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Chapter 6 Contact Number

  • Zane was steadily making the bills at the counter while being stared down at by a certain black-haired waitress, a quizzical expression reflecting in her emerald eyes.
  • "What have I done to deserve this unnerving stare?" he asked, finally irritated. But his irritation was lost once his gaze was on her. Her eyes were at rest, not unblinking but slowed; yet the effect was soft and inviting—not that he would say so.
  • "I'm just thinking," Winter replied absentmindedly.
  • "What?"
  • "I'm thinking about how to ask you for your number without sounding like I'm hitting on you," she blurted out.
  • Zane gave her an incredulous look. "You have been staring at me for the last five minutes for this? Are you kidding me?"
  • Winter snapped out of her trance. She straightened up and started to ramble, "No, I mean, yes. Tracy asked me to get all of your numbers since you guys are co-workers and all, you see. It's not like I want your number specifically or anything."
  • He shook his head in disbelief and slipped his hand into his apron pocket before taking out his cell phone. He held out his phone to her and said, "Call yourself through my phone. In that way, we'll both have each other's number, and you can find everyone else's number in my contacts."
  • Winter looked at his phone with incredulity. "Was it that easy?" she muttered. In her country, asking for someone's cell phone number was like asking someone out. Therefore, she spent an entire hour while serving, trying to think of a way to ask his number casually so that he would not misunderstand.
  • "What? You want me to make it hard for you?" He raised an eyebrow.
  • She shook her head vigorously, and he smirked mischievously before placing his phone on the top shelf. Her jaw opened wide. "There's no way I can take that from there!" she exclaimed.
  • "Why not?" he asked, feigning innocence as she shot him a glare.
  • "You know why," she grunted.
  • "Oh, right, you're too short for it." He chortled.
  • "No, you're just too tall," she retorted.
  • "For your information, I'm just 5'11."
  • "You would still be the tallest boy in my previous school." Winter frowned and went to get a stool to stand on top of.
  • Just as she brought it, Zane said, "All you had to do is just ask me and I'll get it for you."
  • "I'm not a very prideful person, but let me have this one, please," she responded and stood on the stool, while he remained on high alert, ready to catch her if she lost her balance. She almost chuckled. "Are you that concerned about me?"
  • "Nah, you have my phone. I'm afraid it will break if you slip up," he replied witfully.
  • Winter scowled at him and managed to get down safely without any accident.
  • Zane sighed and went back to making coffees.
  • "What is the password?" she asked.
  • "Guess."
  • "Zane?" she joked.
  • "Bingo."
  • She looked at him in awe. "Wow, you're surprisingly simple."
  • "Why, can't I be?"
  • She thought for a moment, remembering what he was wearing before putting on the uniform, and shook her head. "Well, I think we both match. I like being simple too," she said with a smile and slipped his phone in his apron pocket once she was done saving all the necessary contacts.
  • Zane returned her smile before retaining his posture. "Okay, jokes aside, you need to pay attention to the coffee preparation. I won't teach you twice."
  • Winter sucked in a deep breath and watched him carefully as he prepared the different types of coffees as per the orders, taking special notes of the way he made the coffee arts.
  • Zane was explaining how much sugar she should use when their boss walked in, his hands crossed behind him in a serious manner.
  • Mr. Tanner walked around, observing the two of them. Only if he had square spectacles on, he would totally seem like a stereotypical school principal. He placed a hand on Winter's back and asked, "Have you been teaching her well, Zane?"
  • "Yes, of course," Zane replied with an unpleasant smile.
  • "Winter, I hope you are not having any issues with the boys around here. Let me know if someone is bothering you. You can be honest with me," Mr. Tanner said, lacing his voice with honey, while eyeing Zane who just sneered.
  • "No, everyone is awesome," Winter chirped.
  • "Still, you should be careful. Boys with family issues, who pretend to be too nice, are the most suspicious ones," he urged.
  • Zane scoffed and said, "Boss, you know, you can just say my name directly."
  • "I could never do that. That's very rude," Mr. Tanner mused.
  • "Of course." Zane let out a humorless laugh.
  • Before the two of them could say anything more, Leon brought a new order of a cup of Americano and Irish coffee.
  • "How was your day at school, Winter?" Mr. Tanner started chatting with Winter, who was fiddling with the cups awkwardly.
  • Mr. Tanner always got on Zane's nerves, but Zane never did anything more than talk back to him. Yet, that day he was feeling extra on edge, so his hands were itching to do something to his boss. If only he could make him disappear for a century, he would be satisfied.
  • Zane was taking out a sugar container from the cabinet when an idea popped into his head seeing the flour container. He suppressed a smirk and gave the flour container push. He pulled Winter by her wrist so that flour wouldn't drop on her. And just as planned, within a few seconds, his mortal enemy was covered in flour from head to toe.
  • "Is the order ready—" Leon cut himself as he saw a white man right in front of him and screamed, "Ahh! Ghost!" he screamed like a little girl and hit the 'ghost' in the head with the empty tray in his hand.
  • "What the fuck?!" Mr. Tanner's objection was met with another smack from Leon who had his eyes closed now in fear.
  • Seeing Mr. Tanner quivering with anger, Zane quickly spoke up, "I'm so sorry for dropping the flour, boss. I didn't mean to. It was an accident."
