ADRIAN
Aston’s words echoed in my mind like a Aston’s words echoed in my mind like a haunting refrain.
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’Mom is very sick, she has lung cancer. I’m sorry you didn’t know, she asked me not to tell you.’
As I mechanically wiped down the blender for the fifth time, my thoughts seethed with a toxic mix of anger and hurt and pain.
My brother’s words cut through me like a knife. Mom’s secret battle with lung cancer, hidden from me at her request.
"Did mom hate me that much to the point of keeping her sickness a secret from me?" I asked myself, my eyes burnt with tears and I wished I didn’t have shift this morning, I wished I was at home so I could cry myself
to sleep.
I had always known that mom didn’t like me that much, but she shouldn’t have hated me to the point of completely cropping me out of her life.
She didn’t want me to know that she was
sick. She didn’t want me to come see her at the hospital because I was... Me. It was obvious, she never wanted to see me ever again.
I absentmindedly attends to the customers, completely ignoring Grace and Tobi as well.
The two had been asking me what was wrong with my shitty mood since my brother left, but I just couldn’t tell them what my brother had said.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but it hurt-to say that my mother was dying and she never didn’t want to see me.
Tobi had a single mother who loved him like he was the rope attached to her heart.
Meanwhile, Grace lived with her sister downtown, and her parents made it a point to FaceTime her every day at exactly 2 p.m.
So how could I share my story with them when they wouldn’t understand how I feel?
How could I shamelessly reveal that my parents had disowned me simply for being gay, when Grace’s parents had welcomed her with open arms after she came out as a lesbian?
I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I just can’t.
"Hey, baby D." Grace nudge me, I let out a puff of air, dropped the blender and turned to her.
"What?" I groaned, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
I watched Tobi through my peripheral as he flirted with some highschool girls at the front table and I almost smirk. Almost.
"Does your attitude have anything to do with your hottie boyfriend over there?" She pointed to the table Giovanni was sitting at and I just scoffed.
"Will you please stop calling him my boyfriend?" I half-yelled, not wanting to draw attention to myself.
Grace rolled her eyes, popping a bubble gum in her mouth. "Stop denying the dude, will you?" She scolded. "You should have seen his face when he was telling us about you.
Lucky crab."
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"I don’t know what he said to you guys, but believe me we’re not dating. I don’t even know him." I protested, grabbed my backpack and started searching for my phone.
"You don’t know him yet you came to work in his car. Nice try." Grace disappeared into the backroom and yelled before she closed the door.
"I hate you G." I yelled after her, making sure she heard me before the door closed.
She has a point though. No one would believe I wasn’t in a forbidden relationship with some thug since he brought me to work in his car.
I still didn’t know what the bastard was still doing here, it has been over four hours since I spotted him drinking smoothie and he hasn’t left yet.
I whipped my head in his direction and as expected, Giovanni had his eyes fixed on me.
"What’s his problem anyway?" I asked aloud, didn’t know when Tobi got to my side until he bumped his shoulder against mine.
"I would be offended if I was to be that guy." Tobi uttered, his voice sounded like he was teasing. "Dude has eyes only for you yet you haven’t even stopped by his table even for once."
"And what should I say to him if I gets there?" I crossed my arms over my chest, giving Giovanni a hard glare.
He gently waved at me and then wink.
Fucking bastard.
"You can do a lot of things." Tobi stated, helping me with my apron. "You’re almost done with your shift and there’s no new customers, just go to your man."
I wanted to protest that Giovanni wasn’t my man, but my idiot friend pushed me out, taking work cap off me same with the apron.
"I swear I hate you..." I said, pointing a finger at Grace that was coming out of the backroom door. "The both of you."
"We know you don’t." Grace grinned, wrapping her arms around Tobi’s waist and nodded at me. "Just go already."
I clenched my jaw as I approached the dickhead’s table. Unfortunately, Giovanni chose that moment to flashed me a corny
grin.
