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“I’m going to live independently from now on. You do not need to burden yourself with a daughter anymore.” Regina still remembered the silence that followed. She had not tried to think of what her father would say, either before she left.
She used her monthly allowance to invest in her dream apartment and job.
A Maid Cafe!
Not the most practical but it was a place where no one would recognize her by her father’s achievements.. It had been two months since she moved out of that house that wasn’t a home.
“You evil sister, dragging your fourteen-year-old brother to work like a slave!” Theodore whined while Regina tied the ribbon of his apron. “I could be playing Nintendo right now at Dad’s!”
She pulled the bow tighter for that comment.
“Back at dad’s, you would continue being a deadbeat teenage boy.” Regina smiled sweetly before ruffling Theo’s hair. Yes, she had dragged her younger brother out of their large house and bigger allowances. It sounded cruel…but hearing him listen to misogynist podcasts was the last straw.
Mom died in childbirth and after that, their father checked out. No family dinners or even basic how are yous. Nothing of the lovely home their mother once built. It wasn’t worth living in.
“You’re learning proper values now.” Regina chirped to his dismay. And having proper meals.
Theo grumbled through the ride to Cafe Amethyst. Regina had named it herself though Theo thought it was a crappy name for a crappy cafe.
The lights were on as Regina unlocked the door. Regina tried to be the first person here but mornings with Theo were hectic. Her dear employees had already made fresh coffee and baked the desserts.
Theo helped himself to a muffin behind the counter. Regina smiled at the sight of her younger brother. He was already brighter than in that house. Or perhaps, it was her bias. Before she could open the door to the back room, it opened for her.
Regina looked up to meet crimson eyes and a flat mouth. Her first employee besides her younger brother. Aaron…who used to work in her father’s company as an intern.
The marketing group to be exact. She still had no idea why he wanted to work here…her eyes went down to his legs. They were covered by white leggings. The muscular definition was apparent. She had asked twice as many times as she should have if Arron was comfortable with the uniforms.
“I heard your footsteps,” Arron stated as if it were any other fact. Regina shivered from that face alone…gosh, how did he look so beautiful all the time? She didn’t care if her father had sent him to keep an eye on her as his face earned more than his keep.
Everyone who came inside the establishment would be drawn to Arron right away. They were mad if they wouldn’t, Regina quietly thought.
“Good morning…” she mumbled with flushed cheeks and Aaron nodded, stepping aside. She finally looked past Aaron at the real problem. “What are you doing?” She raised an eyebrow.
Herman didn’t even glance at her and closed his eyes, relaxing as his azure hair was braided.
Her ex-fiancé and an accounting intern at her father’s company. Regina still remembered the day he visited.
Herman made himself at home at a table and leaned his head on his hand. His eyes dim as always. He’s always been blank-faced on their play dates since childhood. He prefers his books or looking anywhere but at Regina.
“What are you doing?” Regina had asked, placing a hand on the table and leaning over.
“I came here for a cappuccino…and to see how my dear fiancé is flaring without Daddy’s money.” He tilted his head with a small smile that didn’t dim the amusement in his eyes.
“As if.” She spat.
“Ah, you wound me, Dearest.” He sang as if it were her independence as a light-hearted joke. The nerve…
“I must be the only person you can miss considering how lonely you must be.” Regina mocked back. Two can play this game after all. Herman hummed along. “Cappuccino for pretty boy over here!” Regina called out. Arron was busy with a couple of female customers but another employee was open.
“I hope you enjoy your cappuccino.” A woman with silver hair placed the cup down after a minute of Regina and Herman’s staring competition.
Regina glanced at the reason Herman was working here. Anita sat behind him on the bench with her hands delicately braiding his hair.
“I’m braiding his hair because it might get in the food.” Anita innocently answered while Herman sat content, ignoring Regina. Asshole.
Regina crossed her arms.
“Uh-huh, and why can’t you braid your hair at home? Before you go to work?” Regina asked Herman. Anita once again answered for him.
“He doesn’t know how to do any hairstyle but a ponytail, ma’am.” Anita cheeped and tugged lightly on Herman’s hair, forcing a comment out of him.
