first full day

Miss Mia smiled brightly and clapped her hands. “ I love it!”

Tim and I exchanged look of disbelief. It's just- like.. lighting.

I thought they are just joking, but we are really opening tomorrow. TOMORROW. I kept on asking Sir Flinn what he meant by tomorrow. Then he took his dictionary and said," the day after today". 

 They put the soft carpet covering the the dirty floor, then the lightings.Finalize the arrangement of chairs and tables. Placed the flower vase in the middle of each table that are being covered with soft white fabric.I scanned the whole stall and it was far from how it looked before.  

“How about the menu?” I asked Miss Mia.

She gave me a proud nod. 

She patted my shoulder and spoke.“ We're always ready, sweetie.”

We left the store late. It was already nine in the evening when we arrived in the apartment. Tim was on his way to his room when I grab his arm. He turned his head to me and he smile, waiting for me to utter a word.

“Uhm...do you think...we will have customers?” I said in an almost whisper voice.

He smirked and patted my head. “ Worrying won't do anything good to you,my Kathareen.”

I look up to him and he patted my head again.

Did he just called me 'my Kathareen'?

He move closer to me and I can feel my heart beating fast. The world was in silence. I stared at his dark brown eyes and I felt his soft hands caressing my cheeks.He cupped my face and then kiss my forehead. That moment...

Was magical.

I woke up earlier than usual. It was quarter to six. I wore an oversized white shirt and denim jeans. I walked out of my room and then locked it. I was almost on the stairs when I heard Tim's footsteps. He was also wearing a white shirt and denim jeans.

“Are you imitating me?” I asked with a disgusted face. 

“ It's kismet.” He stated and proudly nod.

 I make face at him and continued walking. Miss Chim was not around that time, so I left a note saying ' We're already at work, Miss Chim.' and then paste it on the door.

Az

Time for work.

Last week, Sir Flinn handed me money. I got surprised by the value. He said it's our salary for the month. I told him I can only accept half of it since it is a big amount. But he threatened me that if I'll return him the money, I would get fired. Because of my salary, I already paid the rental fee for three months. I also bought new stuffs for myself. The I save the half of it for emergencies. I learned it from Miss Mia.

The time we arrived at the stall, Sir Flinn is drinking his coffee,he said he's nervous as hell. I was also glad to see Kira- she's on her way to the university- she came here to wish us good luck. She's braver now.

“So.. we'll wait for customers..and..” Miss Mia paused. “ Let's all stick together.” I can tell all of us are nervous. We wore our aprons with our nameplate buttoned to it.

I stood in the entrance with Tim, who's nervous too. I hit him lightly in his biceps and asked, “Hey idiot, you okay?” He bit his lower lip and took a deep breathe. “ I already practice how to welcome customers”.

My eyes widened after hearing that and laughed thinking how he did it in front of a mirror. He scratch his nape while a half smile formed in his face. One other thing is that, we decided to also sell breads, pastries, coffee, and cakes. I just remembered that everytime I read a book with coffee, I'll forget the feeling of being in a room- I am in a different world.

It was already nine in the morning and other stalls are starting to open. I sat down by the iron bench then Tim followed. “ I'm nervous.” I said. “What if there will be no customers?” I stared at other stalls who just opened and then filled with customers all of a sudden.

“We just started and you're already giving up.” He said in a low voice.

“I am not giving up, it's just...” I took a deep breathe. “ I'm...scared to fail.” I admitted.

He glanced at me and I saw him from the side of my eyes, he grinned and then sitted straightly. “ Failure is not the opposite of success Miss Edwards.” then he pause and continued. “ Failures are part of success.” he stated with a devoted look.

I gulped then I flinched when there's a lady standing up in front of our store. Tim eyed me to stand up and greet the lady who is now looking at the word 'home'.

Tim cleared his throat and smiled widely. It was a contagious smile hiding his uneasy feeling.

