"I'm sorry if I mistook you as a couple. I really didn't mean to think that way," Sakura said with sincereness in her voice.
Kyoko, Kiyoshi, and Mei were wordless for a second as they did not expect her answer. Kiyoshi and Mei found that adorable tho, so they smiled at her.
"Oh my god, no," Kyoko shook her head. She couldn't believe that the pink-haired lady would take it so seriously. "Why are you saying sorry? It's not that even deep!"
"But, still-"
"Come on!" the owner sighed in disbelief, but she chuckled afterwards, patting Sakura's shoulder to assure her. "It's unnecessary, and it's just a mere assumption. No feelings hurt here, I promise."
Kyoko's attention was then called by another barista, and so the group decided to just catch up later at Haru's house. Kiyoshi accompanied Mei and Sakura to their designated table, which was close to the bar counter, and before he could even leave the two, the pink-haired woman inquired if she could meet Haru for an urgent matter.
"What is it about? For urgent matters, you should definitely speak to the acting manager," Kiyoshi mentioned jokingly while his eyes wandered around the shop.
Sakura pretended to look around too, but she had already seen him enter the employee's room and didn't leave it after they greeted each other. "It's something personal..."
"I know. Guess he's in the staff's room since I haven't seen him roaming around."
She thanked him and told Mei that she'd be quick, and she left the couple and went to where Haru was. As she stood in front of the door, it brought back the memory of when he offered her a cup of coffee while she was drenched in rain; it was embarrassing, yet she was very grateful.
It was as if she could feel the warmth and taste the sweetness of the caramel hot chocolate in her mouth and how it comforted her broken heart that night while she recalled their first encounter.
Sakura knocked thrice before entering, and Haru's face lit up when he saw her step into the room. He was dressed in a mock neck long sleeve top, pleated trousers with belt, socks, and wingtip shoes which were all in black. His long jet black hair was tied in a low ponytail with his fringes on the sides of his sculpted face.
"Hey," he was actually surprised to see her and thought that she probably needed something. "What brings you here?"
"Errr… just checking you out since I didn't see you leave the room since you came." She glanced at the rectangular boxes with clear lids then at his reflection in the mirror, "I guess you were busy... prepping?"
Haru ran a hand on his nape and nodded shyly, "I was actually about to go out and greet everyone, but... you came."
"It's alright. I know you're also busy as a bee," she chuckled a bit and noticed his bangs on the sides of his face. "Do you want me to put bobby pins on your fringes? I think I have some in my kit," she stood by the table and placed her handbag on top of it.
He saw the pins clipped to her hair. "Are you going to use pretty pins on my hair, too?" he walked towards the table and leaned against it.
"Mm? Do you want us to be matchy-matchy?"
His ears turned slightly red. He talked so casually that it sounded like he wanted to have a couple hair pins with her. He wanted to clarify what he just said, but Sakura spoke first.
"By the way, uhm…" she pursed her lips.
"Hm?" he responded softly. He stared straight into her brown doe eyes, but then he lowered his gaze down to her heart shaped lips. He couldn't help it, but every time he thought of her, the Images of them kissing in his dream always reappeared in the back of his eyes.
She took out four bobby pins from a pouch and made sure that his fringes were behind his ear before sliding them into his hair, "I just want to say...."
When Haru heard her speak, his gaze shifted back to her eyes.
Sakura averted her gaze, "I want to-"
She was cut off when the door opened, and she peeked over her shoulder to see who it was.
"Sorry for interrupting, but Sakura, the boss already arrived," Mei said, glancing at Haru after. "Hi, Haru. Looking dashing as always," Mei grinned, and he stood upright and smiled back at her.
Sakura nodded and darted a glance at the barista, "Let's just talk later. And oh, I can't wait to have a taste of the menu you prepared for us today."
She beamed at Haru before reaching for Mei's hand, and they headed back to the seating area to greet their boss as well as some of the department heads. Sakura and Mei observed their colleagues' reactions as they scanned the cafe's interiors. They were glad their suggestion was accepted, but at the same time, they were also concerned if they would meet the employees' expectations, especially the boss' who was known to have high standards.
"I like the minimalism, yet the sophistication of this place," Sugawara Emi, their boss in her mid-30s, commented while still scanning the coffee shop. "I can see that it's decorated with contemporary items and artsy props here and there, and the good-looking and stylish baristas are a plus. I hope the food won't be a disappointment tho."
"I guarantee you won't," Mei assured her. She was about to say that Cafe Ai's better compared to the boss' favorite cafe, but she wouldn't want to spoil her good mood.
"We'll see about that," she let out a short laugh. "Your boyfriend's a barista here, right?"
Mei nodded with a bright smile on her face as a response.
"I'll meet him later then. For now…" Emi peeped at her vintage wristwatch, "Let's all settle down, and we'll start shortly."
Sakura and Mei discreetly did a hi-five and went to their corresponding seats. They were seated with two more employees who took a quick pic of Haru and Kiyoshi. The baristas were talking behind the counter, while two other baristas started roaming around to ask about their preferred drinks and breakfast.
Copies of Cafe Ai's menu were already placed on each table wherein the first three pages contained the cherry blossom themed sweets and drinks, and the succeeding pages consisted of their usual appetizers, sandwiches, breakfast and lunch menus, coffee and other beverages, and desserts.
A porcelain shell-designed saucer of complementary sakura macarons were also served per table. The macarons were in the shapes of a circle and sakura flower, and each macaron has preserved salted sakura petals on top.
Sakura had a smile on her face as she skimmed through the cherry blossom themed menu; the specialty drinks included sakura frappe, sakura milk latte, sakura matcha latte, and sparkling sakura, and the desserts comprised of fluffy sakura chiffon cake, sakura cheesecake, sakura white chocolate & cheese mousse, and sakura jelly. They had options of choosing one from the desserts or getting a plate of those four in small bites.
"Sakura," Mei patted her hand and pointed to the menu paper, "I haven't eaten a decent breakfast yet since Kiyoshi needed to be early. Would you like to try their sakura and strawberry pancakes?"
"I'd love to!" she said without hesitation. She grinned as she read the description; it was made of three soufflé pancakes with a special cream and sweetened sakura petals on top, a special strawberry sauce, and strawberry ice cream with chopped strawberries. "I'd also like to have a sakura milk latte art, too."
When the barista came over to their table, Mei told him their orders, and Sakura couldn't contain her excitement as she waited for their food and drinks to be served.
Finally, the meeting commenced, and throughout the meeting, Haru and Sakura couldn't help themselves from stealing glances at each other.