I'll Still Love You

You'd think that a 23 year old woman would be used to waking up early to go to work because she has to do it every single freaking day but nope, apparently my body just refused to cooperate with me. I really needed to stop going out with my friends so late at night. I had set the alarm early but once it beeped the next day, I just turned it off. So when I finally woke up I had less than an hour to shower, get ready, eat breakfast and get to work before I was late. I decided that showering just wasn't worth the time and just washed my face instead. After that, I fixed my hair then went into my closet to figure out what I was going to wear. I liked to think that my sense of style was eccentric in a way because nothing was ever set. Sometimes I would wear something feminine, sometimes something more masculine, and other times I liked to mix them both to create something unique but still fashionable. Today I decided to wear something more feminine. I wore a white striped long-sleeved crop top, black short overalls, and black Vans with blue laces. Oh, and I also decided to wear a black fedora because my hair curled up while I was asleep and just refused to cooperate with me and I didn't bother to wrestle with my auburn locks because I knew I would lose. I got it cut short when I was about fourteen and I'd never let it grow out ever since because I got so used to short hair that it bothered me when it grew too long. My bangs were longer and swept to the right, they were naturally wavy. After I grabbed the things I needed, I left my apartment and walked to the subway station then rode a train to Sunshine Avenue. The place where I worked was a couple of blocks away from the subway so it was easier and faster to just walk.

I graduated just a year ago, I was one of the youngest people to graduate with a Ph.D. in zoology as well as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree in my university. It wasn't easy because everyone else was older than me and it was easy for them to underestimate me because I was so young but I still made it. Now I worked as a keeper and caretaker in a successful reptile breeding company. Ever since I was a kid, I had dreamed of taking care of reptiles so this was my dream job. I also worked as a handler for when movie sets needed a reptile for their movie. I also had piercings on my ears and one on my left eyebrow and I also have a tattoo on my arm and pasty pale skin that didn't tan no matter how long I stayed in the sun but we don't need to talk about that any further. I entered the building and confirmed my attendance with the fingerprint scanner thingy. I never really understood what it was called but I knew that it was important if I wanted to get paid. "Goodmorning Jade!" One of my coworkers, Julie greeted and I greeted her back. I put my stuff away in my locker before going to the room where they kept the reptiles.

I went to the incubating room and checked the clutch that was due for the day. There were five ball python eggs in total. Three had already hatched but the remaining two still hadn't. This was the part of my job that both excited me and worried me half to death. I grabbed a clean blade and began to cut an opening through the soft shell of the egg, making sure that I didn't cut the snake or anything important. We did this so the snake could breathe which ensured that they had a fighting chance at life. They weren't ready to be moved to separate homes yet so I just took them out of the incubator and into the main room. The next thing I had to do was collect leopard gecko eggs and take them to the incubator. I opened every breeding box and collected the eggs, making sure not to turn them over, otherwise, the babies might drown in their own fluids. I placed them in a container then put them in the incubator. After taking care of the eggs, I had to feed the snakes, the gators, the turtles, the frogs and the lizards and even some of the hawks, owls, and eagles that the owner liked to keep as pets. Some of them had special diets that consisted of bugs and veggies that had to be prepared by hand and that's why I had such exemplary knife skills now. Imagine having to cut nearly 50 kg of veggies and that's just for the breeding pairs. I could fairly say that my job is also my work-out and exercise routine. It keeps me physically fit no matter how much I eat which is a bonus because I loved to eat. The pay wasn't bad either.

I did the same thing over and over again until my shift was over. I logged out using the fingerprint thingy again then left the building. I was headed to the subway when my phone rang. My friend, Jessie was calling. "Hello?" I answered the phone and I could hear her enthusiastic voice squealing from the other side of the line.

"Jade! Where are you?"

"I'm near the subway station, I just got out of work. Why?"

"Perfect, wait for me there," she said before ending the call. I waited for about thirty minutes before Jessie arrived. She grabbed my hand and started to drag me along with her.

"Where are we going?"

"Just wait and see" she giggled.

She finally stopped in front of a cafe and I almost fell over from trying to catch up with her. "Don't tell me *pant pant* this is another one of your schemes to set me up on a date with another one of your friends. I already told you, no."

"Hush! That's not why I took you here. You don't necessarily have to go on a date with him, you just have to meet him. Please!" I sighed.

