𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧

1

I have been ignoring Angelo Russo like the plague and he's starting to notice.

Every time he enters the bookstore cafe my brother owns I'm coincidentally not here. He stays for hours, sitting on a bean bag chair doing work on his laptop or reading a book while drinking a matcha green tea latte.

He truly can not be here for me right? He must really just enjoy the cafe, that's all.

My brother enters his office with a grin on his face, pointing at Angelo before saying, "Thank God, he's here again. That man tips so well."

I look up from my biochemistry homework with a strawberry tart in my mouth and mumble, "That's good."

"Yeah who would have thought that a man like that would be so rich? Anyway, we're understaffed, could you help out?" My mind wandered to the part where he said, "...a man like that." My family is so quick to judge people they hardly know. My brother stares at me with hope in his eyes and I bite my lip hard.

I nod slowly and say a quick "Sure," before getting out of my seat and praying he doesn't make me go up to Angelo.

"Thanks, you can be at the cash register." He tells me and walks away.

I trudge myself to the register and smile at the customers. The cafe was a bit slow so I was doing some homework on my phone when I hear a voice say, "Can I get a cinnamon roll to go, please?"

It was Angelo. Great.

I decide to play it off cool, "Coming right up." I reply and grabbing the cinnamon roll and placing it in the cute box.

"On the house." I smile at him, tying a bow.

"Oh no Inaya, you don't have to. I can pay for it." He tells me but I shook my head.

I push the box towards him and respond, "I know you can but I want to," After a bit of bickering back and forth, he finally accepts it with a sigh.

"Do you have time right now to talk?" He asks putting a wad of cash into the tip jar. I nod and call my friend Bethany to take over the register for me. We walk near the bookshelf where a lot of the customers are sitting so we aren't alone.

Angelo stares into my eye, not breaking eye contact studying me as if I was a textbook before saying with a frown, "I don't like that you've been avoiding me."

I only have 2 seconds to make up a reason why I have been ignoring him. I am trying not to lie as much so I say a half-truth. "I'm sorry, I have been busy with school and helping out at the cafe,"

A confuse look appears on his face and I fear that he might have caught on. "No I understand, but I have been at the cafe a lot these past weeks and I haven't seen you once."

Another half-truth comes out of my mouth.
"I'm usually at the back helping my mom with the baking, that's why,"

Angelo nods slowly still unconvinced but he decides to go with what I am saying.