I walked to the kitchen the next day in the morning, yawning loudly. I saw Emery scrolling on his phone, drinking water. He clearly, had a rough night as he looked tired, and his eyes were sad. I learned through these few days that I got to know his facade. He pretended everything was alright. Despite being quiet, periodically more than usual he stayed the same. But on the other hand, I didn't know what his usual self was.

"I take you didn't sleep well?" I joined him at the table after making a cup of coffee for myself.

"Why?" He raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"You look more tired than yesterday," I stated and got him thinking for a few long seconds.

"I can't stop thinking about today." He admitted, and I felt the need to make it better. To take care of him and protect him as much as I could.

"It will go okay. Even if it doesn't happen immediately, I believe your father will think about what you say to him."

I was flawed at cheering up someone, but Emery smiled to himself. I took it as a win. "Thanks."

"And we can always leave," I reassured him. "Anytime."

"Um," Emery looked flustered when he nodded, which made me flustered too. I had never been this cheesy with anyone before, but the words kept leaving my mouth faster than I could control them.

We watched TV shows talking about little things, like pets we owned as kids or school experiences. I discovered that Emery hated ice cream and vomited after eating it when he lost a bet in middle school. He also hated anything that involved dill and papaya as ingredients. Overall, the more we talked, the more I understood how picky Emery was about food, clothes and even people. Every aspect of his life was deliberate to some degree.

There weren't many friends in his inner circle or people he casually talked to. That would explain why he always sat alone in the cafe.

"I like honesty and honest people," I said after having a thought. "What is your favourite trace?"

"I don't know. I think... if I get to choose one, that would be loyalty." Emery spoke carefully. "Or maybe genuine people, like genuine in every action they do."

I laughed, not knowing why he solely seemed so invested in this topic, and his face slightly scrunched as he tried to think of his response. It was funny. "Maybe just say, good people."

"Being good is not a trace, too vague." He argued. "There are too many variables that sum into a good person. There is not a single pattern that will give you specifically a human with a good personality. Also, many completely different people can be either good or bad with similar traces." 

"Okay, I think you are going too deep into that." I shook my head, grinning at him. 

"But that's true." He argued.

"I know, but I am a simple person. And you are the future engineer. Putting stuff in parts is your job. For me being a good person is a trace on its own."

He frowned. "I think you mistook my degree for mechanics. It is, kind of, putting in parts, but not really. It's more programming and designing."

"You see. I'm a simple man." I sank deeper into the sofa with a content smile on my face. Emery laughed silently at me with his whole body shaking. It made me feel weird- like I accomplished something, and I have never been this happy while making someone laugh. 

It confused me a lot as I didn't know what to make out of my feelings. I had no experience in love. My friendships were severe with some people I talked to from my group. I wasn't social, and I had some serious trust issues. But between this chaos, I was confident Emery was important to me.

"I have to go to work." As soon as I said it, Emery's smile fell from his face, but quickly he composed himself back. I slowly got up from the couch, lifting my arms- high above my head in a relaxing stretch. "Are you okay with driving my car?"

"Yes, I think so. I don't have a problem with driving someone else's cars." He breathed out.

"It's just a few hours. It will pass very quickly. In no time, you will be there with us. Is that okay? Or do you want me to stay?" I could see Emery thinking hard, but the time wasn't ideal as I would either do a shitty thing by cancelling last-minute work or being late.

"I will be okay. I need to get used to it. I mean to be alone again so please don't stay for me. I will see you soon, yeah?" The look on his face told me that he was as determined and sure of himself as he could be in the given situation. 

"Sure," I confirmed and walked to my room to grab my stuff. I checked on Emery again before leaving and got another reassuring speech that he would be just fine without me.

Jasper welcomed me in the back room almost immediately before I got to take off my backpack. I always wondered where this curiosity came from. 

"Is he coming?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Will he be okay on his own? He won't freak out or something?" Jasper lay against the door frame with his arms folded in front of his chest.

"I hope so." That question actually gave me a pause to think for a moment. I truly hoped he was alright and not having a panic attack from being all alone in that apartment. That would break my heart.

