Picture of Joshua Owens, Oli's boyfriend.

The day was finally over. Thank God. It wasn't that I hated my job and couldn't help but get out of there. No, I loved it with every fiber of my body. Why wouldn't I when the shop was mine, and no one was constantly standing behind my back, scolding me all the time. It was just that sometimes it got too intense. Over the years, I found out the busiest days were Tuesdays and Fridays, and because today was Tuesday, I was worn out and ready to soak my skin in a hot bath, letting the stress flow away.

"Finally, the day's over!" yelled Dylan, jumping at the counter I just finished cleaning, grinning like an idiot. I had an urge to smack him for that because I would have to clean it all over again, but I couldn't find it in me to ruin his good mood. As I said, Tuesdays were extremely hectic, so we all were always happy when it was over.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" I asked, slapping his shoulder to chase him off the counter.

"I'm meeting with Jenna, of course. What else would I do? My love life would be disastrous without these days off between my shifts. Thank you, Oli, for your creativity and clever brain," he said, jumping off the counter and laughing when I threw a wet cloth at him.

"Shut up, you prick! Don't try me, or I'll give you so much work you will drop dead by the end of next week!" I growled, fetching a clean cloth and wiping the counter all over again.

"As if! You would rather take all of the shifts before giving us one extra." He laughed again, and I had to join him because he was right. I loved my employees too much to burden them like that. It might sound unbelievable for some people, but we were all friends here, and no hard feelings were ever involved. It was a given though. We all knew each other for quite a long time, and just the idea of me acting like one of those asshole bosses out there made me sick.

Me, Dylan, Melanie, Lindsey, and Finley met in one of the cooking courses I was attending when I moved to Boston. After I got the offer to buy this shop, I told them about it, and they agreed to help me. Not one of them ever doubted this crazy idea of opening a new Coffee shop. And as for my relationship with Charlie, it wasn't as complicated and crazy as someone might have thought. The way we met each other wasn't ideal, and it was emotional on many levels, but we got through it and became great friends. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The saying was right.

After I broke up with Victor and got all of my things from his apartment, which was, to put it lightly, hell, I moved in with my brother for a few months. Normally, I would have rented my own place, but as I had to change my job because I didn't want Victor to bother me anymore, I didn't earn as much as before and couldn't afford it. I got a new job in a restaurant near my brother's place, and after taking some time to recover, I started to work there as a waiter a few weeks after the horrible break up.

My first day in the new work was great. I already had some experience thanks to my work in the night club, so I didn't need to learn as much as other newcomers, and I generally liked working with people. But the owner still wanted to make sure I was shown how it worked around there from the scratch, so he asked one of his long-term part-timers to guide me. He wasn't there the first day, so I didn't really care and did whatever I thought was right. When I came in the day after and the boss introduced us, I couldn't move for 5 minutes, desperately wishing the ground could swallow me up. Thanks to some wicked twist of fate, Charlie was standing in front of me, mouth hanging open, eyes wide and ready to bolt the minute I moved, same as me. It was not one of our best days. I almost quit immediately after that, not being able to imagine working with someone who ruined my relationship, but his words, after he collected himself, stopped me and made me realize the truth.

"Don't let him control your life even after you broke up," he said. It was as if something in me snapped, a lightbulb switching on in my brain. I finally voice what I knew somewhere deep down in me from the very beginning of this disaster. Charlie wasn't the one who ruined my relationship with Victor. He was a victim of a selfish, spoiled man, just like me.

*****

"Do you count with mine and Charlie's shift swap on Thursday and Friday?" Dylan asked suddenly, bringing me back into reality. I looked at him, confused for a few seconds before I realized what he was asking.

"Of course, you know you don't have to tell me in advance. Just make sure you come on the right day." I chuckled because there was this one time when Lindsey and Melanie wanted to swap shifts, and both of them came on the same day, Mel forgetting that she was supposed to come the day after.

"Hey, I heard that!" yelled Mel and stormed in, switching off the lights in the kitchen, finishing the cleaning there.

"It was only once, 5 months ago! How long are you going to rub it in my face?" she whined, closing the door and locking it.

"Sorry, it's just so funny! I can still see the look on your face when you realized you woke up so early for nothing. God, it was priceless!" Laughing, I took the bag with leftovers and stepped towards the door. I was just reaching for the doorknob when Mel jumped on me. Staggering, I just barely kept us from falling.

"What the-! Are you trying to kill us?!" I screamed, my legs and back screaming in pain.

"You're heavy!" I whined, trying to shake her off, but it was useless. She was stuck to my back like a leech.

"Promise me you will never mention that incident again!" Out of breath, all I could do was roll my eyes. What a child!