"Fine...where is the guy anyway?" I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

"He's the owner of this cafe. It's actually pretty popular" she took me inside and the atmosphere was very calming even if there were a lot of people. Jessie walked up to the counter and talked to the cashier then she took us into the kitchen. When I entered, the kitchen was fairly large and people were running around making desserts, pastries, and other foods commonly found in a cafe. As I stared at the people, one person caught my eye.

He was wearing a sea green button-up shirt, black slacks, and a black apron. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he had some light stubble on his chin. His skin was a deep bronze with golden undertones, perfectly sun-kissed and smooth and his curly hair was a deep brown. His figure was lean but had just enough muscle to show that he moved around a lot. "Boston! Over here!" Jessie called and he turned to us with a bright smile. His eyes were a beautiful shade of light brown and his face was androgynous. A perfect balance of feminine and masculine features. Everything about him was perfectly balanced.

"Hey, Jessie!" he called back before leaving his station and striding towards us. Almost immediately another chef took over his work.

"What brings you here?" he asked and his height was surprising. From afar he didn't look very tall but once he got closer, he was about six feet tall or more. "Boston, this is my friend, Jade" he turned to me and smiled, my heart almost skipped a beat at his cute smile. Jessie nudged my side and I snapped out of my trance. I didn't realize that I was staring at him.

"S-sorry..."

"I'm Boston, Boston Torres. Nice to meet you" I noticed his hand was stretched out towards me so I took it, his hands were calloused, a telltale sign that he was a hard worker.

"Oh...I'm Jade, Jade Briar Lisben"

"Wow...that's a handful"

"Yeah...it gets pretty difficult when you have to write it down" I joked and he chuckled.

"Ehem!" Jessie cleared her throat and that's when I realized that he was still holding my hand.

"U-Uhm..." he stared down at our hands and he quickly let go with a slight tint to his cheeks.

"Ah! Sorry about that. Why don't you two ladies take a seat in the main area and I will be with you momentarily" Jessie nodded then she pulled me out of the kitchen and we sat in one of the couches next to the window.

"So..."

"So...what?"

"You like him, don't you..." I almost choked on my own spit while she just wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"I knew it, you were planning something from the beginning"

"I saw how you were staring at him. You think he's cute, don't you?" I felt my cheeks warm up and I tried to hide it by looking out the window.

"H-he is...so what? That doesn't necessarily mean I want to date him"

"Aww, you think I'm cute?" he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and I suddenly felt like jumping out of a window. I felt too embarrassed. He took a chair and sat across from me and Jessie. We casually chatted about things for a while until Jessie decided to ditch us.

"Sorry guys, I have to get back to work but you two should talk more" her smile was sly as she hurried to leave the cafe. Now it was only me and Boston. There was an awkward silence between us but he cleared his throat and broke it.

"So...uhm...are you...free later?" he asked and I just stared at him.

"Why do you want to know?" I smiled as I said it so it wouldn't sound rude.

"Actually...I was the one who asked Jessie to bring you here"

"Wait...what?"

"I...I've been working on a little something and I need an unbiased opinion and Jessie recommended you so...are you...free later?" it was comforting to know that I wasn't the only one who was nervous.

"Uhm...sure"

"Cool, you can wait here until closing time. I have to get back to the kitchen to supervise so...see you later" he left and went back into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. Wait a minute...did he just ask me out on a date without me realizing it?

Yeah...I think he just did and I fell for it.

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"Sorry you waited so long..." he apologized once he was done closing up his shop.

"No worries. It was only a few hours plus the wifi and the atmosphere helped to satisfy my boredom" I joked and he let out a hearty chuckle.

"Well I wouldn't necessarily call 4 hours a few but I promise that I will make it up to you." He disappeared into the kitchen again and a few minutes later he came out with a tray in his hands.

"Today's dish is simple ricotta and sausage stuffed mushroom ravioli," he said as he set the plates down. I took a bite and the flavors danced harmoniously on my tongue, it was almost as good as what my papa makes. I couldn't help the noises that escaped my lips, I had always loved pasta, even as a kid and my entire family along with my nonna always enjoyed making everything from scratch. It was something we did as a family every weekend and I remembered how I and my brother would always race down the stairs every Saturday morning just to help nonna buy ingredients for her homemade sauces and pasta. Note to self: call home later.

"This is amazing!" I exclaimed. I felt so amazed that you could almost see stars going crazy in my eyes. I heard his soft chuckle as he ate his portion and I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment.

"You sure are energetic even after waiting for hours. Aren't you tired?"

