The Cold CEO's Funny Wife

The rain was pouring hard in the city. It was the kind of rain that flooded the streets in ten minutes and made all the drivers cancel their rides at once. The sky was dark grey, loud, and angry. Inside Sunny's Cafe, a small, cheap, noisy cafe with plastic chairs and a wobbly electric fan that made a squeaky sound every three seconds, Savi Laureen Dela Cruz was busy. Savi was twenty-four, wearing an oversized yellow t-shirt that said "No Credit Allowed" and faded denim shorts. Her hair was in a messy bun held by a pink claw clip. She was not wearing makeup. She was sweating because the air conditioner was broken again for the third time this week. But she was smiling. She was always smiling, even when she was tired, even when life was hard. "One more coffee, Savi! Table three!" shouted Mrs. Sunny from the kitchen. Mrs. Sunny was the owner, a kind old woman with curly hair. "Coming, Mrs. Sunny! One coffee, extra sugar for our heartbroken lover boy at Table Three!" Savi shouted back, laughing loudly. Her laugh was bright and filled the whole cafe. She loved this job. She was a waitress here in the morning, and at night she sold second-hand clothes online. She was poor, but she was funny. She was strong. And she had one important rule in life: Never fall for a rich, handsome, cold guy. Because her ex-boyfriend was exactly that. Rich, handsome, cold. And he left her with nothing but debt and a broken heart. So she promised herself, never again. The door of the cafe opened with a loud bell sound. Ding-dong! Everyone inside looked at the door. A man entered. He was not supposed to be in a place like this. He looked completely out of place. He was tall, maybe six foot one, wearing a black tailored suit that probably cost more than Savi's entire one-year salary. His shirt was white, crisp, perfect, no wrinkles. His shoes were shiny, expensive leather. His hair was neatly styled. His face was handsome, with a sharp jawline and cold grey eyes that looked like ice. He was holding a black umbrella dripping with rainwater and a black leather briefcase. He looked like he walked out of a business magazine cover and accidentally got lost in the wrong part of the city. The whole cafe went silent for two seconds. The two college girls at Table Two whispered to each other and giggled, fixing their hair. Savi stared at him from behind the counter. Then she rolled her eyes. She was not impressed. Another rich guy who thinks he owns the world. Great. The man looked around the cafe, his expression cold, annoyed, and slightly disgusted. He looked at the plastic chairs. He looked at the sticky laminated menu. He looked at the squeaky electric fan. He needed shelter from the rain. His luxury car broke down two blocks away. His driver was stuck in terrible traffic and said he would be late for one hour. He had an important business meeting in thirty minutes in the business district. He was Cassian Reid Alcantara, twenty-nine years old, CEO of Alcantara Holdings, a man who owned five skyscrapers in the city. And now he was stuck in a cheap cafe with a broken fan and plastic chairs. His inner thought was very clear and very cold. *What is this place? Why is it so loud? Why is it so hot in here? Why is that girl in the yellow shirt staring at me like I am a criminal? I should leave. I should not be here. My suit will get ruined. This is a waste of my time.* He walked to the counter, his shoes making a soft sound on the cheap tiles. Savi was there, chewing gum, holding a small pen and a notepad. She did not try to be extra polite like the other waitresses who were now blushing. "Yes, Sir? What do you want?" she asked in a normal voice. Not flirty. Not scared. Just normal. Cassian looked at her. She was not beautiful in the expensive, polished way he was used to. She was not wearing designer clothes. She was not trying to flirt with him. She was looking at him like he was an inconvenience, like a problem she had to solve quickly. "Black coffee. No sugar. Hot," he said coldly. His voice was deep, low, and cold. Savi raised one eyebrow. She loved teasing cold people. It was her favorite hobby. "Black coffee, no sugar, hot. Wow, Sir, as cold as your face?" she said. Cassian frowned. No one talked to him like that. No one dared. Everyone in his company was scared of him. His employees called him Sir Iceberg behind his back because he never smiled, never laughed, never showed emotion. "What did you say?" he asked, his voice