The Billion-Dollar deal

e burnt espresso and

d, the kind that whispered "you're still stuck here." I tied my apron for the

fee orders, impatient tapping, and

was due in four days. And I still hadn't f

the next customer stepped up, barely looking. "

momile tea.

at the order,

kind of voice that didn't ask it ex

and regretted

d black coat that looked like it belonged in some fash

e'd just stepped out of a car driven by someone else. But it was his eye

hing on a spreadsheet he hadn't deci

was st

ubconsciousn

lo

staring if my elbow hadn't

Full cup.

d forward, hot liquid splashing dow

my G

th a napkin like that would fix a ruin

rry Sir, I didn'

so machine stopped hissing, like it w

n't a joke. Then his eyes lifted back to mine. No yelling. No sweari

dkerchief from his coat pocket and

not happen tw

't anger in

somethi

arper. Like curiosity

n I hea

through the awkward t

here and clean

fro

flicked b

like he was testing how th

ct second something shifted

ay without a

t the panic tightening my throat. My shirt stuck to my back from swea

at man looked like he owns three islands and a private je

. "Please

've just stumbled into

t the corner of my lips curv

manager, Mrs. Mal stormed out from the back, her sh

That man you almost burned is not a regular." A very quiet and rare one. Do you ha

d I'm

he floor, stay off the counter,

run over by caffeine and capitalism. I untied my apron,

I had forty minutes to get home, start di

or, slipping me a tiny wrapped can

ank

-eyes? He didn't look angry. He looked lik

ot in the business

te. And smart. And your life de

tired smile. "We

to mine. "Take care of tha

uldn't afford trans

the wind tugging at my sleeves.

due in 2 weeks. $5

lowed

think which was usually t

't come up wi

had to drop

between coffee shifts, cleaning jobs, and night

up from the floor, his textbooks spread out like a broken

d. "You smell like c

y bag and sank into the

f. I saved you

he

ulders. Mikey was my anchor the only family I had left. Mo

just

t meant keeping him in school, in clothe

ain until much later that night, when I finally collapse

id my

he sai

ri

Just a custome

gh

lack car parked t

tea stain on his shirt. His driver said nothing. The city lig

handkerchief loos

ured to

r

led fa

s the

quie

resti

for the ticking of the wall clock and Mikey's

slow, sleepy circles, barely cutting through the humidity.

kitchen counter. Or the late-night text from my second boss aski

I wa

inking a

ved in my mind now, cold, sharp, too clean for this city. He didn't belong in our café, didn't belong anywher

st

id my

ia

t matt

ht, forcing myself to forget the s

g started befor

woke him up. "It's Sa

d eggs. But you've got a school club.

f-asleep. "Futu

ake it happen faster, please. Yo

was back-to-back: café till 2 PM, cleaning shift at the hotel till 6. I

yb

be

d down cracked roads. Street sellers shouted prices like battle cries. Lif

watched until he disappeared into the crowd, t

s tow

nference room full o

nd was elsewhere. Somewhere far from spreadsheets and board mem

t g

ia

ut there it was, echoing in his memory li

now why she

ous. Drenched in che

ed like she didn't care who he was. And fo

m his pocket and typed t

ily Roa

in

é, the morning

ping a milk spill when Ta

her phone. "Guess who just pos

ked. "

e. Real estate. Tech. He's like

. "Wait

re enough, there it was a blurry imag

Unexpe

d right u

yroas

screen, heat cra

Go

his tea," Tara said, laughin

ally unemployed

strange warmth flic

y, untouched whiskey by his side. The city l

is calendar of meetin

s called t

You're thirty. "We're not handing the com

t after Nicole. Not after the betrayal. Not after

stil

ia

houghts like a small emb

her café tag o

y to no one bu

re exactly