Chapter 50 - First Day (1)

Aki barely slept a wink.

Today was his first day on the job.

He kept on tossing and turning, his mind going back and forth on how his day would unfold. Every nerve and muscle in his body was tense. It would not be accurate to say that he was nervous. He was but it was more of one-fourth nervousness, one-fourth fear, and one-half excitement.

He was afraid too. In his head, everything went wrong. Wrong orders, crashed plates, angry customers were among the plethora of things that would happen on his shift. He might stumble, slip, fumble, and buckle. He would be the joke of the day.

But amidst all the wrongness that went through his head, there was only a single thing that was right -- Liam would not be there to watch Aki made a mistake one after another.

He made sure, double--no, triple checked it with Mia if Liam would be on shift today too. She told him that he would be off duty. At least, Liam would be spared to see yet another one of his misadventures. His friend had been subjected to be the unwilling audience to Aki's antics a lot more times than Aki would have wanted. Liam might say that it was fine for him but it was not for Aki. He did not want the disastrous and wasted Aki be the impression ingrained in Liam's head. Aki wanted to be cool in front of his roommate, even at least once in a while.

He kept on tossing on his bed until he could no longer stand it and kicked his blanket away.

Aki padded towards the door, aware of the movements in the kitchen. Liam was awake. And he was making yet another one of his delicious meals. Ay, his girlfriend was lucky.

But then again, Aki was lucky too. He was eating Liam's handmade meals all day every day. Liam made him meals. He bit down the corner of his lips before it fully rose.

The aroma of the food grew thicker as he neared the kitchen. Liam had not noticed him yet so Aki moved as silent as he could. It was a struggle to move the chair silently but Liam was focused on cooking that he did not hear the sound. Aki waited and watched Liam work his magic. Focused Liam was like a different person, like the waiter Liam back at the cafe. He was unknown to Aki yet intriguing all the same.

Liam turned and jolted at the sight of Aki before him. Aki watched as a smile slowly formed on the other's lips and he could not help but smile back.

They ate in silence, but it was not uncomfortable. If anything, it was soothing and peaceful. Aki usually finds himself in a low mood and sensitivity in the morning, as though a small sound would fray his nerves. So he preferred silence. It was much better if it was a comfortable silence like this one.

Once they were done, Aki washed their plates while Liam got ready for his class. Liam found Aki lazing on the couch staring blankly into space.

"Do you have work later?" Aki asked. It would not hurt to confirm once more.

"Nope."

Liam bade him goodbye and left. Aki did not move from his spot. Unlike Liam, Aki had no class for today.

"Today will be okay. Everything will be okay." He said over and over, willing himself to believe.