In the afternoon, after the cafe had quieted down and was completely empty again, Luke, Lorna, Giselle, Devon, Sarah, and Alex—all looking exhausted and disheveled—sat at one of the tables to catch their breath. Suddenly, Sarah stood up.
"Sorry... but I have to head home. Thank you, though... today was actually really fun," Sarah said as she got up.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Sarah. Usually you're my customer, and now you're here helping out," replied Luke, who also stood up.
"It's no problem at all. I enjoyed it, and things like this don't happen often, right? So don't sweat it," Sarah replied, appearing cheerful despite her fatigue.
Then Sarah touched Devon's shoulder; Devon immediately stood up and grabbed his laptop.
"Sorry, I'm heading out too. I'm going to keep working at her place," Devon said, pointing at Sarah.
"Okay, I get it. Thanks a lot, bro," Luke replied with a smile.
"Who do you think you're talking to with all that 'thank you' stuff? Anyway... Sarah and I are out. Bye, everyone," Devon replied.
Without waiting for the others to respond, Devon and Sarah walked straight out of the cafe. When the door closed behind them, Luke sat back down and looked at Lorna beside him.
"Thanks. If you hadn't been here, it could've been a disaster," Luke said, placing his hand on Lorna's shoulder, making her startle.
"Yeah... this was all because that crazy girl just took a selfie for content. I'm glad your cafe was busy, but next time, give us a heads-up or something," Lorna said, still fuming at Amanda, whom she called a crazy girl.
"Forget it, let's not talk about it. Thanks to you too, Giselle, Alex," Luke said.
"Take it easy, bro. Look, I came here specifically looking for something to do because I was just bored at my place with nothing to do," Alex replied.
"Haha, true. I came here for the same reason, and besides, I intended to help out from the start," Giselle added.
"But if Devon has a girlfriend now, does that mean we can't play PS5 at his place anymore?" Lorna asked.
"Man... you've got a point. My escape spot is officially gone," Alex answered.
"Why is the PS5 the only thing on your minds? You should be happy your friend finally has a girlfriend. You two are something else," Luke said.
"Don't go acting all wise on us. You're also feeling the sting seeing that slowpoke finally land a girl, aren't you?" Alex shot back.
"That's why, Alex, don't stay single just because of fate," Lorna teased with a grin.
"Shut up, you're single too. Whether it's by choice or by fate, it's all the same," Alex shot back.
"What is this even about? Do you guys realize I just got dumped because I moved here? So just shut it," Giselle snapped.
"Whoa... why are you so worked up? Did that hit home?" Lorna replied, turning to look at Giselle beside her.
"Shut up," Giselle replied, turning to look the other way and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Whoops... sorry, I didn't know. I figured you were single by choice too," Alex replied.
"Just... shut up," Giselle replied, growing even more annoyed.
"That means we're all single, so there's no point stressing over it," Luke replied, looking exhausted.
"How about we double date? Me and Luke, Giselle and Alex," Lorna suggested.
"Huh... no way," Giselle shot back instantly, before Lorna had even finished closing her mouth.
"Give me a break... I haven't even made a move yet and I've already been flat-out rejected. That really hurts," Alex said, though it was hard to tell if he was serious or joking.
But thanks to that, the mood shifted back to normal as Luke, Lorna, and even Giselle started laughing again. Alex eventually joined in on the laughter too, and they went back to chatting like usual. However, not long after,
"Chime."
Everyone immediately turned toward the door. They saw Susan, dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans, walking inside. Susan headed straight for their table to assess the situation. The seating arrangement was Giselle and Lorna on one side, Alex sitting alone across from them, and Luke at the head of the table in his own chair. Then she noticed their four exhausted faces.
"Um... sorry... is something going on? I just came from a boarding house nearby, and it turns out there's a room opening up in three weeks because the current tenant isn't renewing," Susan said, grabbing a chair and sitting down right next to Luke, which naturally rubbed Lorna the wrong way.
"Oh, really? Well, that's good news then," Luke replied to Susan.
"Hey, there's an empty spot next to Alex. Why did you grab a chair just to sit right next to Luke?" Lorna asked sharply, clearly not caring about Susan's struggle to find a place for herself.
"Oh... right, sorry, but I don't know him," Susan said, glancing at Alex.
"Then introduce yourself," Lorna replied, sounding annoyed.
"I'm Alex. And you?" Alex asked, taking the initiative to introduce himself.
"Um... Susan. I'm a freshman... design," Susan answered stiffly.
"There, you're introduced. Now move," Lorna snapped.
"Enough... don't start a fight. It doesn't matter where anyone sits," Luke replied.
"Huh," Lorna turned to look at Luke, feeling like he was taking Susan's side. She stared at him with a mix of emotions—hurt, annoyance, and jealousy—even though Luke was actually just exhausted and didn't want to deal with any more noise. Meanwhile, Susan also misunderstood, thinking Luke was defending her, and her face instantly turned a slight shade of crimson. Feeling someone staring at him strangely, Luke turned to look at Lorna.
"Huh... what's with you?" Luke asked, seeing the whirlwind of expressions on Lorna's face.
"Nothing... just annoyed," Lorna replied, turning to look the other way while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ding."
A message arrived on Giselle's smartphone, which she had left on the table. Giselle looked at it and clicked her tongue before putting the phone back down.
"Who was it?" Luke asked.
"Nobody... don't worry about it," Giselle answered.
"Um... Giselle, Lorna, why are you two wearing cafe uniforms?" Susan asked, apparently having noticed their outfits for a while now.
"It was packed earlier, so we helped Luke out," Giselle answered.
Hearing Giselle's words, Susan flinched in surprise and immediately turned to look at Luke sitting next to her.
"Oh... why didn't you call me? I work here, after all. If you had told me to come in today, I would've come right away," Susan said, her face showing a hint of disappointment as she gripped Luke's upper arm.
"Hey, watch the hands," Lorna snapped, fuming as she watched Susan's hand settle on Luke's arm.
Alex observed everything around him. Luke looked completely drained and seemed to be tuning out the noise around him. Giselle was sulking, clearly annoyed by the constant stream of messages lighting up her smartphone. Lorna continued to glare at Susan with a look that could kill, while Susan practically begged Luke to let her help whenever things got tough.
Finally, Alex just leaned back in his chair, taking it all in while shaking his head. He glanced at Luke.
"My buddy is seriously hopeless. Giselle is a different story since she's his cousin, but it's so obvious Susan has a crush on him and he has no clue. Just like he has no clue that Lorna has actually been crazy about him since they were kids. Me and Devon both tried asking Lorna out before and she always shot us down; later she told us she was waiting for Luke to finally notice her. Good grief... I want to step in, but it's not really my place... it's just a mess," Alex muttered inside his head while watching Luke and cracking a thin smile.