Only in my Dream

Chapter 1

A day I'll never forget in my life. I was enjoying my favorite ice coffee and the book I was reading, "The Selection," while sitting in a busy yet pleasant cafe.

A man pointed to the chair in front of me and said, "Ahm hello pardon me, is this seat vacant?"

I told him, "Yes, you can sit there," and he thanked me.

He starts the conversation by asking, "Oh, you're a fan of Kierra Cass."

I replied, "Unfortunately, no, this is my first time reading her novels, and based on the beginning of the book I'm currently reading, I can say that she's a brilliant author."

He simply nodded, and I continued on reading my book. He took his laptop from his backpack and started typing.

"Yunji, is that you? Long time no see," a guy said as he approached the man in front of me.

The Yunji-named guy in front of me simply turned around to check who was calling his name.

I turned back to my book and kept reading it.

"Oh, is she your date?" the guy inquired once again.

This person is so loud that I can't concentrate on my readings.

"Oh no, I simply asked her if I could sit here because there wasn't a seat available for a while", Yunji said.

I pretend to read while actually listening to their discussion because I can't focus on my book.

"I'm sorry, I was about to congratulate you on having a girlfriend again, since you know. Oh, I thought she was your date or something." the man added.

Yunji asked him to "shut your mouth."

The man said, "Oh, it's already my shift; I'll go now," and I assume he waved goodbye to Yunji.

I then pretended to be drinking my iced coffee once more.

He laughed as he continued, "Ah miss, I'm sorry for my dog for being noisy, he is just like he just swallowed all the microphone and radio."

"No issue, no problem." I remarked.

"I don't think it is; from the expression on your face, you seem a little upset."

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, but I'm finding it tough to concentrate on my readings because I feel as like my brain is floating." Yes, I lied. Your dude is louder than a f**k.

"If you say so, I'll go now. Thank you for letting me sit here," he says before waving to say goodbye to me, and a minute later, he had left the cafe.

I simply sighed, put my feet up, and allowed myself to feel at ease in my surroundings once more.

I quickly had the freedom to unwind and adjust my surroundings as I pleased.

*TTTIINGGG*

My phone received the notification. Oh, my mother.

From: Mother

'It's already six o'clock. Where are you already, love?'

It seems she is once more concerned that I might get lost.

To: Mom

'I'm merely here in the cafe close to the house, mom. Please don't worry about me. As far as I know, I'm already 23.'

Even though I am already 23 years old, my mother still treats me like a teenager. Due to my early start in school at age 3, I already have a degree. What do I do? My mother doesn't know that I own a cafe. This cafe is actually. I only mentioned that my friend owns this cafe.

I gathered my belongings and stood up from my seat to see if I had forgotten anything.

My barista approached me as I got up from my seat.

"Zuri, you're already leaving? Why so early?"he asked and yep, he is the friend of the cafe owner that I had previously mentioned to my mother.

"Yes, my mother has already texted me," I said.

"You already know how much your mother loves you," he said.

I commanded him, "You will take care of it, right? I'm going home."

He enthusiastically saluted and exclaimed, "Yess Boss."

Before moving and making my exit from the cafe, I added, "Take care."

He yelled "Boss" as I walked away. I looked back at him.

"What?"

He chased me while holding a bookmark. "You left this," he said.

It's a blue bookmark, and I believe it was made specifically for him because it has his name.

"Keep it and wait for him to come back and give it if he's looking for it," I ordered. "This is not mine. One of our customers from a while ago is the owner of it."

My barista answered, "Sure boss, you can leave right now."

I opened the cafe's glass door and started to make my way home. I went by a boutique that had a dress on display that I liked. I don't, however, now have any extra cash. I'll just return, perhaps tomorrow.

Since the cafe is only a few minutes' walk from our house, I returned home right soon.

My mum inquired about Zander's cafe. The barista, Zander.

I answered, "He's OK mom," and I set my belongings on our coffee table.

"I hope he can continue to expand his business for the rest of his life."

"You're so oa mom"

" Whatever, Zuri."

I asked, "What's for our dinner?"

She grinned broadly at me and said, " Truly, I messaged you to get home so that you're the one to cook for our meal."

"We'll just order mom."

"Oh Zuri, you start saving now."

"I have some savings, mom, and I have a daily allowance."

She even grasped onto her hip as she asked, "Where are you getting some money since I've not given you any for the previous three months?" I'm so stupid.

"Don't worry, mama, I do commissions." I simply answered.

She enquired, "commissions? for what? schools?"

"Others," I replied.

"Why don't you use your creative side to write a story? It can be your passion. I'll support you."

I now realize that my mother is the source of the foolishness I inherited. Does she not realize that large boxes are being brought to his house? I autograph those books since they are my works.

