Love Comes Unexpectedly

Chapter two

As I draw nigh the coffee shop, I already see Lara and Tony sitting on the wooden chair in front of the cafe. Their back is facing towards me and from the look of it, it looks like they are having a serious conversation. Confused, I stop and glance my watch. It's only 9:00 in the morning. Usually, they arrive at the store at 10 am because we open at 10:30. I can sense something is up. If not, why on earth they came 30 minutes early. As if they feel my stare, they both look at in my direction. And when they see me, they frantically wave their hands. I smile and wave back at them. Taking steps forward, I saw Lara bolts from the chair before Tony can stop her. She stops in front of me and with excitement on her pretty face, she grabs my arms and she pulls me closer to her,

"You must be wondering why we are too early?"

"Indeed, I am." I laugh.

"Well, your prince charming called us last night, and he instructed us to be here early because he doesn't want her beautiful girlfriend unaccompanied." Tony blurts out.

Lara let go of my arms, then she turns to Tony and frowns.

"You, bummer! I should be the one telling her that. And besides, when did you even get here? I left you over there, so I could be the one to deliver the good news." Lara points the bench in front of our store.

"I followed you, dense."

'You did?" Lara asks, furrowing her forehead.

"No, this is just my spirit talking to you. Duh!" Tony answers sarcastically.

"Enough?!" I laugh and push Tony lightly.

"Ouch". He grumbles.

"Don't be weak. It was not even hard."

"Guess I will never be a good actor." Tony weeps.

"Ha-ha! Seriously, why are you already here?" I question.

"We have already told you the reason."

"Oops!" Lara raises her right hand, interrupting Tony. "Rephrase your statement because it was only you, who told her."

"Fine." Tony arches his brow.

I smile and signal Tony to go on.

"Just like what I told you earlier, Sir Jong called us last night and he instructed us to be here early because he doesn't want her beautiful girlfriend unaccompanied. Also, he said that I shouldn't be late to work today and let you open the store alone. Because If I did, he's going to dismiss me from my beloved job." Tony says, laughing. His right hand sweeping in the air.

I look at Tony in disbelief.

"No freaking way," I shout. I know he's not likely to go for that though. "He is a very reasonable person." I tell them defensively.

They both laugh at my reaction.

"We knew that too, but we have to read between the lines. Besides, Sir Jong is so handsome to resist." Tony stifles a laugh.

Lara and I look at each other, and we begin to laugh hysterically.

"What?" Tony stares at us confused.

"You stupid little w***e let me prompt you that Ms. Kim here, also happens to be our manager's girlfriend. If you do not stop fantasizing his boyfriend, she will kick your a*s. Really hard!" Lara retorts, then she slightly punches Tony.

"Oh, that." He covers his mouth. "Surely, Miss will not going to do that. Because just like Sir Jong, she's a very sensible person. Aren't you, Miss?"

I simply look at Tony and smile. If you are still wondering why Tony have said that, it is because he is gay, and he openly admires my boyfriend. You can't blame him though, and many other girls who like Kai. Just like what I've told you before, Kai has always been adorable.

"Before we forget, can you hand me the key, please. So we can start the day before your handsome boyfriend kills me. Unless he's going to kill me with kisses, I will let him." Then he winks.

"Ew! Tony, stop wishing." Lara cringes. "You will only get hurt. Find someone who's interested in you, instead."

"Ouch! That's quite harsh." Tony pronounces. We all laugh as we walk hand in hand towards the back door.

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The day passes so quickly. We all have been busy dishing up the customers and before I knew it, Jisoo is already helping us. If she's not busy assisting the customers she will poke Tony and make fun of him. If Tony isn't gay, they make an excellent pair. A smile forms on my lips as the thought of Jisoo and Tony being together.

"Excuse me, penny for your thought? Hello!! Excuse me!!"

