I spent the remainder of the evening making the muffins that Kai had asked for. It was nice to bake again, feeling in my element as I sang along to my playlist, making a cream cheese filling for the muffins. My phone went off on the counter and I cleaned my hands, picking it up to see who had texted me. Sighing softly, I laughed when I read the text from Kai.

-K: I’m assuming you forgot to text me because you’re making my muffins. That is the only way I'll forgive you for not telling me you were safe.

-S: I have the muffins in the oven and I'm singing to my playlist. I'm safe and warm in my apartment. My goodness, you're a worrier.

-K: I worry about people I care about. You're my friend, I will fuss and hover. It's who I am as a person. So Hush.

-S: Yeah yeah 🙄 I'm an adult too ya know? Even if I look 12.

-K: IDK who told you that. You look nothing like a child. You're very clearly an adult. Anyway, do you know how to stop tomato sauce from being so acidic?

-S: Dice up a carrot and toss it in the sauce. Not too much or it'll be sweet.

-K: You're a lifesaver. Thank you, Shi.

-S: Happy to help.

-K: What are you doing the rest of the night?

-S: Baking. Watch something on my phone in bed. I'm pretty boring.

-K: That's not boring. I do the same thing every night. I'll let you go now so you don't mess up my muffins. I'll see you in the morning. Get to the cafe safely okay? Have sweet dreams.

-S: Goodnight, Kai. Sleep well.

Smiling, I set my phone down and finished the filling. The oven went off and I pulled the muffins out to cool for a few minutes, not wanting the filling to melt as soon as I put it in.

"I'm hungry," I muttered to myself before grabbing one of the muffins, wiggling happily when I realized how good it was, "high five to myself. Delicious."

After cleaning the kitchen, filling the muffins, and making sure they were wrapped nicely on a plate, I took a quick shower and double-checked the locks before climbing into bed, finally tired.

I woke up before my alarm, excitement flooding through me as I got ready for my first day at the cafe with Kai. Opting to use my wheelchair today, I put on my favorite golden yellow overalls and a white turtleneck t-shirt. Lacing up my white combat boot, I grabbed a white sweater from my drawer and went into the living room, packing up my backpack.

As soon as I was ready, I carefully laid the muffins in my lap and locked up the apartment, heading to my car and driving the two minutes to the cafe.

After settling back into my chair, I grabbed everything and knocked softly on the door of the cafe. I could see Kai poke his head around the corner from the office before he came over and opened it, a bright smile on his face as he adjusted the sweater I had him get yesterday, pairing it with tan jeans.

"Good morning," he laughed softly, "You're early."

"I'm early for everything," I smiled, going into the cafe as he locked the door behind me, "I can't help it."

"I'm not complaining. It's… sweet that you seem so excited."

"Well I am," shrugging, I handed him the muffins, "I made extras for you to take home if you like it."

"I was starving! I didn't eat because I was excited about the muffins," he quickly carried the plate to the counter and smiled at me, "this wrapping is so cute. You just moved here and already have ribbon?"

"I have a massive crafting box full of ribbon and other things to package up deliveries. I didn't want to get rid of any of it."

Kai opened the package carefully and took one of the muffins out, looking it over before taking a bite, his eyes growing wide.

"Holy… shit. This is the best muffin I've ever had," he finished it in 2 more bites and grabbed another, "You're a fantastic baker. I'm jealous."

"I can teach you some things," I laughed, "I'm glad you like them. They're probably the easiest thing I make. All you have to do is ask and I'll make you stuff."

"Actually," he smiled, leading me to the back and I gasped softly.

He had completely redone the back of the cafe overnight, moving his desk and other things to ensure I had a proper baking station near the refrigerator and oven. The metal work tables were low enough that I'd be able to use my wheelchair, and everything was highly organized outside of the bakeware I would need.

"Kai…"

"Welcome to the back of house for Shiloh’s Baked Goods. We need to have a sign made for the window and get fliers and stuff once you're ready to start actually filling the display case and making what we need. If you still want to be my business partner of course."

"You did all this for me? When!" I started touching everything, taking mental note of where he had placed what I needed and I moved the mixer I'd use to the left side of the counter, "I'm left-handed."

