Not long after Luke had served Natalie her black coffee and a plate of pancakes—along with a bonus basket of french fries—the door chimed.
"Chime,"
The door opened again. A beautiful woman with glasses and messy blonde hair, still sporting a roller in her bangs, stepped inside. She was wearing pajamas under a jacket and rabbit slippers while carrying a laptop. Without even glancing at the menu, she headed straight for a corner table. Natalie watched the newcomer while munching on a fry.
"I thought I was too late to run into her, but it turns out she's even later than me," Natalie said.
"Yeah, let me get her order ready," Luke replied. He clearly knew who she was; she was another Saturday regular who usually arrived right around the same time as Natalie.
The woman opened her laptop, then looked a bit surprised as she glanced toward Luke behind the bar and raised her hand. But before she could even speak or open her mouth, Luke cut in.
"One mocha latte, right? I'm already on it, Sarah. Don't worry," Luke said.
"Oh... yeah, thanks, Luke. I'm just going to work here for a bit," Sarah replied with a sweet smile. She then turned to look at Natalie. "Did you just get off work, Natalie?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, and I bet you just woke up, hehe," Natalie answered, looking back at her.
"Yep... I was working late last night. I'm going to get back to it now," Sarah said, smiling.
They both went back to their own business, and the cafe fell quiet again. The only sounds were Sarah typing away and the clicks of her mouse. Soon, Luke brought the coffee over to Sarah's table and set it down in front of her.
"Thank you, Luke," Sarah said, looking up and smiling.
"You're welcome," Luke replied with a smile.
"Hey... what do you think of this logo design I made? Is it missing something?" Sarah asked, turning her laptop around to show him.
"Hmm... looks good to me, haha," Luke said, not really knowing much about logo design.
"Is that so? It should match the client's request, but they just asked me to fix it. I wonder what... it's such a headache," Sarah grumbled, staring at her screen while adjusting her glasses.
"Um... yeah," Luke replied, looking like he wanted to make a quick escape.
"Since it's quiet, why don't you sit next to me for a bit and help me out?" Sarah said, patting the chair beside her. She clearly had another motive, using help as her excuse.
"Uh... um... I think I should get back..."
But before Luke could even fully answer to turn her down, "chime," the cafe door opened again. Luke looked over to see Devon walking in, dressed up and carrying a laptop. Luke immediately felt a sense of relief and approached Devon after excusing himself from Sarah.
"Whoa, what are you doing at my cafe so early on a Saturday? And why are you so dressed up?" Luke asked, confused by his friend's appearance.
"The Wi-Fi at my place is down, so I'm gonna work here. (Looking around) Wait, where's Ava?" Devon asked.
"Now why the hell are you looking for my sister? What do you want?" Luke asked, instantly suspicious.
"What do you mean? Can't you see I'm all dressed up like this? Obviously, I'm here to ask your sister out," Devon answered, though it was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
"You better watch yourself. Besides, she's over at her boyfriend's house," Luke said, annoyed.
"Huh," Hearing that Ava had a boyfriend, Devon looked a bit dejected. Luke realized right then that his friend was actually serious about having crush for Ava.
"Sorry, man, but her boyfriend is way out of your league," Luke teased to cheer him up.
"Screw you. Whatever, I'm just gonna crash here and work. Let me use the cafe Wi-Fi; I've got a ton of freelance gig piling up," Devon replied, showing off his laptop that was covered in various stickers.
"Go ahead. So, what are you ordering? Don't think for a second that using the free Wi-Fi means you don't have to buy something," Luke said with a smirk, but he was serious.
"You really are a pain. Fine, just a cappuccino," Devon grumbled.
"Hehe... coming right up, bro. And as a little consolation since you can't go after my sister anymore, I'll make you some pasta on the house," Luke replied, feeling like he'd won.
"Fuck you," Devon grumbled.
"You're welcome," Luke replied with a wide grin.
Devon then sat down at an empty table right in front of Sarah, who was still stressing over her design, and immediately opened his laptop to start working as well. Luke went back to work in front of Natalie, who had finished her food and was enjoying the rest of her coffee.
