“Sigh. Last night was really tiring.” I thought out loud. “I couldn’t really sleep last night because I was so irritated with the spoilt brat so I’m starting to feel tired now.” I continued as I yawned.

“I know right. I still can’t believe that you actually said that yesterday.” My fellow waitress, Aoi nodded in agreement as she swept the floor. “I bet she said that because she thinks that she’s the boss here.” Aoi whispered to her friend Yuki, who worked in Celebrity Café as well. I sighed and shook my head as it was obvious that she wanted me to hear the last sentence.

I pretended to hear what Aoi had said and continued to arrange the chairs. The café was very empty because it had yet reached lunch time. I looked at the clock and wished for time to go by quicker so that I would be able to go back and rest. With Aoi and Yuki around, it definitely felt that time was going by slower than usual. It is not that I do not like them but they always seem to have something against me. It might be due to the fact that my uncle owes the café so they felt that I was trying to make use of that. Frankly speaking, I could not care less because being the boss’s niece did not make much difference because I was still doing the same job as the other waitresses and I received the same amount of pay as well. I honestly could not see any advantage of me being the boss’s niece.

The door opened and I looked up, prepared to welcome the first customer for the afternoon. To my surprise, Yabu was the one who walked in. I suddenly remembered him praising the pie I had made the night before and smile a little to myself as I walked up to serve him.

“Hello, nice to see you again! Your name is Aki, right?” Yabu greeted me warmly

“Yes, that’s right. Good afternoon, Yabu. Please follow me to your seat.” I replied to him and directed him to a table, ignoring the two waitresses who seemed to be glaring at me. I bet they were feeling unhappy with the fact that I got a chance to serve one of the cute idols in Japan. “Here is the menu.” I passed Yabu the café’s menu after he sat down at the table.

“Ah, it’s okay. I’ll have a slice of Aki’s special.” He smiled brightly and his eyes formed a line. “I saw the board outside the café before I walked it. It seems like they have decided to add the dessert you made to the café’s menu. That’s a good thing because I’m craving for that.”

“Y-you saw the board?” Ah I was feeling so embarrassed when the chef named the pie I made because the newest dessert had my name on it.  I blushed as I noted down Yabu’s order. “Do you want anything else?”

“No, thank you. This is good, for now.”

“Okay. Your dessert will be served shortly.” I bowed and was about to walk away when Yabu stopped me.

“Um, Aki?”

“Yes?”

“Look, I apologize for Yama-chan’s rudeness last night. I’m sorry if it spoilt your night.”

“Ah?” I stood there in shock for a moment as I tried to register what Yabu had said. “No, no. It’s fine. It is not your fault anyway. I should be thanking you guys because now I have contributed to the menu.” I waved my hands as I tried to reject Yabu’s apology.

“Thank you for not holding any grudges.” Yabu’s gentle voice made me smile back at him as I felt my energy being recharged.

“Here is your pie. Please enjoy!”

“Thank you.” Yabu began eating the pie slowly and somehow it felt that he was trying to enjoy every moment as he ate it. I scolded myself inside for thinking too highly about myself and reasoned that Yabu might just happen to be a rather slow eater.

“Thank you for coming.” I bowed as I sent Yabu out of the café. He waved and walked away. As I closed the door, I could not help but feel extremely elated because Yabu had given me an extra tip for my service. He even said that he would be returning when he could in order to eat Aki’s special. The way he said Aki’s special somehow made my heart skipped a beat. I guess that was the kind of effect idols have on their fans.

“Look at her. Smiling that way as if trying to gloat to us that she had gotten a tip from Yabu.” Yuki said sourly to Aoi.

“I bet Yabu was just biased since he felt guilty for Yamada’s rudeness.” Aoi frowned as she replied her friend in an equally sour tone

I sighed as I kept the plates and ignored the two girls who seemed to be slacking away. Sometimes I wondered why the café would hire waitresses like them, they are just wasting uncle’s money. The door opened again, signaling the arrival of another customer and I glared at Yuki, hoping that she would get the hint and take the initiative to serve the customer as I could not do so since I was still clearing up the table. Thankfully she did get the message and went off to serve the customer, after glaring back at me.

Two days later, Yabu returned to the café and ordered Aki’s special. Since his arrival caught the other two girls off guard, I had the honor to serve him again. Yuki and Aoi were definitely feeling really angry about it as they were mumbling as they wiped the other tables. Although it was rather bad of me to feel this way, I was secretly happy about the fact that I somehow managed to defeat the other two by being able to serve Yabu again. However, I had forgotten how scary girls could be when they are angry because what happened next totally surprised me.

“Aki! Can you come for a moment?” Yabu called out in a rather urgent tone and I walked towards him, puzzled.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Are those two your friends?” Yabu tilted his head a little and asked softly. I immediately got his hint and shook my head.

“They are not my friends. Why do you ask?” I replied in the same volume.

“I think they wanted to sabotage you. I saw them putting a glass of water really close to you on the table behind you. If you had stepped back, you might have knocked it down” Yabu frowned as he seemed to recall what he had seen minutes ago.

“Oh. Thank you for looking out for me.” I bowed in gratitude and smiled in order to assure Yabu that nothing else would happen.

“Just be careful.”

I was rather surprised to hear that Aoi and Yuki disliked me so much to the fact that they wanted to get me into trouble and I decided to be more on my guard in case they tried something similar again. As I walked to serve the other customers who had arrived, I made eye contact with Aoi and the expression she gave me was not very kind. I gulped and hoped that I did not make two really dangerous enemies. It was really childish of them to want to get me into trouble just because they were unhappy but like what people always say, girls are so hard to read.

