Second chance

2. Be serious!

Cling!

TopTap nudged New towards the entrance and he sucked in his breath as he saw a ‘regular’ customer they have. Toptap nicknamed him HSC a.k.a Handsome Sunshine Tay.

New gave the younger a glare and it was only met with a teasing smile. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous when the guy has dropped by their café every day. Certainly he does know why – he just declines to acknowledge that Tay has that impact on him.

So far these are the things New knows about him:

His name – Tay.
He’s a University Professor.
He LOVES Photography.
Youthful and a BIG FLIRT.
Loves(?) / Likes(?) Coffee????
Handsome.
Contiguous Smile.
Handsome.
Contiguous Smile.

He shook his head strongly to keep his focus.

Tay gave a small wave, followed by a smile. New bit his lip as he flattened his shirt before moving towards his table.

His steps interrupted down when he saw a man, broad chest and thick thighs, come in the café and nodded towards Tay’s table.

New felt a dull poke as he saw the man give Tay a tight hug before sitting across from him. He shook his head to shake away the feeling as he was nearing the table. “Hi!”

“Hey there sweetheart! How are you today?” Tay leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and eyeing New up and down.

“One, I’m not your sweetheart. Two, would you stop that?” New scowled a bit and he almost lost his balance when he saw Tay bite his lower lip.

The man who was beside Tay coughed and that got both New and Tay’s attention. “I’m here too.”

New instantly blushed from embarrassment and turned to the man. “You’re a new face around here. I’m New, one of the owners.” He offered his hand.

“My name is-” Arm began but was quickly cut off by Tay. “His name is Arm. And that’s roughly all you need to know about him.”

“Nice place you got here.” Arm was about to grab the offered hand but Tay took it rather. He rolled his eyes and just gave New a wave. “I’m sorry for my friend. He missed to take his no-flirting-in-the-morning medicine.”

Tay clicked his tongue and made a face at Arm before turning to New. “He’s joking love. Don’t believe him. What will you have Ai'Arm?”

“One Iced Americano please.”

New who was struggling to get his hand free, glared at the smiling Tay. “And for you?”

“As always.. Surprise me.” He smirked before kissing the back of the Older’s hand, quite pleased when he sees the blush creeping up on New’s cheeks.

‘Focus New. You should be used to this right? C’mon!’ The Younger scolded himself as his heart inaugurated doing somersault flips. He felt relieved when Tay released his hand and he quickly went over the counter to prepare their coffee.

He was so bothered that he hadn’t noticed his hand shaking, making him drop the cup to the floor. He bowed to the customers present, carefully avoiding a certain table. Even without looking New knows Tay was chuckling.

TopTap helped him clean up and he pulled the Older to the side before he could do anything. “talk to me. You’ve been breaking cups a lot in the past weeks. What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just…” New peeked over to where Tay and Arm were. He watched as their heads were snuggled close together and Arm positioning an arm over Tay; He watched as Arm talked which received a wide smile from Tay.

“Are you jealous?”

New threw his head back to a smiling TopTap and swatted his arm . “No… I’m- I’m not! It’s just… FINE I am! I mean how would you feel when two weeks straight the guy drops by and kept flirting with you then is gone by the next week and now he’s back and he’s with someone! God! I’m not supposed to even think about this with the divorce.. and Pleum.”

TopTap laughed before cupping New’s face in his hands. “Listen.. for the first time in 6 months I saw that smile again. I saw the New who I dearly love. As bad as it may sound, he’s a nice distraction with all the shit you’re going through. My advice? Just enjoy. Don’t overthink this. Answers will come when it’s time, okay?”

“What will I do without you? Thank you Toptap!!” New’s shoulders sagged and he wrapped his arms around TopTap’s waist, giving him a tight hug.

Right across the room, a certain man was crumpling the napkin as tightly. He clicked his tongue as he sees New hug TopTap.

“Do you plan to kill the napkin? Because it’s suffocating as we speak. You’re jealous.” Arm eyed him playfully. “I’ve never seen you jealous.”

