Only a few hours had passed since what had been our day yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier. I have to admit, it was hard for me to fall asleep last night, but for a different reason than usual.
I woke up around ten in the morning; when I went down to the dining room, Mom was already gone. It made sense—her shift started much earlier than the time I woke up. She had left breakfast ready for me along with a small note that said “heat it up.” Sometimes I feel like she still thinks I’m a child who needs reminders all over the house, and that always makes me laugh.
Part of me expected to find one or two messages from Isabella when I woke up, but of course, she was probably already on her way to university. She had told me she had classes in the morning and only missed them when she had to work.
Today I had almost a double shift at the bar waiting for me, so I ate quickly and headed to work. When I arrived, I ran into Will, the guy who had served Isabella and me yesterday. We hadn’t talked much before, since our schedules don’t usually match. What little I knew about him was that he was always kind and never had trouble adapting to the place.
He approached me and started talking.
“Hey, Eli. Yesterday you were here with a friend, right? I’d never seen you with anyone, not even your mom. Honestly, I was surprised when I saw you.”
His surprise was understandable. Everything he said was true: I had never brought Mom to the bar, and I didn’t usually invite anyone either. There wasn’t any particular reason for that, it just had never happened.
“And… who was she?” Will asked curiously, but without sounding intrusive.
“Uh… her… her name is Isabella,” I replied, lowering my voice a bit, as if it were something too personal to say out loud.
He smiled, leaning against the bar while arranging some glasses.
“She seemed nice. I didn’t think you had friends around here.”
I scratched the back of my neck, nervous.
“Well… it’s not like I have many.” I paused briefly, searching for words. “We’re just getting to know each other.”
Will nodded, as if he didn’t want to pressure me too much.
“I see. Still, she looked comfortable with you. That’s good.”
I didn’t really know what to say, so I just nodded with a faint smile, trying not to show too much discomfort. Luckily, he didn’t insist.
“I’m happy for you, Eli. Sometimes you need someone to share things with outside of work,” he added before walking away to attend another table.
I took a deep breath. Even though his words were well intentioned, those kinds of conversations were always a bit hard for me to handle.
As Will walked away, his words kept echoing in my mind. “Someone to share things with outside of work.” Maybe he was right, even if I didn’t want to admit it so easily. I had never been good at making friends, much less keeping them close, but with Isabella… I don’t know, it felt like it could be different.
I shook my head and got to work. There were several tables to clean and a few customers waiting, so I grabbed the tray and started collecting empty glasses. I moved from one side to another, greeting people as they came in, taking orders, answering the basics with a smile. Still, every now and then I caught myself thinking about the previous afternoon, about how Isabella had managed to make me talk more than usual.
“Hey, Eli,” Will’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts again. He approached with a couple of plates in his hands. “Sorry to insist, but… how did your friend seem to you?”
I glanced at him, a bit nervous, though not as much as before.
“Good… really good, actually. She’s… different from most people.” I realized I said it faster than I expected, as if I was certain about it.
Will smiled, amused.
“Sounds like you liked her a lot.”
“Yeah…” I replied, and for the first time it didn’t bother me to say it. “It was easy to talk to her, that doesn’t happen to me often.”
He set the plates down on the bar and looked at me calmly.
“Then don’t overthink it. Sometimes you get surprised by the people who just show up like that, out of nowhere.”
I smiled a little, this time without feeling like I had to hide it.
“I guess you’re right.”
The conversation felt more natural, less forced than before. I didn’t have to escape from the words or from my own silences. Maybe because, for a moment, I allowed myself to accept the obvious: I liked Isabella, a lot.
My shift went on as usual. I kept doing the same things as always, since there wasn’t much else to do. For me, it wasn’t boring—in fact, I found it entertaining to clean and bring food to the tables. It was six in the evening and the bar was quiet; I knew that in a couple of hours it would fill up again like always.
I took advantage of that “free time” to take out my phone, thinking about texting Isabella, but before I could, I got a surprise: I had at least six unread messages from her. I hadn’t checked my phone for several hours, so they had piled up.
For a moment I just stared at them without opening any. A mix of nerves and curiosity took over me. What could she have written so many times? What if she thought I was ignoring her? I felt a small knot in my stomach, and at the same time a strange happiness.
For a moment I didn’t dare open them, I just looked at them on the screen as if they were a small challenge. I wondered how much she could have said in such a short time. I ran a hand over my forehead and took a deep breath; in the end, I couldn’t keep putting it off. I opened the conversation and started reading one by one.
“Hi Liz, how are you? I had classes all morning today.”122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiG49W6ONv
“I was thinking that we had a great time yesterday, thanks for agreeing to go out with me.”122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8u2gMqiAmA
“I hope I’m not bothering you with so many messages haha.”122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F706QzlOX
“If you’re working a lot today, try to get some good rest afterward.”122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWEhNy48o6
“Oh, and I wanted to ask if you like hot chocolate. I stopped by a café and thought of you.”122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJBkxkit6b
“Well, I don’t want to sound annoying, text me when you can. Have a good shift.”
When I finished reading them, I felt my cheeks warm a little. They were simple, kind messages, but they gave me a sense of closeness I hadn’t felt with someone in a long time.
I found myself smiling alone, there in the middle of the almost empty bar, with my phone in my hand and the dishes half arranged on the tray.
I stared at the screen for a few more seconds, hesitating. But the truth was, I didn’t want her to think I was ignoring her. Besides… I couldn’t deny that I liked reading her, feeling that interest she had in me.
I typed slowly, deleting a couple of words before daring to send the first message:
“Hi Isa, I just saw your messages, sorry. I’m good, thanks. The shift is long but everything’s calm so far.”
