A scream echoed throughout the four walls of the café, stopped by an over-relieved sigh. Miguel caught the mug in time after bumping it off the counter after testing some new beans he just bought.

‘Oh thank goodness’ He thought, contemplating about the possibility of having to buy another mug.

It’s another day for the café owner. After establishing the previous week has been a success with a modest amount of customers, he is very eager to start the week anew. Miguel put the mug back on the counter, making sure it is far away from the edge as possible, lest he have another scare. He sat on the cushioned chair he placed behind the cash register and waited for new people to try out his food.

Having had enough of waiting for one minute for someone to enter, he stood up.

Then he sat down again.

This loop of relaxing and anticipating continued for a few minutes, with the gap between the two shortening by seconds as the morning passes. Miguel took a deep breath.

‘Don’t worry. It’s still the morning.’ He cheered himself up. ‘Surely customers will show up.’

Miguel entered the bathroom and left the door open so he can be ready when somebody comes in. He stood in front of the sink and splashed his face with water, letting the hot water counter his cold feet. Miguel raised his face, still dripping wet, looking at himself at the mirror, pulling several smiling faces.

‘You can do this.’ he told himself, all the while contorting his face into several positive expressions.

He regretted putting water on his face; his beard was soaked to the roots! He took out his handkerchief and rubbed his chin furiously as if he was trying to polish a long-lost artifact. Miguel swept his hand across his short hair, making sure it’s swept back without a single strand of hair poking out before he leaves the bathroom. Satisfied with his appearance, he nods to himself and steps out of the bathroom with a fresher feeling and attitude ready to take on whatever comes his way.

“Miguel!”

The door opened, slamming the doorknob against the wall creating a loud sound.

“Easy man!” Miguel reprimanded.

Miguel adjusted his vision for a second, focusing on the figure by the doorway. The figure had violet hair tied-back loosely, indicative of a certain customer. It was Joseph; the only person he knew who would dye their hair outside the natural black, brown, blonde, and sometimes red. The violet being a focal point, Miguel finally had enough to make out his more familiar features. Or, atleast, what he deemed to be familiar from his two encounters with the man.

“Oh, hey, Joseph was it?” Miguel asked, “What can I do for you?”

“Yeah. Just look at this first.”

Joseph jogged towards the large man and began to shuffle the contents of his messenger bag around. Miguel heard a few pages of crumpled paper, the distinct sound of mints hitting the walls of a tin container, and Joseph cursing softly under his breath when he tore a piece of paper with his name and student number. After struggling for several seconds, Joseph pulled out a crumpled envelope with To Miguel’s Café written on the backside.

“Here.”

Curious to see what was inside, Miguel opened the letter bit by bit, taking care to not let the glue ruin the envelope.

_______________________________________________

August 22, 20xx

Miguel

Miguel’s Café

To whom it may concern,

Greetings!

The Adonis E. University student council will be holding the 13th annual student fair at October 31, 20xx, with the title, “Costume and Antics: AEU Halloween Fair”. The event will be held in the morning, starting at 9:00 A.M., lasting until 5:00 P.M. A concert will be held from 6:00 P.M. until 2:00 A.M. of the same day, featuring the university's musical organizations, along with Myujiku, the guest performer for this year. The council would like to invite you and celebrate to the music prepared by our musicians.

As such, on behalf of the AEU, we, the student council, would like to request for your assistance for providing food for the attendants of the said event.

In return, we will reserve your establishment a stall in order to conduct business. Furthermore, as the only food concessionaire that will be present at the event, the opportunity will prove to be a huge boost to Miguel’s Café’s customer traffic. Adding to that, public materials for the event and announcements will include your establishment’s name, which will serve as advertisements.

We look forward to your cooperation.

Regards,

Joseph Ito

Externals Head

Reid Hershell

Student Council President

Approved by
_________________________________________________

The letter ended with two scribbles and a stamp of approval with the school’s insignia, with Reid’s signature flowing beautifully from each stroke, contrasted by Joseph’s chicken scratch.

“Huh.” Miguel pointed at the part of the letter where it includes his name. “You don’t know my last name do you?”

“And the address.” Joseph replied.

"That's bad." Miguel's mouth sloped downward, emulating disappointment, but something that is to be expected. After all, it's only been a week and a few days since he opened the store, and Joseph's only been here twice. It is completely understandable for him to not know one of the most basic aspects of a person - their name. In fact, it's the first time Miguel heard of his last name; until recently, Miguel only knew his first.

“I’m desperate.”

“It’s Praxedes.” Miguel said. He grabbed a pen from his apron and jotted down something on the envelope before handing it back to Joseph. “Here’s the address.”

Joseph traced each letter with his finger, mumbling it a few times over. He looked at Miguel, eager to find out his answer. “So, what do you say?”

“Let me think about it. I’ll give you my answer tomorrow.” Miguel said.

“That won’t do.” Joseph waved his finger, “I need your letter of approval later.”

“What?!” Miguel exclaimed, obviously pressed, “Why?”