I wandered around for a few more minutes before directing myself to the register. I was distracted, to the point, that Danny asked me what was going on with me, but I brushed it off quickly. The time was unbelievably dragging, leaving me worried like a mother to their child who went off to a party for the first time in their life. 

Again, that was not like me at all, and sometimes, I struggled with controlling my emotions. It was scary, unpredictable, and not what I was used to since I left my family house. I was on my own. I had control until now.

When the time arrived a few hours later, I saw Emery slowly walking into the cafe. He looked around shyly before he spotted me tension leaving his features as he walked towards the counter.

"Take a seat over there. You have a few minutes before he may show up." I smiled, stating. "You came earlier."

"Yeah, I couldn't be there by myself. I hope you don't mind?"

"Of course not." I looked at Danny, who waved at me to help him with the order. "I will get you something to drink in a second."

"Thank you." He mumbled under his breath. 

Jasper stopped at his table to chat for a while after collecting the empty cups left by customers. A dump cloth hung from his left hand, where he held several cups and a tray full of glass in his right hand. I was worried that he would drop them on the floor with how rapidly he moved when another client approached the register. 

"Hi, can I have two lattes, please?" The older man was asking as he searched his pockets, pulling out a worn-off brown wallet. 

"Small, regular, large?" I followed up with a question. There was frequent barking outside the cafe, and I could see a spaniel with his paws on the window happily calling to his owner. An older lady in a floral dress and a light coat was shaking her head at the dog, trying to scold him. 

The gentleman didn't care much about the dog, probably used to it by now. When he pulled out a card to make a payment, I saw a picture of a young couple that was as worn off as the wallet. 

"Latte!" Danny called out when he placed the first cup at the end of the counter, and an older man rushed there to collect it. 

I looked up to see Emery flipping through some newspapers. We had quite a few placed in window seats by students. Some were university newspapers, and others were left behind. We rarely looked at them to select what was worth keeping. It's nice to see that they come in handy in such situations. 

We had an hour to close when a man in his fifties entered the store. He scanned the interior and headed for Emery, who was already keeping his eyes on him. I didn't want to intrude, so I focused on my work, only glancing at them sporadically. Emery's father was tall and well-built with a slight belly and grey on the sides of his head. His demeanour was calm and collected. 

 "I wonder what they are talking about." Jasper stopped by my side, staring in Emery and his father's direction. I was slowly cleaning utensils, trying to mind my own business even though I was curious about how the conversation was going. 

"Don't stare." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm not staring. Don't tell me you are not curious with that frown here." Jasper tried to poke my forehead as I backed off successfully dodging his hand. 

He was laughing when he left me alone to help Ann- our part-timer upstairs. I peeked at Emery quickly before I looked back to the spoons I was polishing with a cloth. They looked like they were having a peaceful conversation- no abrupt gestures, raised voices or hateful expressions. 

"I'm almost done here. Can you take over?" Danny nodded and went to take the order for me. I wanted to finish what I was doing as it took some time, and my priority for today was to leave as soon as possible without keeping Emery waiting for us too long.

"You are taking a lot of hours this week," I spoke to him once we were alone again. 

"Yeah, I need money." He grabbed a cloth and then swiped drops of milk on the counter.

"Is that so? And how about your exams?" As far as I knew from the group chat, he passed them all but I asked anyways because it was Danny we were talking about.

"I passed. I need to submit my final project, and that's all. I want to take my girl on a trip to Italy in the summer, but I'm broke." Danny beamed at me, and I contemplated how did I miss the fact that he had a girlfriend.

"Your girl?" 

"Yeah, Marissa. She works with us on Wednesdays." I could feel his gaze on me, but I couldn't recall anything about them dating. 

"That's cool," I responded with a shrug, focusing on the last spoon I placed in the basket. Before either of us could continue, Jasper strolled closer to delegate me to clear all the trashcans. I nodded and got to work relieved that the conversation with Danny ended naturally without me standing there in awkward silence. 

The last half an hour passed quickly and when I heard the main door open, I saw back of Emery's father leave the store followed by my coworker who locked the door behind him. 

"Let's wrap it up and take him home." Jasper squeezed my shoulder when he passed by me with a mop in his hand. 

"Right," I said under my breath glancing at Emery typing on the phone as I made my way back to the staff room.