Zeyon’s POV
The thing about warm cafés is that they feel like home when you're with the right person. And sitting across from Allison that afternoon? Yeah, it felt like I was exactly where I wanted to be.
She had this gentle way of stirring her drink, like she was thinking of a thousand things at once but also... like she didn’t want to spill anything not even the tiniest drop. She was wearing a soft brown hoodie today, her hair a little messy but in a way that made her look so real. So painfully pretty.
"You always stare like that?" she raised an eyebrow, sipping her coffee.
I blinked. Busted. "Nope. Only at beautiful bookstore girls who sneak out at night and leave guys waiting for days."
She rolled her eyes but smiled. "It wasn’t days. It was like, what? Three?"
"Four. And I counted."
She laughed, her eyes crinkling a little, and it was honestly the best sound I’d heard all week.
Just then, the café door flew open, wind rushing in and carrying a loud voice with it.
"Heads up! Boxes comin' through!"
Leo.
He stumbled in with three brown boxes stacked high, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Zey! Help, bro! These cups weigh more than my dignity!"
Allison laughed, and I got up to grab the top two boxes from him.
"Why do you even have these many cups? You running a hotel?"
"Promotional cups. The supplier gave me extras. And I didn’t say no ‘cause I’m broke."
He plopped the last box on the counter, exhaling like he just survived a war.
Then, he looked at the door and waved. "Wait there! I’ll just store these!"
I looked past him—and there she was.
Elisse.
Wavy auburn hair tied in a loose bun, oversized sweater, denim skirt and—ugh. Of course she’d be holding a book. Leo had a type.
"You okay?" Allison asked, noticing the way I stared.
"Yeah. That’s Elisse. Leo’s been trying to win her heart since last semester. He even wrote her a poem and put it in her locker."
Allison’s eyes went wide. "No way."
"And it rhymed. Badly."
Leo came back out wiping his hands on his apron. "Okay, I’m alive. Guys, this is Elisse. Elisse, this is Zeyon, my less-cool cousin. And this is... oh, wait—Allison, right?"
"Right," Allison said, smiling politely.
Elisse gave a small nod. "Hi. Leo talks about you guys. A lot. Especially you, Zeyon."
"I hope it's good stuff," I said.
"Hmm... depends on the day."
Allison snorted into her drink.
We all sat around a small round table near the window. The sun was setting outside, painting the walls orange and soft pink. It was kind of a nice backdrop for chaos to begin.
"So," Leo started, nudging Elisse’s elbow, "I was telling her earlier about the time you, Zey, tripped over your shoelace and spilled an entire tray of brownies."
"It was ONE TIME," I groaned.
"He cried a little," Leo whispered.
"I did not cry. My eyes sweated. Big difference."
Allison was laughing now, nearly choking on her drink.
"Honestly, I feel like Leo’s the embarrassing one here," Elisse said.
"Thank you!" I pointed at her. "See? Someone with sense."
"She’s only saying that ‘cause she likes you more than me now," Leo pouted.
"I’ve known Zey for ten minutes. I already trust him more with hot drinks than you."
Leo gasped dramatically. "Et tu, Elisse?"
"You literally spilled caramel sauce on her bag last week," I added.
"It was a... love spill!"
Allison almost fell off her chair laughing.
We talked about everything and nothing all at once. Elisse shared her love for classic novels and how she once tried to annotate a horror story with pink pens because she ran out of black ink. Leo told some story about him getting locked inside a freezer when he was twelve. Allison confessed she once slept in the bookstore’s stockroom because she was too tired to go home.
It was like that moment in time slowed down. No stress. No overthinking. Just four people laughing too hard and talking too loud in a little café that smelled like cinnamon and hope.
"You know," Leo said as he wiped a tear from his eye from laughing, "we should do this more often."
"What? Make fun of you in public?" I said.
"Exactly."
"I'm in," Elisse nodded seriously.
Allison leaned back and looked at me. Just for a second. Not long. But something about that small glance made my heart beat weird.
Like maybe... this wasn’t just a random day. Maybe it was something more.
And I couldn’t stop smiling.