Cat Café~ Pakunoda

The Town Secret

Chapter 7

You had been working at the café for two weeks now. You were used to your schedule now and loved the job. Well, you get to bake cookies and look after cats how could you not love it. You also got to admire your hot boss from a far who you now had a full fledged crush on. You felt like there was a possibility something could bloom between you but you didn't want to mistake her kindness for flirting.

You were handing Pakunoda a trey of cookies to put in the display case. As she grabbed it from you her fingertips lightly grazed your hands. While she walked away you could still feel her touch linger on your skin. You were down baddddd.

"Can you put the sign out for me?" Pakunoda called out.

"Yeah I got it." You grabbed the sign and walked out front propping it up. You swore you could feel eyes on you but when you looked around you didn't see anyone. You thought it was weird but you just walked back into the café and continued on with your business.

You were making Mel her usual coffee and sundae, she comes in every day to see milky and Pakunoda always gives her everything for free no matter how much she insists on paying.

You set Mel's items down and made some small talk. Pakunoda came and joined the conversation.

"How are things with the café? going well I assume." Mel said as she pet milky.

"Yes. Things have been great, thanks to this girl." Pakunoda said referring to you.

"Yeah I've been noticing more of the young boys coming around, must be to admire the beautiful workers." Mel said looking over to a booth of young boys who were trying to secretly peek at you guys.

'Not interested.'

"Seems like everyone wants a piece of y/n. I'm lucky I get to see that pretty face all day." Pakunoda smiled at you. Before walking away to seat a lady who had just walked in. Thank god she came when she did because you had no idea how to respond to that comment.

"Cat got your tongue?" Mel teased.

"What- no I just wasn't expecting that-"

"I've been alive for many years, I know a crush when I see one." Mel was not going to give up.

"Shhhh." You brought your finger to your lip. "I have no clue what you're talking about." You said it playfully enough for her to see it as a confession.

"Well you have good taste, she's a lovely lady. You could say everyone in the town is indebted to her." You didn't understand what she meant by that.

"Indebted to her?"

"Yeah the town wasn't always this cheerful. But I have a feeling she would have told you already if she wanted you to know. She's a humble one isn't she."

'Girl you can't just drop something like that and not spill I-'

"Well Mel are you gunna spill the beans or what?" You whisper yelled as you sat down in the booth leaning towards her.

"I really shouldn't, I'm sure you will find out eventually."

"Mel come on! Give me something to work with here." How was she going to say there's a town secret to you, the nosiest bitch there is.

"Well..." She started. Taking a quick look around to make sure Pakunoda wasn't near. "You see, we used to have a mayor three years ago. He was.. a horrible man to say the least. He would take a high percentage of money from the towns people, leaving them with barley enough to afford food."

"That's horrible! What if you couldn't afford the payment?"

Mel's face completely dropped and you felt the mood shift. "They were punished." She said with a blank stare. The change in mood mixed with her response made your stomach drop. You weren't sure what to say, after you asked that question something completely switched in Mel.

"But that doesn't matter now, Pakunoda took care of him." Mel's mood switched back to normal almost instantly. It was unsettling.

"What do you mean took care of him?" You asked hesitantly.

"Wow this sundae is delicious!" She said as she started eating at a faster pace than usual. You furrowed your brows at her and watched as she swiftly finished her ice cream.

"Well, it was nice speaking with you but I must take my leave." She stood and exited the café in an instant, leaving you with a very unsettling feeling.