𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒖𝒑- 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠

Chapter 1-Ashlynn

The moment I left the hair salon, I was met with a gust of cold wind headed straight for my face. With a shiver, I untied the thick, cream-colored sweater at my waist and put it on to somehow stop the goosebumps rising on my arms.

"I swear it's never this cold in Japan," I muttered, trying to make it to my destination without turning into a popsicle.

It's been four years since I moved to Manhattan from Tokyo, Japan. I still get homesick sometimes, even though I love Manhattan. I also miss my parents and it makes me sad that I don't get to taste my mom's amazing cooking everyday like I used to. I mean, I do know that my parents are busy, with my dad owning a very big law firm and mom being a famous fashion designer, but that doesn't stop me from missing them. Thankfully, I can still FaceTime with my parents and seeing them makes me the happiest girl in the world.

As I was walking on the busy sidewalk, I remembered that I still needed to come up with ideas for my end of year project. Since I was about to graduate with my degree, everyone in our graduating class is required to come up with an original choreography, musical composition, series of artwork, etc. It's such a big part of our grade and it basically determines if we get our degree or not.

Exhaling, I got my earbuds and phone from the bag slung across my shoulder and decided to listen to music before I stressed myself out about a project due literally months away from now. I scrolled through Spotify before deciding to listen to my favorite album. {It's called Awaken the World-by WayV, if anyone is interested. If you can't tell, yes, I am a k-pop fan so expect a lot of references. Deal with it.}

The walk towards Rainbow Cup, the café I work at, was pure torture. Not only was it freezing outside, I was also trying not to belt out to the song I was currently listening to.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally made it to the café. Without hesitation, I grabbed the handle and entered through the back door. I fixed my purple-streaked hair and took out my earbuds to mentally prepare myself for the busy day ahead of me.

As I walked in, Terra waved at me. "Hey Ashlynn!"

"Oh hey Terra!" I waved back and set my bag down. "I'm here to help you. I have a few minutes before my shift."

"You are a lifesaver," Terra said with a sigh of relief "One of the ovens broke and the shipment of coffee is late."

We both nodded to each other before getting busy with our jobs around the café. I headed to the kitchens while Terra got busy at the register getting people's orders and making their drinks.

As soon I entered the kitchen, I headed straight to the sink to wash my hands and get started on baking my famous brownies. Here at The Rainbow Cup, we always make our baked goods from scratch instead of ordering it from somewhere. I mean, who knows what preservatives and unhealthy stuff goes into them? Plus, making it from scratch always gives me this fulfilling feeling when I hear someone say, "This pastry is delicious!" or "This cookie is probably the best I've ever had!"

When Eddie and Theo, the owners of the café, put my baked goods in the display window for the first time, I was literally shaking in my heels. I was so shocked when everything was gone from the display window exactly an hour later.

To this day, I still remember how happy I was when Eddie and Theo decided to hire me and include me as part of their family. They're basically like my parents here in New York City and probably why I didn't just give up and fly back home to Japan. I owe them both so much.

I carefully added all of the ingredients for the brownies based on the recipes that I had made and perfected after years of baking at home. By the looks of it, I might need to make a lot because of how busy the café is.