Startled, I turn my head to the person who was already flipping her right hand to my face. Irritation register on my face, I was ready to burst out something stupid, only then I decide not to when I clearly see the woman in front of me. My mouth voluntarily opens, as I gaze her in awe. She has a perfect facial features. A small but strong jaw, face. Her plum full lips look inviting and her natural eyebrows and upturned nose looks like it was sculpted perfectly. Her naturally pale long neck that glows under the light makes her more sensually sexy even though she is just wearing a red checkered polo shirt. I don't know if the tinted sunglasses that she is wearing is the one making her roundish-almond eyes more captivating. But whatever the reason is, I am already captived by those big eyes of hers.

"Do you always check out your customer before you grant them their orders?" She says, irritably.

"Damn her deep voice is sexy too," I mumble.

"Unbelievable!" She taps the counter.

Enough to startle me again. I gasp and bow my head shyly as I realize what I was doing. I can already feel my face heat up. Good thing I am wearing a hat, or else this woman will see me blushing.

"Aren't you going to make my coffee?" She asks.

"Yeah! Right, your coffee. Kindly wait for a while, ma'am."

Then I start walking towards Lara. As I was about to reach her, I realize I forgot something. The customer's order. Immediately I go back to the woman who is impatiently waiting at the counter. She's tapping her fingers on the counter top. When she sees me going back at her, her eyebrows arch.

Letting out a breath, head slightly tilting I smile and ask her, her order.

Trying hard to compose herself the woman exclaims, then she looks at me with a visible lines on her forehead. She let out a weak sigh, "One cappuccino, please!"

"Oh, o... okay." I stutter. "One cappuccino coming right up."

Shaking my head, I take my step to the kitchen. But before could reach the kitchen area, I hear her ask a question.

"Do you always have to do that? Leave without knowing your customer's order?"

I stop on my track and slowly I turn to the woman. I can tell that she is frowning because I can see a visible line on her forehead.

"No, Ma'am." I give her a thin smile. "What about you, Ma'am?" Do you always have to be grumpy?" I blurt out. When I realize what I just said I cover my mouth and bite my lower lips.

"What?" She asks.

"Nothing." I smile. I got lucky she didn't hear it. "Is that all your order, Ma'am?"

"Yes, and will you please hurry up. I don't want to be late on my appointment."

"Sure, Ma'am." I give her a sweet smile that I can ponder. I heard her; scoffs, but I decide to ignore it and start walking towards Lara.

"She's beautiful, right?" Lara mischievously smiles.

"Who?" I ask her.

"Come on! You don't have to feign." Then she looks at the woman at the counter.

I follow her gaze. I smile seeing the woman again, she is now talking to someone on her phone. I studied her face, even she's facing sideways she still looks beautiful. Her perfect face feature makes her stand out from the others if you see her on the crowd. Not to mention she's very tall for a regular girl.

"Yeah, she is." I breathe heavily. "Too bad she has the worst attitude."

Lara laughs softly.

"What?" I ask her.

"Nothing." She continues to laugh. "It's just that your eyes are glowing. Especially, when you said, yeah! She is."

"Shut up; it didn't. Did you not hear the second sentence that I said?" I pause and wait for her answer. When she does not answer I continue.

"I said she has the worst attitude." I push her shoulder gently and she starts laughing again.

"Yeah, I did hear that, but the glow in your eyes was more captivating. It was exactly like this." Then she tries to suffice my reaction.

I slap her arm as I laugh at her silliness.

Lara moves closer to me. She cups my face and say.

"You have a crush on her, right? That is why you were distracted while you were talking to her." She wiggles her brow and starts grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up already." I gently tap her hands away from my face. "I don't have a crush on her. Let me remind you that I have a very handsome boyfriend, and crushing on someone is not an option." I laugh awkwardly.

"Handsome, I wouldn't argue with that. But not admiring someone as gorgeous as that woman, sorry Ruby, but I will not agree with you." Then, inevitably, we both laugh.

"Excuse me, are you going to give me my order or you will simply stand there and chat." The brunette shouts making us bend our heads to her direction.

"Coming, Ma'am!" Lara shouts back handing me the cappuccino.

"Told you. She is worst." I laugh.

Lara shakes her head.