"Whatever," I growled feeling my knees giving up. I thought we were going to end up on the floor right that minute, but Dylan got to us in time and forced Mel down.

"I'm going to make a delicious cake and put an onion in your piece, you villain!" I said, already thinking up scenarios of my revenge. Alright, I was the same child like her. We were best friends, after all. Fooling around was a must. No way in hell would I let her get away with this.

There was this one time when she pissed me of so much I put chili in her strawberry muffins. She couldn't speak for three days and had to take a day off on the first one because she couldn't stop coughing and crying. Thinking about it, I overdid it. But I was just so pissed off I didn't think about consequences. And Mel got back at me with her stupid garlic in the lemon cheesecake prank, so it was settled. I didn't mind garlic, but ruining my favorite cake with it was too much. And the taste the combination created, I felt sick just thinking about it.

"Earth to Ollie!" Dylan waved his hand in front of my eyes, making me jump back and bump my shoulder against the wall in the process.

"Ouch," I mumbled, cursing my head. My daydreaming was getting worse with every passing year, and I was starting to wonder whether it was normal, or I was slowly going crazy.

"Sorry, my inner voice is making its appearance again. We should get going, I can't believe we always stay behind fooling around even though all we whine about all day long is how much we wanna go home." I laughed, this time managing to open the door, shooing my friends out.

*****

"I'm home!" I yelled, turning on the light in the corridor, smiling at the soft smell of burning wood and some tasty dinner drifting in the air.

After I moved to Boston, I lived in a small apartment for some time, but the moment my Café started to be more popular and earn more, I started to put money aside so I could eventually buy a house in a decent neighborhood. It would take forever to save so much money by myself, of course, but my loving boyfriend of two years paid half of the amount, and we could all move in together. It was like a dream.

"Josh? Are you home already?" I asked, putting my jacket on a hanger and the car keys to the bowl on one of the shelves in the hallway. If I put them somewhere else, I would be lost in the morning.

"In the kitchen, Ollie," he yelled back, and I couldn't suppress the wide smile spreading across my face. A warm feeling filled me from inside out. I was completely in love with this man. He was my first and last after the disaster with Victor.

Letting someone have my heart and trust again was extremely hard. Josh had to cling to me for almost a year before I gave him a chance. We went on one date, then on the second and third, and it went fast after that. I was done for after the first one, probably desperate for affection and love. But I would die before telling him the truth, it was pathetic.

He was so sweet and caring all the time, showering me with love and gifts, sweet words and compliments as well as jokes and stupid remarks. There was no way a guy could resist him. And the fact he waited for me for such a long time, not messing around with anyone else made everything even better. I couldn't possibly hold it against him if he slept with someone. It was almost a year for god's sake, any other man would not be able to hold it for such a long time. Not to mention we weren't together. But still, he waited. He endured it and, even after we officially went out, he didn't rush me. The first few months we were together, I thought I was dreaming. There was no way such a perfect man could exist in this world. Yes, he had some flaws. Sometimes, he was clueless as a newborn, he couldn't stand scary movies and he wouldn't manage to nail a frame to the wall even if someone held a gun to his head. When it came to technical things, he was a bit clumsy. But his compassion, brain, and talent in the kitchen compensated enough for that. If he didn't have even one flaw, I wouldn't be able to relax in front of him.

Walking to the kitchen, I put the bag with leftovers on a kitchen counter next to a bowl with rice. I was right, someone cooked dinner again. And it was my favorite, homemade Chinese.

"I love you," I whispered, almost drooling when I saw the delicious meal.

"You know, sometimes I think that you would say this to anyone who would cook your favorite." He laughed, coming over to kiss me. I leaned in and returned the gentle kiss, hugging him and drawing in his delicious scent, a mix of his unique body scent and soap. Someone took a shower already, what a shame.

"Is Matty home yet?" I asked after I got a satisfactory dose of his scent to last the rest of the day. Josh smiled broadly and motioned towards the living room.

"He is watching TV. There's this weird show on, and he is totally into it. As you can see, he didn't even hear you come home which is rare," he chuckled, taking my hand and leading me to the living room.

I couldn't help the warm feeling that spread throughout my whole body when I saw him. My little man was sitting in front of the TV, watching it intensely, not paying attention to anything else. Sneaking up on him, I jumped at him, tickling him and laughing out loud when he screamed in surprise. He was laughing, tears falling down his pink cheeks, but when he realized who was the monster tickling him, his face lit up. I stopped at that moment and spread out my hands, waiting for our usual greeting. Matty jumped up and run to me, falling right into my arms.

"Dad, you're back!"