The next day, "Haah," Luke let out a sigh as he sat perched in front of the bar. He had opened the cafe early since it was a day off and he was all alone. Noel had left after being invited to Vanessa's house, while Ava had gone to Caleb's place to help him out. But earlier that morning, when the three of them had sat on the sofa to tally up last night's earnings,
"What's this, Luke? Why is our mortgage already paid off?" Noel asked, holding up the spreadsheet.
"Oh... that... yeah, it's paid off. So starting next month, we don't have to stress about it anymore, hahaha," Luke answered nervously.
"That's not what I'm asking, Luke. Why is it paid off? Who paid it? Whose account is this?" Noel asked, pointing directly at the receipt.
"Oh wow... it really is paid off. And our tuition too... huh... the deposit in our school account is huge. Hmm... this is mysterious," Ava said, peeking over before turning to look at Luke with a face like a make-believe detective.
"I paid for all of it. That's my account," Luke muttered, answering both of his siblings' questions at once.
To convince his siblings, Luke opened his banking app and showed them the remaining balance. He also showed them the cafe's account, which hadn't been touched at all yesterday except to pay the hospital bill. His siblings' eyes bugged out instantly. Both of them leaped to their feet, lunging toward Luke.
"What... where did you get this much money, Luke? What did you do?" Ava screamed in a panic.
"Yeah, Luke, how is this possible? You didn't sell drugs or a kidney or something illegal, did you?" Noel shouted, panicking.
"Of course I didn't sell anything illegal... just calm down. Back off, will you? I'm all sweaty from working out, why are you getting so close?" Luke said, holding up his palms to keep his distance from his siblings, who were now standing right in front of him.
"I don't care, just tell us where it came from!" Noel and Ava shouted in unison.
"Okay, okay... I'll tell you," Luke replied.
Finally, Luke told them about MS—the mysterious person who gave him money because he had been rejected 100 times and had turned down a girl who approached him. After hearing Luke's explanation, Noel and Ava's expressions shifted from panic to pure, simmering rage. Ava immediately shoved Luke.
"Do you think we're little kids who would believe a story like that? That's low, Luke. Why can't you just trust us and tell us the truth? Why are you keeping secrets from us?" Ava screamed angrily.
"I'm with Ava on this one, Luke. You've gone too far. Please stop treating us like children. I'm eighteen and an adult. Ava is fifteen and clearly understands how the world works. So please, just tell us the real story," Noel said. His voice was calm but cold—the first time he had ever used that kind of tone with Luke.
"I don't even know why myself, but from everything I've experienced over the last few days, that's just what I think might be happening. I don't know who MS is either. Instead of getting all worked up, you guys should help me figure out who MS is and why they're giving us money," Luke shouted back at his siblings.
They went silent immediately. The mood in the room suddenly turned quiet as Noel and Ava studied Luke's face. He truly looked like he had no clue where the money was coming from and that his explanation was just based on his own experience. Luke even showed them his transaction history and explained his theories to them.
Noel and Ava glanced at each other, then turned back to Luke. This time, the anger was gone, replaced by confusion.
"I see... I'll try to think about it too," Noel muttered, beginning to wonder.
"Sorry... I thought you were really treating us like kids. Sorry I shoved you," Ava added, looking regretful while she also began to think.
"Forget it... there's one more thing I want to talk about," Luke said.
"What is it?" Noel asked.
Luke told them about the night before when Susan came to the cafe, explaining her request to work part-time to his two siblings.
"What do you guys think?" Luke asked.
"Hmm... since the cafe's earnings are still untouched, I don't think it's a problem. We haven't looked for employees because the budget was tight, even though the cafe is always busy," Noel answered.
"I'm totally fine with it. It's not right having to ask Lorna for help all the time anyway," Ava added.
"Okay then, let's give her $18 an hour, alright?" Luke asked.
"I'm cool with whatever. When it comes to money, I leave it all to you; we just help count the earnings. But about MS, I'll help look into that too," Noel replied.
"Same here, I'm easy. As long as we can make it from month to month, that's all that matters," Ava countered.
"Alright, problem solved," Luke said, picking up his smartphone.
Not long after, "ding," Noel and Ava's phones went off. They opened them, and their eyes widened as they saw Luke had transferred $1,500 into each of their accounts.
"Huh... what is this money for, Luke?" Noel asked, staring at him.
"Pocket money, having fun, buying a phone, a laptop, or whatever. It's up to you, that's your share," Luke said.
Noel and Ava immediately looked at each other, then jumped to hug Luke, sending all three of them crashing to the floor in a pile.
"Hehe... thanks, Luke! Can I buy some clothes?" Ava asked.
"Sure, it's your money," Luke answered, patting his sister's head.
"Thanks. Now I can actually take Vanessa out and at least eat at a restaurant that's a bit better than fast food," Noel added happily.
"Yeah, yeah... just don't spend it all at once," Luke replied with a smile.
"I know," they both replied.
After that, they counted the cafe's earnings as usual, and then Noel and Ava immediately got ready to go meet their respective significant others. Meanwhile, Luke opened the cafe all by himself.
***
Back to the present, after finishing his message to Susan to let her know she was hired and telling her she could start tomorrow afternoon, Luke set his smartphone on the bar and stared at the door.
"Chime,"
The door bell rang. A beautiful woman with black hair tied in a bun, wearing a nurse's scrub under a jacket and looking a bit tired, stepped inside. Luke immediately walked behind the bar and stood in front of the female customer who was looking over the posted menu. Then the woman looked at Luke.
"Hi Luke, are you all by yourself today?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, Natalie. Why so late? Usually you're here early in the morning after the night shift," Luke asked.
"Yeah, I had to cover for a friend who was running late... black coffee, please, and for food... hmm... let's go with pancakes. Oh, Ava isn't here... can you make them?" Natalie asked.
"I can. Don't worry, I'll make them for you. You're my regular every Saturday morning, after all," Luke said with a smile.
"Hehe... true. Thanks, Luke," Natalie said.
"You're welcome. Give me a moment, feel free to take a seat," Luke replied, gesturing for her to sit.
"Yeah, as usual, I'll sit at the bar. I like watching you work," Natalie replied with a smile as she sat down.
Luke started making the coffee right in front of Natalie, who propped up her tired face with her hands on the counter, yet she kept a smile on her face as she watched him.
"So, Luke? Have you found a girlfriend yet?" Natalie asked.
"Hmm... not yet. But whatever, I'm not really thinking about that right now," Luke answered.
"I guess you wouldn't want someone older, huh? But we're only five years apart, so it should be fine," Natalie replied softly.
"Huh... did you say something?" Luke asked.
"Nothing, I'm just talking to myself," Natalie answered, continuing to watch Luke working while she smirked to herself.