I bit my lip, thinking it might sound too cold, so I added another before I could regret it:
“I also had a great time yesterday, it’s been a while since I’ve had a day like that.”
I sent it and set the phone down on the table for a moment, but a second later I picked it up again. I didn’t want it to sound so dry.
“You’re not bothering me at all, really. In fact, it made me happy to read your messages.”
I let out a soft sigh, a little embarrassed by what I had just written. I was never good at this kind of thing, it was hard for me to open up, but with her it came out almost naturally.
I thought about the hot chocolate, smiling without meaning to. It was a small detail, but it made me picture her stopping by the café and thinking of me.
“I really like hot chocolate, especially in winter. Maybe we could go together someday.”
When I sent that last message, I leaned slightly against the bar, with a strange feeling in my chest, a mix of nerves and excitement. “What’s wrong with me?” I thought, laughing quietly to myself. Maybe I was exaggerating, maybe it was just the novelty of someone treating me with so much attention.
Before putting my phone away, I added one last, shorter message:
“Thanks for texting me, Isa. I’m glad to have you as company.”
I slipped the phone into my apron pocket and, suddenly, I heard a voice behind me.
“I like hot chocolate too,” Will said, laughing.
I turned around quickly, feeling my cheeks burn.
“You saw everything?” I asked nervously.
“No, I just read the part about the chocolate,” he laughed again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to, but I wanted to come talk to you for a bit before going back to work.”
His voice sounded sincere, so I didn’t mind at all. In fact, he was the only person I talked to that much at the bar. I couldn’t consider him my friend, but the few times we spoke, he listened to me, and that made him different.
I focused again on what I had to do and got up to continue: cleaning tables, carrying plates, attending customers. Time passed almost without me noticing, and the last three hours flew by in the blink of an eye.
When I was about to leave to go home, Will approached me again. I was exhausted, I felt like all my social energy had been spent during my first meeting with Isabella, but I still kept the conversation going. I didn’t want to seem rude, and deep down I liked him.
“You know?” he said with a tired smile. “Sometimes I think this job is exhausting, but it’s still fun. I like the movement, meeting different people every day… even if some customers are unbearable.”
I nodded immediately.
“Yeah, I feel the same. It’s tiring, but somehow I enjoy it. I guess I like being busy, always having something to do.”
He laughed and shrugged.
“Then I’m not the only weird one.”
I couldn’t help but smile at him. It was a simple but comfortable conversation, the kind that makes time pass faster. I was about to say something else, but at that moment my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and saw Isabella’s name.
“Sorry, I have to take this,” I told Will as I pulled the phone out of my pocket.
He nodded calmly, and I stepped aside to answer the call.
“Hello?” I said as soon as I picked up.
“Liz!” I heard Isabella’s voice on the other end, warm and a little excited. “I really liked something I read in your messages.”
I frowned, a bit confused.
“What?”
“That you called me Isa,” she replied right away. “I don’t know… I thought it was nice, it feels closer.”
I felt my cheeks warm and looked to the side, trying to hide my smile.
“Oh… that? It just came out. If it doesn’t bother you, I can keep calling you that.”
“On the contrary, I love it,” she replied in a soft tone that made a tingling sensation spread through my chest. “It makes me feel special.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just murmured:
“I’m glad…”
There was a brief silence, but not an uncomfortable one, more like the kind that wraps you in calm. I held the phone tightly in my hand, thinking about how strange and nice it felt to talk to her like this.
Suddenly, I heard the bus engine approaching.
“Isa…” I said softly. “I have to hang up, my bus is arriving.”
“That’s okay, don’t worry,” she replied sweetly. “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
“Yeah, of course. Thanks for calling me,” I said, almost in a whisper before hanging up.
I put my phone away slowly, still with that silly smile on my face, and got on the bus with my heart beating a little faster than usual.
The bus ride was quiet. I sat by the window and watched the reflection of the lights on the glass, going over everything that had happened during the day in my mind. It had been exhausting, yes, but different… as if little by little I was starting to open up more. I couldn’t deny that talking to Will had been a surprise; I never thought I would end up telling him things and even laughing a little while we cleaned tables. It felt… natural. But what filled my chest the most was thinking about Isabella. That call had been short, but enough to make me feel closer to her, more connected. The fact that she let me call her Isa… I wasn’t going to forget that.
I got home a bit tired, but I was surprised to see Mom in the kitchen. She had two boxes on the table and a delicious smell filled the room.
“Just in time,” she said, smiling. “I ordered Thai food, I thought you might want to have dinner with me today.”
I walked over and set my things aside.
“It smells amazing… thanks, Mom.”
We sat down and shared the vegetable rice and curry she had ordered. We didn’t talk much, but enough: she told me about her day at the hospital, and I, without going into too much detail, told her it had been a long but manageable shift, and that I was glad I had been able to talk a bit more with people at the bar. Mom looked at me attentively, as if she was happy to hear me say that.
“I like seeing you like this, Eli. More at ease… more yourself,” she said warmly before continuing to eat.
I didn’t know what to say, but her words made me think. Maybe she was right, maybe I was changing little by little.
After dinner, I helped her clear the table and, after saying goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, I went up to my room. I turned on the light, left my uniform on the chair, and lay down on the bed. I looked for a moment at the computer on the desk, the one I turned on almost every night to lose myself for hours in my games. But today I didn’t feel that need. Today my mind was somewhere else… on a soft voice on the other end of the phone that had made me smile all the way home.
I turned off the light, curled up under the blankets, and closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion take over. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t need the glow of the screen to fall asleep.
ns216.73.217.110da2
and then Add to home screen.