"Is he a friend of yours, Luke?" Natalie asked, glancing over at Devon.
"Yeah, we've been friends since middle school and we're still stuck together," Luke answered.
"Oh, I see. I just haven't seen him before; he's usually not here on Saturdays," Natalie replied, watching Devon as he started typing away at his table.
"He's a design major. Usually, on the weekends, he locks himself in his room to work on his freelance stuff until late afternoon, sometimes even until night," Luke said.
"Wow... that's pretty impressive," Natalie replied.
"Sorry, Natalie, I've got to head back for a second to make some pasta for him," Luke said.
"Okay. I'm just going to relax here for a bit before I head home," Natalie replied.
"Go ahead, make yourself at home," Luke replied with a smile.
Then Luke went into the back to prepare some food for Devon. Meanwhile, Sarah, who was sitting behind Devon, stood up and watched as Devon—with his back to her—worked on both his graphic design projects and some coding for a freelance programming job.
Out of curiosity, Sarah stood up and stepped behind Devon, adjusting her glasses as she studied his laptop screen. Every now and then, she glanced at Devon, who looked so serious while working, and a faint smile played on her lips as if she saw something she liked in his expression. Sensing someone watching him from behind, Devon immediately turned around.
"Whoa!" He jumped, startled to find Sarah's face so close to his.
"Hi... are you working on a design too?" Sarah asked, her eyes never leaving Devon's screen.
"Y... Yeah. You too?" Devon asked, his voice shaking because his heart was still racing.
"Yeah. Mind if I sit with you?" Sarah asked directly.
"P... Please, go ahead," Devon stammered.
Without a second thought, Sarah moved her laptop over to Devon's table. Instead of sitting across from him, she sat right next to him, forcing Devon to scoot over as he watched her in confusion—she looked like she had just rolled out of bed, all messy and disheveled. Sarah moved her coffee cup over too, then turned to look at Devon and smiled.
"Thud." Realizing that the woman sitting beside him was beautiful despite the mess, Devon felt like he'd been struck by Cupid's arrow.
"Um... what's your name?" Devon asked, still stumbling over his words.
"Oh... I'm Sarah. And you? You're a student from across the street, right?" Sarah asked, reaching out her hand.
"Yeah, that's right. Graphic design major. What about you?" Devon asked.
"Wow, we're in the same major from the same university. I just graduated last year, so I guess you're my junior. What year are you?" Sarah asked.
"Sophomore," Devon answered shortly.
"You're pretty impressive, being able to handle that much work. I stayed up so late last night because I took on too much," Sarah replied.
"Yeah... thanks. I think I like you," Devon blurted out, his nerves getting the better of him.
"Huh." Sarah went dead silent, looking a bit shocked. But she didn't flinch; instead, she leaned in to study Devon's face. Devon realized what he'd just said and immediately turned bright red.
"Oh... sorry... I didn't mean anything by that... it just slipped out..."
"Are you serious about liking me looking like this?" Sarah asked, cutting Devon off as she pointed at herself.
Devon was stunned that Sarah wasn't angry. He nodded rapidly, swallowing the words he hadn't managed to say yet. Sarah smiled and leaned forward to peck Devon on the cheek, then pulled out her smartphone.
"We'll have dinner together tonight and catch up, just come over to my place," Sarah said.
"Um... wait, does this mean..."
"Well, you said you liked me, and I'm accepting you. So from now on, we're going out, right? I'm also impressed seeing how hard you work, and we're in the same field. Plus, you're not bad-looking. Let's just take it slow and see where this goes, okay," Sarah said casually, clearly much more mature than Devon.
"Huh... I... I guess so. Okay," Devon replied, his heart pounding so loudly it seemed to break the silence of the cafe.
The two of them began chatting naturally. Natalie looked over, simply smiling and shaking her head at the sight. Suddenly, Luke walked out carrying food and stopped dead, shocked to see Devon sitting with Sarah. They were working together and brainstorming like colleagues in the same field—and they were already starting to look pretty cozy.
"Huh... what just happened?" Luke asked himself, stunned while holding a tray with a plate of fettuccine carbonara for Devon.