Cloud nine (Romance)

Chapter 4: Board Games & No Chill

(POV:Minh)

"I have had ___ jobs." I read the words on the card out loud and sat back to contemplate my answer. "I've had three jobs," I say in a cautious tone. "When I was fifteen, I worked weekends at a family friend's restaurant." "When I was 17, I worked at the uptown skatepark." "Now I work here at the coffee shop," I say confidently whilst placing the card underneath the deck. "Wow!" "You used to work at Uptown Skate?" Tyler comments after I place the card down. "I used to go there nearly every day a few years ago," Tyler says with an excited and jittery voice. "Yeah, it was a really fun job." "I had to quit it to help my mom with the café, though," I say whilst looking around the café. "I do prefer working here though" "I feel like I have a place here," I say assuringly. Almost to myself. The rain intensifies.

Tyler draws the next card. "How many friends do you have?" "Well..." Tyler continues. "I really only talk to Max and Naomi."He says while glancing at them." "Hey!" "I'm right here y'know!" I say jokingly whilst throwing a playful punch at Tyler. We all comically laugh with light breath. Tyler awkwardly scratches his neck, facial expression changing to an awkward look. I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. Turning, I see Max , peering into my eyes. "Sure, you're one of us now." He announces in an assuring tone. We start awkwardly laughing. The laughter followed by a moment of silence, as none of us were sure of what we wanted to say.

"Well, I guess it is my turn now," Max says, breaking the silence. He reaches forward and picks up the top card of the deck. "How often do you lie?" Max reads out in an awkward and shy manner. We all look at him, waiting for his answer as he ponders on the question. "Well, I don't think I lie that much." "I mean, everyone tells lies once in a while." Max says "How about this" Tyler interjects. "Do you think you lie more than the average person? Tyler finishes. Max breathes in. "I think I lie a bit more than the average person" "I guess I just like keeping some things I do to myself," Max says, whilst looking amongst the room.

Another moment passes before Naomi reaches for another card. Without warning, a loud rumble is heard. Followed by the lights of the cafe going out, plunging us into complete darkness. I hear Naomi let out a short shriek, as the others are asking what happened. "Don't worry, this happens whenever a storm is passing," I say, as I turn on my phone's flashlight. "We've got some candles in the back" "Can one of you help me bring some of them out here?" I ask as I point to the storage closet. "I've got you Minh!" Max says while getting up from his seat. We proceed to walk over to the closet, making sure not to run into anything. The dim flashlight on my phone was the only thing illuminating our path. As we walk into the storage room to get some candles and charging banks for our phones, I feel a sudden breeze. The front door peered open very fast, jutting out a heavy burst of air. The pressure of the air made me lose my balance as I slowly started to fall. As I'm bracing for the impact of the marble flooring Max proceeds to grab my arm.

I look around and see Max looking at me with caution in his eyes, "Are you okay Minh?" He says very urgently. "Um..yes" I continued, "Thanks Max..umm..that was very nice of you." "No worries, I always got your back". After a short pause I grab the phone chargers and candles. We set them out on the table. As I pull out a matchstick, I graze it across the box and slowly proceed to slowly light all of the scented candles. Shortly afterward we all joked about how strong the scented air is, then shortly after we resumed the game. As Naomi was about to draw a card, Tyler interupts her action saying "So about our win streak win streak Max... HOW THE HELL ARE SUPPOSED TO WIN THIS GAME." it gets a little silent until We all start laughing it off.