"Mom, I haven't got a plan yet, but maybe soon," I said.

Yes, I keep it from my mother since it feels strange for her to read my writings.

She grinned broadly once more and said, "Okay, treat me with some chicken and noodles."

"Sure," I answered as I scrolled to the app to place our order.

Due to the lack of traffic in our city, our food arrived extremely quickly.

The delivery man bowed and said, "Thank you, ma'am." and I also thanked him.

as I closed the door, I yelled, "Mom, our dinner is here," because she was upstairs cleaning her room.

"Love I'm coming," she said.

I took the meal from the bag of plastic and placed it on the table. We don't bother washing dishes any longer because it comes with disposable spoons and forks.

She even massaged his stomach as if it were ravenously hungry, saying, "Oh god, this is so good, I'm already starving."

In case you're curious, my mom and I are the only people living in our house because my dad works abroad and can already afford to pay for our daily allowance.

My mum said, having taken out her phone, "hey take a picture and let's send it to your dad."

"Mom, he might simply be envious of the food we eat,"

As she took pictures of our dinner, she remarked, "let's just tease him love."

My parents always make fun of one another by sharing or trading pictures of the food they eat each day and competing to have the best meal.

Our meal had only begun when my phone rang.

It is Zander. I apologized, got up, and left the kitchen.

I immediately answered the call, "Yes? Is there any problem?"

He trembled and remarked, "Boss, there's a girl scandalizing in our cafe."

"Why?" I wondered.

"She said that the waiter spilled her coffee on her handbag, but I'm not sure."

I anxiously say, "Just for a handbag?"

Zander questioned, "Yes, what will I do?"

I said, "I'm heading there," and I hung up.

I quickly grabbed my shoulder bag and said, "I'm sorry mom, but I can't eat with you anymore since there's a problem with Zander's cafe."

Since I have a duplicate and my mother agreed, I told her to lock the door as I left our home.

Right away, while actually sprinting, I entered our cafe.

I could immediately hear a girl screaming as I approached the cafe's front steps.

I ask, "What the heck is going on here?" and the girl stops abruptly.

She snapped, "Who are you? Don't mess with it."

I said idiotically, "Miss, tell me your problem. I'm the owner of this cafe."

She said, pointing to our lone server, "This—why would you hire a sloppy little piece of sh*t—she spills the coffee in my handbag?"

Who is she to criticize my staff in that way? Is she rude and stupid? Hays doesn't actually pay for the class.

I fought back my rage and asked, "may I see your piece of s**t handbag?"

Furiously, it responds, "And who are you to say that; don't you know how expensive and valuable it is?"

I responded, "and who are you to strike out at my waiter?"

She said, "replace my bag that you broke," and raised her bag.

"Why would we?" I questioned.

Stress tells it all, "Because she broke it, are you stupid?"

"Are you stupid too? Why would we change that? I'll just give you money to purchase a new bag and please buy the original and new bag." I asked, taking out my wallet and getting $5,000 and giving it to her.

She was horrified by what I had done, and she just stared at me until I spoke once more.

"You can go now, you're still dispersed in my cafe,"

I pulled my waiter, who had earlier been embarrassed by the girl, and departed in front of her.

"Are you alright?" I questioned when we were already in a private area of the cafe.

She began appearing to have wet eyes as she nodded.

She apologized while sobbing, saying, "ma'am sorry, I was only serving earlier and suddenly I was knocked off of the seat in front of her so I became hurt and threw the coffee at her, just deduct the money you gave me from my salary."

I did comfort her by saying, "Oh no sweetie, don't worry about it, just don't do it again." She was crying too much.

She nodded to me and said, "Thank you, boss." I advised her to leave and that she would return in the morning.

Zander, who is also anxious about what happened, said, "My gosh, she's so terrible."

"Simply let it go; just keep her out of our cafe."

In addition to saying, "If I See Her Again, I'll Punch Her Face So Hard," he pretended to punch someone in front of him.

"Stupid you"

He changed the subject by saying, "Oh how did you get here so quickly?"

"I ran for that reason."

He laughed and added, "Oh come on best friend, maybe in your prior life you were a cheetah."

I returned to the counter and assisted my other employees after saying, "What the f**k Zander, go back to your work. The other shifts are coming in already."

I stay there till the clock strikes midnight. I also drove Zander to his place, which was close to the cafe.

He teased me and said, "Thank you boss, my car is broken so I didn't take it, you're kind, so that's fine, thank you." I gave him the middle finger and he chuckled before closing the door to my car.

Since it was already late at night when I drove off Zander at his house, I immediately drove back to our residence. Tomorrow, I'll mention to my mom that I already have a job so that it won't be difficult for me to visit the cafe.