Chapter 3
1362 Words
Chapter 3: A Friendship Begins
The sky above New York City was turning orange as the sun slowly dipped behind the tall skyscrapers. Evening traffic filled the streets, and the lights from thousands of windows began to glow across the city.
Inside the small café where Ethan Carter worked, the atmosphere had grown quieter.
The busy afternoon rush had passed, leaving only a few customers sitting quietly with their drinks and laptops. Soft music played from the speakers while the smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air.
Ethan wiped the counter slowly, but his attention wasn’t fully on his work.
Across from him, Sophia Harrington sat on one of the high stools near the counter, gently stirring her latte.
She had already finished most of it, yet she didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.
For someone who came from one of the richest families in the United States, she looked surprisingly comfortable sitting in a small neighborhood café.
“You’re staring again,” Sophia said suddenly.
Ethan blinked.
“I wasn’t staring.”
She raised an eyebrow playfully.
“You were.”
Ethan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
Sophia laughed softly.
The sound was warm and natural, nothing like the forced laughter Ethan often heard from wealthy customers who came into the café.
“What were you thinking about?” she asked.
Ethan hesitated.
He wasn’t sure if he should be honest.
Finally, he shrugged.
“I was wondering why someone like you keeps coming here.”
Sophia tilted her head slightly.
“What do you mean by ‘someone like me’?”
Ethan gestured vaguely.
“You know… rich. Famous family. People like you usually go to expensive restaurants, not small cafés like this.”
Sophia looked down at her cup for a moment.
“That’s exactly why I come here.”
Ethan frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
She leaned her elbows on the counter and looked directly at him.
“Because here, I feel normal.”
Those words surprised him.
Normal?
If anyone looked like they had a perfect life, it was Sophia Harrington.
“You have everything,” Ethan said quietly.
Sophia smiled faintly.
“Do I?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
She continued speaking, her voice calm but thoughtful.
“When people hear my last name, they immediately treat me differently. They try to impress me, flatter me, or get something from my family.”
She glanced around the café.
“But here, nobody cares who I am.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Well… I know who you are.”
“Yes,” she said with a small smile. “But you still treat me like a regular person.”
“Because you are a regular person.”
Sophia seemed slightly surprised by that answer.
“You’re the first person who has said that to me in a long time.”
Ethan chuckled.
“Trust me. If you worked here for one week, you’d see we’re all the same.”
“Working nonstop?”
“Pretty much.”
Sophia studied him for a moment.
“You really work hard.”
“Someone has to.”
“Three jobs, right?”
Ethan looked at her in surprise.
“How did you know that?”
“You mentioned it yesterday.”
Ethan laughed softly.
“You have a good memory.”
“Maybe,” she replied.
Then she asked something that caught him off guard.
“What did you want to be before life became… complicated?”
Ethan leaned against the counter and thought about it.
There had been a time when he dreamed about the future.
A time when things felt possible.
“I wanted to build things,” he said slowly.
“Like construction?”
“No,” Ethan replied. “Technology.”
Sophia’s eyes lit up with interest.
“Technology?”
“Yeah. I loved computers growing up. Coding, designing apps… that kind of stuff.”
“So why didn’t you continue?”
Ethan gave a small shrug.
“Life.”
Sophia understood immediately.
Responsibilities.
Family.
Money.
Those things could crush dreams faster than anything else.
“You’re smart enough to do it,” she said.
Ethan laughed.
“Being smart doesn’t pay tuition.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Outside the café window, people rushed past, each person caught in their own busy life.
Sophia finally said something quietly.
“I envy you.”
Ethan stared at her like she had just said the strangest thing in the world.
“You envy me?”
“Yes.”
“That might be the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Sophia smiled slightly.
“You have something I don’t.”
“What’s that?”
“Freedom.”
Ethan almost laughed again.
Freedom?
He worked almost every hour of the day.
His life revolved around paying bills and taking care of his family.
“That’s not freedom,” he said.
Sophia shook her head.
“You can choose your life.”
“I don’t feel like I have much choice.”
“You do more than I do.”
Ethan noticed the sadness in her eyes.
For the first time, he realized something important.
Sophia Harrington might be rich.
But she wasn’t happy.
Before he could say anything else, Maria suddenly called from the kitchen.
“Ethan! We’re out of milk!”
“Coming!”
He turned back to Sophia.
“Give me one minute.”
Sophia nodded and watched him hurry into the storage room.
A few minutes later, he returned carrying a large container of milk.
“You ever get tired of this?” she asked.
“Of coffee?”
“Of working so much.”
Ethan thought about it.
“Sometimes.”
“Then why keep going?”
He looked at her seriously.
“Because people depend on me.”
Sophia seemed to respect that answer.
“You’re a good person, Ethan.”
“Don’t say that too quickly,” he joked.
“I mean it.”
Just then, the café door opened.
Cold evening air rushed inside.
Two men in dark suits stepped in.
Sophia immediately recognized them.
Her body stiffened.
They were her father’s security guards.
The taller one approached her.
“Miss Harrington, your father has been trying to reach you.”
Sophia sighed quietly.
“I turned off my phone.”
“He’s not happy.”
“I figured.”
Ethan watched the exchange carefully.
The situation suddenly felt uncomfortable.
Sophia stood up slowly.
“I guess my escape time is over.”
She looked back at Ethan.
“Thanks for the conversation.”
“No problem.”
She hesitated for a moment before asking something unexpected.
“Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“What time?”
“Morning shift.”
Sophia smiled.
“Good.”
Then she walked toward the door with the two guards following closely behind.
Just before leaving, she turned around one last time.
“See you tomorrow, Ethan.”
The door closed behind her.
Silence filled the café again.
Maria walked over with a curious expression.
“That girl keeps coming back.”
Ethan nodded.
“Seems like it.”
Maria leaned closer and whispered.
“You know she’s one of the richest girls in America, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re just talking to her like she’s your neighbor.”
Ethan shrugged.
“She wanted coffee.”
Maria shook her head with a small smile.
“You’re either very brave… or very clueless.”
Maybe she was right.
Because Ethan didn’t fully understand what was happening either.
All he knew was that Sophia Harrington kept coming back.
And somehow, their conversations were becoming the best part of his day.
Outside, the lights of New York City continued to shine across the night sky.
Somewhere in the distance, inside a luxurious mansion,
powerful people were already planning Sophia’s future.
A future that didn’t include someone like Ethan Carter.
But fate had already started weaving their lives together.
And neither wealth nor power would easily break the bond that was slowly beginning to grow between them.
Their story was only just beginning.
- Writer