"Ah got it. Anyway, I got here at 2 this morning. It took me a few hours to find everything and disinfect it. I have Juni looking into all the licenses, and things we need as well as what I need to do to add you on as my business partner in a way that if we decide to part ways, it won't damage either of us."

"You're… so sweet," I smiled, wiping a tear that escaped me from my cheek, "thank you."

"Why are you crying?" He squatted down in front of me, covering one of my hands with his own.

"Ah. I never… I gave up on living my dream. That's all. Feels weird to give up at 22 but I had resigned myself to being William's husband, working a job I never wanted, and spending the rest of my life being cheated on because I… never mind but to know that all I had to do was stand up for myself and this would happen? It's just a bit much. How can I thank you?"

"By coming to the birthday dinner on Sunday, not abandoning me with Juniper and Connor. It's for you, after all. No, you can't bring anything to the party, it's a surprise."

"Can I… hug you?"

"Anytime you want," he wrapped me in a tight hug and I buried my face into the side of his neck, squeezing tightly.

"Thank you," I muttered quietly, "You're such a good friend. I'm so glad I came here. Glad I met you."

"Why did you come to Oregon of all places?"

"Not sure," I laughed, letting go of him and wiping my face with my sweater, "something told me to."

“I won’t complain about you coming out here silly,” he pushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear, “I’m glad that you did. Now, I need to go prep the machines and open the cafe. I wrote down all of the access codes for the computer and the accounts for the financial stuff. Don’t forget to take lunch before 11 okay? You can only work 5 hours straight. I usually just shut the shop down for an hour and eat back here.”

“I knew I forgot to bring something,” I laughed softly, “is there anywhere I can get food around here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he smiled, heading to the door before looking at me over his shoulder, “I brought you food. We can eat together,” Kai ducked out of the back and I could feel that I was blushing.

Moving to the desk, I dove head-first into handling Kai’s financial situation. He wasn’t behind on anything, but nothing was filed properly, there was no way to monitor how much he truly brought in on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis and he had no system for filing receipts. They were all kept in a metal box on the desk.

Once I had set up the programs I needed, I started doing what I could to create a system that would work for me, slowly realizing that working here would mean that the financial aspects would more than likely fall on my shoulders. I was fine with this, relieved to take some pressure off both Kai and Juniper, and was humming gently to myself when Kai knocked on the door frame.

“I appreciate how hard you work but we need to take our lunch now,” he held up a paper bag and I looked at the clock on the computer, realizing that I had been sitting here for the last 5 hours.

“Jesus. Where did the time go? I have so much more to do,” I laughed and followed him to a table in the back.

“You have as many days as you need. I can handle the front fine, do all my ordering there with my laptop, and pay bills. Take all the time you need. Are you coming in tomorrow? I remember Juni giving you Tuesday and Thursday off.”

“That was just for my classes but I’m starting to think I won’t need them so… if you can afford for me to be here then I will be. I’ll just start working from 6 to 3 if that’s okay with you. Except for Wednesday. I’ll have to leave at 2.”

“That’d be perfect. I’m here 6 to 6 except Saturday. I close at 2 pm and we aren’t open Sundays,” he pushed my food to me and I opened it, gasping softly.

“Oh… Kai, did you make this?”

He had handed me a bento box with rice, salmon, and pickled vegetables as well as a green tea.

“I did. Juni isn’t big on seafood. I’m not really sure why anymore. She just tells me she doesn’t like it. But I love salmon and shrimp so I eat them regularly. It’s cold, but it tastes better that way with the rice and vegetables.”

Taking a bite, I smiled brightly, wiggling happily in my chair, “it’s fantastic. Can you teach me to pickle carrots like this?”

“Of course. Happily,” he laughed, clearly pleased that I was enjoying the food he had made for me, “I’ll make you lunch regularly. It’s nice to cook for a friend.”

“I’ll return the favor in healthier baked goods. That’s something I noticed yesterday too. You eat really healthy.”

“I have to,” he pulled his sweater off, leaving him in a white tank top, and turned a bit to show me a device in the back of his right arm, “do you remember when Juniper told you that we both didn’t come out perfect?”

“Sure.”

