"Are you sure you aren't just pitying me?" Winter asked Zane.
"Why would you say that?"
"I mean, I'm just a helpless, broke, naive girl who doesn't know the ways around here. Pretty pathetic if you ask me," she deplored.
He chuckled and said, "Even if all of them are true, I don't think you're pathetic. And I'm pretty sure the reason I'm helping you out isn't pity."
"Then why?" she asked again, taking a bite of the croissant given to her by him.
"I told you I don't know. Maybe I'm just that kind." He shrugged his shoulders, hoping to end the conversation.
She hummed. "That could be it. You definitely are a very kind person."
Zane felt himself blush at that. It was the first time someone said that to his face. "I see. Th-thanks."
He became grateful as he looked around the familiar streets. "Anyway, we're almost there. Have you finished eating already?"
Winter shook her head.
Right near the crossroad of their school campus, Zane pressed the brake and urged, "Get off."
"What? Why? We aren't there yet," she opposed.
"We can't be seen with each other near the school."
Winter furrowed her brows in confusion but got down from his bike, nonetheless.
"Our schools are rivals," he started saying and got off as well. There were still a few minutes left until the gates were closed, so they could afford to walk the remaining way, side by side. "If you're seen riding on the topper's bike of your rival school, you would create a bad impression on your very first day."
Winter tilted her head and said, "I'm yet to meet the topper of my rival—" she paused abruptly and looked at Zane as if he was some sort of mythical creature. "You are the topper?"
"Yeah, I study on a full-free scholarship as well."
As she had heard from Carla, the school across hers was a private institution with a high tuition fee and low admission rate, so she couldn't imagine the effort Zane put into getting into that school. "How do you manage to study side by side with your part-time job?" she asked in awe.
"I get by," he shrugged.
"You're amazing, you know?"
Zane chuckled. "Thanks. Now, eat your croissant."
Winter looked at the croissant in her hand, and a sudden realization hit her. She stopped in her tracks.
Zane also halted and peeked over his shoulder to find her holding half of the remaining croissant out to him. "What?" he asked her in confusion.
"You didn't have breakfast." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.
His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "How… did you know?" He was pretty sure he didn't mention anything related to it.
"I don't suppose a person like you would be able to have breakfast after seeing your mother sick." She felt really bad about eating his breakfast. Yet, she would never not appreciate his kindness.
A big smile broke out on his face at her statement. He didn't know why it made him so happy. "Thank you," he mumbled quietly and leaned forward to take a bite from the croissant in her hand.
Winter startled at his sudden action.
Before she could respond, he let out in his defense, "My hands are occupied." It made her glance at both of his hands on the grips of his cycle.
She narrowed her eyes at him. But looking at his grin, she couldn't resist anymore and held out the remaining croissant in front of his mouth. His grin widened as he happily ate the rest of it from her hand.
Once they reached near their respective school campus. The two of their schools were exactly opposite to each other.
"Your school is right there." Zane pointed at the caramel-colored school buildings, right across the street.
Winter stood on her tiptoes to read the name of his school. It looked extremely polished and gave off a rich kids vibe. "So your one is called McWinner, huh?" she said while waiting for the signal to turn green.
Zane nodded his head.
Suddenly a question popped into her head. "Hey, Leon goes to your school, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"How did he get in?"
He raised an eyebrow mischievously. "Why, you think he's not smart?"
"Ah, I didn't mean it that way. But for real, he's that smart? He doesn't look like it."
He snorted. "No, he's not. He has a sports scholarship."
"Oh, that's more believable." For some reason, she would have felt humiliated if Leon turned out to be more studious than her.
Winter started to cross the zebra crossing when Zane said, "So… see you at work today?"
Winter had already crossed halfway by then. She turned on her heels and hollered with a handwave, "Yeah, see you at work, Zane!"
Zane flashed her a smile and replied, "Have a good day, Winter!"
°°°°°
"You're early," Lucy said as soon as Winter entered the staff room through the backdoor.
"Yeah, I came straight from school." Winter released an exhausted huff and plopped down on one of the chairs.
"You should have made a trip back home before coming here," Lucy suggested.
"Wouldn't I get late then?"
"Zane and Leon do that all the time. They usually don't get late, so I suppose you could catch a break in between as well," she replied and went to change into her uniform.
Winter glanced at the time and made a note to take a half an hour break before coming to work. While she was waiting for Lucy to come out, the sharp clicking of a pair of heels alerted her. As soon as she straightened up in her seat, a beautiful blonde woman in her late-twenties walked in.
"Are you Winter?" she asked cheerfully, a charming smile adorning her doll face.
Winter nodded, and the woman's smile got wider.
She reached out her hand and introduced, "Hello, I'm Tracy Tanner, the owner of this café. Thank you for taking up our part-time job offer."
Winter was taken aback. She quickly shook hands with her and muttered out, "I'm so sorry for my rudeness, Ms. Tanner. I didn't recognize you sooner."
"Oh please, don't be so formal. Just call me Tracy." She smiled in satisfaction as she looked Winter up and down. "Rylan wasn't lying when he said you were beautiful like an angel. You really are pretty," she complimented.
"Thank you. You're very pretty too. But did you need something here?"
"Oh yeah, I was looking for Zane. When's he coming?" Tracy inquired.
"Uh, I don't know. Probably at five," Winter replied awkwardly.