The next day, there seemed to be more people in the afternoon than usual and the three of us were busy serving customers. Aoi and Yuki could not slack, even if they wanted to because the manager had turned up as well. Sometimes I really envied the role of a manager because all he had to do was to ensure that his workers were doing a great job and that his customers were enjoying themselves. I looked at the manager who was talking to the customers happily and sighed. I wished that he was the one clearing the plates instead of me.

“Hello, Aki.” A familiar voice was heard behind me and I turned around.

“Yabu! Welcome!” Somehow, with just his presence, I felt that my day was much brighter than before.

“Sorry, you three seemed so busy so I just walked in on my own.”

“I should be the one apologizing. Please have a seat here, I’ve already cleaned up this table”

“Thank you.”

“The usual?”

“Yes, please.” Yabu smiled his signature smile at me and I could not help but smile back. “Girls definitely look better when they smile.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Praises will not win you an extra slice of pie.”

“Ah, you discovered my motive.” He stuck out his tongue before grinning at me.

“Here’s your dessert. Please enjoy.” I returned with a slice of Aki’s special and Yabu started eating happily.

I felt happier just by looking at Yabu eat and somehow, this caused me to let my guard down. Since yesterday, I had been trying to not get into the way of Yuki or Aoi, fearing that they might do something bad. Although it was to protect myself, I did not want them to get into trouble as well because that might cause them to lose their jobs. Much as I love to see them go, I knew that it is not easy to get a job in Japan so I could not bear to see them suffer. However, it seemed that they did not feel the same way about the security of their jobs as Aoi stuck out her foot when I walked past her to serve a cup of tea to a customer.

“AH!” The customer shouted loudly and stood up in anger. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DO YOU KNOW THAT THIS COAT WAS SHIPPED FROM FRANCE?”

I gasped in horror as I stood up and realized what had just happened. Everything took place so quickly that I did not have the time to register anything. Apparently I had tripped over Aoi’s foot and had accidentally spilled the cup of tea onto the customer’s coat.”I’m so so sorry.” I apologized again and again but the customer refused to accept my apology as she went on and on about how expensive her coat was.

“What’s the matter?” The manager came over to see what the commotion was about.

“Your waitress over here spilled tea over my expensive coat! It costs thousands!” The angry lady complained to the manager whose face turned the shade of beetroot.

“Aki! You-“ The manager raised his voice and was about to scold me when Yabu stepped in.

“Pardon my interruption but I’m afraid that it’s not the fault of this young lady over here.” Yabu smiled gently at the angry lady who seemed to have recognized him.

“Oh, Yabu. It’s so nice to see you here.” The lady’s anger immediately vanished into thin air as she greeted Yabu in a sweet tone. I swear that if it wasn’t for the fact that I was in deep trouble during that moment, I would have hurled.

“Hello, miss. I believe that the waitress over here is not the one at fault as I saw the other waitress stuck out her foot when she walked past. So please don’t blame her. Anyway, being angry does not suit you, I can pay for your coat if you don’t mind.” Yabu smiled charmingly at the lady who was definitely attracted by him.

“N-no, it’s okay. I have other coats anyway.” She smiled back shyly before sitting back down. It was really shocking how fast the lady could change her expression. I hoped she stay happy until she leave.

The manager, on the other hand, was not amused at all. “Aoi. Is it true?”

“N-n-no, sir. There’s no proof that I tripped Aki.” Aoi stuttered as she tried to insist that she was innocent. “Yabu is just biased towards Aki.”

“What-“ I was about to stand up for Yabu when another customer walked up to us.

“It’s true. I saw the girl stuck out her foot just now. You should hire better waitresses, Manager.”

The manager took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down before turning to the customer. “Thank you for being our witness. I apologize for the scene caused, I assure you that it will not happen again.” Then he turned back and glared at Aoi before asking her to meet him in the kitchen.

I must have been really frightened before as the moment everyone went back to eat their desserts when the commotion had died, I felt tears dripping down my cheeks. I hurriedly wiped them away but it could not stop falling. Yabu was about to return to his table but he saw the tears before I could hide them from him. Without saying anything, he took my hand and brought me to a corner which could hide us from the others. He then used his thumbs to wipe away the tears that were falling from both my eyes.

“Please don’t cry. I know it must be rather scary to you but be strong.” He comforted me and all I could do was nod as I tried to calm myself down. “Aki, you look better when you smile so do smile.” After saying that, Yabu gave me something which I would never expect to receive in my entire life -a hug.

After the hug, he looked at me and smiled. “Good, the tears are gone now.”

“Of course the tears are gone. I’m feeling so warm that it might have evaporated.” I thought to myself as I felt my heartbeat increased rapidly. “T-thank you.” I muttered.

“You are welcome! I do not want to eat salty pies anyway.” Yabu, being oblivious to how much he had made my heart race, laughed before requesting for another slice of pie.

“Thank you for today once again.” I bowed at Yabu as he stood outside the café.

“You’re welcome, Aki. I can’t stand how mean the girls treat you anyway.”

“However, I feel bad for them. I heard that Aoi will be fired.” I sighed as I thought about how hard it would be for Aoi to find another job outside.

“You’re a nice girl, Aki.” Yabu reached out his hand and patted me on the head, before walking away.

I touched the spot where Yabu patted as I watched the view of Yabu’s back becoming further and further. Then I felt the temperature of my cheeks increase when I replayed the scene with Yabu in my head over and over again.

“Ah, stupid heart. Please calm down.” I mumbled to myself as I closed the door behind me.

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AN: the end for Yabu. Hope that you have enjoyed it.