“I’m not as gifted as Miss Anita.” He sighed.
“Oh, then I'm sure we can chop off all that hair, Herman.” Regina grinned. In a moment, Aaron was beside her with a knife. Regina mumbled a confused thanks.
“I like his hair though. It's pretty and attractive to customers.” Anita’s sweet voice never failed to make Regina fawn. The pink-eyed girl seemed so innocent though Regina knew that wasn't completely true.
“What's that? Were you retouching your makeup?” Regina’s eyes followed the open makeup bag behind Anita. Anita always had such a natural pink-looking makeup look. She was unarguably the most popular aside from Aaron.
“Oh no, I was helping Herman with his eyeliner and a bit of blush.” Regina stiffened. Was Herman trying to sabotage the cafe by having her best employee waste energy, dolling him up? The nerve. “His complexion is so ghostly pale, I couldn't help myself.”
“Uh huh…”
Anita at last tied Herman’s hair with a ribbon and mumbled “Pretty.”
God had blessed Regina with two angels and..two devils. She looked back to find Theo munching on a donut.
“Hey, didn't you have a full breakfast?” Regina grimaced.
“What’s the point of working in a cafe if I can't eat anything…” Theo chewed loudly. The brat…
“We haven't even opened yet, Theo.” Regina snatched the half-eaten donut and bit into it herself. The grape jelly burst in her mouth and she delighted in it. While Theodore glared.
Maid cafes were cute except for the two kinds of customers. Regina eyed the table Aaron was attending to. One high school girl had a hand on his skirt and the other was taking a photo with him. Poor Arron stood frozen like a fish out of water.
High school girls. You’d expect them to have some decency but no, they thought they could be touchy as they liked with her Aaron. Little brats.
Regina marched over and pulled Arron away by the back of his dress.
“Excuse me, ladies, no touching our workers. Sexual harassment is still harassment even if you’re a woman, kay?” Regina smiled but the sharpness in her voice was undeniable.
By the time, Regina walked away, they stopped bugging Arron and just asked for their order.
The second problem is customers…Regina glanced at table 6. Operation blueberry cupcake was at work.
Herman was already there at the table in front of Anita. There were some companies nearby by so male workers would drop by here for lunch. Some respectful…some not. Poor Anita was practically a honey net to creeps. She had that pure charm and certain…assets. Regina blushed at the thought, trying not to get a nosebleed.
She then smiled to herself, watching Herman take care of the situation. She wasn’t stoked about having Herman work here. Regina didn’t even have to pay him. His salary went to Anita’s as he had requested.
On the first day of training, Regina studied his smile. No matter how Herman did it, it came off as creepy and gloomy.
“Maybe add some teeth! Like this!” Regina snapped her hand and smiled, baring her teeth. It was enough to attract female and male customers. “Come on, Herman!”
Herman snapped his hand and smiled. Teeth bared like a sadistic smile and eyes too dead to be normal.
“Do you want to scare customers away??” Regina crossed her arms.
Hearing the commotion that was supposed to be ‘training’, Anita turned to them. The light came into Herman’s eyes and his smile became genuine.
“Look, his smile isn't that bad. Don't complain too much.” Then Anita turned around, and the creepy smile returned.
Regina took a deep breath.
“Fuck you.” Jerk, Regina added in her head. “Don’t smile again. Some girls are into the gloomy boy thing anyway.”
At least Herman was dependable as a man.
Her smile dropped when she witnessed the middle-aged man spank Herman through the dress and laugh. No. Not dependable. Now she had three pretty maids to protect so Regina began marching over.
Anita shoved her phone into the man’s face just when Regina was about to say something.
“Look, I found your wife’s Facebook, her dog profile pic is really cute, isn’t it?” Anita chuckled. “I find dogs tacky personally but each to their own, right?” She took her phone back and hummed while the man’s mouth went dry and his face reddened. “I sent her the voice recording of this conversation…better finish your drink quickly before you end up writing ‘the divorce came out of nowhere’ on a forgotten forum.”
Regina’s face went pale as well.
The man spat some gibberish insults then left and the two others followed behind.
