Important Saturday morning at work.

I was distracted that Saturday morning at the gym. Not enough to have an accident, but enough to lose count of how many deadlift reps I had done. Thing is, I had to go to work right after, and that meant there was a subject I’d have to bring up to Maria, and… I didn’t really want to.

I finished my routine, took a shower, parted ways with mom and made my way to the coffee shop. Maria had just started opening up, so like every other Saturday morning for the past 7 months, I helped her out and we started the day.

I kind of hoped that we’d have a busy early morning so that I’d have an excuse not to talk about this thing, but… Well, it was a Saturday morning. Not many people get up at 9:00 am to get coffee. It was a frustratingly ideal time to talk to my boss.

I sighed and looked at her. We were both behind the counter but she was sitting on a stool while mindlessly scrolling down her phone. “Um… Maria?”

She looked up. “Yes?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Ooof. Sounds important.” She put her phone away in her pocket. “What is it?”

“You see… I might have to quit this job soon,” I told her.

“Oh.” She blinked and went silent for a moment. She looked around the shop, still empty for now, then smiled wryly. “Right. You have a lot of stuff on your plate right now, don’t you?”

I nodded. “I don’t plan on going immediately, though. I’ll stay until you find more people to fill in the shifts.”

Maria sighed. She didn’t bother hiding her disappointment. “Do you really need to quit, though? We can change your shifts, you know?”

“I don’t know. If things go well, I might end up working with Diana, and I still don’t know what my shifts will be there.”

That got a smile out of her. “Oh, so I introduce you two and now she steals my best employee? I knew I should’ve kept quiet.”

My lips curled into a small smile. “I’m sorry. I… I really owe you a lot. You took a chance with me and… I was able to learn a lot here. I think this place is what helped me grow the most. I don’t want to be ungrateful, but…”

“Oh, shut up,” Maria said, laughing. “I hired you, you did your job well and you got paid for it. No, you did more than well. You’re a big reason this place has been doing as well as it has. You don’t owe me anything. Still, I’m not letting you go just yet. Wait until you’re completely sure you can’t work here anymore, okay? If not, I’d like you to stay for a little bit and help me train the newcomers.”

I nodded. “Any applicants?”

“Yeah, a few. Coffee shops aren’t the busiest type of business, so I’ve been able to manage on my own when you’re not here. Actually, it’s when you’re here that we get the most customers, so I’m not very thrilled about you going away. Now, though, we have more customers every day, so I can’t be stingy with hiring personnel anymore.”

“I…”

Again, Maria laughed. “Sorry, I should shut up. I should know I’ll only make you feel guilty.” She sighed heavily. “Diana warned me, you know? She said relying on a single employee to keep the business going isn’t sustainable. Well, I prefer to see it as you helping us get the initial boost we needed. Give it some thought. I’ll even give you that raise you’ve been asking for. But if you have to go, do what’s best for you. The shop is in a good spot.”

“...Thank you.”

“Still… Some of the applicants give me bad vibes. You know, the kind to be really sloppy and unreliable.”

“I didn’t have any experience when you hired me, though.”

“Yeah, but that was it. I could tell you were a good kid. I didn’t take THAT big of a risk hiring you.”

“Um… I’m trying to convince my sister to apply here,” I told Maria. “She’s a lot more outgoing than I am, so I’m sure she’ll be a hit with the customers. She’s learned to take things more seriously, too, but if she gives you trouble I’ll give her an earful for it.”

“Oh, Isabelle would be great to have here! If you vouch for her, I’ll give her a chance.”

“She said she’ll think about it, but with the amount of things she wants to buy now, like new cameras and stuff, I bet she’ll give in.” After all, mom said she wouldn’t pay for that stuff anymore after Isabelle dropped practically every hobby mom tried to support her in.

Our talk was cut short by the sound of the jingling of the little bell at the top of the front door. Ok, time to get to work. I turned around to address our customers with a polite smile, but that smile quickly turned into shock and then, immediately and surprisingly, into genuine joy.

“Oh! Oliver, my boy! Hahaha! What are you doing here?” asked the huge, tall, building of a man that was Mr. Carlos, my old gym acquaintance. His smile was cheerful and his voice booming as always.

“This is the coffee shop I work at, sir,” I told him, smiling happily. “But I should turn that question back to you. You disappeared from the gym months ago. We were all a little worried.”

“Ah. Sorry about leaving without even saying goodbye, my boy. You see, I had things to take care of back in Brazil. Family to visit and such. We decided it was best to stay there for a while longer.”

“Oh, so you didn’t go alone.”

“No, no. I went with my wife and daughter, in fact…” He turned around with a frown and a small smile. “Come on, Fern, get in. You’re the one who wanted to buy breakfast here.”

My heart skipped a full beat, maybe two. From behind the mountain of a man that was Mr. Carlos, a woman just slightly taller than me appeared, coming into the shop while looking away from Mr. Carlos and me. Darkish skin that was a bit lighter than Mr. Carlos’; Long, dark wavy hair that seemed to spiral around the tips; dark brow, big and almond-shaped eyes; a sexy hourglass figure with a huge chest and shapely butt, clad in a black tank top and denim shorts. A very familiar face, once a regular at our shop I had very nearly forgotten about.

This was Fernanda Santos, Mr. Carlos’ daughter.

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