Cherished (Yaoi Boyxboy)

14

When I stepped inside an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over me that was worse than before. I hated being late, and I didn't want to be written up. On top of that, I caught sight of the new guy. He'd only just been hired and was already being asked to cover my shift. I didn't exactly want to meet his eyes as I strolled in hours after I was supposed to.

To my fortune, he was busy helping a customer out with an order and didn't seem to realize I'd come in. I took a moment to rush to the back and pull my sweater off and replace it with my apron. I checked the pockets for my notepad and pen to discover them missing. My frantic searching caught the manager's eye and she stopped me.

"I lent your stuff to the new guy. We don't have any spare notepads laying around. I'll have to order more..." She muttered the last part to herself. I gave her an apologetic look as I nodded.

"That's alright. I'm really sorry for coming in late." I didn't give her any excuses. Whether it was a good one or not, she didn't like to hear them. Luckily, she wasn't angry, though. At least she didn't look angry, nor had she sounded upset on the phone.

"That's fine." She waved her hand at me. "Just write in what time you got here and help out the new guy a little with finding things. He's actually pretty nice so you should get along just fine." She mentioned.

"Yeah. It's cool to have another guy working here, too." One of my coworkers called out from the hallway. I scribbled in my time slot quickly and then made my way out to the front where the new hire was standing by another table refilling someone's coffee. Something about his hair struck me as familiar. I'd seen those loose brown locks somewhere before. When he stepped back from the customer and turned around I instantly felt stupidity wash over me.

The customer who I had so rudely smacked into the other day was new guy? Now I really felt terrible. Not only had I almost hurt him, but he was also being asked to cover my shift because I was irresponsible. I wanted to face palm myself, but I kept my expression calm as I approached him. After all, I was the one who suggested he should apply here the other day. His eyes met mine and he smiled brightly.

"Hello." He greeted me.

"Hi." I stared at him for a moment, lost in his charming grin. All the girls were likely swooning over him. It didn't surprise me that he'd been hired so suddenly. It certainly wasn't because we were understaffed.

"Little late today, hmm?" He chuckled lightly. I felt my cheeks warm a little at his comment. I felt embarrassed about it. I'd never been late before. No this late anyways.

"Er, yeah..." I tried to laugh a little but it sounded awkward. He stared at me, waiting for me to continue and I spit out all I could think of. "So...did you quit your job at the other store?"

"Oh, no. They weren't going to give me enough hours, so I opted for a second job. The manager here seemed alright with working around my other schedule." He looked around the café for a second. "Cute place, really."

"Yeah, and the staff is all really friendly. That's something I really like." I responded normally this time. It quickly became easier to talk to him after he struck up more of a conversation. I wasn't much of an initiator at all.

"They are." He agreed.

"Katsuo! Wipe off the tables by the windows, will you?" She called from the doorway to the back. He smiled at her and nodded, turning away from me. I watched as he took the rag from her and moved to the dirty tables. As he walked he spoke to me.

"Is Akira your full name?" He asked me. I looked down at my nametag and then up to him. I had told him my name the other day, but I'd only said 'Aki'.

"Yeah. Everyone just calls me Aki though. I like to keep things less formal between coworkers and such." I smiled lightly. He picked up the shakers with one and hand swept under them with the rag smoothly as he nodded. I noticed quickly that he seemed very comfortable doing this. Even when helping that customer earlier he wasn't wavering at all.

"Have you ever worked in a café?" I asked him as I began to push in chairs at some of the tables. Thankfully it was quiet for now, so we had a moment to talk.

"Not a café, but I worked in a restaurant for a while when I was eighteen."

"Oh? How old are you?" I asked. I realized after that the question probably sounded a little rude, but I couldn't take it back now.

"Twenty-three." I figured he was around my age. I didn't know why but he seemed much older than he was. Not by appearance, but more in confidence. It felt like he had a lot of life experience already. He had told me that he had worked in a lot of different places, so maybe he just wasn't fazed by a new workspace? Or maybe he really was just confident in anything he did. I guess I would come to find out if he didn't quit too soon.

"When you're done with that you can head out. Aki's got the rest covered." The manager said to him. He thanked her and wiped down his last table. After shaking the rag out and tossing it back into the bucket he checked the clock on the wall. I stayed in the front and finished turning the table menus in the right direction while he got ready to leave. When he exited the back after putting his things up he called out goodbye to the others.

"Aki." He called to me specifically and held something out to me as he approached. I took my notepad and pen when he was close enough.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Thanks for letting me borrow it." He winked. "See you another time." He gave me a smile as he walked past me and I felt my cheeks turn a little pink suddenly. It was only just a friendly smile. What was I thinking?

"Y-yeah...See you." I stared at his back until he was completely out the door. What a strange guy.