"Not really...if you grew up living with my two brothers then you'd come to realize that there is no time for rest"

"My sister's the same. A moody teenager wasn't the best housemate but she's calmed down a bit now that she's in college"

"Why are siblings so weird?"

"I don't know" we both chuckled. It was nice to have someone to relate to. Jessie was an only child so she never got to deal with annoying siblings. Boston took the plates and went back into the kitchen then a few minutes later he came out with two small plates, one in each hand. He set them down and on them were cute little brown rice cakes with some brown bits sprinkled on the top. I had never seen it before but it smelled good.

"What's this?" I asked him as he sat down again. "This is what I wanted to show you. It's a sticky rice cake made with coconut milk and brown sugar. We call it Biko" I sampled a piece and it was really good.

"This is good! Why don't you add it to your menu?"

"That's actually why I asked for your help. I needed an unbiased opinion on whether or not it would sell in my shop"

I took another bite, a huge bite then turned to him "Oh this would definitely sell. It's not too sweet plus it looks cute and it's really good. I've never seen anything like it before"

"Well...it's not that common around here. It's a pretty popular snack back in my country"

"Where is that?"

"The Philippines. I grew up there, my father was Filipino while my mother was half American on her father's side. I was actually born here but we went back to live in the Philippines until I moved back here for college and..."

"They stayed there..." I mumbled and he nodded. "You must miss them..."

"Oh I do but...I have my reasons for staying"

"May I ask, what?"

He shook his head and he lightly slapped his cheeks then he focused back to me. "Sorry...It's nothing, just a small disagreement" he answered and I could tell that it was bothering him too much so I decided to stop before he shut down, leaving the room completely silent for a few minutes.

"So...how did you learn to cook so well?" I asked, trying to lighten up the depressing mood and change the topic.

"My family loves to cook and I learned a lot from watching them cook" his smile was back and I sighed a breath of relief.

"My family likes to cook too but I've never actually tried to cook anything that involved a lot of preparation. I can cook without burning stuff so I think that's good enough" I joked and he tried to stifle a chuckle.

After a few more hours of talking and eating delicious food, it was getting late so I had to go home. He disappeared back into the kitchen and I felt a little spooked sitting all by myself in the big empty cafe so I joined him in the kitchen. "Don't you have a dishwasher?" I questioned as I watched him wash the dishes he had used to cook the meal we ate by hand.

"Oh, I do but I guess I just got used to washing them by hand"

"Then let me help, It's the least I could do"

"Nah it's cool, I can handle it" I walked up beside him and grabbed the bubbly dishes from him so I could rinse the soap off of them.

"It's late. This way we can finish this and go home quicker" I showed him a warm smile as I rolled my sleeves up to get ready to wash the dishes with him.

"Then maybe you should probably wear this" he handed me an apron and I kindly accepted it and wore it. We finished washing the dishes a lot quicker and I helped him lock up his shop. It was currently about 10 pm and we both rode the train and got off once we arrived at Brookstone.

"So...you live in this area too?" I asked. He was wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pockets as he walked next to me.

"Yeah...I guess we'll be seeing each other often then. I hope you'll come and visit my cafe often too"

"For sure, you cook such delicious food. It's much better than eating instant ramen and take out all day." He chuckled as I clasped my hands together behind my head.

"Well I'll take that as a compliment"

"Anyway...where do you live?" we asked each other in unison as we came to a halt in front of my apartment building. "Eh?" we both looked at the building in front of us then back at each other.

"Wait...y-you...live here?" we both exclaimed to one another then nodded in unison again. It was starting to freak me out.

"What floor do you live in?" we asked each other. "Floor nine," we said together. I was starting to panic, there were too many coincidences all at once.

"Quick! What's your apartment number?" I asked him as he fished out his keys from inside one of his pockets.

"Uhm...909" he answered. I took my keys out of my pocket and examined the number on it.

"R-room 908" I mumbled. Okay...this was too much to just be a coincidence.

We went inside the building and rode an elevator to floor nine. There was a really awkward atmosphere during the elevator ride but I think it was mostly my fault. I kind of overreacted but he seemed pretty chill about it. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. We both walked out of the elevator and went in front of our respective apartments. "G-goodnight Boston" I managed to smile despite my glowing cheeks and he smiled back and waved at me.

"Goodnight Jade" and with that, we both entered our respective apartments and waited for the sun to rise. I didn't know what to feel. It freaked me out a bit but in the end, I was glad that there was a high chance of meeting him again.