Chapter Text
Honestly, I didn’t like to reminisce about high school too much. It wasn’t what I imagined it to be at all. Not to mention having to deal with the fact that there were four other people who had the same name as me. It was a lot.
But my subconscious seemed to have other plans.
“Saeb! Get down here right now!”
I yelled as I climbed up the wall and grabbed Saeb’s waist to stop her from escaping.
Of course, she didn’t listen to me—she never did—and struggled for her life. In the midst of the chaos, we both fell and landed on top of each other.
Her soft cheek touched the corner of my mouth. Her arm was on my chest. My heart started beating faster.
She turned her head. We locked eyes.
I never noticed how small her mouth was, or how plump her lips were. Wait, why was I looking at her lips?
For some reason, she started leaning in. I closed my eyes, waiting to feel her lips on mine…
Beep, beep—
I groaned and reached for my phone to turn off the alarm, the last few seconds of my dream still playing in my head. Dang, why did it have to end there? I wished it lasted just a bit longer…
When I finally felt ready to open my eyes, I glanced at my phone and saw it was 6 am.
“Time to get to work,” I mumbled to myself and got up to get ready for opening.
As I slowly regained consciousness, the previous night’s dream gradually came back to me. Suddenly I was fully awake, my cheeks heating up.
It was not the first time that this had happened. I had come to terms with the fact that Saeb was somewhat my gay awakening. I mean, can you blame me? The way she wiped her sweat away when she was boxing—I had seen that image in my dreams many times. And I could not get over how good she looked in that leather jacket.
But our relationship was… complicated, to say the least. We had our fair share of arguments and fights, physical ones, even. I thought she brought the worst out of me, but the truth was, she made me feel more alive. I allowed myself to be angry, to act irrationally… with consequences of course. She did make things hard for me back then, but I could never deny that I’d always had a soft spot for her antics.
But it’s not like I had unresolved feelings for her or anything. Definitely not.
It was a slow day at work. I stood behind the counter, bored, and looked around the empty café. Eventually, my mind decided to go back to my dream from earlier. Everything felt so real. I could almost still feel Saeb’s body touching mine…
The door opened, taking me back to reality. I looked up, ready to welcome the customer only to find it was—
“Saeb?!” I blinked. Am I still dreaming?
And there she was, Ploy Saeb, walking into my café, dragging her suitcase behind her. She was wearing her light blue jacket and jeans—she looked so good in them—and her hair was up in a ponytail, and she looked—well, like the girl in my dreams.
“Hey,” Saeb greeted me nonchalantly as she approached.
“What are you doing here?” I asked instinctually, still in shock that she appeared in front of me just like that.
“For a drink, of course,” she said as she frowned, “why else would I be here? Isn’t this a café?” As if that wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world.
“Right,” I said, still staring at her, unconvinced.
“Is this how you treat your customers?” Saeb raised her eyebrows. “Damn, I’ll have to leave you a bad review then.”
I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“I am so sorry, my dear customer,” I said instead in a sweet tone and put on my best fake smile, “What can I get for you today?”
She put her hand on her chest and made a puking sound. I almost reached over the counter just to hit her. “Grow up, will you?”
“Grow up, will you? ” She mocked.
I took a deep breath. “The drink’s not gonna make itself, you know.”
“Fine, you’re no fun,” she said, curling her lips, “I’ll get an iced Americano with no sugar.”
“Finally. Go sit down and I’ll get you the drink.”
“How much?”
I hesitated before saying, “It’s on the house.”
She looked surprised for a second before narrowing her eyes at me.
“Why are you being nice? Are you gonna poison my drink?”
I rolled my eyes for real this time. “Do you want the free drink or not? Don’t make me change my mind.”
“Okay okay,” she raised her hands. “Whatever you say, boss. I’ll leave you to it.”
I watched as she sat down at a table before I went to make her drink.
“Can’t ever make things easy for me, can she,” I muttered as I worked but couldn’t help the smile that crept up on my face. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in a while, everything felt so familiar when I was with her. It felt nice.
It didn’t take long for me to finish making her order. I fixed up my hair before walking over to her with the drink in my hand and sat down at her table.
Her eyes widened before she turned away and started tapping her foot.
“Why are you sitting down? Don’t you have a job?”
I looked around and gestured at the empty café.
“Does it look like I have other things to do?”
She huffed. “Fine, you can sit with me. For now.”
“Thanks,” I said with my fake smile again, voice heavy with sarcasm. She rolled her eyes, but I could see her smiling, just a little bit.
“So,” I started, “what brought you back this time?”
“Why do you care?”
I tilted my head and crossed my arms, giving her my best “Kit” look.
She shifted in her seat. “Fine,” she started tapping her fingers on the coffee cup as she stared at it, “I was…having some troubles with work. I just needed to get out of there.”
“So you came back for… inspiration?”
“You could say that,” she looked away and sighed, her shoulders tensing up.
“Hey,” I said as I reached for her. She frowned at my movement and backed away, crossing her arms. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you in Italy, but you’re back here now. Just take a break and relax, okay?”
She looked at my extended hand for a moment. I could see her shoulders gradually relaxed. “Thanks,” she mumbled eventually.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Nice try. I know you heard me.”
I grinned. She narrowed her eyes again. I immediately put on a straight face.
“Why were you smiling in that gross way?” Saeb glanced at me up and down, scanning my face. “Do you like me or anything?” She smirked.
“Oh please,” I huffed and looked away, my heart beating out of my chest. “As if—”
Thankfully I was interrupted as a group of people entered the café, talking amongst themselves—oh how I could really kiss those strangers right now.
“Okay, time to get back to work!” I said as I left Saeb at the table without looking back. It’s unbelievable, the effect she had on me. I had to pat myself on the face before getting back to working mode. She’s not making it easy for me, that’s for sure.
Luckily, the day got busier as it went on, and I almost forgot that Saeb was there the entire time. At times I worried about her leaving without saying goodbye, but when I glanced at her table she would be there, either sketching or reading a book. Occasionally I brought refills for her coffee and something to eat. Everything felt weirdly domestic. I couldn’t help but smile to myself for the rest of the day.
She visited me after she landed and stayed for this long. It has to mean something, right? I stopped myself from wishful thinking. Maybe she just really liked the place.
Before I knew it, it was closing time. I finished cleaning up and said goodbye to everyone before I went to find Saeb still sitting at her table, though it looked like she was dozing off.
She must’ve had a long day. I watched as she fought herself from falling asleep, head bobbing up and down. It reminded me of the times I caught her sleeping in class back in high school. She’s cute when she’s not feisty… Oh what am I thinking?
“Hey!” I said hurriedly to interrupt my brain from going further, waking Saeb up.
“Geez, you scared me,” she yawned as she rubbed her eyes.
“We’re closed, sleepy head.”
She blinked slowly for a few seconds, looking at her surroundings in confusion. I smiled in adoration as I watched her before I caught myself again. Stop being a creep! I almost wanted to slap myself.
“No need to kick me out,” Saeb said finally as she managed to open her eyes and checked her phone, “I’ll call a cab—”
“Wait,” I stopped her without thinking twice. She looked up at me, brows furrowed.
“I have a car,” I panicked and added a little bit too quickly, “I don’t mind driving you home.”
“Wow,” Saeb grinned, looking fully awake now, “first the drink, now the ride? Are you sure you’re not in love with me?”
“Shut up,” my cheeks flushed, “I’m just trying to be nice, seeing you tired and all.”
She worried at her bottom lip, contemplating the idea. I tried my best to keep my face neutral, my fingers playing with the hem of my shirt.
“Fine, no reason to turn down a free ride,” she agreed at last.