entranced by the sound of his laughter.

“I was just worried you would reject me.”

This got you stuttering, “H-h-h-how could I? I m-m-mean you’re so sweet and you m-m-m-make me comfortable and—” Chen places a solitary finger on your lips to quiet you.

“Careful, my head may get big from all the compliments you’re dolling out.” You blush at your own forwardness.

“Does this mean since the slipper fit, I get to whisk you away in my carriage to my castle?” Chen asks, his smile coming back.

“I...are you asking me on a date?”

“That depends on your answer.”

You find yourself seriously pondering the question. Finally, you ask a question yourself. “Are you sure you don’t just like me for making you a good cub of joe?”

“Well, you do make a really good coffee. That is one of my stipulations for being my girlfriend.” You gulp. Did he just mention the word girlfriend?

“Your expressions are priceless!” says Chen and you become conscious that he was teasing you. “I like you because you are genuine. You are yourself and no one else. It’s hard to find someone who isn’t hiding behind a fake mask of who they think they should be.”

You feel a tug on your apron. You see the nice old lady you had poured tea for recently. “Say yes dear. You can’t find boys like him much anymore,” she says and winks at Chen!

“Does a week from today sound good?” Chen looks hopefully at you.

“Yes, my day off is that day,”

“Good, I’ll see you at your apartment, at 5 o’clock.” Chen gives you a peck on your cheek and walks out of the shop whistling.

You felt like you were in shock. It was like you were walking on cloud 9. You smiled to all your customers and everyone fed off of your good mood.

“I hate to say I told you so but I don’t think you care right now,” says Victoria with a knowing grin.

“I just never thought it was possible.”

“I wish Henry would do something romantic like that for me,” Victoria says dreamily. “He even called you his Cinderella! I don’t know who you didn’t end up a pile of mess on the floor.”

You figure out you need to snap out of it when you wiped the same plate dry about 4 to 5 times too many thinking about Chen singing. It still felt so unreal to you.

“Oooooo, someone looks scrumptious today!” exclaims Victoria behind you.

“You shouldn’t talk about Henry like he’s something you eat.”

“I’m not talking about Henry...” Victoria trails off. You hear the entire shop tittering and abandon your already-dry plate.

“Hello Coffee Girl.” You freeze, not turning yet. You knew who was behind you.

“Hi Kris!” pips up Victoria instead, “You should have been here earlier. ______ has an admirer.”

This makes you spin around, “Victoria!”

Victoria shrugs but you can see the mischievous gleam coming from her eyes. She said that with a purpose. You don’t pay attention to Victoria for long. Kris is in your view and you can’t take your eyes off of him. His hair was coiffed off his face today, like a 50’s hair-do. He was wearing a white dress shirt that was practically see-through.  You make yourself stare at anything but his chest. It was a hard thing to do.

“What do you mean admirer?” Kris’s eyes are boring into you.

You lift your nose up, “I have a date.”

Victoria whispers conspiratorially to Kris, “He sings too. You’re going to have to step up your game.”

Kris puts his hands in his pockets, easing into a comfortable stance. A smirk appears on his face, “Don’t worry. I always win.”

“Win what?” you snap at him, “You’re nothing but slightly ‘more than an acquaintance’,” you quote him.

“I’ll do you a friendly favor then, since you know next to nothing about guys. Don’t try to deny it!” Kris cuts you off before you can defend yourself. “I’ll take you on a date.”

You rock back from that remark. You’re speechless. Did Kris just say he was taking you on a date?

“Nothing serious, of course.  I can’t let it get around that I’m dating a plain coffee girl.”

“Then I decline. We can’t let your reputation get smeared.”

“She’ll be there. Even if I have to drag her myself,” interrupts Victoria.

“I will not!” you deny indignantly.

“It’s settled then,” smiles Kris satisfyingly. “Tomorrow at noon meet me here. Dress in something cute.” And with that he breezes out of the coffee shop. All the ladies in the shop let out a collective sigh that Kris is gone.

“You were really going to say no to a date with Kris, weren’t you?!” hisses Victoria.

“The guy only lives to torture me,” You reply, “This is going to be a disaster!” you wail.

You fidget fretfully in the front of your work place. Victoria had forced you to come to her place so she could make you ‘cute enough to make a kitten cry’. She had spent the majority of the morning curling your hair. When she was done ‘perfecting’ you, she insisted you look in the mirror before you left. You found yourself looking at a totally different person. Your hair spiraled nicely around your face. Victoria had only applied enough make-up to accentuate your natural features: slight blush for rosy cheeks, a little bit of eyeliner and mascara to make your eyes pop and a hint of gloss to plump your lips.

“You’re a miracle worker,” you say, amazed at your transformation.

Victoria handed you a bright yellow tunic wrap dress. It flowed nicely and clinched at the waist with a brown belt. “Voila! My masterpiece is complete. If Kris doesn’t beg you to allow him to take you home and ravage you, I’ll be surprised.”

“You did all this work for no reason,” you grumble to her, “Like Kris is going to appreciate this or treat me any differently. You should have saved this hard work for my date with Chen.”

“No problem,” Victoria waves away your statement. “I want both of them to see you at your best.”

And now you were looking at your watch impatiently. Where was Kris? You were a stickler for being on time. It was only a minute or two after noon but you were just waiting for a reason to go home. You knew this was a joke to Kris. He was going to stand you up and then laugh at your face. You could hear him say condescendingly ‘you thought I’d actually show up?!’ You dig your sandal-clad foot into the pavement. You had a feeling this was going to be the most humiliating day in your entire life.

“So you did show up,” cuts short your worried thoughts.