even colder than before. Savi grinned. She was not scared at all. She was funny, and she was hard-to-get. She did not care if he was rich or handsome. "I said, as cold as your face, Sir Iceberg. Your coffee matches your personality. Cold, bitter, no sugar, no sweetness. Do you want ice with that? Or are you already ice enough to freeze this whole cafe?" Behind her, Mrs. Sunny almost fainted. "Savi! Be respectful to the customer!" But Savi just shrugged and smiled. She was used to cold customers. Cassian stared at her for a long time. His inner thought changed completely. *Did she just call me Sir Iceberg? No girl has ever called me that to my face. They usually call me Sir Cassian, so handsome, so perfect, so rich. They try to impress me. This girl... she is calling me cold and bitter directly to my face. And she is smiling while saying it. Why is she not intimidated by me? Why is she not trying to flirt? Why... why is it kind of cute? Why do I want to hear her say it again?* He cleared his throat to hide his confusion. "Just make the coffee." "Yes, Sir Iceberg. One cold bitter coffee for a cold bitter CEO coming up. That will be sixty pesos," Savi said, writing it down on her notepad with messy handwriting. Cassian took out his wallet. It was a black leather wallet. He only had a black credit card and a one-thousand bill. He gave her the one-thousand bill. Savi looked at the money. "Sir, we do not have change for one thousand. This is a cheap cafe, not your big business building. We only have small bills." Cassian was annoyed. His meeting was in thirty minutes and now he had to deal with change. "Keep the change," he said coldly. Savi's eyes widened. "Keep the change? Sir, that's nine hundred and forty pesos change! You want to tip me nine hundred and forty pesos for a sixty peso coffee? Do you think I am..." She stopped talking. She looked at his wet shoes, his wet umbrella, his slightly wet dark hair. It was raining so hard outside. The wind was strong. He looked... a little lost. A little cold. Not just cold personality, but literally cold from the rain. Her funny, hard heart softened a little bit, but she did not show it on her face. She stayed hard-to-get. Her inner thought was soft: *Okay, he is rude. He is a walking air conditioner. He is probably a CEO who yells at people every day. But he is wet. And it's raining hard. And he looks like a lost rich kid who doesn't know how to stay in the rain. Fine, Savi, be nice. Just this once. Don't fall for him! Just be nice because Mrs. Sunny taught you to be nice to all customers, even the rude and cold ones. Be nice, but still hard-to-get.* She went to the back, made the black coffee, no sugar, hot, very bitter. But she also added something extra that he did not order. She put a small, soft bread roll on the saucer. For free. And she wiped the plastic chair at Table Four with a clean rag, the chair near the electric fan, so it would be cleaner for his expensive suit. She came back with the tray. "Sir Iceberg, your coffee is ready. Table Four, I cleaned it for you. Because your expensive suit might cry if it touches our dirty table. It might get traumatized." Cassian walked to Table Four. He sat down. The chair was still wobbly, but it was clean. The fan was squeaky but it gave some wind. He tasted the coffee. It was bitter, strong, cheap coffee. Not like the imported expensive coffee in his office that cost five hundred pesos per cup. But it was hot. And on this cold, rainy day, it was warm. It warmed his hands. And there was a small bread roll. He looked up at Savi, who was now serving another table. "I didn't order bread." Savi shouted without even looking at him, "It's free! Because you look like you didn't eat breakfast! All cold CEOs don't eat breakfast! You will get a stomach ache, Sir! You need to eat!" Cassian stared at the small, soft, warm bread roll. No one had ever given him free bread in his life. No one ever cared if he ate breakfast or not. His assistants were too scared to even ask him if he was hungry. His family... he didn't really have a family who cared about such small things. Everyone only cared about his money. His inner thought was quiet and surprised: *She noticed I didn't eat breakfast? How did she know? I didn't tell her anything. I skipped breakfast because I had an early morning meeting and I was in a hurry. And she... she gave me free bread. Even though she calls me Sir Iceberg. Even though she says I am cold and bitter. She gave me bread. Why would she do that? Does she... care?