“It’s due later, around before lunch. We we’re set until our previous sponsor backed out due to...certain unavoidable circumstances.”

“That’s, a bit concerning.” Miguel pressed his fingers against his lips, “What happened to them?”

Joseph sighed, deciding to tell the truth. “Look, I’ll level with you; they backed out because for three consecutive years, the student fairs were all busts.” Joseph hesitated before continuing, “They found out that previous concessionaires suffered some losses.”

Miguel could only stare back and gauge the situation. True, the advertisement promised by the student council was attractive. Tantalizing even. College students are talkative people; one word of his café would mean a dozen potential customers. In fact, he could make regulars out of the tired, barely functioning young adults with his food. The juicy promise of better business is enough to make Miguel bite the hook set by Joseph and his colleagues.

On the other hand, however, if the event were still poorly managed, enough to make establishments lose money, he could be in the red for quite some time, putting him at risk. He shuddered at the thought of closing down his café if that were to happen.

Miguel gulped down all the tension building in him and asked,

“Are you guys capable of making this fair amazing?”

Joseph lost his serious demeanor and was immediately replaced by happiness. Looking at Miguel with glimmering eyes, “We already have!” he said, letting out a tone of confidence and assurance.

“Then that’s all I need.” Miguel smiled warmly.

Joseph lost whatever professionalism he had left and raised his fist into the air, shouting ‘yes’ and other cheerful words he could think of over and over again. After his victory dance, Miguel pulled out a tiny laptop filled with stickers, opened it up, and shoved it towards Miguel’s chest.

“Here, write down your acceptance letter.” Joseph insisted.

“I have to do it?” Miguel’s eyes widened, pointing to himself.

“It has to sound genuine, right?” Joseph winked, rationalizing the entire situation.

Miguel was speechless for a beat; he was not prepared to write a letter. Regardless, he happily obliged and took the laptop from Joseph’s hands and sat down, and made quick work out of the letter. The café was filled with tapping coming from the keyboard, and quick exchanges of ‘how’s this?’, and ‘sounds great’.

“I think that’s it.” Miguel said, looking back at Joseph.

“Great,” Joseph closed his laptop and stuffed it in his bag, “Be back in a few!”

Joseph ran out of the store, leaving Miguel alone in the café. Having no customers, he got up and started on inspecting his equipment.

Several moments later, Joseph came back rushing in, skidding a few inches, holding the finished letter.

“I printed it!” Joseph said, panting a little bit.

He went over to Miguel’s side and slid the letter to him along with a black sign pen. Miguel took the pen and affixed his signature.

Joseph took the paper and marveled at the inscription. “Wow. Fancy.” 

“Thanks,” Miguel said.

“Anyway, I have to buy an envelope and give the thing to the president.” Joseph shoved the letter into his bag, “Thanks again!”

Joseph took a few strides toward the door, before halting his steps. He spun around to face Miguel and asked, “Oh right, can I have your number?”

Miguel froze over.

“Why?” Miguel hesitated.

“Huh? Because I want to talk to you.”

Miguel’s heart skipped a beat.

“No, I need to talk to you.”

Miguel could feel his soul leave his body.

“How else can we contact you to arrange the details?”

‘Oh’ Miguel thought.

Miguel tore a piece of paper and scribbled down his number. Joseph took the scrap and waved. He was pleased. The pep in each step, the confidence in his stride, and the general air of happiness carrying the sound of a sweet tune being hummed.

Miguel buried his face between his hands, his beard tickling his wrists, and let out a prolonged squeal.

'Of course it would be for work. Why would anyone go for someone like me anyway?' 

Miguel slapped himself, stopping the deprived pity train before it left the station. He took the menu beside the cash register and mulled over the options of what he could sell.

“Wait, I don’t think anything on the menu is appropriate for a fair.”

Miguel realized the grave truth before him; no one would want to eat salad or omelettes in a fair. The plates would just create a mess! Cakes are expensive so he’d have to limit his supply. Although, he thought, cupcakes seem pretty fitting. Coffee just seems strange to drink, as it would not go well with a fair’s atmosphere. The soothing effect would just clash with the peppy feeling; both energetic, but on different sides of a spectrum.

Miguel let out sounds of someone thinking hard, mostly just elongated ‘hmm’s in tones of varying distress, consideration, and disappointment. A faint vibration began touching Miguel’s outer thigh; it was his phone. He whipped out his device like a switch blade, and squinted to see the letters on the tiny screen.

It was a text from Joseph.

“Hey! I really appreciate that you agreed to working with us. I promise that this partnership will benefit us both. Looking forward to working with you!”

The text, littered with a few typos and emoticons exuded the charm and playfulness appropriate for a young, sparkling college student. Optimism flowed out from the LCD and tickled Miguel’s face, forcing a chuckle from the large man.

‘I guess I have to do my best as well,’ Miguel thought, ‘Come to think of it, I do want to add new things to the menu.’

“Oj” He typed, sending the draft before clicking 5 on his keypad one more time.

“Dammit."