Ben's Pov

I don't want you to take my word for it, but I want to tell you honestly that yesterday, I met a girl who caught my attention. Her name is Elizabeth. She claims to be called Lizzie. She is very beautiful with her beautiful thin lips.

When I visited the coffee shop after returning home to fix someone's broken car, I intended to enjoy a cup of coffee, which seemed to be very able to calm my tired mind, especially with the cold and cloudy weather. It was very fitting to enjoy the warmth of a cup of coffee. That's when I met Lizzie.

Lizzie has managed to captivate me since our first meeting. And I've managed to chat with her. She's funny and fun. She's sweet, and I like her. I liked how she was struggling with her notebook. I was eager to continue chatting with her before she accidentally nudged the coffee cup, and it fell to the floor in pieces. That incident made her freak out.

This is what confused me. Lizzie cried just because of that little mistake. Even though she did it accidentally. I don't understand what's wrong with her yet. And because she has attracted me and my curiosity is aroused towards her, I intend to meet and talk to her more often.

Then, the next day, at the same time, I went to Oliver's shop again. I didn't lie, my goal was to see Lizzie, hoping that she would be there again, on the bench she was sitting on yesterday.

I didn't want my actions to be too obvious, so I brought the pen that Lizzie had used yesterday to write. No, I didn't steal it. I found her pen under the table just before I went home yesterday. I took it and put it away because Lizzie and her dad had already left the car. At first, I intended to give it to Oliver—the shop owner, but I decided against it. Let me just give it to her as an excuse so that I can meet and talk to her again.

Because to be honest, yesterday I still didn't feel satisfied chatting with Lizzie. I'm still curious and want to get to know her better and know a lot about her life.

Especially with one fact that I just found out about Lizzie, namely that she walks with the help of crutches. I was shocked, and this fact surprised me.

I've never had such a passionate curiosity about a girl. But when I first met Lizzie, I felt something was in her that made me want to find out immediately.

However, when I returned to Oliver's shop, I was disappointed that Lizzie wasn't there. There are three possibilities. The first is that she's not here today. And in the second, she had gone home because she came early, and in the last, she hadn't come yet. And reflecting on the three possibilities, I'm most hopeful about the last one. I hope she hasn't come yet. And I didn't just give up, I went to Oliver, who was busy making orders behind the counter.

Today was not like yesterday. Oliver looked quite busy because there were quite a lot of customers coming to his shop.

"You again." Oliver noticed my presence.

I smiled slightly, my hand waving slightly. "Hi!"

"What do you want, Ben?" Oliver asked as he grabbed two donuts to put on a plate, then he moved away before I could answer.

Oliver works alone. He doesn't have any servants to help him run the shop. And during peak hours like this, he seemed to be struggling on his own. I felt quite sorry for him.

After Oliver returned, I quickly mentioned my order. "I'd like some coffee."

"What kind of coffee?"

"Like yesterday," I replied, which seemed to make Oliver dislike my words. His face looked so annoyed.

Oliver breathes a long. His voice sounded loud. I didn't know what was going on before he told me why. "Look, you're not my only customer here. I've been so busy this morning. I can't remember what you ordered yesterday. Add to that the fact that I'm old enough that my memory isn't as sharp as it was when I was young. So, do you understand?"

I almost laughed. His remark was funny, but sounded reasonable. I shook my head. "You know what? The fact that you scold your customers without fear is something to be applauded. Because of what? Because you don't seem to care about losing money from them. Why would you do that? Aren't you afraid of your customers running away?"

"Well, I'm telling the truth. And my words match what happened. You can leave if you don't like my service. This is how I am. I still make money from others. You're not the only customer. I don't want to deal with unimportant things like this. Life shouldn't be a hassle."

I smiled slightly. "Okay. What you said does make sense."

"No one can argue with that," Oliver said. "And another thing, you're not a regular here, you don't come here every day, so I don't know what you usually order."

"I know. But you do remember me being here yesterday, right?"

"I remember you, it's just that I don't remember what you ordered here yesterday."

"One cappuccino coffee. That's what I ordered," I quickly replied.

"And you want that again?"

"Yes, please."

Oliver didn't respond. He just moved right away to make my order. While I looked around me until my gaze fell on the muffin near me. I suddenly wanted one and grabbed one.

