Wednesday, 03:39 PM.

"Ready when you are, Mairi."

After various attempts of taming his unruly — he should have brought his wax next time — hair, Abel gradually sauntered out of the dressing room. Buttoning up the black simple shirt his manager had given him, his lips ripped into a broad grin as he welcomed the confidence blasting through his vessels.

"Took you long enough." Mairi breathed as she pulled out a box of napkins from the drawer, before she stared up at him. "For someone who firstly refused my offer, you sure do look so pumped up."

His shoulders tensed, but was that even a surprise anymore? It was yet another routine — he would inevitably come across her everyday — reminder to add to his mental list. Upon interaction with this woman, she would jump straight to her mischief.

"I-I changed my mind," he snapped back. His instincts had him divert his gaze off her, but he quickly forced his stupid self to face her. "You got a problem with that?"

"Oh, not at all. Just noting my observations." Mairi replied while she arranged the napkins into each holder, probably for the tables. "At least it's much better than being too nervous."

What? Now that was ridiculous. Why the hell should he be nervous in the first place? Not only he wouldn't leave an impactful first impression, but he wouldn't be able to compose his thoughts and do his work properly. There was no need to stand back on this one. Everything's possible if you have the courage. That's what I learned from a lot of experiences.

A few minutes later, his manager slowly briefed Abel about the duties he would be performing in his shifts. Constant communication was extremely — Jeanne had the obligation to stress that out — essential, but his smile was undefiled while he nodded assertively. Yeah, I got this. Seems something within my field of expertise.

There was one little problem though.

The fact that he had to be familiar with the menu items and the positions of the tables by heart, as a matter of fact, knocked out some bits of his composure. After all, his memorization skills... well, he would rather not discuss them. Let my history and science grades speak for themselves.

"Okay, so I was supposed to be training you but..." Jeanne tapped on her pen. "Mai volunteered to help instead. She'll teach you how to operate the POS and assist you in serving your first customers."

"Volunteered?" Abel blinked, lifting his brow. "Mairi did?"

"On your service." He nearly threw off his balance at her abrupt voice, especially when it came from right beside him. She was casually sipping an iced lemon tea before she continued, "I've trained a handful of our servers and they all turned out successful. If you don't believe me, feel free to use Jeanne and our coworkers as references."

"Wow, ain't that obvious," he retaliated while the manager chuckled. If she doesn't endorse you, she won't allow you, woman.

She didn't bother giving her thoughts on his response. "Also, don't worry too much about the menu. We don't expect you to be familiar with all of that within weeks, but perhaps your huge ego can help guide you."

He cracked up contemptuously as he crossed his arms. "Why, thank you very much, Princess. I'm looking forward to hearing your useful pointers."

"As you should," she countered. "Because I'm technically your supervisor."

"You guys get along pretty well, huh?" Amidst their bickering, their manager laughed sheepishly in between.

Abel barely had time to react when Mairi butted in almost immediately. "Yeah, and I just got to know him too."

He huffed and scratched the back of his head. Well, for these past few days, they have been talking with each other — whether it was directly or through several texts — and did have almost the same hobbies. So in some way, I guess we kinda get along...

Heh. He mentally sneered. Some rapport we're doing.

Concurrently, the doorbell jingled as two men slipped through the entrance. They waved their hand highly at the manager, who, without any second thoughts, welcomed them with open arms. They then exchanged some convo as she ushered them for their seats. It's like they knew each other for a long time.

"They're one of our regulars." Mairi interrupted his thoughts. "Usually ordered chow mein and dumplings, but can go for something else."

He hummed. "You all must know them well."

"Not really." She deadpanned at him. "I don't remember their names."

And yet again, Abel lost his momentum, narrowly tumbling down.

Yeah, this woman was genuinely hopeless. Like, beyond hopeless. A thousand reminders of his friends' names would definitely not make her budge. Hell, she probably didn't have their manager's name in mind! For her to forget people's names but remember all the shows she watched... What kind of selective memory does she have?

"Watch and learn." Her eyes glittered momentarily before she pulled out a notepad and pen. Abel merely shook his head before he followed her to the customers. So pleased with yourself, eh?

"Yo Mai! Nice to see that you're the same!" One of the customers exclaimed. "And..." He paused as he pointed his finger at the blue-haired man that he had never once seen before. "Who's the guy?"

Time to make the best impression. "I'm-"

"He's our new server, Abel and a friend of mine. He's just starting today and I'll be the one training him." And even before he could mutter his name, his friend somehow barged in and took the perfect words off his mouth. Why? How was he supposed to know?

"I can talk. You don't have to speak up for me!" He bitterly whispered and elbowed her.

"Well, I just want to," retorted Mairi, causing his brow to twitch. Ugh, now she's doing whatever she pleases...

"About time Jeanne hired new servers!" The customer cried out. "Now you don't have to run all over the place!" His gaze gradually rested on Abel, but he noticed how this man was busy scrutinizing his sky blue strands. He then let out a slow whistle. "Nice hair you got there."

The moment that compliment slinked its way to the reward center of Abel's brain, he snickered in response. An extensive — no point in hiding it — smile spread across his face in a matter of seconds. "Thanks dude! I feel like I'd rock this hairstyle."

