Chapter 45

I walked into the cafe and felt the new change in the air-conditioned environment.

"Hey, Charlie."

Closing the doors of the cafe, the manager, Michael, greets me.

I let the door slide to close.

"Good afternoon, Michael."

He smiled at me and I nodded while walking towards him.

He patted my back with his smile showing signs of slight age and gave me a freeway towards the break room.

I talked to him yesterday about the modeling job I was offered and he was completely flexible and open about it.

He accepted it and told me to pursue my dreams with his signature smile.

For today though, I'm going to be working here.

Both he and I understood it wasn't going to be a full-time job for me so there were no hard feelings.

Of course, I can't divulge any secret recipes or methods to competition since that'd be against what I signed.

Wasn't going to, anyway.

We both didn't expect for me to get something else so soon though, so that's why we had set up things nicely the first day.

Leaving already after the second day of work is a little ridiculous but he understood and made it easier for me instead.

What a great guy.

I went into the changing room and picked up my attire waiting for me in a box.

This will be my second day of work, but also most likely my last.

I'll do my best today, then.

…

So far, it's more or less been the same as last week.

There's a good amount of customers since it's a Friday and peak hours.

Of course, I've not forgotten to do my best customer service for better tips.

It might not be much but since I'm already doing it, I might as well give it my best effort.

From the corner of my eye, I see customers staring at me while walking towards the exit.

I waved bye with a smile at them.

I don't know when John will be coming.

Probably after my shift ends.

He shouldn't know when my period ends, though. Unless he got secret information from my boss or something.

I mentally shrugged and walked to another table to note their orders.

This job isn't too bad.

It's not very stressful if you know how to handle customers decently and if you're not making it difficult for yourself.

The little time I've worked here has been quite enjoyable.

Maybe after I've done everything successfully, I could open up a cafe.

It's pretty peaceful just doing this, after all.

Hmm, maybe my mom would like to open up a cafe in the future. I'll propose the idea to her. It looks like something she'd enjoy doing.

Well now it's just waiting for my shift to end, or until John comes.

I think I'll have to wait until the shift ends because it doesn't look like he'll be coming at this time.

I'll do my best for now.

…

"Yes, could we request for attendant Charlie?"

I heard the voice of females call out and my ears perked at my name.

Ah, how do they know my name?

I look over, but my view is blocked.

I felt a co-worker slap my back and I looked at him to see him give me a lopsided grin with a thumbs up.

Shaking my head, I give him a thumbs down.

"Yes, attendant Charlie is currently free."

I heard my female co-worker respond and I face-palmed.

False. That is completely false. I am not free at all; rather, I have probably twice the number of tables as you guys because people keep requesting for me. Are they all my streaming fans, or why do they keep requesting for me while knowing my name?

You guys keep saying I'm available and enjoy my suffering from having to jump between these tables. Not cool at all.

I am working double for your enjoyment.

This is injustice. This is oppression.

I will not stand for this...

Sigh.

It's not too bad, though. I'm not the one bringing the orders anymore now, rather I just note down their orders, do some positive customer service, and leave while giving some jokes.

The other waiters just bring them their orders.

The female co-worker attending smiled at them and walked towards us.

She noticed me and gave me a grin.

"Charlie, girls calling again?"

Oh man, someone please hold me back. Who's the one not helping me out by saying I'm a tad bit busy? Huh? Is it funny? I bet it definitely is.

She pointed at where the table is and mocked me to quickly hurry up.

My eyebrow twitched at her.

Yeah, I'll get you later.

I think this is the last table that hasn't gotten their orders yet, so after this, it'll probably be my turn to play some tunes.

I have a few goodies that I thought of the other day that would be good for the environment of the cafe.

Also, I thought it'd be a good idea to take a video of myself playing the piano and upload it to my youtube highlights or something.

I don't know if I should stream it, since I'll probably just take off the stream after I'm done.

It might be a good idea to, though.

I'll also have an okay number of stream viewers since it's a Friday and my follower number has been going up.

This means people will also be coming here, though.

Not too many, since I'm not that big yet but there'll be some people and I don't know how I'll be able to handle fans specifically coming here for me.

