special brew. | BrightWin

2.

B

"Boss? Hello?" Film was waving her hand in front of my face. I had apparently spaced out while she was talking to me.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said, our profits from today alone are enough to cover a good portion of our rent for this month." She said excitedly.

"Really? Let me have a look."

I looked through the figures that she wrote down in the notebook, and it was exactly like she said.

I couldn't get any luckier than this.

I was so elated that I pulled her into a hug. We just sat in the chairs rejoicing and cheering together at how well we did today for a good few minutes.

"Boss," she asked after we had both calmed down. "Does this mean that...you won't be closing down the place anymore?"

I smiled stiffly, not knowing how to answer. It's true that we did exceptionally well today, but if tomorrow goes back to how it was, there'd be no point.

"Please, boss..." She pleaded, grabbing onto my arm. "Things will only go up from here, I'm sure of it. Please?"

Looking in her eyes that were filled with hope, it was hard to say no. Film's been working for me for the past few years, and she's the only one who has stuck around the longest even when business was at its worst. How could I, as the boss, let her down when even she's been fighting this hard alongside me?

"I'll give it one more chance. Let's try our best, okay?" I said, patting her head. She was overjoyed upon hearing my decision to give it some more time to see if our situation improves, and it made me happy as well.

"I'll work for you as long as the café is here, boss!" She declared. "Don't you worry, that food blogger has thousands of followers online who trust her reviews. There will be lots of people coming for sure!"

I chuckled as I nodded my head. This food blogger was the reason why we had such a huge flood of customers today - she had chanced upon our café and came to try our food, and was thankfully impressed by it. She put up a post giving us good feedback, which garnered a lot of attention from her followers.

"Bye boss! See you tomorrow." Film said as she picked up her bag and waved. I bid her goodbye and watched as she left, texting away happily on her phone.

As I got up from the chair to retrieve my bag from behind the counter, I looked around the café and recalled how every seat was occupied with a customer just an hour ago, which had a stark contrast to how empty it was for the longest time.

It's funny how just one person can turn your life around 180°.

Just yesterday, I couldn't even find it in me to smile at anyone or anything because of all the stress and frustration I was feeling. But today, I've smiled more times than I have for the past month combined.

I think I'll be able to make it work somehow - if I just hung on a little more.

I turned off all the switches and made sure the door was locked before I made my way to the bus stop. I sighed as I recalled my car protesting to start up this morning, even though I was sure that I had refilled the tank just yesterday, so I had to get to work by bus.

I did a little jog, hoping that I hadn't missed the last bus as it was already pretty late. Thankfully, there were quite a few people waiting there, which meant that the bus had yet to arrive. I stood a distance away from the crowd and leaned against a streetlamp while waiting, with my hands in my pockets as it was getting slightly chilly. I glanced around mindlessly just watching the traffic cruise by on the road and the people strolling along the streets. As I shifted my gaze, I saw a familiar figure standing at the bus stop directly across the street from me.

It was him, the nice guy who came in this morning.

The air felt like it got warmer.

He too, was standing away from the crowd at the bus stop. He was scrolling through his phone with a blank expression on his face, but put it away shortly after. I was thinking if I should wave at him, but decided not to as I wasn't sure if he would recognise me. As I silently looked at him, I remembered how my mood got better after he came in. His mild demeanour and kindness really made me happy; I hadn't seen anyone clean their own table after finishing their food and even stacking the cups and plates for me.

It was also after he left that the food blogger came in.

In fact, he made me smile the moment he walked through the door, and I don't know why. I do smile at every customer who walks in, but it was always out of courtesy to make them feel welcome. But for him...I don't know.

Soon, a bus arrived at his side of the street and he hopped on. He sat at one of the window seats and leaned his head against the glass. He must have been exhausted after a day's work. The bus drove off after a short while, and left me staring at the empty space where he stood just a moment ago. The air started getting cold again, so I huddled my shoulders together. My bus came a while later, and I began my journey home feeling tired to the bone, but with a contented heart that felt a little stronger.