Chapter- Four- Daniela

It's raining when I enter the Café and my boots are soaked to the core. I keep the helmet on an empty counter and rush of to help in the Kitchen. The smell of Pies freshly baked out of the oven, hits me harder than I expected it to and I'm drooling by the time I've changed into a new pair of slippers and stockings.

Aiden pokes his head around the counter, a smile playing at his lips as he sneaks a pie under my nose before handing it to Lyric to serve.

I smack his hand, "Stop playing with my stomach." I say, "I'm trying my best not to gobble down the entire pantry."

"I wonder what's stopping you." He says his brown eyes twinkling, "Are you on another diet?"

I suck in my stomach, my cheeks flushed. I know he isn't doing it to purposely embarrass me, but just poking fun at my past diets. It still stings though. Not because none of them were successful, but because how much bigger I made them out to be.

"It was just two times Aiden." I say, "And no, I'm not on a diet again."

"That's good." He says smiling, "Chef Aiden approves. Do you wanna have the new muffin I invented today?"

He looks eagerly at me, his big eyes open with anticipation, so I say yes. He rushes of to the kitchen almost falling in the process.

Mr. Roy shakes his head as he molds a ring out of a sugary paste of dough.

"It will take you a good ten years more to become a chef sonny." He says looking at Aiden with a gentle smile. "You still don't know how to sieve and you leave stones of chocolate inside. Rookie mistake."

Aiden slides the tray in front of me, with a round ball of chocolate that looks more like a disfigured head.

I take up a fork and stab it, "You sure this is edible?"

Aiden nods, scratching his neck. "It just looks ugly, it's super tasty from inside."

I tear down a slice and everyone looks over to see. My reaction was all they were waiting for.

"Come on eat it already," Katie shouts from the corner, "And let us know whether it is eligible for the special treat tonight."

There's a hoot of laughter and I see that Aiden laughs along. He never takes anyone's words to his heart. Special treat is the category mom introduced in the menu. Since it was important to make an original name among all the Cafes, all the workers butt in together and devised a lot of new dishes or combinations that the 'Bean Box' would be known by. Everyone had ambitious plans, but only three could make it to the list. Cavern Cookies by Katie, Peeping Fusilli by Mr. Roy and The King's Blue's Tonic made by me, Bobby and Aiden.

"Well presentation is important son." Mr. Roy says, "I won't be serving my clients this. Even if tastes good, it has to look good to tempt others first."

"That's dumb," Another person shouts, "You're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover. Right Rhea?"

I know there wasn't anything deep behind it, it was just a rhetoric question; but it wipes the grin of my face immediately. Obviously no one is attracted to ugly, it's always the pretty designs on clothes, the shiny, sleek cars, the colorful, beautifully arranged food. Anything that doesn't look good or appealing will never be a person's first choice.

It's psychology and it's an obvious behavior and no one knows that better than me.

I look at Aiden, his cheeks flushed. No one cares how long he took to come up with this recipe and although it's just good natured humoring, it might hurt him a bit somewhere.

So, I take out the knife slice the muffin into two and stuff it inside my mouth. I'm not sure whether it's because I was already upset, or whether the words stabbed me because as the butter melts in my mouth and the almonds crush in my mouth, I realize that the muffin is delicious.

...

Aiden was adopted by Mr. Roy when he was seven and since Mr. Roy was our family friend and the chef at our Café, he got a job here when he came of age, i.e. 15. He is two years younger to me and is closer to me than any of my friends ever.

"Hey Dani," He calls out to me after our shift. "Do you wanna go for a walk together?"

"Okay," I say, "Let me get my coat first."

We run through the cones standing outside our building and sneak in between the trees to the footpath. There's a sign that stays to stay back from there, cause there's a ditch in the bushes somewhere. We've never seen the ditch so we don't care.

"So, how's school?" He asks me as we walk. The night is littered by a blurry array of stars. The stars come up even before the sun properly even sets. I wait till we cross the mosque reciting the call of prayer for the evening, cause it's disrespectful to talk over it and then speak.

"It's okay," I say, "No one ever told me that high school was this hard though."

"It's hard cause you took up all those subjects." He says, "I didn't know you wanted to be a lawyer. Thought you would take up your mom's Café."

I did think of doing that when I was in eighth grade and hopelessly in love with the idea of having pancakes and pies being made around me. I love food but I don't think I have the temperament needed to run a business. Maybe if I was half as confident as mom, I could've probably done it. But I'm not. Unfortunately unlike anyone I've ever known, nothing's ever come naturally to me. I've always I have to work for it. People say law school is tough, but hard work is all I've ever known; I know I would make it. And if I could make it, I could learn to love the job.

"Mom expected that from me too." I say, my curly hair blowing in all directions. "But I don't think I'm made for this."

Aiden didn't say anything for a while before pointing out the green Park just a few meters away from our neighborhood.

"Why does this place look so small now?" He asks, "I'm pretty sure I remember it being huge."

I look at his genuinely confused expression and laugh.

"Come on," I say, "We were tiny then, obviously everything looked mega huge then."

"I remember you looking mega huge to me," He says, "You were so tall, you'd cross the park in eight steps and I took fifteen."

And now I'm much shorter than him, despite being two years older. "I can't believe you remember that."

"Oh, I remember everything." He points out at the see-saw, "We would slide down pebbles down one end and rush off to catch them at the other end. Whoever had the most would win."

"I always won." I say grinning.

"Oh, come on." He says rolling his eyes, "You won like once."

I frown, "Then why do I remember it so clearly?"

"Cause you winning was so rare, that you made it your business to let everyone know." He says.

I remember it suddenly. Me in a yellow dress, with my unruly hair tied by the pin mom gifted me on Christmas and rushing about in my socks, soiling them, screaming that I had won. I bet I was super annoying as a kid.

I glance at him, "Do you remember us playing with my dolls?"

"With Minnie and Jessie." He says, "And just for your information, Jessie wasn't your doll it was mine."

"Yeah, yeah, it's the same thing."

"It's not." He says, "I tied her hair and applied oil in her hair everyday for years. Don't go about discrediting me like that."

"Woah okay," I say laughing, "I give you all the credit Mr. Aiden."

"You better," He says, blowing air out of his nose in an animated manner.

When we cross the Park, our legs sending every autumn leaf flying and twigs crunching, he looks at me, his hands in his pockets.

"I wish we could play together again." He says with a smile.

"With Minnie and Jessie?" I joke, but deep down guilt boils at the bottom of my stomach. I know we haven't met in so long and become distant, especially cause of me being so busy all the time. I know Aiden's classmates don't really get along with him cause he doesn't play sports and grins like the Cheshire cat -his soul animal secretly is- all the time.

I look at him, maybe it's time to catch up. I look at my friend and tug his elbow gently as the sky dims.

"Do you want to meet up after school tomorrow?" I ask him, "I get of at 3, I can wait for you."

He smiles back at me a little surprised.

"Yeah sure," He says, "We can catch up."

I nod and the twinkle in his eyes doesn't miss me. We've always had similar interests, an easy going, introverted nature; but I realized today that we're poles apart. I work hard, cause I've dreams to fulfil. I have materialistic ambitions that I know I can only fulfil once I leave. Aiden on the other hand is not the type, that people warn of the dangers outside, they know he's the one who'll never leave.

I look at Aiden, his chestnut brown hair, pale skin and brown eyes that twinkled whenever he felt pleased. He might never become the Chef Mr. Roy is, but I do know that he is the one who loves working at the Café, the one I know who's going to carry it forwards cause he is the one who actually wants and- will stay.