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chapter 39
At the suggestion of going on a date, Sian blinked his crimson eyes. Was the comment that shocking to him?
“Ah… I mean, I was suggesting we go out at night as a test. It’s not that I have any feelings for you or anything like that…”
“You’re allowed to have feelings.”
“You’re good at joking, Sian. Anyway, let’s go out at night and walk around a bit. That way you can see how people look at you.”
At Lynette’s push, Sian nodded.
“Then how about tomorrow? That’s the day the shop is closed.”
“That works.”
“What time is good for you?”
“Since it’s a night da—date, I think the evening would be good. We could have dinner together or wander around and eat some street food.”
When Lynette first suggested a “date,” he hadn’t frozen up. In that brief moment, it was as if he’d already planned what to do in the evening. Lynette nodded at Sian’s smooth answer.
“Where should we meet?”
“I’ll send a carriage. Just tell me your address…”
At his offer to send a carriage, Lynette smiled and declined.
“We’ll be walking anyway, so a carriage isn’t necessary. Let’s just pick a meeting spot and show up there at the right time.”
She didn’t know where Sian’s house was, and she wasn’t ready to reveal her own yet. Drawing a neat line, Lynette’s words prompted Sian to suggest another location.
“Then how about meeting here?”
“That sounds good. Let’s meet here tomorrow at six. No need to dress up—just come as you normally do.”
“Y-yes, I’ll do that.”
Sian stammered. Was the faint redness on his ears from the sunset? Or from the warmth of the cat nestled in his arms?
“Cheese, are you going to stay there forever?”
“Nyaang!”
Lynette chuckled at the sight of Cheese sprawled lazily across Sian’s sturdy legs—a spot she herself had never sat on. And yet that male cat had claimed it with such confidence.
“I’ll keep him with me a bit longer, so please work comfortably.”
It wasn’t as if Cheese ever kept her from working—he just slept. Who knew what he did at night to sleep so much during the day.
Leaving Cheese with Sian, Lynette went to greet a customer. One of the women who had ordered coffee brightened when she saw Sian holding Cheese.
“Oh my, the cat is adorable. What’s his name?”
One classic way to approach someone you’re interested in was to show affection for their pet and ask its name. At the question, Sian stroked Cheese and answered:
“His name is Cheese.”
“Cheese? That suits him well. May I pet him?”
Even as she spoke, her hand was already reaching for Cheese’s head. At first, the cat stayed still—but then, as expected, Cheese sprang up, his fur bristling and teeth bared.
“Hiiisss!”
“Oh my goodness!”
Cheese was extremely sensitive and hated being touched by strangers. Even Angela had taken a whole year to be able to pet him, and once she did, she was overjoyed—becoming the second servant to worship the prickly cat.
“Cheese, behave yourself.”
With his tail still puffed up, Cheese finally settled down at Sian’s command.
He barely listened to Lynette even on pain of death, yet obeyed Sian perfectly. It was almost jealousy-inducing.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
“N-no, I’m fine.”
The woman who had touched Cheese wrapped her hand around her fingers and smiled sheepishly.
“That’s good. Enjoy your coffee when it comes out.”
“Yes, um… would it be all right if I sat here? There are seats…”
Plenty of them. Without waiting for permission, she awkwardly smiled and sat across from Sian. Sian glanced at her but said nothing, opening his book instead.
Watching him remain utterly unbothered, Lynette smiled in satisfaction. She brought a cup of Sepiano to the woman and placed it in front of her.
“Enjoy.”
But the woman’s eyes weren’t on the coffee—they were fixed on Sian. She wasn’t staring at his red eyes. It looked more like she was admiring his handsome face.
Lynette wondered if she should tell Sian to wear his hat again.
“Cheese, that’s not for you.”
“Nya, nyang!”
Look at that sly little cat pretending to be cute.
The creature, who’d claimed Sian’s lap as his personal domain, was stretching a pink jelly paw toward the complimentary cookie. He’d reach out and pull back repeatedly, glancing at Sian—who was absorbed in his book—until finally, he succeeded in snagging one.
But before he could eat it, Sian noticed and took it away with a low, firm voice. Cheese let out a sweet little sound instead and began kneading Sian’s chest with his paws.
Remembering how firm that chest had felt when she’d once ended up against it, Lynette quickly shook her head to drive the thought away.
“One Sepiano, please.”