"But it did not stop you from liking her, right?" Lara winks at me.

Shaking my head, I grab the coffee in her hand. But before I give it to the brunette woman, I decide to write a note on the cup. Once I was done, I walk towards her and hand her the coffee and smile.

"Enjoy your coffee, Ma'am."

She raises her left eyebrow; then she begins walking to the door.

"Wow! That was rude." I mumble.

"How was it?" Lara excitedly asks.

"Great! I just met the rudest person in the world. Such a great experience to end a shift."

Lara laughs. "Why, what happened this time?"

"She's just. Aaah! I don't even know how to describe it." I breathe in annoyance. Then I throw my cap on the shelves where we kept our hairnet.

"What did she do?" Lara asks curiously.

"I smile at her sweetly. You know what she did? She raises her f*****g brow."

Lara bursts out into laughter. "You know what, it's a good thing that there is no customer next in line or else they will witness your outburst."

"She's annoying!" I tell Lara.

"Maybe you've scared her."

I frown. "Scared? When did smiling sweetly to the customer became scary? She's just a snob, and I hate her!"

"You do?"

Lara and I look at each other wide eye. Both biting our lower lips; we turn our head to the familiar voice which is now standing next to the counter.

"Holy f**k!" I mumble.

"I will just go to the living room." Lara whispers.

Confused, I look at Lara and grip her arm. "We don't have a living room, here." I whisper back. "Just stay here, please!"

She laughs and then whispers again. "Be a good girl, Ruby."

"Lara, please. I can't be alone with this arrogant woman. Please."

She smiles and looks at me. I thought she's going to stay, but to my surprise she leans on me and said.

"You can do it!" Then she quickly leaves the counter.

"Great!" I mutter.

Again, I turn my head and find the woman smirking. Of course, she is smirking. She just caught us off guard, she knows she has an advantage.

Still grinning, she gives me a superficial lecture.

"Don't you know whispering is rude, especially when you're in front of a customer."

Seriously, how dare this woman gives me a lecture on how not to act rude to someone when she was the one who started it. Reminding myself that she's a customer, I breathe slowly and compose myself.

"My apologies, Ma'am. It will not happen again. Is there anything I can help you with?" I ask her nicely.

She bites her lip, trying hard to suppress her laughter. Gosh! I hate her guts. Relax, Jennie. Relax.

"Actually, no. I just come back here so that I can give you the answer."

"Answer? The answer to what, Ma'am?" I ask her curiously.

"To this." Then she points the blank space on the cup.

I chuckle.

"Yeah, right! You just came back to show me the blank space on your cup. How sweet!" I say in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't flatter yourself, honey! If weren't for this note, I probably not be coming back here."

I scoff and laugh.

"Yeah, I can clearly read it from here. Touching, right?" I scoff again. "Sorry Ma'am, but we are busy right now and I don't have time for this kind of joke. So if you will excuse me, I have to go back to the kitchen."

With a smirk in my lips I turn my head and take a step away from the woman. Just then I realize the stupid note. The note that I wrote earlier. My face heats up, and I feel like my body froze.

"Holy s**t! Kill me now."

The woman laughs.

"You remember something?"

I step backward and close my eyes. s**t, s**t, s**t. Perhaps, I said it out loud because when I bend my head, I see the woman's face turning into crimson red.

"Seriously, a luminous ink?" Then she starts laughing hard. "Don't be offended, Miss. But what you did was hilarious. What are you, in high school?"

I look at her in anger.

"No, ma'am. I was just trying to cheer up the rudest and arrogant person I've ever met in my entire life."

She bites her lower lip, so she can stop herself from bursting.

"Is that so?" She asks.

"Yes, ma'am! Because it's part of our job to cheer people like you, even though we don't have to. We know how to care. If you know what I mean."

I know I'm being rude to her, but damn, this woman is getting on my nerves. So I continue my speech. "So, if you have no more business here, Ma'am, you can leave this place and....

"Woah!" She raises her hands. "No need to be defensive, Hon." She smirks.

"You've made me come back here, remember?"

