“We’re doing pretty good here aren’t we?” Miguel thought to himself, assuming a confident stance, with both fists balled up and touching his hips.

Three whole customers in one go. Two of which were decent tippers, giving 25% of the bill, and with one giving a generous amount, a whole 50% of the bill. With numbers like these, although not stellar, Miguel could not help but gloat a little to no one in particular, and with the sun getting ready to set, he’ll take anything. Getting filled with contentment, Miguel set out to give his equipment a daily check-up.

“Don’t want these things to break down now, wouldn’t we?” Miguel mumbled to himself, examining the espresso machine.

Having finished cleaning toaster, Miguel took a handkerchief from his pocket and swept what little beads of sweat he had to wipe away. The weak air conditioner he had installed could not prevent every droplet of sweat from escaping the pores, after all. As he put away his slightly dampened hanky, a lovely tune played from the door, and with it, a signal of a potential customer.

“Welcome!” Miguel greeted.

“Hey! It’s me again.” A familiar girl replied. It was the same, smartly-dressed Celine from this morning, although slightly fresher with her tight-looking ponytail.

“Hello there, Cereza.” Miguel said.

“Celine, but don’t worry about it. Worry about this question,” Celine pointing both fingers in a playful manner, “Do you do take-outs?”

“Of course we do.”

“Great! I need some caffeine,” Celine took a seat, directing a knowing gaze towards the large man, “Joseph told me yesterday about how he finished six cups of cappuccino, and I want to try it. Do you do iced?”

“Yep.”, Miguel said, obviously avoiding eye-contact, lest he have another bout of bashfulness.

“Wonderful. I’ll take two please.”

“Two?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright-y then, two iced cappuccinos to-go.”

Miguel got to work, measuring everything needed to make the beverages, the beans for the coffee, and the milk needed for the foam. After everything is in the right quantity, the man poured everything needed into their respective machines, leaving him with nothing to do but wait.

Seconds of silenced passed, with nothing but the quiet sound of efficient machinery and the quiet buzz of the air-conditioner filling the air.

“So, Joseph was it?” Miguel said, knowing full well his name was Joseph, but was too shy to admit that he stuck to his mind, “Where is he?”

“Curious, aren’t you?” Celine smiled smugly, with her only goal to tease Miguel a little bit.

Miguel looked away while letting out a grumble, obviously bashful.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Celine laughed. “He’s staying in school for a bit. A meeting with his org.”

“I see.” Miguel replied.

“Interesting isn’t he?” Celine shared, “Never have I known anyone who could top how forward he is. And I’ve known him since kindergarten!”

“I’ll say.”

“He called you cute didn’t he?”

“Yeah, which was surprising.”

“How’d you feel when he said that though?”

“Pretty happy.” Miguel admitted.

“Howso?” Celine wondered.

“Mainly because I’m usually not what you’d call cute.”

“What? I don’t buy it.” Celine doubted, dragging out the sound of the question. “Anyway, how’s my coffee?”

As if on cue, the machine’s light turned green, signalling that the drinks are ready to be mind.

“Light’s green,” Miguel cracked his knuckles, “I’ll get right to it.”

***

A few moments later, Celine’s order was ready.

“Here you go!” Miguel said, handing over a paper bag with two cups filled with an icy-cold beverage.

“Thanks!” Celine said, taking off the cover of the cup in order to try out her order.

“Oh!” Celine said, after taking a first sip.

“Oh.” Celine followed, after taking a look at the cup.

“Is something the matter?” Miguel worried.

“Nah, the drinks are delicious,” Celine explained, “Have you ever considered personalizing your cups with your logo though?”

“I have, but” Miguel rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m sure personalizing cups is going to be expensive. Plus, my logo isn’t really a logo, it’s just the name of the café in Helvetica.”

“I see, well I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Celine grabbed her wallet and paid what she thought she owed, which was a bit more than what she was supposed to pay for. “Here, for all the teasing.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“It’s a down payment.”

“For what?”

“For whatever he’s going to do.”

Celine pointed at the window, bringing the man’s attention to whatever was on the other side. 

There was no one there.

“Ha, just kidding.” Celine smirked. “Joseph said he’ll drop by whenever he can though. Anyway, gotta run back, I have to wait for him to get back from his meeting.”

“I wasn’t-“ Miguel stopped because he had nothing to say. Or at least he had nothing coherent to say, just slight grumbling and mumbling.

Celine let out a giggle while she walked away, with a mischievous smirk on her face, fully visible to Miguel until she was out of sight. The man sighed, slightly annoyed by the fact that he got tricked. However, despite the whole day seeming like everyone's in on a contest on who can make him blush, he did not hate it. In fact, it put a big smile on his face, which he wore until the end of the day.