"Hey." Giovanni smiled, his eyes lit up with, his face looked delighted the moment I stopped by his table. "I am beginning to think you wouldn’t come see me."
I didn’t like the glimmer in Giovanni’s eyes, if I didn’t know that damn thug was a dick, I could have swear he was checking me out.
"You should leave." I blurted out, making the smile on his face to wear off. I didn’t care how rube my words must have been, I wanted him gone from this shop.
A sly smirk formed in the corner of his lips as he leaned back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. "Why?"
"Giovanni, please," I groaned, slamming my hands on his table. And of course, he didn’t even flinch. "Just please, leave."
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"Is that how you treat your customers?
Leave? Really?" He scoffed, pinning me with a glare. If I didn’t know better, I would have said I had hurt his feelings.
"I’m just not ready for this." I sighed, holding his gaze, for what I felt like was longer than necessary.
Giovanni pointed at my face, pulling on a confused glare. "Did something happen?
You look stressed."
Having done with this bullshit with him, I straightened up and gave him a once over.
"That’s none of your business, okay?" Turning around, I walked out on him without giving him another chance to say shit.
"Bastard." I cursed under my breath as I walked back to the counter. My phone buzzing in my hand made me remember I had took it out of my bag to put a call across to Carlos.
Checking for the caller, a small smile spread across my face seen it was Carlos who was calling.
"Hey, Carl." I said, smiling as I slid into my seat at the counter.
"Adrian." His tired voice rumbled from the other end and I slowly bit down on my lower lip.
"How are you?" I asked, hoping he would tell me everything that was going on. But instead, he just groaned like he just woke up from a slumber.
"I’m okay." He said, yawning. "T’ll stop by at Queens later. You have a shift there today, right."
"Yeah. Sure do." I nodded, gulping down nothing.
"See ya." The call dropped after that and I let out a deep grunt.
If he wouldn’t tell me anything, at least he called and I heard his voice. He knew I would always be here to listen to him whenever he’s ready to talk.
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Grace appeared in my line of vision and before I could understand what was going on, she had pulled me up from my seat and dumped my backpack on me.
What? What’s going on?
"Off you go." She said, giving me a wicked smile.
"What’s wrong with you guys?" I cried out, watching as Tobi came behind me, helping me style my hair. "I still have about thirty minutes left on my shift."
"It’s alright. Just clock out already. I feel bad for that poor man." Grace pouted, making Tobi barked out a shaky laugh.
My eyes moved on their own accord towards Giovanni and I groaned out angrily when I saw him, watching us with keen interest.
"Feel bad for who now? It’s not like I asked him to wait for me."
"Alright, alright. See ya tomorrow." Tobi singsong, pushing me out to the center of the cafe area.
I turned around, giving the two of them a hateful glare. "You guys."
"Love you baby!" Grace blew me a kiss and Tobi made a heart with his hand.
I didn’t know just what exactly Giovanni gave them for them to be acting like this.
Just one day of him here and he had already made my friends sided with him.
I walked past his table, not stopping to acknowledge his stupid ass. But I could only wish, he was already by the door before I could even get there. Made me wonder if he had a superpower or something.
"Baby, huh?" Giovanni smirked, his smile looked pissed as he opened the door for me and we both stepped out of the shop.
"Please don’t follow me out." I groaned when he kept walking beside me.
"Why not? I’m taking you to work." He said, not caring to know just how stupid he sounded just now. I never asked him to be my Uber driver but he just didn’t care.
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"Just how much did you know about me?" I scoffed, clenching my teeth at the thought of he might have ran a background check on me.
If he did, just how much did he know?
Enough to know my family disowned me?
"Enough to know you eat donut as you clock out at Queen palace every damn day." He chuckled and I flipped him off.
"You’re creepy. I hope you know that." I hissed, not looking his way.
"More than you can ever imagine." Giovanni said, stopping when we got to his car and opened the passenger door open for me.
"Now, get in." He ordered with no room for argument.
"Whatever." I hissed, sliding into the car without putting up any fight.