While waiting for my coffee to be ready, I took a bite of the chocolate muffin that I didn't expect to taste so good. I could finish it. And my mouth was full as soon as a cup of cappuccino was served to me by Oliver.

I smiled at him. "Thanks."

"You're such a child, the way you eat as if you've never had a muffin in your life."

"What?" I blinked my eyes.

"Your mouth is dirty. Are you always like this? A mess every time you eat something?" Oliver shook his head at me, then he brought a tissue closer to me.

I grimaced softly after I realized my mouth was smeared. "Thanks, I just didn't expect your muffin to be so good."

"You can finish it."

"For free?" My eyes lit up. I already felt happiness rush into my soul.

"As long as you're ready for me to fry you after this," Oliver said as he walked away from me. I fell silent while holding back my embarrassment.

I pulled up a chair. Then I started to take another muffin. I cut it and lightly dipped it into my cappuccino. And it tasted so much better that I closed my eyes and shook my head.

Oliver came back again, this time with the dirty dishes. He placed them in the laundry tub, before finally grabbing a napkin to clean the slightly dirty counter. That's when I realized that I had time to ask questions and engage him in conversation.

"Oliver." I called out to him with my mouth still full of chocolate muffins.

"I'm here," he said without looking at me.

I chewed and swallowed the muffin first before focusing on talking to the shop owner.

Oliver then looked up because he didn't get any further explanation for why I called him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Wait a minute!" I raised one hand. I then took a sip of my cappuccino coffee. Only then did I say that. "Look, I want to ask you about Lizzie."

"You're interested in her. You have a crush on her. That's why you're here again. She brought you to me."

"What?" I gaped. Oliver surprised me with his words. I didn't expect him to say that. I even blinked my eyes.

Oliver said too bluntly, he threw out sentences that came to his mind just like that. I was even momentarily at a loss for what to say.

"You..." I stammered. I swallowed my saliva. Damn it, I didn't know what to say.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Oliver asked as he looked at me sharply.

I stared into the old man's eyes for a long time while trying to find the right answer—one that wouldn't hurt and embarrass myself. My mouth twitched, words didn't want to come out of my lips, and my tongue suddenly felt numb and so stiff.

"Oliver, I need sugar!" A customer said it from somewhere behind me.

"I'm coming," Oliver said. And before he left with a container of sugar to give to his customer, he smiled mysteriously at me.

What's wrong with him?

And why did Oliver ask me a question that surprised me so much?

But wait a minute, how did he know that I was interested in Lizzie? Are my actions too obvious? But how could Oliver realize it? Is he a psychic who can read my mind? Oh shit, that's impossible!

What made Oliver become like this? I mean, he's been acting pretty weird. I don't really recognize him. I don't go here very often either. But I think his demeanor has been a bit strange since earlier. He's a little sensitive, unlike yesterday. Is it because he is busy that he is tired? Or because yesterday there was Lizzie, who made his attitude soft? But I don't think so.

The point is, since earlier, Oliver's attitude towards me was quite hard and unfriendly. He said it to me in an annoyed tone and with a lot of emphasis.

"So, I was right, huh?" Oliver had returned and surprised me with his words again.

Gosh, this old man had suddenly become a cause.

"I don't want to answer, and you have no right to know. What's the point of you asking me that? And why are you inferring things you don't actually know?"

"So you refuse to answer?"

"That's right." I lifted my chin to give the impression that I wasn't afraid of him.  

"I assume your answer is yes."

"Oliver, you're just guessing, that's not true."

"So, why do you want to ask me about Lizzie? What is it besides the fact that you're interested in her?"

I was indeed interested in Lizzie and wanted to find out more things about her life, but I wouldn't give Oliver a chance to know about this. I won't tell him the facts about how I really feel. Let this be my own business and secret. Who is he? He can't pry information from me.

"It's none of your business, Oliver."

"Then I won't answer any questions you ask about Lizzie."  

"Wait... I'm a little confused! You want me to actually say that I have a crush on Lizzie if I'm going to ask you about her? You're joking, right?"

Oliver just looked at me while wearing a serious look.

That's when I realized that he was serious.

I was gaping. "Holy shit!"