Scarlett's POV

Present Day

My decision to work as a barista at my uncle's café despite having a bachelor's degree in computer science and business administration was due to it having flexible hours. Plus, the soothing ambience provided a suitable space for my thoughts. I was still pursuing a master's in business by taking online classes, as I wanted to take over my uncle's café one day. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment mostly paid for by my parents. It's close to my parents' house, but I wanted my own private space. I mean, what twenty-eight year old doesn't?

We brought in a very decent profit, especially for a small, local café. Our annual gross profit is $210,000 and that number hasn't moved for years as we're loved and well-known in West Hollywood where a colossal number of people come in everyday, so we're pretty busy.

Since my appearance as one of the baristas working in the café, the number of customers had increased significantly. My uncle says that it's because my beauty and radiant energy is like a customer magnet, but I just think that it came from me recommending the place to my friends who have high connections in Hollywood. Or maybe both, who knows?

Recently though, my uncle had promoted me to manager so I could learn more about the business before becoming the owner. Working as a manager/barista was very entertaining at times whenever I dealt with pissy customers.

On this day, however, we've had a slight decrease in customers, as happens from time to time. It was about 5:00 P.M., and I was observing a male customer sitting in the darkest corner of the room with his laptop open and taking note of his rapidly changing expressions on his face ranging from sad to angry to giggly.

Probably scrolling through Twitter or Reddit like a jobless idiot and trolling in the comments, I thought as I rolled my eyes. I returned my attention to the front door when I heard it jingle open, announcing the arrival of a new customer.

She immediately piqued my interest. She was wearing black gym shorts that showed off her toned and athletic tanned legs. She wore an oversized black hoodie with a beautiful red dragon design located on her heart area. Her luscious blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and a pair of black sunglasses were perched on the top of her head. I noticed the exhaustion on her face as she settled her gaze on me.

She had the most gorgeous face that honestly belonged on a movie set. Those almond shaped blue eyes, full lips, high cheekbones, and especially the phenomenal smile that only elevated her beauty.

"Hi, what can I get for you today?" I asked with a welcoming smile.

She told me that she was new here and asked if I could provide her with some of our signature menu items, to which I eagerly obliged. I recommended our signature lamb made from a family recipe with roasted Mediterranean Vegetables, since it was one of my favorite meals and always made me feel better afterwards.

I was so overjoyed when she picked the lamb that my smile widened with happiness, which was pretty weird considering I had spent my entire morning assaulting the punching bags at the gym. Not to mention being irritated about the fucking troll in the corner.

"That's a great choice," I told her, ignoring the strange change in my mood. "That's exactly what I would choose. That will be twenty-one dollars and thirty-four cents."

She gave me forty dollars and told me that the rest of the change is my tip. I politely declined, because that was almost a hundred percent tip.

"I want to," she persisted. "You deserve it."

I was surprised since no one has ever tipped me so much before. We don't require tipping or even offer the option to because we're a family business. But a good number of customers would still tip us based on our perfect service and friendly demeanor. The biggest tip that I've received was fifty-percent, and that was from a frequent customer who I was sure only came to the cafe to see me. That assumption was derived from the stupid love-stricken look that he gave me every single time. I have to hold back from yelling; "I have no interest in being with you men! Go fuck yourself!", and just keep up my professionalism.

I asked for her name, and she told it was "Kate". I immediately sensed that it was a fake name, because she didn't seem like a Kate. But some customers do give out nicknames, such as the time someone told me their name was "Egghead" or when another customer said "Cruella", during which I had to bite back from busting out in a laughing fit. However, this time it bothered me in a way that disturbed me, but I shook it off.

"Okay, excellent. I hope you'll come back again," I beamed. She smiled back and went to sit down at one of our latte-colored waiting chairs.

"Kate! Your order is ready!" I announced loudly ten minutes later. When she took the order from my hands, our fingers touched for a brief moment, and it was as if a current of electricity traveled from her fingers throughout my body, my heartbeat escalating rapidly. And it terrified me, because the last time I felt similarly was roughly four years ago.

I stole a quick glance at her face and noticed the shock in her eyes together with the barely noticeable fade of pink creeping into her cheeks before she pulled away and grasped the takeaway bag. I couldn't tell if what I saw was real or just a figment of my imagination, because when she reached the front door and turned back to wave at me, her face didn't contain a single trace of the emotions that I swore I'd seen just a few seconds ago.

I was suddenly overcome with the hope that she would be a returning customer.

For the rest of my shift, I was in an abnormally ecstatic mood. My best friend Carmen, who came in at 6:45 PM to take over the evening shift, must have noticed something different about me.

"Why are you so happy?" she inquired in her signature Colombian accent that never declined through the years that I've known her. And I loved it.

"Huh?" I obliviously asked. "Nothing. I just feel great today."

Carmen squinted her eyes at me as if she didn't believe me. I couldn't blame her because I wouldn't believe myself.