“ Good day Ma'am! I am Tim and this is Kath.” I smiled at her who's now listening attentively. She is in her 20's I think, wearing a light brown hoodie, and black jeans. 

 “This is our home, a place for confused sweet creatures who prefers silence, being warm and we will let you feel you are home!” He said with a jolly tone.

Please. 

Please.

Please.

“Sounds great.” She said and walk towards our direction. My eyes widened in incredulity-we already had our first customer... 

Tim opened the door for her. Miss Mia got panic seeing the customer, so she immediately played the music track matching the peaceful home. She run to the kitchen and wore her white apron. I also how Sir Flinn smiled widely and took a deep breathe after.

I saw the lady mouthed 'wow'. Her eyes are amazed and she came to the side where there's a saying that goes "dream of me forever".

What to expect when you enter home:

1: The first face you'll see is the face of our dearest cashier/owner, Sir Flinn. He always flash his wide smile and his eyes are sparkling.

2.You can hear the music track-as I said, Then you can sit in your own choice. Then Miss Mia will show you the menu, after ordering, she'll tell you that there are books you can read while being inside the home.

I saw the lady's face and she was stomping her feet in excitement when her eyes catch the bookshelf. “ This is crazy-Oh my God!” She said to her self which made me smile.

3. Tim will serve your order and there will be a little quote beside your plate. It's either words of wisdom, lines of poems from various poets, and a thank you letter- " Your presence means a lot to us." 

4.Enjoy being inside our home!

I didn't realize we are already filled with customers.THERE'S NO VACANT CHAIR. Half of them are drinking coffee while reading a book- I saw someone teared up while reading The Fault In Our Stars.Is this for real? I saw Sir Flinn's face, I can tell he's happy, he scanned the whole place and I know he's thinking what I am thinking.

It's already noon and we put a 'close' sign in the door for us to take a break. The moment it was only the four of us- I screamed and jump from happiness-I hugged Miss Mia and she cried. Tim kept on running back and forth inside our medium-sized store. Then he hugged me and Miss Mia. I looked for Sir Flinn and my eyes found him in the kitchen door. He's looking at us like a proud father. It was wholesome.

Our afternoon was busy-no time for me to sit and rest for awhile. Tim would tell me that I could rest for a little time but I would shake my head no. I can't bare witnessing them working hard then there's me- sitting in the corner.

It was already quarter to four when the dark sky cried. I sat next to Sir Flinn since there wasn't too much work to do like earlier. I never heard Sir Flinn complained about us. He's like a dad to us who's children has different types of personalities.

He told me he's happy that our first day is screaming success. It's just he can't express how grateful he is cause he is anxious. My eyebrows lifted. “ About what?” I asked him out of curiosity. He stared at me and took a deep breathe. “My daughter will visit me, maybe an hour or half from now.” he stated.

I was left speechless. He has a daughter and we'll be seeing her. I wonder how old she is or how she look- I am sure she's gorgeous.

Tim left and buzzed off to the supermarket. Miss Mia requested him to buy some table napkins. I helped Miss Mia in the kitchen and served the orders. Most consist of chocolate panini and hot dark coffee. U read the qoute being written- "maybe we are sharing the same dream". I smiled. 

I told Miss Mia about Sir Flinn's daughter and ask her if she has an idea about it. She was surprised too to know that Sir Flinn has a daughter. She told me he never shares about his personal life.

I was already in the kitchen when the bell in the door rung.A sign someone entered. I turned my head to the direction and I can't clearly see the face. My heart is suddenly beating fast. A familiar figure. I can feel my hands trembling.

 It couldn't be her.

Please.

She step inside, revealing the lower part of her. Then our eyes met. I blink ny eyes one more time hoping it was only a dream. She's still there, looking at me-she didn't expect to see me. I felt my world shrinking. My throat got dry, and my knees being week. 

“Zoe..” she uttered in a voice only close to her could hear.

It was her.

My Mom.