Linder managed to get a job at a local cafe. It was pretty easy, a little boring, but easy. He liked it enough.

He only needed to save enough money then he'd quit. Just like they'd planned, so until then, he had no choice but to revel in his barista days.

Even as he worked, taking orders from several people, his mind only drifted back to Lily and Mikhail; the center of his world.

It was how his normal working day went by. He was the fastest worker so being a little distracted didn't really affect him.

The job only proved how versatile he was, he'd been commended for being an excellent multitasker. He couldn't care less, they didn't understand he took on shifts tirelessly because his life and the people he loved depended on it.

"Morning!" His coworker Sandy, said. She rubbed a hand across his back and he flinched, not quite expecting it.

As usual, she could never just come in time, but she was so cheerful no one reprimanded her for it.

"Morning Sandy," he replied nonchalantly.

Linder tried to figure out what Mikhail might like for his birthday. It didn't matter that it was more than two months away.

Asking him amounted to nothing, he only looked and shrugged. So he'd have to do the guessing.

"Fuck, how did you get that?" Sandy asked all of a sudden.

Linder looked at her, her lips were slightly parted and her eyes a little wide. He then followed her gaze to an ugly bruise on his forearm. Fuck.

His sleeve must have rolled further up while he was working. "Broken bottle," he replied while covering it up again.

His whole body ached, but he had to pretend he was fine. He kept a good posture, and moved like his body didn't hurt with it.

"That was one mean bottle," she said. "You don't strike me as the clumsy type."

How could he forget her talent for not letting things go? It would be more suspicious if he didn't say anything.

"You'd be surprised," was all he could reply. Thankfully, she seemed convinced.

She continued to take orders and smile at the customers. Something he couldn't bring himself to do, no matter how much he tried.

"How many so far?" She asked. Linder couldn't understand why it was important for her to know how many people he'd served so far.

"104," he replied anyway.

"Fast as ever," she shook her head. Linder adjusted his glasses and pressed his lips together, like he was going to say something, then he continued working in silence once more.

Maybe he should try starting a conversation for once, at this rate, his behavior would start to look weird.

The first problem was that he didn't know what to say. The other was that he didn't care about any of that. He had better things to think about.

"Oh here comes Miss Attitude," said Sandy.

The brunette had a pretty pixie cut with dark red streaks that Linder never failed to notice. It looked really cute.

"I'd like the usual," said Sandy's miss Attitude.

"I don't know your usual miss," said Sandy, acting nonchalant. She did know her usual, Linder knew it too. But he didn't interfere in their conversation.

"What? I've been coming here for months," she said, trying to make the point clearer to Sandy. Even if Linder tried, he couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"Sorry, I have really bad memory," said Sandy. Linder's gaze shot to him for a while before fleeting to the pretty brunette. She looked so frustrated.

"You don't look really bright," she said in her British accent that made it sound more of an insult.

Weirdly, she made Linder smile...small as it was. Sandy got compliments all day so this would probably irk her more than it should have.

She cleared her throat before speaking again. "What would you like?" She faked a smile. Linder knew she was already looking for ways of making it more difficult for miss attitude the next time she came around.

She let out a breath after their ordeal was over. "Can you believe that?"

Actually, he could. "Just ask her out already, Sandy." He didn't know where it came from, but he told her.

Sandy didn't miss a moment to give her a hard time and to Linder, that looked like she was trying to buy more time between them both.

And her precious miss attitude, didn't have to stand in her line but despite their arguments, she came back to her every single day. It was high time one of them got the hint.

Sandy sounded like she was struggling for words until she took a deep breath. "I've got a boyfriend, you know that," she said.

"Having a boyfriend doesn't mean you're straight," said Linder. "It doesn't mean you can't be attracted to other people either."

He didn't want to get involved, but his dumb mouth kept running.

Sandy stilled. "I'm not attracted to her."

"Okay," he replied and pulled his sleeves lower. He'd leave it at that. Eventually, things would happen if they kept at it. Which he knew they would.

Sandy got back to work, a little too fast. Linder told himself it was none of his business again, so he too, got back to work.

One more hour until the lines became shorter and they could relax. Less people ordered for coffee in the afternoon compared to the morning.

So until then, they had to work tirelessly.

"Goddamn," Sandy said while getting closer to Linder, already over her insult. "There's a freaking hot guy coming next on your line."

Linder ignored her and just kept working.

"I'll have an expresso."

Linder's hands stopped moving. He knew that voice. He'd know it anywhere, even if he was asleep. His breath got stuck in his throat.

He looked up to see his annoyingly good looking face. A smug smile played on his lips.