The new male customer handed over cash. Lynette quickly gave him change and made the coffee.
She set a small wooden plate of sweet, nutty cookies in front of him.
“Enjoy.”
“Thank you. The coffee here is so good—I come often these days.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed. Your face looks familiar.”
She smiled kindly at the semi-regular. He smiled back.
“By the way, may I know your name? Mine’s Leonard. I plan to be a regular, so I’d like you to know it.”
The blond man with cool blue eyes spoke, and Lynette gave her name in return.
“I’m Lynette.”
“I’ll call you Miss Lynette from now on. You can just call me Red.”
“Well, all right.”
She couldn’t exactly insist he call her “boss” when he’d offered his name so politely.
“Miss Lynette, I brought bread.”
“Good, eat first.”
Angela arrived, grinning as she set out neatly cut bread—Anderson must have sliced it. She ate it with milk. Lynette also took a piece with her coffee to fill her empty stomach.
“Miss Lynette, can I try coffee too?”
“No.”
At fifteen, Angela was still under the coffee ban. Lynette knew caffeine wasn’t good for minors and wouldn’t let her drink it until she was an adult.
“Everyone else drinks it, but why can’t I…”
“An occasional cup is fine, but our job means drinking it often. Coffee stunts your growth. You’re already small—what will you do if you get even shorter?”
After 13 years of malnutrition, Angela was shorter than her peers. Perhaps it was a complex; she stopped asking for coffee after that comment.
Instead, Lynette told her that milk would help her grow, and now she drank two glasses instead of one—no more sneaking.
“Eat plenty and grow tall. Then I can safely entrust this shop to you.”
“You just want to hand the shop to me so you can have fun, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
Working on others’ rest days and resting on their work days—Lynette wasn’t meeting anyone. She wasn’t close with people her age either.
In fact, she barely socialized. Devoted to Fernando, she’d considered even a moment with someone else a waste. As a result, she had few friends.
“Come to think of it, because of that man my social life’s dried up completely.”
Realizing she had no peers to talk to, Lynette gave a self-mocking smile. She wished she could grab her past self—madly obsessed with Fernando—by the collar and shake her.
“Miss Lynette, what are you mumbling to yourself?”
“Hmm? About a guy I liked before. Now I completely hate him. Angela, it hasn’t happened to you yet, but if you ever get a boyfriend, don’t fall too hard.”
“Yes, understood.”
What Lynette said was as good as law to Angela. Knowing she wasn’t speaking idly, Angela nodded.
“Choose not the man you like, but the one who likes you. Then at least your marriage won’t crumble.”
“Yes! I’ll do that.”
“If necessary, bring him to me first. I’ll test him out a few times.”
“Yes!”
No one trying to take Angela away would be spared. Lynette clenched her fists—her knuckles cracking with a satisfying sound.
“Angela, even after you marry you’ll keep working here. You can’t have your career cut off just because you marry. So keep going.”
Unless Angela herself didn’t want to, Lynette refused to see her become a “career-break” woman.
Angela clasped her hands and nodded. There was no boss like this anywhere else.
“Angela, there are leaves outside. Sweep them up now. If we do it at closing time, we’ll leave late.”
As she smiled at Angela heading out with a broom, Leonard came up, bringing his empty cup himself.
“Thank you for bringing it.”
“Oh, I can do this anytime. By the way, tomorrow’s your day off, isn’t it? Do you have plans during the day?”
“No particular plans during the day.”
Her promise with Sian was for the evening, so her day was free. Leonard smiled.
“Then may I ask you on a daytime date…”
“Ahem, Lynette already has plans for tomorrow. You’re too late.”
Sian, holding Cheese, had brought his empty cup as well. Leonard glanced sideways at him.
“Then Miss Lynette, how about the day after…”
“She has plans then too. And the day after that. So stop wagging your tail at the wrong person and be on your way.”
Before Lynette could say anything, Sian spoke first and even held the door open. Leonard looked regretful, as if he might never come back.
“I did well, right?”
His eyes shone as if asking for praise. Lynette gave an awkward smile and reached out to pet Cheese—but the cat whipped his head away. Lynette’s smile turned dangerous as she muttered like flowing water:
“Maybe I should have his nuts removed before he goes into heat.”
At that, Cheese stiffened and shot out of Sian’s arms, rubbing himself furiously against Lynette until his fur clung to her clothes.
