Reverse-Harem Cafe!

XXXV. I Need You Pt. 1

"This Sunday?"

"That's what I said." Toby crosses his arms with a slight frown. "The boss called me in for a business conference so I'll be away that day and I figured I'd give you kids a day off. Unless you want to -"

"No, that's perfectly fine." Ulrich insists while finishing up cleaning the counter. "We wouldn't want to um...stress you out too much."

"Aww I didn't know you cared about me so much." Toby scoffs sarcastically. "Well it's fine, you guys deserve a break after such a busy week."

Ervin pushes up his glasses, "I suppose I'll use the extra time to study." He pulls out a pocket-sized planner from his pant pocket and begins scribbling down his new schedule.

I roll my eyes at him. Studying again?

Max wraps his arm around my shoulder, causing Ulrich to tense up as usual, "Hey Mae, what are you up to that day? Want to go to the arcade?" He asks and after noticing Ulrich's glare, puts his arm down and just settles for standing next to me.

"Actually I think I'm gonna pass on that, sorry."

"Aww really? What could be more important than shooting down alien invaders and saving planet earth?"

I laugh at his enthusiasm, "Just some volunteering."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

(Sunday Morning)

"Oh it's so nice to see you again, Mae." Rose says, gladly flashing me a bright smile. "What's with the hiatus?"

Rose is one of the teachers at a K-5 Sunday school nearby. Although I'd address her as "miss", she finds it unnecessary and let me drop the formalities. She's a lot younger than some of the other teachers there, I'm assuming in her mid twenties. She is very pretty and always wears floral shirts and a pair of colored jeans. Today's outfit consists of a white daisy short sleeve with olive-green bottoms. To top it all off, a pair of dainty brown flats.

"Well I'm working now to help pay for my rent but I've really missed this place." I reply, feeling a little guilty for not telling her before.

"A job already? You grow up way too fast." Rose smiles again, "Anyway, the kids missed you too, why don't you go hang out with them, they're just out back."

"Mmk."

I walk towards the sliding door to the playground, passing by the small classroom composed of a white board in front of a colorful rug and a few tables where the kids did their activities and ate lunch. There are several boxes of toys and art supplies stacked up against the wall. I glance at it all nostalgically. It's just as I remembered.

As soon as I step outside, several kids turn their heads and take notice of me. They drop whatever they are doing and run over, hugging and jumping around me.

"MAEEEEEEE, where did you go?"

"Lance ate your drawing while you were gone!"

"We missed you!"

I hug them back and laugh at Lance who blushes embarrassingly while fidgeting with his fingers behind his back. "It's so nice to see you all again," I reply.

Suddenly, I hear the voice of an older guy shout, "Go long!!"

The next thing I know, a kid is running passed me with his hands up in the air, as if to receive a ball- wait...I look in the direction the kid is running from and see a foot ball arching through the sky, spiraling right at me.

You thought it was going to hit me? Nah, it was a weak throw. I catch the ball easily and shout at whoever threw it, "Hey!! You really gotta work on your aim!"