The Cold CEO's Funny Wife

Chapter 2: He Came Back

The next morning, the rain was gone. The sun was bright and hot. The streets were dry. There was no reason for a billionaire CEO to go back to a cheap cafe with plastic chairs.

But at 8:05 AM, the bell of Sunny's Cafe rang again.

Ding-dong!

Savi looked up from wiping tables. She was wearing another oversized t-shirt today, this one light blue that said "Not Today" and the same messy bun.

Standing at the door was Cassian Reid Alcantara. Same black tailored suit, same white crisp shirt, same cold grey eyes, same black briefcase. But today his shoes were not wet. His umbrella was closed. He did not need shelter.

He came on purpose.

Savi's eyes widened. Then she frowned.

Her inner thought:

*What? Him again? Sir Iceberg? Why is he here again? It is not raining! The sun is shining! There is no traffic excuse! Did he get lost again? No, rich people don't get lost twice in the same cheap cafe. Is he... stalking me? No, impossible. Why would a billionaire CEO stalk a poor waitress who called him cold and bitter?*

Cassian walked to the counter like he owned the place, but he stopped one step before it. He looked at Savi.

"Black coffee. No sugar. Hot," he said, same order as yesterday.

Savi crossed her arms. She was in hard-to-get mode. Full power.

"Sir Iceberg, welcome back. Did you miss our broken fan? Or did you miss our cheap coffee that you called warm?" she said loudly.

Mrs. Sunny from the kitchen whispered, "Savi! He is a customer! Be nice!"

"I am nice, Mrs. Sunny! I am being very nice to Sir Iceberg who clearly has too much money and too much free time!" Savi said.

Cassian did not react to her teasing. He placed a one-thousand bill on the counter again.

"Keep the change. And one bread roll," he said.

Savi stared at the money. "Sir, you are doing it again. Nine hundred and forty pesos tip for sixty pesos coffee. Are you trying to buy this cafe? Because it is not for sale. Unless you pay one billion."

"No. I am paying rude tax in advance," Cassian said coldly.

Savi laughed. "Wow, you learned fast! You remembered the rude tax! Good job, Sir Iceberg! You get a gold star!"

She made his coffee, black, no sugar, hot. And again, she added a free bread roll on the saucer, even though he ordered it now. She also wiped Table Four again, the same table as yesterday, even though it was already clean.

Cassian sat at Table Four. Same table. Same wobbly chair.

He drank his coffee slowly. He did not look at his phone. He did not open his briefcase. He just sat there. In a cheap cafe. In an expensive suit. Looking at nothing, but actually looking at Savi every few seconds when she was not looking.

His inner thought was confusing even to him:

*Why am I here? I have a meeting at 8:30 AM. My office is in the business district, fifteen minutes away from here. This cafe is out of the way. I have a personal coffee machine in my office that makes better coffee. Why am I here drinking cheap bitter coffee on a wobbly plastic chair?

I told myself I was just passing by. That is a lie. I told my driver to pass by this street. I told myself I just wanted to see if the girl who called me Sir Iceberg is still rude today.

Yes, that is the reason. I want to see if she is still rude. Not because I liked the free bread. Not because no one ever gave me free bread before. Not because her laugh was the only real thing I heard yesterday.

I am not falling for her. I don't fall. I am cold. I am Iceberg.*

Savi, while serving other customers, was secretly annoyed and... a little happy? She would never admit the happy part.

Her inner thought:

*He came back! He really came back! Why? He has no reason to be here! Is he crazy? Does he like being insulted? I called him cold, bitter, rude, arrogant yesterday! Normal rich guys would get angry and never come back! But he came back! And he sat at the same table! Table Four! He remembered Table Four!

Okay, Savi, calm down. Don't be happy. Be hard-to-get. Be funny. Be annoyed. Don't show you are happy. Rule number one: Hard-to-get means you don't care if a handsome billionaire comes back. Even if your heart is beating a little faster.

Why is my heart beating faster? Stop!*

She walked to his table to collect his empty cup, even though he was not finished yet, just to annoy him.

"Are you done, Sir Iceberg? You have been staring at your coffee for ten minutes. Is it that interesting? Does it have your future written in it?" she said.

Cassian looked up at her. He was close again. He could see her messy bun, her pink claw clip, her yellow t-shirt that said No Credit Allowed yesterday and blue one today that said Not Today.