Linder's hold on the counter tightened as he looked into his eyes. The eyes he'd once gotten so lost looking into. Carl.

How the fuck was he here?

He froze despite inwardly telling his body to move. Fucking move!

He really was here. The first time they met, it was Carl who'd first bumped into him on the streets. He'd fallen down but didn't hurt himself. He'd still gone ahead to mistake one of Linder's injuries as his fault and didn't leave his side till he accepted to let him take him to the hospital.

Linder never told him the truth, but that was the beginning of them. Someone that was too good to be true.

They should have been happy, and they might have been. But he'd misjudged him, he'd even gone ahead to–

Linder wanted to throw up. At this point, a few people were looking at him with concern on their faces. He was probably holding up the line, he wasn't sure.

"Linder! Linder?" Sandy's voice got clearer as he came back to reality.

Linder winced when she laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know he's hot but come on, don't zone out like that," she close to whispered. "He wants you to take his order. He won't let me."

Of course not. Carl's smile broadened as he folded his arms, never taking his eyes off Linder.

There was a time it made him helpless with need just to stare at him like that. It wasn't worth it. Carl had never been worth any of it.

He was sick, through and through. And it never seemed to occur to him that anything he was doing was wrong.

He wore a black cap and Linder saw that he'd let his black hair grow out a little, his shiny earrings still adorning each of his lobes.

Before, he never let his hair grow out, he always kept it as short as possible. And yet he loved Linder's hair. So much that he'd sulked for almost a whole day when Linder had talked about cutting it, until he'd changed his mind.

Right now he even had a little facial hair, a stubble and yet he was never a fan of it. Had he changed?

He looked at his eyes once more and that was enough to know the devil still lurked in there. He–

"Linder! Jesus Christ do you need a break?" Sandy asked.

He ignored her.

"What the fuck are you doing here Carl?" He asked, trying to remain calm.

It was finally making sense. The sudden feelings lately like he was being watched. He hadn't been looking over his shoulder for no reason.

"Have you been stalking me?" He asked disbelievingly.

Thankfully he'd listened to his intuition, to keep taking Mikhail to Tadashi. He wasn't being paranoid for no reason. The worst animal was back in his life.

"Aww, baby. I thought you'd be happier than that," Carl's calm voice said. "I was...really dying to see you."

Weirdly, Linder believed him. But why was he so fucking calm about this? He was never a frantic person, never did fidget. He never panicked, but this situation was different.

Bile rose up Linder's throat. "Answer the fucking question," he said.

They had everyone's attention now. The faces that all turned in their direction, they all blurred out in Linder's peripheral. His only focus was Carl.

He rubbed his stubble lightly. "I'm here to get my coffee," he replied calmly.

Linder would gladly drench him in it. "You hate coffee," he reminded him.

Carl raised his eyebrows at that, something like pride flickering in his almost black eyes. "So you remember," he said.

Of course he remembered, it messed with his head that he remembered every single detail about him. How the fuck could he forget?

Linder wasn't dumb. This was the exact same reason he'd decided to work at a cafe. He wasn't expecting him, but there had been safety in the knowledge that a cafe was the one place he'd never find Carl.

He was standing right in front of him right now. Linder had to remind himself to keep it together.

"You should be locked up, why are you here?" Linder ignored his remark and asked instead.

He thought he was rid of him. He should be. But he'd been right about these predators; men who had more money than they knew what to do with. And the simple fact that they could do anything they wanted.

It hadn't been easy for Linder, but somehow he'd managed to get him locked up, even as his heart was still reeling from heartbreak.

"I forgive you for doing that to me," said Carl. Linder wanted to scream that he wasn't asking for forgiveness, but Carl kept on talking. "This system is more broken than people think it is."

It sounded like he was about to let out a chuckle. Linder's horror seemed to consecrate itself.

The full force of it seemed to hit him all at once. Carl was back. How long had he been tailing him to know where he worked?

He couldn't take it. Watching his face. That sick and yet genuine smile, the confidence in his gaze and his open desire for Linder. He couldn't take any of it.

Linder stormed off without another word, or look in his direction. What the fuck was he going to do?

He heard a chorus of gasps as he made his way to the back.

He hadn't even heard the footsteps following him. "Hey hey, are you okay? That was a little dark to be honest," said Sandy.

He didn't spare her a glance. He couldn't even try. Not with his mind working harder than it had ever worked.

He pulled his apron off and pocketed his phone. Until he was outside, then he'd call Lily.

"Linder, seriously what was that about?" She asked again, genuinely concerned. He wished she wasn't.

He put the apron in her arms as if in answer. She took it while raising her eyebrows. "Wha–"

"I quit."