  • "Wait, that's our boss?" Leon took a peek and let out a squeak again as he saw him glare at his way. "Oh, my God, I'm sorry for hitting you! I just… uhm… My hand slipped. You don't look like a ghost at all. Even if you did, you are the most handsome ghost ever," he jabbered in a panic just in case he lost his job for hitting his boss.
  • "Guys, what's taking you so long? The customer is—" Lucy walked in as well. "Oh, my gosh, what the hell happened here?"
  • "Oh, the order." Zane hurriedly stirred the sugar in the two cups of coffee and snatched the tray from Leon before handing it over to Lucy. Just as Lucy held the tray, Mr. Tanner took a step forward in his blind state, resulting in the two hot coffees to fall on him.
  • "Ahhh!" he winced.
  • Winter was trying her best to hold in her laughter until now but seeing the series of misfortune of Mr. Tanner, she burst out laughing.
  • "I wouldn't laugh right now if I were you," Leon mumbled fearfully.
  • Feeling humiliated, Mr. Tanner stormed out, sparing one last glare at Zane.
  • Leon placed a hand on his shoulder and let out, "We should start looking for another job, bestie."
  • Zane smirked and said, "You think I would do something that unplanned?" He raised an eyebrow, and Leon shook his head.
  • "Right, Tracy's here today," Lucy said while making two more cups of coffee.
  • "What difference does that make?" Winter asked once she was done laughing.
  • "Tracy absolutely adores Zane," Lucy answered.
  • "For his looks," Leon added.
  • "No, it's my personality that she likes," Zane objected haughtily.
  • "Then I must say she has a bad taste in men." Leon sighed.
  • "She doesn't like me in that sense, you brainless moron." Zane smacked Leon in the back of his head. "And thanks to me, you will get saved too. Seriously, what were you thinking, smacking him with your tray?"
  • "Tsk. I didn't know it was him," Leon snickered.
  • As they were joking around, Mr. Tanner came back and announced, "Lucy and Leon, you two will be working overtime today with no pay. The same goes for Zane and Winter for your next shift."
  • "What? I did nothing," Lucy interjected.
  • "Yeah, that's the problem. You did nothing." With that, he left.
  • "I hate that bald crackhead," Leon cursed out.
  • "But he's not bald, is he?" Winter let out with uncertainty, wondering if Mr. Tanner was wearing a wig which she was unaware of.
  • "Not the issue. I'm going to report that bastard to the International Labor Organization," Leon whined and went out with Lucy.
  • "You really are fearless. Doing that to your boss," Winter spoke up.
  • "That jerk had it coming. I hate it when someone looks down on me," Zane replied resentfully.
  • Winter nodded her head. She smiled sadly, wishing she could be as brave as him. She also hated when she used to be looked down on or bullied by her classmates in her previous school, but she could never gather the courage to talk back to them, let alone exact revenge.
  • Winter snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Zane kneeling to clean up the broken cup pieces from the floor. "Oh, let me help you." She was about to rush to grab a broom and dustpan but was stopped by Zane grabbing her tiny fingers.
  • "You don't have to. I made the mess, so I'll clean it up."
  • She didn't know what it was but even the smallest actions of his managed to tug a string in her heart. It was strange. Yet, she refused to give it much thought.
  • Winter brought a dustpan and kneeled in front of him and said, "You don't have to do it all alone. You have me."
  • Zane halted for a moment and stared at her in awe. While growing up, he never received any help from anyone, and he didn't even expect it either. But now that he was being offered help, he was unsure how to react to it. "I really don't need your help," he said and continued collecting all the broken pieces.
  • "Zane, you really should let her help you." The two of them were startled at the sudden voice of Tracy. Winter managed to cut her finger on a shard of glass.
  • "Ouch!" she let out.
  • "Ugh, you idiot, why didn't you wear rubber gloves?" Zane scolded her.
  • "Ah, it's okay." Winter got up and washed her hand in the sink. Zane followed her after taking out the first aid box. "I can manage. You don't need to help me." Zane paid no heed and grabbed her hand.
  • "Wow, you two are like two peas in a pod, seriously," Tracy commented with a bemused smile, watching her two employees.
  • "Tracy, if you're here to nag us, then—"
  • "Nope, I just came to give you this." She handed him a business card. "This is the doctor I told you about. I already got an appointment." She gave a light pat on his shoulder and left.
  • While Zane was reading the card, Winter already put a bandage on her finger. "Is it for your mom?" she asked him.
  • He nodded and put it in his pocket before letting out a sigh. "Winter, go grab a broom."
  • "Why? You said you didn't need my help." She raised an eyebrow.
  • "I thought about it. I'm always helping you out, so you should do something in return for me as well, don't you think?" he said, fluently hiding the fact that his heart felt heavy every time he thought about his mother.
  • Winter grinned and hurried to clean up the mess with him.
  • "Oh, by the way, I forgot to say something to you. If you ever need a ride to school, you can always call me," Zane offered. He did not use the school bus, so he knew he could always pick her up in need.
  • "Thanks."
  • "Hey, don't thank me. We're friends, after all."
  • Winter stopped wiping the counter and looked at him with a quizzical expression. "Are we?"
  • ★★★★★