Awks. ✓

Chapter 23: We're Just Friends.

I swear I should've set a stopwatch or something.

Thomas had posted that advertisement of a picture on his Instagram, tagging me to it and captioning 'Enjoying our Maroon Lagoons, wby?' He also managed to add the location of the café to it.

Not long afterwards, a swarm of, no... A herd of, no... A lot and a lot and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT of people came running into the café. It was as if we had told them that Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' was on sale for two bucks and they'd get a couple of scones with it on the house.

Business was BOOMING. Claire was having a tough time keeping up with all the orders flying in for more and more Maroon Lagoons, that we had to open a second cash register. Yes people, that was a very big deal.

With Bethany and Claire in charge of taking the orders, that left Dylan, Alexander and I to fulfill their requests and make the drinks. To my luck, they were both very quick learners and got the hang of it after watching me just a few times.

Soon enough, we were in the zone, popping out drinks like nobody's business. One after another after another. Working like gears of a clock, finally fitting together, we were an unstoppable force.

To say that Mr Ramirez was happy would be the understatement of the century. He was over the moon, the sun and Jupiter all at once. He kept on snapping pictures of the bustling lines of people, waiting to order and groups of others, sat at tables or in booths, filling the café to the brim.

I scanned the ever so crowded café in search for the mop of light brown hair that had caused the ruckus. My eyes landed on my supermodel friend who was preoccupied with taking selfies with a bunch of girls. I rolled my eyes and got back to making more drinks.

"You should ask for a raise."

I shuddered at the voice, still not used to Alexander speaking. He noticed that and chuckled, shaking his head. "Why should I?" I asked, adding teaspoons of rose water to the batch ready to be blended.

"Because of this?" He motioned to all the people present behind us. "You're the mastermind behind all of this." He popped the lid on the blender and turned it on to pulse mode. "More business equals more cash. You deserve a part of that."

I understood where he was coming from and I wasn't stupid, that money was definitely my right, right? "I just, I cantaskhimformoremoney." I mumbled.

"What?" Alexander smirked, cupping his ear and bending down. He was probably a foot taller than I was, if not more.

"I can't ask him for more money." I repeated. "That's so not like me."

"I can ask him for you, if you want." He shrugged, pouring the blended contents into a couple of plastic cups. "But what fun would that be? I mean, watching you stutter is always such a delight."

I punched him in the arm, making him mumble something about how fragile he was. As if on cue, Thomas began to call for me from the center of his little groupies. "Ria! Come over here for a sec."

If it weren't for his height, I don't think I would've been able to navigate myself through the bodies of people still eagerly waiting for Claire or Bethany to take their orders. Soon enough, I made my way to him and the group of girls that were all drooling over him.

Once they noticed my presence, I received mixed responses. Some faces lit up with recognition, begging me to sign their cups or take selfies with them. Others stared coldly at me, as if their eyes were piercing through my soul.