There's no shame for me, but I'd probably get asked questions or held back for some time. Maybe I'd even be followed back home.

What would trouble me the most is if I have to leave with Charlotte and people will follow us back home or harass her at school.

People would probably find out about Charlotte later, but it's better if I delay exposure of her as long as possible for her health.

I can't sacrifice the comfort and safety of my family just for some channel growth. I don't even need it that much since I'm still growing remarkably quickly.

There's a backdoor exit here, but I'm not too sure if that'll be very useful.

I also don't have any masks or sunglasses to cover myself with.

People would be streaming or tweeting live about me playing the piano, but it wouldn't be as many people since it isn't coming from me directly.

There'll probably be people coming anyway to talk or see me but I'm counting on the fact I'm still quite small and there will just be like one or two people that will respect my privacy.

I like the idea of streaming myself playing in the cafe, but it's going to be uploaded on YouTube anyway so the only thing I'd be missing out on is people coming to meet me.

I'll think about this later though because customers are waiting for me.

A co-worker came out from the kitchen with drinks in his hand and kneed my leg.

"Go on, playboy."

He joked and I shook my head.

I walk with long steps and pass through some customers with smiles.

Coming into my field of view, I see the faces of Charlotte and her friends grinning at me.

Ah.

I thought those voices were familiar.

My eyebrow twitches slightly.

I can't tell if she's the one who made her friends the rascals, or her friends made her the little rascal she is now.

My prank senses are ringing right now.

Let's keep this professional.

I walk over to them.

"Hello, I'm Charlie and I'll be your waiter for the day… May I take your orders?"

As long as she doesn't do anything dumb, we're fine.

Charlotte stares at me with an innocent smile.

"Hi, Charlie. A strawberry milkshake, please."

Nothing dumb yet.

"A strawberry milkshake for this…" do I call them pretty ladies? That's what I've been doing up 'til now for the customer service but since it's the friends of Charlotte…

"...for this young lady."

She pouted at me.

"No."

Well, she doesn't at all want to make it easier for me. I'm working right now, you punk.

She squinted her eyes at me.

The rest of her friends giggled to each other.

Ugh, is this what 14-year-old girls laugh at?

Let's just get this over with quickly.

"...for this pretty lady," I said a little reluctantly.

She smiled satisfied. Yeah, I'll get you back. See how you like the banana milkshake instead of the strawberry.

Oops, I wrote your order wrong.

"Matcha green tea… please," One of them said very shakily with her eyes darting over the place.

I smile at her.

She reminds me of my friends with social anxiety that I had.

They were all riddled with problems and inner turmoil that ate them from the inside and sometimes just saying nice things would ease them a little bit.

"One of my favorites. A matcha green tea for this lady with good taste."

I noted it down.

Don't think I should call her a pretty girl because I've heard it's common for girls to get crushes on their friends' brothers.

Don't know how accurate it is, but I don't want to risk anything weird.

I still made sure to say something nice, though.

What she got was also what I got the first time I came here and it's been one of the few drinks I've had so I'm not totally lying.

Her friends laughed and Charlotte just looked at her strangely.

Well, that's not how you treat a person with social anxiety.

They'll learn later to value their friends.

She got red and sank into her clothes.

I took the rest of their orders and went to the kitchen to lay their orders.

In the end, I changed the banana smoothie back to a strawberry smoothie. You're safe for today.

Finishing up, I nod at Michael to start playing the piano.

It's time to play some songs.

Hold on.

How am I going to explain this to Charlotte?

Has she seen the piano videos yet?

Meh, she's going to find out soon, anyway.

So how am I going to record this? Phone on the side of the piano?

Maybe a cameraman?

...

I head towards the piano stool and one or two people begin pointing at me.

Maybe customers that came because of the trending videos? Who knows.

I look back and my co-worker gives me a thumbs up and a cheesy smile while holding the phone.

I'm counting on the fact that people will order things after listening to music so that my coworker doesn't have to decide between putting the phone down or keep customers waiting.

I sit on the piano stool and loosen my hands by shaking them.

…

After finishing the 5th song, people's applause began ringing once again.

Honestly, I'd think people wouldn't be so respectful and quiet when listening to me. I thought it'd be more like background music where people just enjoy the casual tune while talking to their friends but everyone simultaneously stood quiet while watching me play.