“I didn’t know you had that in you, Anita…” Regina slowly said, a bit scared of the shorter girl now.
“Had what in me?” Anita questioned. Regina coughed and Anita walked off to serve another table, leaving Herman and Regina to stare at each other.
“I should’ve broken his arm,” Herman muttered quietly with dead eyes. “But this job means a lot to her…so I froze.”
“Huh, what about my cafe’s reputation?! Don't break people’s arms in my cafe!” Regina questioned. Herman cocked his head innocently. Right, doesn’t matter. “Are you okay at least?”
“Did I mess up?” He asked.
Regina sighed.
“By not treating her like a damsel in distress? Eh…you are right, she wouldn’t enjoy her job, losing customers because of some old creeps.” Regina crossed her arms, thinking it over. “She looked more upset at you being touched.”
Herman nodded and left to assist Anita, leaving Regina to clear the table.
“A little thanks for the prep talk would be appreciated…bastard.” Regina hissed. She then glanced at her little brother who was working at the cashier.
At least she didn’t have to worry about old people harassing Theo. If they did, Regina had a butcher knife in one of the cupboards. Reputation be damned.
“My sister doesn’t pay me to work here…I only get paid in tips…she makes me eat instant ramen for dinner while she goes out every night.” Theo faked a sob to the old lady trying to order.
She had to protect the older ladies from Theo. Right. Of course.
The old lady dropped a nice bill in the tip jar. Or maybe Regina didn’t have to. Let’s just hope no one calls child services on her…She thought.
“What in the…” Regina heard from across the room. Her eyes froze at the sight.
Gisley…sat at a table staring at his younger brother in a maid's outfit. Regina rushed over.
“I can explain! This is a maid cafe—“ Instant embarrassment at the thought of everyone in the company finding out. Regina’s father finding out her great business venture was a maid cafe…. sent a wave of embarrassment to her.
“I know, it was in the sign outside, Miss Regina. Forgive me but I am a little startled to see my younger brother here... when I wanted a chai latte and a cute maid…that wasn’t my younger brother…” Gisley stumbled at the last part.
Cute maid, got it.
“Anita, take care of table 4!” Regina called out and of course, Herman followed. She had once scolded him that he couldn’t follow Anita around but he never listened. Anita doesn't mind? Well, I do!
Gisley’s eyes barely glazed Anita before jumping to Herman. The taller man embraced Herman in his arms.
“I haven’t seen you in such a long time, Herman. Your hair is long enough to braid now, I see.” Gisley softly caressed the top of Herman’s hair while Anita’s eye twitched.
The shorter girl pulled Herman away.
“You’ll ruin his braid. I spent half an hour braiding it…” Anita mumbled..
“I can redo it if I messed it up—”
“No.” Anita hissed, covering Herman.
“Can someone please make Gisley a chai latte…?” Regina grimaced. Dealing with everyone was getting harder.
“Another amazing day at Cafe Amethyst!” Regina cheered once Aaron put the closed sign on the door. “Let’s celebrate!”
“If I have to make someone another coffee and smile, I’ll throw up.” Anita groaned. At the end of the day, everyone was less than excited.
Aaron stood by, fidgeting with his fingers, tired from entertaining rude high school girls. Herman sat at one of the chairs, holding his chin up with his hand, with a deep-set frown. Anita leaned against the door with her eyes glued to her phone. The other phone addict was taking photos of the cash.
“What are you doing, Theo?!” Regina grabbed the phone but it had already closed. She opened it and grumbled. “What’s your password?”
“Why would I tell you? Privacy exists.” Theo grabbed the phone back.
“Don’t get us in trouble, okay?” Regina pinched his cheeks with both hands. “You better not be stealing either. I’ll beat you until the devil pities you.”
Theo looked to the side. He hated it but he knew how scary Regina could be.
Regina turned back to her employees.
“Let’s celebrate with drinks! My treat!” It was always Regina’s treat.
Drinking was quiet…Regina didn’t have much to work with. Theo was on his phone and had a mocktail. Anita didn’t like drinking, nursing a rose mocktail. Herman drank his shot slowly. No fun.
