Unknown Mishaps

Chapter 7

KHIONE CYRA

The Raidon guy stayed in the coffee shop for quite a while. He was talking to the baristas and even my manager, Trisha. I watched them as I mopped the floor.

"Raidon has been a customer since I started working here." I turned to Michelle or Michie for short.

Why Michie? I don't know. She's from California and she moved to Chicago to live a more peaceful life. 2 years in this state and she said she's tame enough to have a decent boyfriend and a nice little apartment. Her baby blue eyes stared at me so innocently and her wavy platinum locks that were tied in a tight bun bounced as she gathered the trash on the table.

"Since when did you start working here?" I asked, my Filipino accent was evident, but I'm lucky she didn't mind.

"A few months ago. Raidon was an eye candy to the staff and the customers. Sometimes, he teases people and they like it, but me? f**k, I hate it. He annoys me. So much." Michie rambled as she cleaned a table.

"Is that why you began cleaning tables when he arrived? I was sure you needed to be in the cash register."

"Yes! I'm warning you about him, ok? Don't let his Mr. Nice Guy act fool you." She huffed as she picked up the tray of empty coffee mugs and dirty plates.

She leaned into my ear and whispered, "I heard he has a girlfriend, but he's cheating on her with random women."

"Maybe that's just a rumor?" I tried to think positively about the guy because I don't quite know him yet and it's wrong for me to judge.

"Oh. Trust me. You'll know when he comes in here tomorrow with a girl because the next day, it's a different one." Michie said and walked away. Raidon greeted her when she went behind the counter, but she just flipped him off.

I blinked at their interaction and decided to ignore them. After cleaning, I went behind the counter and cleaned some coffee cups.

"You're too hardworking, newbie." Sandra chimed, elbows propped on the counter. I heard Raidon laugh.

"Let her do her job in peace, Sandra." I heard him say, "Anyway, you must be new here. I can tell because I haven't seen this beauty roaming the streets before."

Oh. He's a flirt.

"Yes. I'm new. I just moved here a few weeks ago." I said, smiling a little.

"Oh! You have an accent. Are you from the Philippines?" He asked and I just nodded.

"That's amazing. You don't look Filipino. I mean... your skin color is too pale."

I felt my left eye twitch. I looked at him with a straight face, annoyed.

I said, "I know. You don't look American either. I mean... your skin color is too... dark."

With those last words, I went to the storage room to grab some ingredients. I saw Michie and she laughed out loud.

"I heard what you said to that jerk. It was so funny. You should've seen his face. His eyes were so wide and he was in shock." She said in between laughter.

I pouted a little, "He's so crass and I hate how those words came out of his mouth."

"You better get used to it. He comes here everyday as if looking for his next prey. I feel bad for his girlfriend, but you know? That girl... is also kind of crazy so actually, don't feel bad for her."

"Why? How so?"

"One time, she came in here with this guy and Sandra asked her if she broke up with Raidon. The b***h said not yet. She said the guy was a friend and that they were only there for a business meeting." Michie was waving her hands all around.

My eyes widened, "That's crazy. I bet they didn't even look like friends."

"If only you saw them, KC! She was sitting beside him and she was laying her head on his shoulder."

Their relationship is toxic, but... I should probably speak for myself, shouldn't I?

"I think Raidon is only cheating on her to spite her, but... still. If the relationship doesn't work anymore, why stay?" I said, grabbing a few bottles of syrup.

"That's what I've been saying, but that's their life and I'm not sticking my nose in it." Michie replied. She was then called out to the cash register and I followed her to place the bottles in the counter.

I walked out and thanked the heavens that Raidon was gone. Sandra stared at the door dreamily.

"You know, girls, it's been months, but Raidon hasn't made a move on me. Do you guys think I'm too ugly to be his type?" Sandra looked at both Michie and I.

Michie and I looked her from head to toe. She was not wearing her uniform, her top was too revealing, she has thick makeup and long fake lashes that were about to fall off, and greasy hair that she put up in a messy ponytail.

"Nope. Maybe he just didn't want to hurt you or something."

Nice call, Michie!

"You're right. I think he's just waiting for the right moment to ask me out. I mean, we've known each other since forever so it makes sense." Sandra giggled and did her job, making latte art and coffee.

I stood beside Michie in front of the other cash register and she leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Don't tell her that she's too slobby to be his type or else, she'll take a week off from work and I have to do her job."

"Oh. Uhm... ok." I simply said and opened the other cash register.

There's still a few hours before my shift ends and I just hope I don't run into Raidon on my way out.

°°°°°°°°°°

After work, my cousin insisted on picking me up again and my father was more than happy to allow her to.

During the ride home, I told her about Raidon and my slobby coworker, Sandra. She laughed at me and said, "It be like that sometimes, but at least your first day wasn't boring."

"I'd rather it be boring than to encounter someone like that. I mean... who says you're too pale to be Filipino?! We were conquered by the Spaniards for crying out loud!" I ranted and my cousin just laughed.

"Some people are crass and they don't even notice they're being offensive. Just let it go and if you see him tomorrow, just ignore him." She adviced.

I sighed, "Yeah. You're right."

After a few minutes, we got home just in time for dinner. I went to my room and got changed into more comfortable clothes.

During dinner, I told them about my first day and how nice most of the people were. I left out the topic regarding my encounter with Raidon and just told them the funny bits.

After dinner, I decided to stalk the guy in i********:. How do I know where to look for him? Easy. Sandra and I follow each other in i********: and I just check her following list and I scroll and scroll until I found:

raidon.c.03

I opened his profile and noticed how he has a lot of pictures of himself, of his college, and his car. I scrolled a bit more and realized that he doesn't have one picture of his girlfriend or even a picture of the both of them.

Maybe they do spite each other, but can't let go of their relationship?

Just as I was scrolling through Raidon' profile, an unknown number popped from my screen. An unknown number was calling me. I thought maybe it was my dad and he wanted to ask if I wanted some coffee so I answered it.

"I'm going to grab a cup of coffee later. Don't worry."

"KC? Thank goodness you finally answered."

It was Jase and I was so dumb not to say 'Hello' first. I was stunned, shocked and I stared at my phone screen for a long time.

This is not going to be good.