You scowl at Kris’s happy visage, “Here I was thinking you were the one who wasn’t going to show up.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” says Kris. He pauses, coughing, “I mean, teaching you how to date will amuse me for a bit,” toning down the happiness.

You sigh, “I’m going to regret this.”

Kris suddenly grabs your hand and walks down the sidewalk. He stops when the jerk of his arm tells him you aren’t walking with him. You stare pointedly at his hand holding yours. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t know this? Holding hands is typical during a date.” Kris wriggles his eyebrows suggestively. Those things had to have a life of their own. “Shall I show you what first base looks like?”

“I’m quite fine, thank you,” you say primly.

“We can proceed then?” Kris tows you through the current crowd. Impulsively he stops in front of a ice cream parlour. “Let’s get some ice cream.”

Kris makes the poor ice cream girl stutter as he orders for the both of you. You fold your arms stubbornly. How presumptuous of him to buy yours without asking your preference! He pays the cashier but she refuses to take the money.

“It’s on me,” she smiles impishly at Kris. Was everyone in love with this guy?

You inspect Kris for any sign of flirtation in his response. He surprises you by showing the fake smile of his. The cashier’s face falls as the two of you walk away indifferently. At least he didn’t make a fool out of you and ask for her number.

Kris gives you a pink-colored ice cream in a cone. “Bubblegum to match your adorable cheeks,” You don't reach for the ice cream and he manually opens your fingers and closes them around the cone.

“It’s standard for you to say thank you here,” Kris prompts.

“Thank you for assuming I’d like bubblegum and not asking my opinion...Kris,” you add his name belatedly, mocking your earlier conversation with him.

“Just eat the damn ice cream already,” growls Kris.

You mulishly ignore him and attack the ice cream. You don’t wish to appear messy, so you delicately swipe at the ice cream with your tongue in neat patterns. You stop to reach for a napkin and you spot Kris staring at you point-blank.

“Is this the part where you tell me that it’s proper for guys to stare at their dates for 1-3 seconds to show their appreciation?”

Kris’s eyes slide away from your face. “I’ve never seen someone eat ice cream with such ferocity,” he says, avoiding your question.

“This is me. Get used to it. Leave if you don’t like it.”

“I don’t think so. We haven’t gotten to the good parts yet!” Kris’s rakish grin scares you.

Kris took repossession of your hand and off you were again. Kris paused at a stand selling shish-kabobs and you ate the delectable greasy food together, cupping your free hand under your chin, watching kids play in a fountain. Sometime between then and watching some street performers, you came to the conclusion that you had begun to relax and enjoy your ‘date’. Unexpectedly, holding Kris’s hand hadn’t seemed so encumbersome. His long fingers laced between yours felt natural.

The two of you strolled past one street performer who was boasting no one could beat him in a rap battle. The crowd would judge, booing or cheering, depending ton the competition’s skills. So far, no one had beaten the guy.

“What about you? You look like a rapper!” says the challenger, pointing at Kris. The crowd laughs because frankly Kris looks like a preppy model with his skinny jeans and bleached hair.

“Maybe next time,” demurs Kris, tugging on your hand to signal he wanted to move on.

“Oh come now, don’t you want to impress your lady friend?” counters the man.

Kris halts. You see the look of determination materialize on his face.

“You don’t have to do this,” you murmur to him.

“On the contrary, it seems like my name is on the line. I must redeem it,” Kris motions to the guy he’ll join him.

The crowd shouts in approval. A beat pounds out of the man’s portable speakers. The man raps pretty well. He reminded you of that old school rapper, Run DMC. Kris nods thoughtfully and claps politely when the man finishes. You close your eyes, fearful of the outcome as Kris opens his mouth. You eyes fly open when you hear inventive lines:

Of course you can’t see through the miracle of the sky
This isn’t a dream don’t ask anymore empty your head
Your thoughts are thrown into chaos be patient now behold
I don’t want to regret being late so please wait for a while
The roar of silence is broken whoa an explosive feelin’
Electricity passes through my entire body to the whole world let me hit it hit it

The surprising part was when he started over in what sounded like another language. And then another. And another. When he was done you had counted 4 different sounding verses. You, the crowd, and the street performer stand in astonishment. Then the crowd explodes in applause. Kris smiles sheepishly, looking embarrassed at all the attention he was receiving. The street performer grudgingly gives Kris the prize money: $100. Kris tucks the money away in his front pocket and doesn’t say a thing. You expected him to be as proud as a peacock.

You peer up at him. “How many languages do you know?”

“Four: English, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese. I didn’t want to show up the guy but he challenged me.”

“So you are more than a pretty boy,” You tease.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” he admits with a smile; one of those genuine smiles. You made him do that. You feel a wrench on your heart strings. All of a sudden, you find yourself thinking dangerous thoughts. You were wishing this was a real date and not a fake one.

Kris’s smile falters when he sees your sad face “What? What’s wrong?”

You shake your head, “It’s nothing.”

“I know what will make you smile!” he announces and after a quick minute of frantic searching, you find yourself in the middle of a jewelry store.

“At this time, I’m supposed to buy you a piece jewelry to stake my claim on you. Nothing makes girls happier then something shiny,” Kris clarifies. He makes the girl at the counter take out a sparkly bracelet and drapes it on your wrist. Kris points to another one, this a simple silver chain with a yellow pendant heart dangling from it. Kris nods and the girl whisks his choice away to package it.

You start to worry “You don’ really have to buy me that!”

“You won’t get the full experience if I don’t. Besides, I’m paying with the prize money, so it’s not costing me anything.”

You coolly reply to him “That’s fine. I completely understand this is in no way a real date. You’ve emphasized it several times now. Let’s be done with it,”

You hear Kris complain to himself “I told you wouldn’t know.” He seizes you neck with his hand and crushes his lips between your own.