“Type 1 diabetes. My father sends monthly payments for my insulin. I change this out every 2 weeks and check it a few times a day. So you’ll see me snacking from time to time, I keep snacks in the fridge at all times and carry pistachio packs in my pocket just in case. I know how to manage it fine, you don’t need to worry. Between your cupcake and the rice, that’s my carbs for the day.”

“Kai…  you should have told me earlier…” I sighed, “I would have made the muffins differently. There are so many things I can make you that won’t affect your sugar levels.”

“I… really wanted to try the muffin,” he cleared his throat, looking down at his food, “it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. Juniper scolds me if I eat anything I’m not supposed to. Most desserts I buy don’t taste very good and I have a sweet tooth.”

“Do you like greek yogurt?”

“I do,” he looked back at me confused.

“I can make you strawberry and chocolate greek yogurt bark. It’s delicious and has very little sugar. I know all kinds of things. I’ll make it special for you so you can satisfy your sweet tooth without risking your health like that.”

“Th… thank you,” a look of surprise flashed across his face, “can you make cookies?”

“I can. You just use erythritol instead of sugar. One time, I took a cake and cake pop order for a 4-year-old who was also type 1 diabetic. I had to ask her dad what to use in place of sugar. Erythritol is more expensive, but not by much. Especially if I’m only using it for you.”

“You’re too nice to me,” he smiled, gently squeezing my arm.

“We’re friends and I like to bake. You won’t even know the difference.”

We finished our lunch talking about the large number of customers Kai had already helped this morning that I had failed to notice, and once we were done, he took my bento and placed it back into the bag before handing me a small packet of fresh berries.

“You need to make sure you don’t get tired so eat that okay?” he smiled, getting up and pulling his sweater back on.

“I’ll be okay. If I get snacky, I promise to eat them,” I laughed softly.

“Alright. Don’t forget to leave before you have to take another lunch. Or at least clock out but no working got it?”

“Fine, fine. For someone who isn’t my boss, you sure are good at telling me what to do.”

“I just worry. I’ll be up front if you need me,” he flashed me another one of his crooked smiles and walked out of the back.

Fanning my face to fight down the warmth that kept threatening to fill my cheeks when Kai smiled, I cleaned up a bit more after myself and got back to work.

At 3 pm, I cleaned up the desk, placed what I had done into a cardboard box I had labeled completed, and gathered my stuff before heading to the front. Kai was leaning against the counter, resting his chin in his hands, and had failed to notice me.

He’s beautiful.

The light pouring in from the window next to Kai revealed a few small freckles underneath his eyes and made the natural highlights in his hair stand out. His eyes would catch the light and glitter softly, reminding me of emeralds, and he slowly pulled his ponytail around his shoulder, before turning and smiling at me.

“I’m so sorry I got caught up in my thoughts,” he came over to me and held out a drink, “I was about to bring this back to you and got distracted.”

“It’s okay,” smiling, I took a sip of the drink, “delicious. Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh… um… So in a month I have to close the cafe to go to a… thing and I was just trying to figure out how to tell you that.”

“All you had to say is we have to close for a day. It’s okay. It’ll give me time to explore. Maybe I’ll go on a small trip to Portland for the night.”

“I’m going to be in Corvallis. So if something happens, call me and I’ll come up there. I’d rather come and keep you safe.”

“I can handle myself, Kai, but thank you.”

“You’re not going to ask what my plans are?” He looked at me surprised.

“As much as I want to get to know you, I won’t pry into your personal life. You’ll tell me what you’re comfortable with,” I smiled.

“Right. Huh. Feels strange. Juniper is so nosy and my ex would constantly berate me into sharing everything. It’s refreshing to have a friend who gives me the space to share when I’m comfortable. Thank you, Shiloh.”

“Always. I need to go order my leg now so I’ll see you in the morning okay?”

“Will you actually text me to tell me you’re home this time?”

“I swear,” I laughed softly, “I won’t forget.”

“Alright. Thank you for everything today. Be careful.”

“I promise. Bye Kai.”

“Bye Shi,” he waved as I went out of the door and watched me through the window as I loaded everything into the car.

With one final wave, I headed down the road to the doctor, tired but fulfilled after a hard day's work.