Sorrow | 18+

2 Yes, sir

Song to listen: IU(아이유) - LILAC(라일락)

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Vivienne

I loved the spring nights when the sun took its time to go down and everything was blooming, smelling fresh. It made me feel content with my life and I think I almost danced my way to work. Joel had texted and asked me to come a bit earlier tonight, which made me also excited to meet with him as Joel hadn't stopped by for a few weeks. I mainly did night shifts and Joel was at bed before 9 o'clock in the evening. Sometimes he even came to the cafe in the early hours of morning when I was finishing my shift so we could meet.

When I opened the glass door to the cafè, I immediately smelled the scent of recently baked cookies lingering around.

"Hi Viv!" Min-young greeted me warmly behind the coffee maker where she was busy making some special coffees. Her deep, plum coloured hair was on a tight ponytail and she had a detailed black eyeliner on her almond eyes.

"Hi, don't say you made me a new batch of cookies for the night?"

"Well, if Hamza is planning to stay here the whole night, the batch might only last for two hours", she answered and nodded to our regular, Hamza, who was in his usual spot on the high stair with his computer and he had already stacked at least ten cookies to his plate. Hamza was wearing his regular hoodie with some random meme that was not written in language I could read. Min-young slided his latte in front of him and took the other empty cup from the table.

"Hi Vivienne", Hamza murmured without even looking at me. He was probably busy with whatever illegal hacking stuff he was doing. We didn't ask and he didn't tell.

"Joel is in his office", Min-Young said and I thanked her before heading to the back. I didn't manage to even knock on the office door, when Joel opened the door. "Vivienne, lovely to see you as always!" Joel had the sweetest smile that got sometimes lost in his huge gray beard. He was reaching his 70s but was still quite muscular and almost as short as me. He was wearing a casual t-shirt with huge flower patterns and shorts, even as it was still a bit too cold for that outside. The weather during May was getting warmer every day but I still grabbed a jacket with me and my knee-high boots when I went out. He gave me a quick hug and then said: "New dress? Spin around for me"

"Yes, I finished it a couple days ago", I smiled and gave him a spin. I was wearing a simple, bright blue wrap skirt with flowy sleeves. It fitted me perfectly, hugging my waist and curves. The deep v-neckline made me a bit self-conscious but as Zara said: "Your boobs look awesome".

"You really should stop waitressing here and just become a seamstress. Amazing work as always", Joel gave me his usual praises, whenever he noticed me wearing something new I had sewed. I even gave him two floral shirts once. "But to the reason why I summoned you here early, I have someone you need to meet"

I walked further to the small office and then I saw him. Putain. Two weeks. That was all I got without him appearing in front of me.

"This is Zero Liu, he is the co-owner of the café you could say. If we are honest, the Liu family pays your salaries and my tea collection", Joel laughed at the last comment. "They don't usually get involved with café business as they have several other old men and their coffee shops to take care of, but Zero will be in town and therefore in the café for a few weeks. And as I am soon out of town, I wanted everyone to meet with Zero beforehand so he will not scare all of you to quit", Joel continued to chuckle to himself. I barely registered what Joel was explaining. Zero raised from the only chair of the office. He was wearing a plain dark blue t-shirt with black jeans and his equally black, long hair was half tied up. Single strang was escaped to frame his face and the rest of the hair was resting on his shoulders. The style suited him.