* He ate the bread roll. It was simple, a little sweet, cheap, soft. But it was the best bread roll he had eaten in many years. Because it was given with kindness, not because of his money. Savi, from the counter, was secretly watching him from the corner of her eye while pretending to clean cups. Her inner thought was confused: *He is eating the bread. Good. He looked hungry. Don't look, Savi! Don't look at him! He is handsome, yes. He is rich, yes. But he is a cold CEO! Remember your ex-boyfriend? Same suit, same cold face, same expensive shoes! That ex left you with debt and tears! Don't fall for him! Be hard-to-get! But... why does he eat like a little kid? He is holding the small bread with both hands, like it is precious. That is... cute. No! Not cute! He is rude! He is Sir Iceberg! Hard-to-get, Savi, remember! Hard-to-get!* Cassian finished his coffee and bread. The rain was still heavy outside. His driver texted him on his phone: "Sir, traffic is very bad, maybe one more hour before I can reach you." He had to stay longer in this cheap cafe. He had no choice. Savi came to collect his empty cup and saucer. "How was the coffee, Sir Iceberg? Bitter enough for your cold soul?" she joked, trying to be funny and hard-to-get. Cassian looked at her face. For the first time in many years, he almost smiled. It was a very small, almost invisible smile, but it was there. "It was... warm," he said quietly. Savi blinked. Warm? He said warm? She expected him to say "cheap" or "bad" or "disgusting". But he said warm. "Warm? Wow, high praise from Sir Iceberg. Should I frame your review and put it on the wall? 'Warm - by Sir Iceberg'?" she said, but her voice was softer now, less teasing. Cassian stood up. He was very close to her now. He was tall, she was short. She had to look up to see his face. "What's your name?" he asked. His voice was still cold, but curious. Savi crossed her arms. She was being hard-to-get again. "Why? Are you going to buy this cafe and fire me for calling you Sir Iceberg?" "No," Cassian said. "I want to know the name of the girl who gave me free bread and called me cold to my face without being scared." Savi hesitated. She did not want to tell him her name. She did not want a rich CEO to know her name. Because once they know your name, they think they can own you, control you. But he looked at her, his cold grey eyes not so cold anymore. Just curious and a little warm. "Savi. My name is Savi," she said finally, quietly. "Savi," Cassian repeated slowly. He liked how it sounded. Soft but strong. "I am Cassian." "I know. I saw your briefcase. C.R.A. - Cold, Rich, Arrogant?" she teased again, back to her funny self. Cassian actually let out a small, short laugh. A real, genuine laugh. The first real laugh he had in months. It was quiet but real. Savi was shocked. He laughed? Sir Iceberg laughed? Because of her joke? "My driver is late. Can I stay here until the rain stops?" he asked. Savi shrugged, trying to be hard-to-get and not show she was happy he would stay. "This is a public cafe, Sir. Not my house. You can stay as long as you buy something. But we have a rule here: No rude people allowed. If you stay, you have to smile at least once. That is the rule." "I don't smile," Cassian said, his cold mask back on his face. "Then you have to pay extra. Rude tax. One hundred pesos per frown. You already owe me two hundred," Savi said, holding out her small hand. Cassian stared at her small hand. Then, slowly, he reached into his wallet and gave her another one-thousand bill. "For the rude tax," he said. Savi laughed loudly, her bright laugh filling the cafe again. "Sir, you will be bankrupt with that attitude! You will spend all your billions on rude tax!" And in that small, cheap, noisy cafe, with a broken electric fan and rain pouring hard outside, the cold CEO who never smiled found himself staying for one more hour, just to be teased by a funny, hard-to-get waitress in a yellow t-shirt. He didn't know it yet, but he would come back tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day after that. And Savi didn't know it yet, but her heart, which she protected so hard with her hard-to-get walls, was already beating a little faster for Sir Iceberg. Even though she would never admit it. Not for a long, long time. She would keep saying no, even when her heart was already saying yes. But Cassian would feel it. Even without words, he would feel that she cared.