The noises of people yelling to each other on the background of a restaurant near the coffee shop, 'Polly Molly' are never ending. During the nighttime, I, Joshua Jayson, 19, always spend the night wandering around outside without any aims. I always stop by the coffee shop and drink medium hot latte with large size alongside a slice of mango cheesecake. Lazily sitting down on the seat that face the outside, I took a mouthful of the cake.
'Yummy! It's like heaven! I wouldn't mind eating this for my whole life! ' I thought to myself for a while.
"I'm glad you still like it, JJ." A familiar voice speak from behind me.
I turned around and immediately come face to face with the owner of 'Polly Molly' , France Mine.
"The cakes at your has a special taste. I'll never get bored of it even in a lifetime. Anyway, just call me Josh. JJ is a bit... uncomfortable." He seemed relief by my explanation but left a snicker at the end of my sentences.
'Seriously this guy... always like to tease people.' I thought to myself.
"Why not? It's a cute name." He winked at me.
For God knows how long I've been here, I can sense that the owner was hitting on me and I've heard rumours from the customers at his shop that he is gay too. Even though he looked like a loose dog, Mr. France is actually a nice person. I know by experience.
"Boss, don't slack off!" One of his colleagues shouted from the back.
"I know! I know! Be right there in a minute!" He shouted a reply back.
"Looks like you're busy. Go do your work, owner." I said sarcastically.
"Awe, don't chase me out. Anyway, like usual. If you have any problem, just tell me." He said that while winked at me again.
'Oh my God! He's really hitting on me too hard. I know I've heard it might be a possibility but now it's too much!'
Despite being a caring and gentle person, the customers that came to his shop never criticised him for being gay. They even became more supportive since the owner always got dumped. The main reason for it was he's always fall in love with a straight person and that also include me at the moment.
'Okay, enough. Instead of thinking unnecessary things, let me just do some 'Online Socializing'. I said to myself quietly.
Pulling out my decent smartphone which is a model of one of the famous brand in the whole wide world, I started scrolling through all of my Social Media (SM) accounts. I may not look like it but I'm a pretty famous online person because of my obsession with mango cheesecake.
I started learning to bake it a year ago from the owner after I just moved to the city and got heartbroken when my 3-year-old girlfriend in relationship decided to break up because she couldn't stand to have a long distance relationship (LDR). I knew she was just feeling insecure since the city has various kind of people and personality and thought my feelings might change.
How can I stop from having feelings for her when she was my childhood crush since when we were elementary school and we became a couple when we're in our second year of high school? In the end, she called me up on our anniversary day just to break up with me. I was full of misery during that day because my college life isn't so great and I got fired from my part time job just because I was so nice to everyone and people think I was hitting on them.
Anyway, I got drunk that day and decided to pass by the street where most people would like to avoid just because of its history with gays couple. That time, I saw the most perfect food in front of me but I decided not to eat any since it'll be a waste of money in the end. I was about to walk away from the place I was standing when a hand grabbed my shoulder firmly. I turned around to see a good looking guy with his attire that kind of belongs of the coffee shop.
"Aren't you cold? Why don't you grab a coffee for bit?" He suggested with a smile.
"Hmm... I don't drink coffee... Sorry, I'll just go."
Embarrassed by my sudden choice of words, I turned back only to get grab from behind again.
"Then, why don't you come inside? It's really cold out here."
His eyes were beaming like crazy and a bit desperate. In the end, I gave in.
"Fine. That's okay."
We walked inside of the shop with people greeting the guy in front of me like he's the owner of this coffee shop. I just stay quiet since I don't want to make any trouble and took an empty seat next to the counter. As I sobered up a little, I took my chance to look around the interior of the shop. It was beige yellowish colour with gold and brown stripe wallpaper, the choice of table and chair were also really simple, making it looks like your regular shop but the environment of the inside were completely different from how I imagined it to be. There were a family with kids, a few couples including the gays, and also a few elderly people who seems to like to hang in here.
There's not much noise because of how the shop being sectioned into and there are also a few private room and smoking area as well. Considering the prices of drinks and food they had on the menu board, it was pretty affordable despite it was located on such street. My eyes wandered around until it land onto the person I was looking for earlier. The guy who invited me in because of the cold weather outside were making coffee in the back while giving some instructions to the other workers. He seemed to notice me staring at him and smiled back at me before continuing doing his job.
Flustered by how good he look even when he's smiling, my heart made it a little thump. I just brushed it away as soon as a deep aroma of sweet entered my sense of smell. It was my first time smelling something this sweet which remind me to one of my childhood memories.
When I was in elementary school, I was a troublesome child and often got into fights which led to my parents punished me from going outside of school hours. One day, I feel so alone from having house arrest. So I tried to sneak out as my parents were on visit to their friends house. It was just nighttime and I was so bored. I decided to walked along the path the opposite of my house and encountered a small shop after walking around the unfamiliar neighbourhood. The sign in front of said it was a sort of a cafe but there's no one inside of it even though it's open for business. I was about to walk away when I saw something amazing happen. An old man who look about in his thirty took out a delicious food I've ever saw. The guy saw me staring from the outside of the shop and decided to walk towards me. I was confused by his action so I just wait there obediently like a good kid even though I haven't been one.
