44 The Substitute Café Associate

Haru looked at them bewilderedly, "Uh, is there something wrong-"

"Hi…! Uhm… sorry for disturbing you, but you're Haru, right?" one girl asked, while the others kept following him as he tried to move forward.

"We were told that the shop will be open again at 4. We still came from another city, and we wanted to see you up close after watching the special clip of Ralmé about Café Ai!" another girl stated.

"Could we take a selfie with you please?" the next girl asked while batting her eyelashes.

"Ahhh! We thought we're not going to see you!" the first girl exclaimed, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"You're too handsome," the last girl gushed, almost melting upon seeing him up close.

Haru roamed his gaze around, and a few of the customers in line were also taking pictures of him.

His brows creased in confusion and assessed the situation. When the students were finally able to surround him to take a picture together, he stood still and showed a polite smile to show his courtesy. When they all looked at the photo, they squealed and asked him if they could take more pictures together. However, a woman called his name coming from the side of the café.

"Haru! I'm so glad you're finally here!" Ayaka was almost out of breath when she reached them. "Please excuse us," she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the ladies, who were still flocking him, until they reached the back door of the shop.

"Have you talked to Kyoko? I heard the cafe's closed until 4?" he opened the door and let the dainty barista first before he went after her.

"I already informed nee-chan about it," she glanced over her shoulder as she led the way inside. "Geez… after the video was uploaded, more customers came, and I had to close the shop to control the number of people coming in. Also, I've been texting and calling you," she emitted a deep sigh.

"Sorry. My phone's dead, and I was busy with Kyoko."

"It's alright. Is she feeling better now?" she asked, now leading him in the employee's room.

"Hopefully," he answered as she followed her inside.

"That's good to know then," a smile formed on her lips, which also faded quickly. "But ahhhh… I really thought I was going to pass out a while ago. I am panicking, Haru! What should we do?" she tugged his sleeve and shook it.

He peeked at his watch. "We still have at least two hours to come up with a plan, and it's not like the first time we're going to have so many people in the house anyway," he assured her.

Haru and Ayaka held a meeting inside the employees room, together with the cook and the dishwasher, and with almost an hour and thirty minutes left, a knock on the door was heard. All of them simultaneously looked towards the door, which slowly opened.

The handsome barista, as well as the dainty barista, widened their eyes in surprise as soon as they saw the unexpected guest. She was wearing a white cotton shirt, high waist beige denim pants, white low top sneakers, and a brown corduroy shoulder bag.

"Sakura!" Ayaka met her by the doorway, "Oh my! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help!" Sakura beamed as she stepped inside the room. "Mei told me you needed a hand, so I came here right away. Kiyoshi also told me that I could help in taking the orders and in cleaning and washing the dishes."

Ayaka's jaw almost dropped. "That jerk! No, no, no! No cleaning for you! We'll do that-"

"I told you, I'm here to help, so just tell me what I need to do," the pink haired lady squeezed the other woman's hand gently before shifting her sight at the other employees and at Haru, who was just staring at her. "I apologize if I was a tad late."

"No need to say sorry," Haru finally spoke as he pulled the empty chair beside him. "We should be the one apologizing for disturbing you. You're still busy, but you're here trying to assist us".

"I'm glad to be of your assistance. I promise!" she had a wide smile on her face before taking a seat.

Haru couldn't take his eyes off the woman sitting beside him. He was really taken aback, yet ecstatic to see her. However, even though she was all smiley with them, tiredness was already evident in her eyes.

The meeting commenced again, and Ayaka guided Sakura with the menu tablet at the counter following that. They also showed her the machines and the things they used, the kitchen, and the dishwashing area.

10 minutes before the shop opened again, Sakura was in the employees' room tying her hair in a half pony. She combed her bangs and also retouched her makeup. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door and once it opened, it revealed Haru with an apron in his hand.

"Here you go," he handed it to her as soon as she turned to face him.

"Thanks," she smiled nervously whilst she put it on her body, "I'm actually a little nervous right now."

"Where's the confidence you had an hour ago?" he teased.

"Uhm… that doesn't mean I can't get nervous?" she sighed as she tried to tie a knot on her back.

Noticing that she was struggling, he moved behind her, "May I?"

"Yes please," she gazed at his reflection in the mirror, "Thank you."

Haru had been thinking of ways how to help her so that she wouldn't exhaust herself after their shift. "I'll do my best to ease your workload," he mentioned, tying the knot of her apron.

"You're so kind Haru, but you already have a lot in your hands," she glanced at him. "I'm good at multitasking, so you can count on me," she winked and let out a soft laugh. "Let's go! The café will be open in 5 minutes."

Sakura walked toward the door and he followed her, but even before she could hold the knob, he had already reached for it.

"Wait up," he murmured, almost cornering her on the wall.

"Yes?" she looked up at him.

With two fingers, Haru scooped her hair which was caught beneath the neck strap of the apron. His fingers almost grazed on her nape, so Sakura quickly faced him with cheeks tinted pink.

As Haru felt his heart start to pound fast again, he stepped back and ran a hand on his nape. Sakura, on the other hand, pressed her lips together while pretending to fix the strap of the apron.

There was a moment of silence until the two spoke at the same time.

"I have to tell you something."