Saturday morning.

A bit later that night, I got a text from Diana, saying she made it home okay. It put my mind at ease, so I texted back wishing her goodnight and went to sleep as well.

That next morning, mom and I went to the gym together as usual. There was still lingering awkwardness between us, so I spoke first and apologized for acting like a brat the night before.

“It’s fine, Oliver. I understand, but you also have to put yourself in my place,” she said as she drove the car. “I don’t want you making… Rushing things like I did.”

“...I know. I promise to mind myself, but… I’m sorry, mom. I’m not backing down.”

“Ugh. Your grandmother must be laughing at me right now, saying how it serves me right for all the times I did the same to her.”

I smiled in relief. The air between us had cleared, even if mom still didn’t fully approve of my decision.

It was another normal day of workout, once again with no sign of Mr. Carlos. He didn’t go to the gym on Saturdays, but I still looked around to see if he was there. In fact, it was starting to worry me a bit, so I did what I should’ve done waaay earlier. I asked the guy at the front desk if he knew anything.

“Ah, Mr. Carlos? Yeah, he said he’d be gone for a few months. Had to take care of some stuff back in Brazil, I think. He said he’d be back, and I hope it’s soon. The gym is too quiet without him around, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I never thought I’d miss getting yelled at,” I said.

“Right!?” The guy at the front desk and I laughed.

I really hope Mr. Carlos is doing well.

Just a bit later that day at my job, I got ready to face the interrogation I knew was coming. What I was wrong about was who it would come FROM.

Maria was business as usual as we got the shop ready to open, cleaning, setting tables and the like. That she wasn’t asking me how things went with Diana last night… made me suspicious.

“You already know everything, don’t you?” I asked her.

“Yeeeep,” Maria answered, opening a new box of coffee beans with a box cutter and grinning from ear to ear. “We talked on the phone for like 40 minutes. My lips are sealed, though, so don’t ask me questions.”

Eh. Her smile and good mood said enough, and it wasn’t like I believed Diana would speak ill of me behind my back after how things went last night.

But yeah, Maria didn’t interrogate me like I thought she would. But then I went to the front door to flip the sign from closed to open… and was assaulted by our first five customers of the day.

“Come on, open up,” Sarah said. “We’re all hungry here!”

I blinked, turned back. Mila, Grace, Sarah, Alice and Noelle were standing close by, waiting for the moment we opened the shop. I expected them to come over today, but I didn’t expect them so early. It was still barely 9:30 am.

“Don’t you and Alice work on Saturdays, too?” I asked them, smiling as they approached.

“I start at 11,” Sarah said, giving me a peck on the cheek before going into the shop.

“And my brother doesn’t need my help today,” Alice said, doing the same.

The girls all went in and said hello to Maria, who pursed her lips to hold back a grimace.

“Sorry to come so early,” Grace said. “We figured it’d be best to come here before peak hours.

“No, no, that’s not an issue,” Maria said. She sighed and looked straight at the girls. “I really need to apologize. I went and dragged your boyfriend to a blind date without asking you first. I’m really sorry.”

Ah. That’s what it was.

“No, it’s not a problem, ma’am,” Mila said, quickly shaking her head. “We had discussed the idea of something like this long before, and of course, we also talked about it after you suggested it to him.”

“What she said,” Sarah agreed, giving me a strong pat on the back. “Oliver’s not dumb enough to agree to something like that without our permission. Of course he had it beforehand.”

“Still, it wasn’t right of me,” Maria continued. “I was… too single-minded about it. Let me make it up to you. I can give you some time to talk here, alone. You can have whatever you want, okay? It’s on me.”

“No, please, we didn’t mean to…” Noelle started, but Maria cut her off.

“I insist. Oliver, keep the sign on ‘closed’. I’ll go check something with my mother in the bakery in the meantime.”

Maria walked away before any of us could protest further, flipping the sign on her way out.

Noelle looked at me with a regretful grimace. “We thought it would be funny to drop by unannounced. We didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable.”

“Much less in her own shop,” Alice agreed.

“I do think she’s taking it too hard, but she means well.” I sighed again. “Anyway, you haven’t had breakfast, have you?”

“...No, but now I feel too guilty to eat anything,” Mila said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her later. If anything, consider this my treat instead of hers.”

“Alright,” Grace said. “But just because I think I might pass out if I don’t eat something now.”

I chuckled. “Now you’re exaggerating.”

I prepared some sandwiches, some pastries and prepared coffee and tea for everyone, then sat down with them at a large table with my own cup of mocha. If Maria had given us this moment, then we should use it. It was important that we talked about this.

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