It's a magical feeling.

The applause seems stronger than the first time. I guess this tells me which songs people enjoyed the most?

I turn back towards the crowd and my eyes widen.

In the medium-sized cafe, there is a crowd of people covering the entirety of the cafe staring at me while clapping.

My eyes dart around the place and there's not a single spot where there's not a person.

When did so many people get here?

What?

Did someone famous come here?

Goodness, gracious.

The crowd of people was forming a circle around the piano, some sitting on the floor to avoid covering the ones behind them.

My manager comes from the crowd with his signature smile and motions for me to follow him to the cafe counter.

I follow behind and smile and thank the compliments.

Dang, where'd all these people come from?

Some go back to their seats and others stay where they are.

Back at the cafe counter, I see a familiar face and another young man in expensive-looking casual clothes with curly black hair and a good-shaped face.

John and the unknown guy smile and wave at me.

"Hello, good afternoon John and…" I gesture, asking for the unknown person's name.

"Felix," he responds with a brilliant smile.

"...and Felix."

"Good afternoon Charlie, this is Felix who will be one of your seniors if you decide to accept our offer of partnership."

Good strategy. He's bringing a guy who I'll be working with and will help ease and persuade me to join.

Not only that, he's showing me what I can become if I accept their offer.

A good-looking young man that's extremely successful.

Who would bring a celebrity to meet someone they haven't even recruited yet?

I can tell Felix is famous by how people are taking pictures of us and the paparazzi swarming outside of the cafe.

Goodness, is this guy the reason why so many people were here listening to the piano?

He also immediately tried recruiting me the moment he saw me. Isn't this guy a little too good at his job?

What a terrifying guy. He's employing strategies and giving respect to newbies, something no one else would do.

He's also giving me a taste of fame by having Felix come here with the fans and paparazzi swarming the place.

He probably also told Felix to not look uncomfortable at all and look extremely natural and happy at the number of fans.

I stare at John and he stares back at me with a smile.

"Shall we discuss the partnership?"

He's calling it a partnership instead of recruitment.

"Yes, of course."

Behind him, I glance at Charlotte who's perked up and staring at us.

She stares back at me.

How is she going to go back home?

Felix and John look at the eye contact and they glance between us two.

"That's your sister?"

I look at Felix.

"Yes, she's Charlotte. I usually walk her back home and I don't know how she'll get back home."

I state my intentions and John understands them.

"We'll get someone to escort her."

No.

I still can't fully trust them and maybe one of their reasons why their artists are so compliant and successful is because they're threatened to do things.

It's unlikely but I still don't know the inner workings of this world.

They could take Charlotte as a hostage and I'd be forced to do things for them.

'Knife' Agency could have a deeper meaning, after all.

I did tell them she's my sister because there's no way they'd do something publicly and it looked like they already knew who she was.

I hold back the urge to ever so slightly tense my eyebrows and stare at him with a neutral expression.

"It's fine. How long will this last?"

"Well, we want to show you our facilities and also prove to you how sincere we are so if you allow it, we'd be going for two hours."

"I see… I'm going to the bathroom quickly."

They nod at me.

They probably already realized what I'm going to be doing but it's not like they don't need to know.

(Charlie: Charlotte im going to be doing something for 2 hrs i wont be able to go back home with you)

Immediately, the message is read.

(Charlotte: its fine im going to a friends house)

The burden on my heart is released immediately.

(Charlotte: i forgot to tell u in the morning lol sorry)

With the heaviness leaving my shoulders, I respond quickly.

(Charlie: yea np)

(Charlie: who are you going with?)

(Charlotte: all of us in the cafe)

(Charlotte: we're going with amelia to her house)

(Charlie: okay tell Arlo i said hello)

I sigh in relief. Okay, everything's fine.

Well, time to greet the Knife Agency.

[Author Note:

Apologies for not uploading yesterday. I was a little busy.

I hope I wrote enough extra length in compensation.

I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed reading as well.

I'm going to keep this very short. For some reason I'm feeling really dull right now.

Please comment your thoughts and I hope you have a great rest of your day.]