"I am thinking," he said.

"Thinking about what? About how to buy this cafe and fire me?" Savi joked, but she stayed near his table.

"No. I am thinking about why you give free bread even when you say you don't like me," Cassian said suddenly, looking directly at her.

Savi froze. Her cheeks turned a little red. She was caught.

Her inner thought panicked:

*Oh no! He noticed! He noticed the free bread! I thought he would think it was part of the order! Okay, Savi, think fast! Funny answer! Hard-to-get answer! Don't say you care! Don't say you noticed he didn't eat breakfast again today!*

She quickly recovered and put her hands on her hips.

"Free bread? That is not free bread! That is... marketing strategy! Buy one coffee, get one free ugly bread! So you will come back and pay rude tax again! I am a businesswoman, Sir! I am smart!"

Cassian almost smiled again. That almost-smile.

"Marketing strategy," he repeated.

"Yes! And it worked! You came back! So my strategy is working! You are trapped in my marketing!" Savi said proudly.

Cassian leaned back on the wobbly chair. The chair creaked.

"So you want me to come back?" he asked.

Savi's eyes widened. Trap question! If she says yes, she admits she likes him. If she says no, she is lying.

"No! I don't want you to come back! You are annoying! You are cold! You make our cafe look too expensive! Our other customers are scared of your suit!" she said quickly, too quickly.

"But you cleaned Table Four for me again," Cassian said quietly.

Savi was silent. She did clean it. Again.

"That... that is because... because your suit is expensive and I don't want you to sue us if it gets dirty!" she said, but her voice was less confident now.

Cassian stood up. He was tall. He took out another one-thousand bill and put it on the table.

"For tomorrow's coffee," he said.

Savi stared at the money. "Tomorrow? Who said you can come tomorrow?"

"You did. You said your marketing strategy is to make me come back," Cassian said, and he walked out of the cafe, his briefcase in his hand, his cold face back on.

The bell rang.

Ding-dong!

He was gone.

Savi stood at Table Four, holding two empty cups and two one-thousand bills, her heart beating fast.

Mrs. Sunny came out. "Savi, that handsome man left you two thousand pesos again! He likes you!"

"He does not like me! He likes being insulted! He is weird!" Savi said loudly, but she carefully folded the bills and put them in her apron pocket. She also picked up the saucer. There were crumbs of the bread roll. He ate all of it again.

Her inner thought was soft now:

*He is coming tomorrow. He paid for tomorrow. He said he will come tomorrow. Why does that make me happy? I should be annoyed. I am hard-to-get. I am supposed to not care. But I... I cleaned Table Four for him without thinking. I gave him bread again without thinking. Is that... caring? No, Savi, that is marketing strategy! Yes, marketing strategy! Keep telling yourself that.*

Outside, Cassian got into his black luxury car. His driver was waiting.

"Good morning, Sir. How was the cafe?" the driver asked. The driver had been driving him for five years and had never seen him go to a cheap cafe twice.

Cassian looked out the window at Sunny's Cafe. He could see Savi inside, wiping Table Four, her messy bun bouncing.

"It was warm," he said again, same word as yesterday.

The driver was confused. "Warm, Sir?"

Cassian did not answer. His inner thought was:

*She cleaned the table again. She gave bread again. She says she doesn't want me to come back, but she cleans the table before I even sit. She says she doesn't like me, but she remembers I come at 8 AM. She is hard-to-get, yes. She is funny, yes. But she cares. In her own funny, hard way, she cares. And I can feel it. Even if she never says it.

And I will come back tomorrow. And I will keep coming back until she admits it. Or until I admit it first.*

He opened his briefcase. Inside, there was not just business papers. There was a small plastic bag. Inside the bag was the bread roll wrapper from yesterday. He had kept it. He didn't know why.

He closed the briefcase quickly.

"Drive to the office," he told his driver.

And as the car drove away, Savi inside the cafe was still standing at Table Four, holding his cup, smiling a small secret smile that she would never show to Sir Iceberg.

She would keep saying no. For a long, long time. Even though her heart was already saying yes in a very quiet, funny way.

And Cassian, the cold CEO who could buy everything, felt for the first time that he was getting something money could not buy. A free bread roll given with care from a hard-to-get funny girl who refused to fall for him.