And I surely did.

"Ah, this guy's a cosplayer too." Mairi had the audacity to crash the scene. "We usually meet at the conventions, but he told me he wanted to work here." She proceeded to tap his shoulder.

"Oo, wow, that's cool!" The men nodded in unison while Abel struggled maintaining his grin. God, the urge to protest filled up every space in his head. Even if everything she had said were never wrong, it was not like he couldn't say that himself! There's no doubt... Mairi's trolling with me.

"So what would you like for today?" She asked. Welp, I don't even get the chance to talk much to them...

"The usual!" One of the customers guffawed. "We're coming here for that."

"Absolutely." She scribbled before she looked over to Abel. "So these two ordered chow mein, mild with extra mung beans and potstickers. Take note of every detail the customer wants and input all of them to the system. Make sure not to miss them. This is where your attention to detail comes to play."

Aren't you... standing a little too close?

He found himself gulping, but that obviously was out of instinct. Her purple eyes were literally inches away from his own. He literally screamed at himself to step back and then nothing else would occur, but why wasn't his body responding to his commands?!

"What's wrong?" She cocked her head.

"Y-Yeah! I got it... so where's this POS system you're talking about?" Abel uttered without contemplation. "I don't see it." His gaze flew to every corner of the vicinity; landing anywhere but Mairi.

"You stared at me quite intensely." He had no idea why she had the need to point it out, but it completely foiled his plan to shift the topic. What was worse, she inched closer. "Something on my face interests you?"

"Not a bit." He turned away. "I'm more interested to see where the POS is."

"Hmm."

From his peripheral vision, Abel watched as she continued groping her cheeks and forehead. It was as if she was checking out for something foreign, although clearly there were none. That's because you've been staring at her, you bozo.

He rubbed his head. "Look, there's nothing wrong with your face."

Mairi's shoulders slumped. "I guess you're charmed by my skills?" Even with a flat tone, this woman sounded so proud of herself.

Abel snorted. "Whatever. Everyone can do that." He rolled his eyes. "Come on, we don't want our regulars to wait for too long."

"... You're right." She acknowledged.

Was it his eyes playing tricks... or were there hints of a smile fitting across her unreadable features? Well, not that it was unbelievable... she had shown some sort of emotions a couple of times before. He could have taken a closer inspection, but then she could have busted him again. I don't want any more misunderstandings.

Still... He paused on his tracks. How is that possible when I don't even understand Mairi at the slightest?

***

Despite everything, the training went smoothly.

As Mairi explained how to input all incoming orders into the kitchen and carry food to the proper customers, Abel complied with her without further complaints. Surprisingly, his brain absorbed all information with ease, storing them inside his memories to follow for the rest of his shift.

Always try to satisfy every customer's needs? Check. Deal with difficult customers? Jeanne it is. Memorize the menu and tables? Abel sighed. Yeah well... probably not now.

"You did well on your first day. I'm impressed." Mairi started while they were starting to wipe tables and carry chairs. Abel, on the other hand, completed a takeout order for the last patron of the day.

"Heh. Told you I got the skills." He gloated, envisioning all the sparkling stars around him as he dumped all plates into the sink. What was there to worry about? Aside from some hiccups, he still nailed a lot of aspects, particularly entertaining people.

"Don't worry, I believe you. You just have to get used to the system and the menu so you don't have to constantly flag me down," she breathed, blowing her bangs as she stacked more dishes. "Well, for now, I'm glad you interacted and entertained a lot of our customers during the dinner rush. They seemed to leave happy."

Yeah, but with that straight face, you never look glad to me. Abel immediately retracted that comment from slipping out of his mouth. That was close, but at least he contemplated it. "I know I'm a great addition to the team. I learn pretty fast." In the end, he decided to blurt that out. Much better.

"Can't say I disagree. With you around, this restaurant might be more than just a crappy place." 

"Alright alright, I got it..." He sulked. "It's not a crappy place, so stop bringing it up."

"Ah, busy night today. Great work, you too!" Jeanne stretched her arms, untying her apron. "Abel, your training will last for two weeks before you can get your tips. Mai will be around if you have any questions, especially regarding any closing duties."

"Thank you," he chirped.

With dopamine gushing through him, he couldn't hide his ever growing smile as he strutted to the kitchen. Now that he had — almost — gotten the hang of his new job, he was completely ready to support himself and all of his cosplay costs. Now my father would see what an actual grown-up will look like and shut the fuck up.

Him and Jethro could use any means to bring Abel down, but giving his dream up was the last thing on the list. Yeah screw that, more like crossed out of it.

"Abel," Mairi called out while she pulled her band out of her ponytail, freeing her midnight black hair. "What do you usually do at this time?"

"Not much." Abel shrugged. "Finishing my schoolwork or manga maybe. Why?"

The woman initially remained wordless; she leaned against the cabinet and folded her arms beside him. Not even a minute later, Abel's ears caught her next words.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

***

A/N: I'm really updating once per month at this point T_T I was busy with work, but I finally wrote something! Hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to leave your thoughts ^^ Have a nice week!

-Tara