"What's wrong, kid? You hungry? Wanna eat that?" He pointed towards the food I've been staring just now.
Thinking there was nothing wrong from accepting his offer, I nodded my head and came inside.
"This is so delicious. What's it called, old man?"
"Geez, kids these days are rude. Call me uncle. That is a mango cheesecake."
He rubbed my head harshly as I continue to eat. After that day, I would always stop by the shop to have a taste of that mango cheesecake. But it only last for a few days. When I went back after a week, the shop was already closed and the scent of the cakes and coffee were gone.
"You're okay there?"
Appearing like magic, a food I was longing for to eat came into view. It was mango cheesecake and I almost drool over it.
"It's fine, you can eat it. It's my treat."
The man who's previously grabbed me into the shop was sitting in beside me while staring hole at me eating the cake.
"It feels nice eating sweets after you got your heart broken, huh." He suddenly spoke up.
"What? How did you knew?" I almost chocked up when he stated the truth.
"It's not weird to see straight guys like you pass by this street after they got their heart broken."
"Oh..." I was at loss of words when he said 'straight guys' like it was nothing to him.
'Maybe he's actually 'gay' ?' I thought to myself. I was thinking hard when the guy in front of me let out a chuckle.
"I don't mean anything bad."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You see, this coffee shop is actually one of those popular spot for everyone to come in here. It's very common that they know I'm 'gay' and I won't hit on everyone I set eyes upon."
As he explained, I took a look around again and everyone seems comfortable being in the shop despite the location of it.
"Ah, I get what you mean. Sorry for thinking weird things." I apologize.
"It's nothing to apologize. If anything, you can always share your story. It might make you feel even better."
I was having second thoughts when he offered to hear my story but since it was a stranger, I think I wouldn't mind telling him since he would not judge me like the people I've known. Maybe it'll feel better if I let it out.
"Okay."
And that was the story of my meeting with the owner. I thought we wouldn't be in each other contact anymore but everytime I'm tired and having a bad day, my feet would always come back to this coffee shop and the next thing I knew, I was eating my favorite food, mango cheesecake while having a chat with the owner like we're friends. I still remember everytime I passed by his shop, he would always had this huge smile on his face and he seems so happy that I dropped by. By this time, I was worried he'd actually fall for me harder than I imagined.
For me, I actually feel bad for him. I didn't want to led him on but his kindness towards me making me sways and I wanted to still stay by his side. My feelings is not the same kind as him and I only viewed him as a friend.
'Thud!'
A sudden noise brings my attention to the reality and as I looked up, an annoyed redhead man was glaring at me furiously.
"Uh, is there any problem?" I asked.
From all my visits to this shop, I've never encountered any problems till this day. So I was a bit surprised when I was ambushed suddenly today.
"You see.. I've been watching you for quiet a while and I hate to say this..." He stated.
'Wait, what is he saying? Is he also gay? Is he a stalker?' I was panicked by this moment.
"Err, I still don't understand why you're saying this." I said sternly.
'Thud!!'
This time it was a little louder than before. The man actually slapped his palm on the table made of wood! The atmosphere in the cafe stayed the same but with some people gossiping around about the sudden noise, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed being in such situations.
"Don't make this difficult for me. If you didn't intend to accept France's feelings, please don't come here anymore." Angrily, he's saying this.
I was surprised by his statement. I didn't knew what to reply so I just stay quiet and think deeply.
'Oh, so that's why.... Eh, do I even have to listen to this guy here? For all I knew, this man may be intend to hit on the owner instead!'
I was about to say something when the owner came towards us with a worried look on his face.
"Max, what are you doing here?" The owner, France suddenly pop out of nowhere nearly give me a shock.
"Obviously to help you out with your little problem." The other man who's introduced as Max by the owner said sarcastically.
"But I don't really need your help. Instead of making a scene here, why don't you help with 'Big Brother' ?"
The owner's face was serious and I didn't dare to speak up because it was kind of scary like I was being confront by a gangster. I don't understand their part of conversation here so I just ignore it by scrolling through my phone. Even though I'm trying to distract myself, the fact that they were arguing in front of me really disturb me. I don't know what he means by the term 'Big Brother' but I knew it would probably means something like his family or someone close to them.
"Ugh, fine. I'll be back later." And Max stormed out of the shop hurriedly. The owner sighed in relief as soon as he was out of sight and took a seat in front of me.
"Sorry you had to see that. He was actually my big brother's friend and he always look out for me since I was a kid." He explained.
"I see..." I still didn't knew how to respond because of how the atmosphere around him change earlier. I was a little scared to be honest.
'I think Max was right. I have to be honest.'
Taking a deep breath, I started to speak out my thoughts.
"Actually, I have to tell you something and you need to hear it right now." I was hesitated to continue and paused to pick the right words next.
"Go on."
"I really enjoy the time we're together and I love to hang out with you and I also love your mango cheesecake...." I explained.
"But I can't deceive you anymore than this." My palms already sweating like crazy as I said.
"What do you mean?" The owner voice sounds deep and serious this time with the same expression as an abandoned puppy.
********************
To be continued....