"HAHAHAHA! JIANG YUCHEN IS SO FUNNY" Aliyah commented under the video of the 1st episode of the variety show her idol is currently in. "God, I love this man!" She thought to herself, smiling, as she stretched her arms up while her back leaned against her chair. She checked the clock on the wall to her right which read "10 PM." Aliyah turned the lights off and walked to her bed, swiftly covering her body with a blanket and closing her eyes to sleep. She had a shift in the hospital earlier and tomorrow is her day-off, which means she will visit her cafè, "Pearl in October." It has been her dream to own a cafè, and through hard work, she was able to open the doors to her cafè just a year ago. Though it's only been a year and there are not many customers, there are a lot of regulars. It's a shame some people don't want to try her cafè, they're missing out— that's according to her regulars. Her routine is always the same: after work, she watches Jiang Yuchen's (江宇辰) videos to releive stress. She has been his fan ever since he was just starting, which is 8 years ago, when she was just 19 and he was just 22.
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"Thank you po, Kuya!" Aliyah thanked the driver of her "angkas" or public transportation motorcycle as she gave him the money. Despite having the means to own her own private service and wanting one, she refuses. You see… she's scared of driving. When she decided to learn how to drive a car with her mother, she was panicking all the time, "WHAT?! WHERE ARE WE?! HOW DO I TURN RIGHT?! I MISSED THE TURN!" Then, her older sister decided to teach her to ride a motorcycle, "NO! AH! I'M SCARED! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!" She may be a strong person, but she still has her fears.
"Time check: 7:58 AM. Hmmm, just right." She muttered to herself after looking at her phone. She then proceeded to enter her cafè and was met with various greetings from the staff, "Good morning po, Ma'am Pearl!" Although her close friends and family call her by her first name, she is keen on her second name, Pearl, and she was born in October, hence the name of the cafè. She wanted her friends to call her by her second name but they were still used to calling her by her first name, Aliyah. So, she wanted her staff to call her Pearl. Why? She feels elegant with that name. "Good morning po, Sir Blu!" Her staff consists of people both older and younger than her. By calling her older staff using "sir" and "ma'am" with their first name, as well as "po" and "opo", there would be an equal respect with a fair amount of friendliness. As for the staff younger than her, the first name basis is also followed.
And with that, their day began.
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"Ma'am Pearl?" The newcomer peeked in Aliyah's office, finding her sitting behind her desk. "Oh, what is it?" She asked, curiously. "Some Chinese people are here po. They asked to see the manager po." Aliyah was the Manager-in-chief for today, which means that she is in-charge in guiding the staff. She followed the newbie and was met by a group of 6 Chinese people. "Hello! Uh… Are you the manager?" the oldest of the group asked with his broken English. "Yes, I am, sir. Is there anything I can do for you?" Aliyah responded. "Can we film here?" The man asked again. "Of course, sir!" Aliyah assured. The group thanked Aliyah before finding their way to a vacant table, while Aliyah went to the kitchen. "Gosh! I almost had a nosebleed! My English skills were tested back there, ah!" Aliyah jokes to another manager, laughing together. Eventually, the group ordered and waited, "HANDSOME!" the staff who took their order just squealed as she arrived at the kitchen.
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Aliyah browsed the cafè, fixing and cleaning up things when she heard a ring. It was their "lobby person, please" bell. When it rings, the lobby person needs to take the food and present it to the customer. But Aliyah noticed that no one took the food, so she went to the "claim here" area. "Gia, where's the lobby person?" Aliyah asked the barista. "Ay, maybe he's washing the dishes." Gia responded, a bit shocked because she didn't notice there was no lobby person. "Alright, let's just take care of this one. Will you please help me?" Aliyah asked. There were two trays, one with the food and one with the beverages. "Yes, ma'am." Gia replied, taking the tray with the food in it. They went up to the table number written in the receipt, "Excuse me…" Aliyah excused herself while putting the drinks down on the table and then taking the tray on Gia's hands, also putting the food down on the table, meticulously organizing them. "Okay, enjoy your meal!" Aliyah smiled before going back to what she was doing before.
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"Excuse me…" the oldest of the group raised his hand, looking for a staff. Noticing this, Aliyah went up to them, "Yes, sir?" "Is the owner here?" He asked. "Yes, sir. I'm the owner." Aliyah replied, feeling a bit nervous. "Oh, really?" The man expressed his shock. Aliyah just smiled at the man as she hears mumblings from the table, "老板?" "如此年轻!" "这太棒了!" "Can we ask you some questions?" The man asked again. "Sure, sir!" Aliyah happily obliged. "We are from China. We are filming a show." Aliyah was a bit shocked to hear this. She didn't get a good look earlier, nervous of her English, but now that she did, she is sure that they are from the variety show she was just watching last night. Which means, her idol, Jiang Yuchen (江宇辰), must be there too. She quickly scanned the table, finding her idol at the far-end of it, looking at her. She pursed her lips together, hiding her smile and excitement as she stared at him. She only removed her eyes off him when the other person at the table asked her a question, "Are you really the owner? You're so young" the only woman at the table asked her. "Uh… hmmm." Still lost in cloud-9, Aliyah answered, stifling her smile. "Is it okay to include this in our show?" a familiar voice spoke. Aliyah, slowly looked at Jiang Yuchen (江宇辰), "Yes, sir! You're free to do so!" Aliyah finally spoke, unable to hide her excitement anymore. "Ikaw pa ba?" She muttered to herself as she looked down. "Calm down! That was not very demure of you!" Aliyah scolded herself through her mind after realizing. "Thank you! Thank you!" They all thanked her. Aliyah smiled, turned around and walked away, dragging her feet along the way as she heard a bunch of Mandarin words she didn't understand. "这个地方真的很好", the woman, who Aliyah now recognize as Han Fangjie (韩芳洁) said with a low voice. "对", Hao Zhishang (郝志尚) responded. "这里的食物也不错", Zi Tian (子添) chirped in. "是的,我喜欢这个巧克力蛋糕和这个咖啡", Bin Bin (彬彬) happily replied. "就我而言,我喜欢这种草莓蛋糕,不会太酸也不会太甜." Hearing Jiang Yuchen's (江宇辰) voice, Aliyah walked faster and went to her office. Upon arriving, she squealed with her hands cupping her mouth, stifling the sound. She then went to the kitchen area to find a manager to tell her little story. "I CAN'T HANDLE THIS! MY FAVE CHINESE ACTOR IS THERE!" Aliyah squealed in happiness. "REALLY?! ASK FOR A PICTURE!" Sasha replied, excited for her. "LATER! BEFORE THEY LEAVE!" Aliyah responded before hugging Sasha and jumping up and down while squealing.