"You are such a terrible liar," she huffed, rolling her Rs as she placed her hands on her hips. "You just beat the shit out of that guy during boxing this morning after your first victim was the dummy bag. You want me to believe that you're just happy all of a sudden from nothing?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed, ignoring her interrogation as my last two customers for the day walked in.

Carmen was my best friend whom I met in my senior year at college. She was born in Colombia and moved to America on her own when she was only nineteen years old with the hopes for what is known as the American Dream. More like the American Nightmare.

She's a gorgeous Latina with light brown hair reaching until her curvy waist, deep hazel eyes, full lips, and a perfectly symmetrical face which elevated her natural beauty. Her voluptuous body and thirty-two DD chest attracted the attention of many people. We've done almost everything together, from changing in the dressing rooms to using the bathroom. I've seen her naked body a hundred times, but I've never had any sexual tendencies towards her.

After I finished serving the last two customers, I walked to the back so I could change into my casual outfit. As I was taking off my black dress shirt with the café's logo, Carmen walked in on me standing with only my bra and jeans on.

"Carmen!" I exclaimed and threw the black shirt at her.

"Lettie, I am not leaving until you tell me what has made you so unusually exuberant this evening," she demanded after she caught the shirt and blocked the doorway.

"I really don't know what you're talking about. You are supposed to be in the front serving the customers," I answered in annoyance.

"Again, you are a terrible liar," she retorted, emphasizing her R's this time. "Like I said, I'm not leaving until you tell me---"

"Okay, fine! A customer came in an hour ago and... and I felt something. Happy now?" I glared at Carmen as I gave in to insistent questioning.

"Ha! I knew it!" she grinned gleefully and clapped her hands.

"Uh-huh... You better get that ass to the front and serve the customers before we lose them," I pointed out and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, don't worry. This juicy ass won't allow that to happen," she threw my shirt back at me and with a wink, walked out the door.

I sighed and put on my white button-down shirt as I wondered how the hell did I put up with her all these years.

Next Day

The next morning, after I had taken a shower and made myself decent, I went to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. Carmen was already frying some Arepa de Huevos, and the tantalizing smell that filled the kitchen was almost deliciously irresistible.

"Bonjour, Carmen," I greeted as I walked up to one of the cabinets and took out a glass cup and bowl.

"Buenos Dias, mi amor," she replied with a bright smile, flipping one of the Arepas in the pan of sizzling oil.

Carmen and I are not only best friends, but we are also roommates, and have been for the last five years. Telling each other "good morning" in our native tongues has basically become a morning tradition.

I took another pan, placed it on the stove, turned the heat up to high, and poured a little bit of olive oil in it. I cut two slices of olive bread and once the oil sizzled in the pan, I turned the heat down to medium and laid the two pieces of bread on the bottom. While they toasted, I brought out some spinach and kale from the refrigerator and tossed them into the blender along with four carrots and one mint leaf. As soon as I was done with that, I flipped the two pieces of bread on the pan and prepared my own avocado spread while they finished toasting. I also took out some goat cheese from the fridge. This has been my favorite breakfast for three years by now and it always makes my taste buds dance with joy.

"So, are you hoping to see her again today?" Carmen inquired while I was spreading the avocado and cheese on the perfectly toasted bread.

"Hmm?" I asked obliviously.

"The girl that you told me about yesterday."

"Oh, right..." I continued to lather my bread with the condiments. "I mean, I don't expect her to come back again today, but I guess it would be nice."

"It would be nice for me too, because she might bring you out of Icy Anger Island where your heart has been residing for the last four years," Carmen commented as we took our breakfast to the table and sat down.

I raised my eyebrows at her quizzically.

"You know... You've been avoiding any possible connections by hooking up with different girls," she stated.

"I'm not ice cold though," I scoffed, taking a sip of my smoothie.

"Believe me, if I touched your heart, my hand would immediately freeze up into a block of ice," Carmen retorted as she ate her Arepas de Huevos.

I sighed, taking a bite of my avocado goat cheese toast and the deliciousness made me moan loudly with pleasure, emitting a look of annoyance from Carmen who had ceased her attempts to make me stop being inappropriate with my food.

"Don't sigh like an annoyed moaning idiot," she almost snapped, putting down her food and looked straight at me with a serious expression. "You can't continue to let Abriana take away your chances at true love. Believe me, she wasn't the one. But this girl? She must really be something since I haven't seen you this happy in...forever."

"It's not easy. You know what she did to me has scarred me for life, and I don't know what it would take for me to--"

"You need to stop sulking and sighing, for one. And two, don't let some ungrateful brat prevent you from finding happiness. You deserve to feel loved, and no," she stopped me as I opened my mouth to argue that I felt loved enough by my one-night stands. "I mean to be loved by someone you're in love with."

I didn't reply as I finished consuming my breakfast and thought about what she said.

Perhaps she was right. What if "Kate" was the woman who could revive my cold heart and help me regain my belief in true love?