“Anita! Let me pour you a drink as your senior!” Regina cheered gleefully. That sent Anita to look up from her phone at Regina holding the bottle of sake.
“Senior? I’m older.” Anita mumbled with a raised brow.
Herman and Arron quietly stared at Regina while Theo was distracted by his game.
“Aren’t you a college freshman?” Regina questioned with a raised brow.
“I’m getting my master's next year. I’m twenty-six. Did you not read my application?”
Everyone stared at her this time. Regina had skimmed through Anita’s application…thinking of the girl perfect from her face alone.
“You’re older than all of us, Miss Anita?” Aaron questioned politely.
“How old are all of you?” Anita questioned back, less polite and drained from the day. Her hair was let loose from the braids and ribbons. She looked more mature now, out of the pink maid outfit.
“Twenty-four,” Arron answered first.
“Twenty-three,” Regina mumbled, still embarrassed.
“Twenty-two.” Herman, being the youngest, answered last.
“I’m still technically your senior in work, Anita…” Regina muttered. “Let’s have a drink together.”
“Hard pass.” Anita grimaced at the thought of alcohol ruining her diet. She took a sip of her pretty, pink drink.
Regina glanced at Herman next.
“If you wish to drink like an old geezer, by all means, do it yourself, don’t drag us.” Herman sat beside Anita. Taking slow sips and acting sophisticated like a hypocrite, Regina thought.
“I always wanted to have a lively after-work party. You’re destroying my dream. You’re supposed to make your employer happy.” Regina huffed and took a large gulp of her drink.
“Drink with me, Regina.” Aaron requested. Regina studied Aaron. She hadn’t seen him drink much last time. Although Herman was younger, Regina always guessed that Herman held his drink better than Aaron.
After the sixteenth shot, Regina was barely sitting straight. Her face flushed but trying to hide it in front of Theo who was too busy to notice. Meanwhile, Aaron gulped down drink after drink, easily.
They had done some shots with Herman after egging him. Currently, Herman lies his head on Anita’s shoulder. His face, a bit pink. Anita didn’t seem to notice with eyes glued to her phone.
“Are you hiding it in that weeell?” Regina slurred the ‘well’ terribly. Aaron couldn't be better at holding his drink. No. Can't be.
“We don’t have to continue, Miss Regina…” Aaron muttered.
“One more! Call it, the pride of an employer.”
Theo looked up, sour at the thought of his drunk sister around that blonde guy. He cringed at the image of some drunk, sappy love confession.
“Regina! I wanna go home!” Theo whined. “Home! Home!”
Before Regina could reply, Anita glared at the kid. It made Theo double-guess himself. He clutched Regina’s arm.
“Oh, Theo! You’re so cute!” Regina burst with drunken joy at her younger brother’s mistaken affection. She brought Theo in for a tight hug. “I-I’ve been a bad sister, haven’t I? Always screaming at you. I’m sorry.” Somehow, this was worse than Regina threatening him.
“I can take a taxi with you two to be safe.” Aaron offered and Theo scowled at him through Regina’s arms.
“I can take a taxi with you, Miss Anita.” Herman tried as well.
“Huh? No, my sister is picking me up. Don’t you have a car?” Anita stood up abruptly. “She’s here.” She forgot to say bye before leaving.
“Loser.” Theo smiled at how Herman was too stunned to say bye either or at least ‘see you!’ “Hey, blue-hair, drive us.”
“I’d rather see you walk for a few miles. Regina feeds you too much.” Herman rolled his eyes. His sleepy demeanor from before, gone.
Aaron nudged Herman a bit too hard that which earned a cold glare from the younger man.
Herman drove while some rock music played. Regina slept in the backseat, leaning on the window. Herman and Theo had made sure Aaron sat in the passenger seat, away from Regina.
“This music sucks,” Theo whined.
Herman raised the music.
“You really do have an attitude when Anita isn't around, huh.” Herman only hummed in response.
He stopped the car in front of Regina’s and Theo’s apartment building. Theo helped Regina out and leaned toward Herman’s open window.
“Hey, remember the plan, get rid of Aaron tonight,” Theo whispered to Herman while Aaron was too spaced out. “I’ll land you a date with Anita.”