Tracy pouted and mumbled sadly, "That's too bad. I wanted to ask him about something urgent." Her face lit up all of a sudden. "Hey, Winter, why don't you call him?"
"Huh?" Winter sweatdropped. "I don't have his number."
"What? You guys are colleagues. How can you not have his number?" Tracy cried out.
But you're the owner. Why don't you have it? Winter wanted to ask, but as a courtesy, she didn't.
"Okay, the first thing you'll do when he comes in is take his number, along with the other employees as well, got it?"
Winter nodded quickly.
"Good. I prefer a good environment at work, and it's not possible without everyone getting along, is it?" Tracy asked rhetorically, and she nodded again.
A question arose in her head. Tracy had the same last name as their manager. She wondered what their relationship was. But her confusion didn't last long as Rylan Tanner walked into the staff room.
"You're back already," he said.
"Darling!" Tracy exclaimed and approached him.
Just as Winter was deciding to give them some privacy, she witnessed something she wished she didn't.
Tracy locked her arms around him and kissed his lips.
Winter's eyes widened. She just stood there shamelessly for a moment with her jaw dropped to the floor.
As soon as her conscience returned, she immediately pressed her hands to her eyes and stumbled a few steps back, resulting in her back to bump with someone's chest. She was about to lose her balance but was caught by a pair of hands on her waist.
"Careful, Winter," hissed the familiar deep voice.
Winter straightened herself and grabbed his wrist before pulling him away behind the lockers. "Zane, you won't believe what I just saw right now," she said.
"What's wrong?" Zane asked with concern as he noticed how red her face was. He wondered if she was feeling sick or not.
"Tracy just kissed Mr. Tanner right in front of me!" she exclaimed.
"In case you're misunderstanding anyone, she's his wife," he clarified.
Winter shook her head vigorously. "I saw them kiss right in front of me."
"Yeah, disgusting, I know." He rolled his eyes. "But why are we hiding?"
She ignored his question and continued, "Like how can they do it in front of me? Why is that even allowed?"
"Tracy and Mr. Tanner are especially fond of PDA, so yeah." Zane wasn't a fan of public affection, but he wouldn't even bat an eye if people were even having sex in front him.
"Zane!" She stomped her feet in frustration. "You aren't getting my point. That's the first time I saw someone kiss," she blurted out.
Zane looked at her flushed face and cocked an eyebrow in question. "You have never seen anyone kiss before? Not even at school?"
"I just read about it in books and caught glimpses on the TV," she responded, and he wondered how it was possible to survive a day at school without witnessing a few couples kissing in the locker room.
He chuckled, imagining that she probably had her head down the whole time at school. She scowled at him. She didn't understand what he found so funny. "That just goes to show that you haven't had your first kiss yet."
"Kiss? Are you kidding me? Even holding hands with someone is like asking nosy aunties to criticize me," she clamored-whispered.
"Are you sure your nosy aunties won't mind this?" Zane's eyes traveled to her hand, which was still clutching his right wrist firmly. Her face flushed red as she noticed it too. She quickly jerked back her hand and mumbled an incoherent apology.
Her face flushed even redder as she acknowledged the lack of distance between their bodies. What was she thinking pulling him into the corner like that?
Even though he found her flustered face pretty interesting, he didn't want her to feel awkward around him. "Wow. The single people there must live a very happy life since they don't see clingy couples all over each other wherever they go," he let out, trying to release the thick awkward air around them.
"Not the point," she conceded. "Single people will always feel single, no matter where they live, okay? But," she paused and sighed deeply. "I'm not able to unsee it anymore. Whenever I see them again, I'm going to think about the kiss. It's embarrassing."
"Hey, it's normal." Zane placed a hand on her shoulder and assured her, "You would just have to get over it. Trust me, even I was traumatized when I first saw a wedded couple kiss in the church." He chuckled as he remembered his first experience of witnessing it.
His chuckle was light and laced with a hum of amusement at the matter of it, yet it managed to tug at her heart. A smile broke out on her face as well.
"Just think of it as watching a kiss in a movie, you know? I can't guarantee you won't cringe though," he told her.
She nodded with mirth. "You think it's over?" she asked.
"I think I hear Lucy," he replied after taking a peek.
Winter nodded and stepped out of the corner but was caught off-guard under three suspicious pairs of eyes.
"What were you guys doing behind the locker?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow.
Winter almost jumped out of her skin at her sudden voice.
Mr. Tanner cleared his throat. "Just so you know, office romance isn't allowed here, so no getting frisky," he warned.
"Maybe you should try applying that in your case," Zane interjected lowly from behind Winter, earning a jab from her. "I mean, we weren't doing anything, just looking for some spider web in the corner,," he corrected himself with a tight-lipped smile.
"Both of you get ready. Your shift is about to start," Lucy reminded and sauntered out with Mr. Tanner.
Winter nodded her head and grabbed her uniform.
Just as she was about to head to the changing room, Tracy leaned closer to her and whispered in a mischievous tone before going away, "Don't mind what Rylan says. I don't mind you two hooking up. And trust me you two look really cute together."
Winter just gave a blank look for a second and let out an incredulous laugh.
To her, she and Zane seemed like an impossible couple. He was too nice to end up getting stuck with an omen like that. She wouldn't dare dream of such a thing for his sake.