Chapter 18

New day, new cases to solve.

As another day arrives, Claude is preparing to go to work. Checking his bag if everything he needed is in there. He was going to work early and there is still some time before his work started—he decided to go and visit Kane's workplace.

While Kane is getting ready to open the café, his phone vibrates—someone is calling him.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Oh, hey! When is your duty?" Claude replied. "From your work, I mean" he then added. Thinking it wasn't making any sense to just ask someone about that.

"Now, I guess?"

"Cool, I'm on my way" he replied and ended the call.

'Weird, why would he want to come here all of a sudden? Is he planning something?' Kane thought. Finding Claude's sudden visit suspicious, 'well, if he does have a plan or something it will not be that bad.'

He then continues getting ready to open the shop.

Minutes later, the doorbells rang—indicating that someone entered.

Kane immediately greeted the customer "Welcome"—only to find out it was Claude.

Claude was smirking while Kane have a scowl present on his face—he's obviously dissatisfied with Claude being his first customer. Although, his reaction is like that he didn't forget to ask Claude about his order.

"What's your order, Sir?" Kane asked.

"One Iced Caramel Macchiato along with Ham and Cheese Sandwich"

Kane encoded it and asked again "Is that all, Sir?"

"Yes"

Kane gave him a wireless coaster pager—to call him once his order is done.

Claude sat down and watched Kane prepare his order. Watching Kane grow up makes him proud—although he's not his own son, it just makes him proud, he witness everything that Kane went through after all.

'I wonder if Nicole is watching him right now. I bet she's smiling proudly at her brother. They may fight sometimes but you can't deny the bond they have as siblings. I really hope she's watching him grow up and do things he likes.' he thought staring at the empty space.

His moment was disturbed when his coaster pager suddenly rang—which means his order is ready. He makes his way to the counter and got his order.

"Kane, do you want something?" he asked—remembering that he didn't even ask him if he had breakfast already.

"No, I already ate. Thank though" Kane replied and proceeded to wipe some cups.

Claude sat down and drank his coffee in peace.

The two of them didn't make any sound, the silence was comfortable for both of them—giving them some peace of mind.

Not long after that Claude decided to read some paper works while eating.

An hour passed by and Claude is still in the café. This made Kane wonder whether he has a job or just pretending to do anything with his beloved laptop. Not wasting any time, he decided to ask him about it—since there are no customers.

"Don't you need to go to your work?"

"Yes, but it's still early" Claude replied.

"Then, what time is your work starting?"

"10:00 in the morning"

"Oh, then take your time"

Kane lets him be and focuses on doing his job instead.

Minutes passed by and Claude finally decided to clean up.

"Kane, I'm leaving, take care" he said.

Kane nodded and replied, "Take care".

Just when he was about to open the door someone beat him up to it. The door opened and startled both of them—which causes the other person to drop its things on the floor.

Claude quickly helped in picking up the things that dropped.

"I'm sorry I wasn't looking" he apologized.

"It's okay, it was partly my fault. I'm also sorry" the other person replied.

"Then, I'll get going" he muttered and left.

Kane was watching them from the counter, he immediately recognized the other person when it dropped its things on the floor.

"Are you really going to stare and not help, you dumb cousin of mine" the said person said.

Claude heard it from afar and was shocked to know that it was Kane's cousin—but he couldn't recognize who it is. Not prying too much, he decided to let them be and just go to his work.

"I know you can do it, stupid Kim" Kane replied.

"Whatever, do you know who that man is?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, it was my sister's ex-boyfriend"

"Is that really him? Well, it has been a while since we last saw each other" she muttered under her breath.

"What?" he asked—not hearing what his cousin said.

"Nothing, anyway, Can I get an Iced Latte?" she ordered.

"Sure"

'He really is working hard' she thought.

On the other hand, Claude arrived at his work and proceeded to continue reading where he finished when he was at the café.