Then she points to the note and smile. A very genuine smile. A genuine smile that any person could give to someone. Her eyes, her lips, her spirit, I feel like it smiles at me all at once. Like she was painting a ray of sunshine all over her face, and it was captivating and magical. And just like that, she melted my wall. That very moment, I feel something. Something even I, I cannot explain.

"Miss, are you ok?" She asks in her worried tone. "Miss!" She taps my arm gently.

"Yeah! I'm ok. Sorry."

She furrows her brow, and then she removes her sunglasses that was somehow covering her captivating roundish-almond eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I bow my head. Wish I didn't remove my cap earlier. Now she sees me blushing.

"Ok then, I will leave you alone now. I do hope that I've proved you right though." She chuckles.

I wanted to raise my head and say something, but I can't find my voice. "Gosh! What is wrong with me." I gasp in frustration.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Miss." Then she laughs.

Great! I have said it out loud. This is more than embarrassing. I thought to myself.

I felt a soft hand on my chin. "Look at me."

Surprise by her sudden action, I raise my head and look at her. I can feel my blood rushing to my face.

She brushes her soft hand on my face. "See you around, Ruby." She smiles, then abruptly turns her heels away from me.

"Did she just..."

I bite my lips, so I could stop myself from smiling. I touch my face and caress it. The warmthfeeling she gives me still lingers on my entire being. I don't know what happened. I don't know how she turned my hatred feeling to her into something I can't explain. It was just one touch, and her I ask acting like a hormonal teenager. The effect of the brunette woman was so high; I never imagine that I would have met another person who will give me such affection.

"Oh my god! You look like a love sick puppy." Jisoo shakes my shoulder. Then she laughs hysterically.

"She is. I mean, she is not in love, but she is crushing on someone." Lara smiles deviously.

I remove my hand on my face and look at Jisoo. Shaking my head, I turn to Lara. I smile as I pinch her cheeks.

"You and your wild imagination and how dare you talk to me after you left me with her." I push her gently.

Lara just laughs at me. "I just wanted you to have an alone time with her again."

"Oh my god! What did I miss?" Tony asks in a high pitch.

"Well, Lara is telling me that my cousin here, is crushing on someone."

"Omg! Tony squeals. Who's the lucky guy?"

Lara laughs. "It wasn't a guy, Tony."

"Then what it is? A puppy?"

Lara smirks. Then she glances at me.

I meet her eyes and give her a dread glare. She's not going to rat on me, is she? I question myself. But before I could say anything, I already heard Jisoo and Tony's voice.

"Lara, please." It was too loud that most of our customers look at us at their confused faces.

"Relax, you two." Lara starts laughing hard.

"I swear if you won't tell us now I'm gonna kick your a*s!" Jisoo threatens.

Lara bites her lower lips. Then she sighs.

"I can't blame Ruby. The woman was gorgeous. I also have a crush on her." I look at Lara not believing what I just heard. I didn't know that she's into girls.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that." She pinches my face. "What I'm trying to tell them is, it's ok to have a crush on her."

"Why? Is she that gorgeous?" Jisoo asks inquisitively. "Who is this person you're talking about?"

"No, other than, Lalisa Manoban. The daughter of one of richest business tycoon here in NY and also the famous Victoria secret model." Lara winks at us.

"What???" Our voice echoes in the room and once again the customers look at us wondering.

We smile at them, and then we mutter, "Sorry."

Lara laughs at us. "Oh my god, you should see your reactions. It was hilarious!"

"You were just kidding, right!.?" I ask her, hoping she would say yes. "It's impossible.

Lara smiles sweetly. "No, dear! It was really her. She's our regular customer. She always order us coffee at this time of the day. I guess whenever she's around the area. She pauses. I can't even count on my fingers how many times I've serve her."

"No f*****g way!"

"I can't believe you did not recognize her. I thought you are one of us. A lily."

"That's what I thought also." I mumble to myself. How can I not recognize her. I already saw her on tv, I have lots of her cover magazine and her face is all over NYC. How can I be so stupid and not recognize her.