DATE

When Laleen arrived at the cafe that early morning, she was met with a peculiar sight. The cafe was... empty? She looked around, puzzled, but there was no sign of her coworkers or any customers. A frown crept onto her face. Could she have entered the wrong shop? No, that wasn't possible. The prominent sign outside clearly indicated she was in the right place. 

Another thing she noticed was the decorations. The tables were adorned with flowers at the center, arranged with precision. Everywhere seemed cleaner than usual, as if a meticulous touch had been applied to every corner of the cafe.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw their boss step out from the door to the staff room. Her eyes immediately found the floor as she greeted with a respectful bow, "Good morning, Sir."

Rising from her bowing position, she couldn't help but ask in confusion, "Sir, are we not... expecting customers today?"

Her boss chuckled at her question. Suddenly, Laleen wished she could see the expression on his face. Not finished with her inquiry, she continued, "And what about the others?"

"They won't be coming today" She heard him say. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"They won't?"

All her boss could do was nod, not like she could see. He was beginning to wonder how long she intended to keep this up.

A short silence followed as more questions crept into her mind confusing her even more. What was going on? 

Her boss was quick to answer her thoughts. "You're in charge today, Stephanie".

His words immediately snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" The surprise in her face was evident, and it echoed in her voice. 

The old man's voice brimmed with excitement as his eyes gleamed. "We have a special customer coming today. They rented out the entire place".

Laleen jerked her head back in surprise. "They can do that?"

"Of course, you silly girl" He responded with a chuckle. 

Laleen nodded in understanding but she still had questions. "How does that leave me in charge? And why me and not the others?" She questioned again.

All her boss did was sigh at her question before he quickly explained. He still had things to take care of before the special customer arrived.

"They requested for privacy so I reasoned just one worker was enough. Also, considering you got a long three months leave, that makes you the most... energetic?"

He arched a brow at her as he watched her brew in his words.

True, she had taken a longer leave than necessary but that was because she had to familiarize herself with her environments before stepping to the outside world.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she finally nodded. "I understand" She mumbled.

"Good" The old man beamed and then he clapped his hands grasping her attention to the tasks at hand.

"I'm not done with the preparations so get dressed and come assist me".

Laleen could only nod as she headed in the direction of the door to the staff room.

***

By noon, all preparations were complete and all Laleen had to do was sit behind the counter and await the much expected customer. As her brown eyes surveyed her surroundings, she felt her heart sprout with excitement.

The table arrangements suggested it was for two people. Wasn't that what they called a date? Her eyes turned dreamy as she shook her head slowly. She would have liked something like that. 

As more minutes passed, Laleen sat alone and bored. The decorations she had been staring at were suddenly less sparkly as they were an hour ago and her bottom was starting to hurt from sitting for so long.

What was taking them so long? Didn't they know coffee was best served in the morning? 

And after all the decorations too. She clicked her tongue as she shook her head while scrunching her nose. What a waste.

Just as she was about to let out a groan in frustration, she heard the clinking of the bells on the glass doors announcing someone's presence.

Her eyes instantly fell to the floor and trailed all the way to the person's feet. Shiny shoes.

She pursed her lips as she stared at the seemingly familiar shoes while rising from her seat.

Does she dare to look up? 

Not forgetting her manners, she immediately bowed as she greeted, "Good day sir".

Remembering her boss's advice to be more courteous than usual, she gestured to the prepared table as she beamed, "Welcome".

The soft sound of his shoes as he padded towards the table echoed in the silence. Laleen fiddled with her fingers hidden behind the counter. For some reason, she was increasingly aware of this man's presence.

He stopped right at where she stood with her head slumped to stare at the ground, the counter being the only demarcation between them. 

Her entire body tensed up when she felt his gaze bore into her. She felt a strong pull towards the man in front of her and her lips quivered as her mind turned blank.

Slowly she rose her head all sense of reason having fled from her mind. Her gaze was quick enough to catch his sleek black hair as he tore his gaze away from her and walked towards the table. Unfortunately, she couldn't catch his eyes.

But that was all she needed. She stared at the back of his head as her pupils dilated. He was the man with shiny shoes. Undoubtedly!

A sense of gratitude and fulfilment washed over her as she watched him take his seat. She was so glad she was the one in charge today and not the others.

Why was he here? She asked herself as her heart raced with anticipation. She was so engrossed that she forgot that the table was initially set for two and there was someone else that she should be welcoming in as well.

But who could blame her? It was the man with shiny shoes. The man she'd been thinking about since the past three months and even more so for the past two days.

There goes her luck though. The other customer was more than displeased.

Her clearly annoyed voice rang out dimming Laleen's sparkly eyes that was stuck to the man with shiny shoes.

"Tell, am I invisible or what, you dumb waitress?"

"Heh?"