The billionaire’s missing heiress

Let me be please

Chapter six

“Let me be please “

“Hello, Mia. Nice to see you again. Um… I'll have a coffee as usual, please.” he was delighted to see her. On the bright side, she wasn't fired.

Immediately, as soon as she had all the orders written down, she walked away to get them ready. Her colleagues were mysteriously staring at her. “How long will she pretend?” they gossiped as she walked in, but Mia ignored their whispers and carried on with her work.

As soon as she was done preparing the others, she went out and served. When she got to Ethan's table, she kept a straight face and placed the coffee carefully on his table. “That would be three dollars, sir.”

He reached into his pocket and gave her five dollars. “Here you go. You can keep the change.”

“Thank you, but no, sir.” Mia was hesitant, so she turned around, looking confused. “Why is he giving me extra money? I was the one who made a mistake last week. I'm supposed to be apologizing and paying for damages I caused, not the other way around.”

“Don't be scared. Besides, you wanted to pay for my dress last week, so what's wrong with me giving you a little tip now? By the way, I'm Ethan.” He stretched out his hand forward for a proper introduction with a smile on his face.

Mia remembered her mother telling her not to get in the way of wealthy people, so she refused to take his money politely. “Thanks but no, sir.” She didn't want to make a scene. Shrugged her shoulders in rejection and walked away.

Ethan, in disbelief, wasn't accustomed to rejection. “I mean, does she know who I am?” he scoffed and took off.

Mia stood aside, waiting for him to leave before going over to his table to pick up the cup he was served with, wondering why he seemed offended. “Not everyone can really be bought with money. Besides, I only offered to pay for his clothes because I ruined them. What's his excuse?”

“Who are you talking to?” one of her coworkers asked with a curious expression.

“Nobody.”

“Do you know who that man was you just served?”

“No,” her expression suddenly changed. “I don't want to know.”

“That's Ethan West, the CEO of West Holdings. You should be careful around him. He could literally get you fired from here and make sure you never show your face around anywhere.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won't cross his path. Thanks for the advice.”

“It's a warning, Mia. Not everyone goes scot-free for spilling coffee on others. You were just lucky that day.”

“Hey! That was an accident.”

“An accident or not, if he wanted to react to that accident, you would be in big trouble, so you need to be extremely nice around him. Otherwise, you lose your job.”

“Okay then, I'll do as you've said.” Then she turned around and carried on her duties, and so did her co-worker.

When it was late, Mia went home and told Tessa everything that had happened at work over the past few days, including the coffee spills, but didn't mention Ethan coming for her. They had a long night chat, laughed over it, and went to bed.

….

Ethan kept coming to the cafe because of her, though she was somewhat rude. Her honesty and manners were the most attractive.

Mia noticed how he looked at her and wondered what was going on. “Is he stalking me or what?”

Every time Ethan walked in, the customers and a few of her co-workers would ask who he came for, and they'd watch him till he left.

He always sat on the long couch by the cafe door, but this time he made his way to the counter, where Mia gave customers cash or their remaining balance.

“I see you love your job,” he chuckled.

Her expression darkened, he noticed, but he ignored it. “Oh, it's you again. Are you stalking me?”

“No! What makes you think so?”

“Well, you always come to this place, order your coffee that you don't even finish, and once you're tired, you leave”

“I find this place convenient. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Nope, not really. I've seen a lot of customers come and go here a lot, but you're new, and you show a lot of interest.”

“Can I ask you a question?” He became more involved in the conversation. When he asked her, she slowly looked at him in a way he couldn't process. “How long have you worked here?”

She paused for a while and raised her chin, looking up almost near the roof. “Well, I've been working here for three years now.”

“And you love your job that much, she gave him a questioning look. “I mean, don't get me wrong, you know what I mean.”

“Why?”

“Why? Well, you know if the income you earn is enough to take care of yourself, you know.”

Immediately, Mia gave him a disgusted look. “What do you mean if the pay is enough to take care of myself? What do you think of me?” She was really offended and thought the conversation shouldn't continue. “Sir, with all due respect, please leave.” Pointing towards the door for him,

She turned around and went into the kitchen.

Ethan was left speechless again. He didn't know what had gone wrong and what to do, but he left as she said he should.

The next day, he came again, and Mia was attending to customers like always. He went straight to his usual chair and waved for Mia’s attention.

She looked at him, ignored his waving, headed straight to the counter, and asked one of her coworkers to finish up. Ethan knew she wasn't over yesterday, so he pushed through the elevator door and stepped out without being attended to.

When Mia noticed he was gone, she kept working.

Ethan went home frustrated. He really wanted to apologize and talk to her, but he couldn't. “Should I keep going there till she answers me?” he thought to himself and shrugged his shoulders. “No! I should let her be for now, maybe some other time.”