Tay released the napkin and sighed deeply. “That’s because you haven’t seen me seriously like somebody. I had a big plan. Come here every day and try to woo him. Last week I wasn’t able to because you came and now I feel like I’m back to zero.”

“So it’s my mistake now?” Arm asked confused.

The Older didn’t get the chance to answer because New was on his way to their table. He gave them a small smile before setting their drinks carefully. “Ice Americano and Café Au Lait for you.”

“Another crash darling?” Tay teasingly let out before taking a sip from his coffee.

New pouted and hugged the tray to his chest. “Accidents happens. I do hope you enjoy your coffee. Please excuse me.”

“Wait! Did you make the coffee?” The Older asked, licking the side of his mouth to get hold of the taste.

‘That tongue. Oh that tongue.’ New’s heart was about to erupt but he still managed to calm down, he hopes its how it is, answer him. “It was TopTap. I cut myself earlier so he made it.”

Tay suddenly grabbed New’s hand and inspected it, worry carved on his face. “Are you okay? It’s not deep, is it?”

“I.. I’m fine! It’s not deep so I’ll live but wait… is there something wrong with the coffee?” The Older was worried.

Tay shook his head and provided a shy smile. “Nothing. Your coffee.. I mean how you make the coffee just tastes better.” He caressed the back of New’s hand gently.

“How can you tell? We use the exact beans and methods.”

This time it was Arm who replied. “His taste is very sensitive. He also is very attentive with the people he’s interested in.”

New was suddenly speechless.

Tay looked up at him for a moment. “Has anybody ever told you that you look really good in white?”

New’s heart stopped. He stood motionless, staring at the table.





‘You look really good in white.’




The words echoed in in his brain – every letter, every word. It was so loud that the echo wouldn’t stop.

Everything came flooding back.

After a minute or so, his grip on the serving tray got tighter and he grew paler. “I… uh… I-.. I need to go fetch my son.” He tugged his hand back and slowly backed away from their table and quickly pulling his bag, heading towards the back exit.

“New! New!” TopTap yelled but he only saw a few seconds of his back.

Tay, who saw the exchange, took this opportunity to ‘pay’ for their coffee. But before he could even ask, a glaring TopTap greeted him at the cashier. “What did you say to him?”

“Nothing? Look I just said he looked good in white. I don’t think it’s something to be depress about??”

TopTap pursed his lips together before letting out a sigh. “His.. Ex used to say that to him. Look Phi. If you’re serious about him then pursue him seriously. If you’re just looking for a fling then I recommend you don’t show yourself anymore.”





He looked at the time. It read 3:30 pm. His son’s dismissal isn’t around until 4 pm and he decided to sit on one of the swings in the park near Pleum’s school. He let out a shaky sigh before gazing up in the sky.





“Stop it!” New covered his blushing face.

He chuckled and proceeded to stare. “I mean it! You look really good in white.”

“You’re just saying that because it’s our wedding day.” New bit his lip as he curiously gazed the golden band that glittered on his husband’s finger.

The husband stood up from the bed and approached New. He threaded their fingers together before tugging him towards the bed, making them plop in the middle.

New giggled as the husband nuzzle himself comfortably in his chest. He looked up and excitement filling his body as he saw that smirk creep up on his husband’s lips. “Happy Wedding Day Baby.”

The husband lifted him up so that they were face to face, making sure to slide their bodies against each other. “Happy Wedding Day! Seriously… you’re so good enough to eat.”

New leaned in for a peck. “I love you, Husband.”

“I love you too.” The husband immediately changed their positions so that he was now atop. He gave New a loving smile before taking New’s lips against his own, destroying it as if his life depended on it.

And all New could do is surrender, voluntarily.





His eyes started to water and he took deep breaths to steady himself down.

They used to be so in love.

And now… now he was lonely.

These past few weeks have been a nice distraction but that’s all there is. That’s all it has to be. He chuckled as today can be very much correlated to the Au Lait he wanted to prepare earlier – BITTER.

He has a kid to think about and he doesn’t have time for games.

Not now, Not Soon, quite probably not ever.

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Today's update :)

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