Impress Me Not: The Architect

Chapter 17

"Nikita," Valentino sighed. "I really have to stop letting you convince me to do these things."

"Why?"

"Because I just had to take time off to meet with you both at a coffee shop," he answered.

"You work too much," Nikita complained. "You like Sunshine: never take a break unless absolutely have to."

"We're trying to work on our careers, Nikita," he smiled. He really did enjoy hanging out with Nikita. If he didn't, he wouldn't have gotten the morning off. Nikita was a good person to hang out with, and seemed to get him more than anyone else. Maybe it was because they both didn't like talking all that much sometimes. When it came to something important, then they would. But they were completely comfortable with a quiet room where they were just doing their own things.

"You lucky you born here," Nikita said. "I'm still fighting to keep education visa."

"What are you even doing?" Valentino asked. "I never found out."

"Engineering," his friend explained. "Going to fix planes after school."

"Ah," Valentino said. "Sounds like an interesting job."

"It is good," he nodded. "Would be better if I could get it through army. But have to be citizen for that. Besides, my mom would kill me if I did it that way."

"Can I get you guys some coffees to start?" A man in an apron said. They were waiting for Sunshine and Casimir in the little coffee shop downtown. It was a place that Valentino went to regularly. The retro themed coffee shop was called "Insomniac Café" because it never closed unless it was a holiday.

"Black with one cream," Nikita said.

"You already know my order, Anton," Valentino said.

"You off today, Valentino?" the man started getting the coffee ready before they even went to pay for their food. He was the owner of the store, and knew how to make every coffee, tea, and other drink as easy as breathing. "I'm not used to seeing you this late in the morning."

"I took the morning off," he explained. The owner didn't say anything more, just nodded and finished their coffees. He liked Anton, because he knew just when Valentino didn't want to talk. There was a point where he thought about asking him out, but he just didn't think it would have gone anywhere. Anton was always busy, even more so than him.

"Ah, there they are, dear," Casimir's voice came ringing through the sitting area. As soon as he looked over to the front door, the man smiled at him.

He hated that smile of his. It was too handsome on him. It had Valentino frozen for a solid second, just hearing the sound of his own heart beat loud. It climbed all the way into his throat for that one second, before they got close enough and Casimir started talking to Nikita and Sunshine.

He was still mad with himself. He shouldn't be feeling this way. Especially not towards the wedding planner that was supposed to help his friend's dreams come true. Now every time the man seemed to find him, he was left trying to snap himself out of it, hoping that he didn't think that he was weird in any way.

He was an idiot.

"So," Casimir said. "Todays going to be a fun one."

"What exactly are we doing?" Valentino asked, looking at his friends. "You guy's kind of left me out of the loop with that."

"It's cake tasting!" Sunshine smiled. "I'm so glad you could come, Valentino! You're going to love it."

"I just planned meeting over at a local shop first before we went," Casimir explained. "That way you could all simply follow me over to the bakery."