02: THE MAN WITH GREEN EYES

KEISHA

I furrowed my brow due to Mama's false accusation. How could I get pregnant?

"Mom, how can Keisha get pregnant when she hasn't even kissed anyone!" I glanced at my brother Keifer when he said that, always the teasing type.

"It's because you, Keifer, always timing! I saw you and Kevin in my room watching something rated R!" Both of their eyes widened at what I said. They're only scared of Mama.

"Both of you, I'm just saying if you get someone pregnant, you better take responsibility! Oh, Kevin and Keifer, you better change. I just realized what you said wasn't about Keisha getting pregnant because she knows nothing and is too innocent about these things!" I grabbed the food with a huff at what Mama said, they're always teasing!

"Do you really need to know about that, and I'm still young and those things aren't even on my mind!"

"Well, you should know about it somehow and be aware of our world! Don't tell me, Keisha, that you have no intention of getting married and becoming a nun." I sighed at what my brother said. I never accepted any suitors because I wasn't ready.

"Brother, becoming a nun right away? Can't you guys not force me into that, I mean if I bring a man home—"

"KEISHA!" I stopped eating because of their simultaneous yell. You see, I said I'll bring home a man, and they're angry even though they're the ones pushing me to settle down. That's why I don't want to enter into a relationship yet because I'll miss them, and I'm sure I'll lose time with them.

I rested a bit at home before going to work. I grabbed my laptop upstairs because aside from running my coffee shop business, I also sideline as an online seller. And besides, it's a hit with millennials.

"What time is your shift, Keisha?"

"I'm leaving now, just checking my business online."

"Don't tire yourself out with work, dear. Here, take this to work and eat it there." I smiled at Mama's words. We often cook lunch together because she knows we rarely eat out since we're used to her cooking.

"Thank you, Mom, I'll go ahead." I kissed Mama's cheek and bowed before leaving the house. I just rented a taxi because we're not rich enough to have our own car.

"Here's the stop. Keep the change." When I arrived at my shop, there were already many people inside, and my employees were obviously busy. Not to brag, but my business has been recognized because people keep coming back. We serve our customers equally; there's no special treatment for people we know.

"Good Morning, Ma'am Keisha."

"Morning," I greeted back to the people who greeted me as I went straight to my office to attend to what needed to be done. I have a lot of other businesses to take care of. I sighed heavily after finishing analyzing my earnings for the month. My shop's selling rate rose, so we added more flavors and products for additional profits. I heard three knocks that caught my attention from my laptop as I had a delivery to arrange later.

"Come in," one of my employees, Ella, entered. She's one of the trusted workers because she's been with me for a long time, and I really know her well.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It's okay. Is there something wrong or do you need something?"

"Uh, ma'am, I wanted to ask for permission because my son Butchok was rushed to the hospital, they said it's dengue."

I let out a deep sigh. Why is dengue so common now? It's scary because of the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy; it might bring more harm than good.

"I understand, Ella. It's really tough having a sick child. Just tell me if you need money, and I'll take care of your bills."

"Oh no, ma'am, thank you, but I've already received more than enough advance pay from you. Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome, Ella. Go ahead, you can leave to check on your child. Tell Butchok I said hi and to get well soon, and I'll give him a gift."

"I'll let him know!" I quickly closed my laptop and left my office. Ella is a waitress, so I had to replace her as there was a surge of customers.

"Ma'am, we got this. You can go back inside. You look pale," I noticed that about myself before leaving the house. They were right; I did look pale when I caught my reflection in the kitchen mirror. Maybe it's because I just recovered from an illness. I took my place at the cashier's, holding the lunch box filled with cookies that my mom packed for me. It was perfect for a quick snack. Customers flooded in today because we have a promo as a thank you to our regulars.

I grabbed another piece of cookie and took a bite just as my coffee shop's door opened. It drew the attention of the five blessedly handsome men. Little did I know that they were all exceptionally good-looking. And I wasn't the only one who could attest to that; most of the customers and even my workers shifted their attention to them. Their pleasant scent filled the air, and they were laughing together, captivating everyone's attention, seemingly unaware or perhaps accustomed to the attention. I felt a bit embarrassed and wiped the corner of my lips; I must have looked messy while eating. The laughter of the five men continued, and everyone's attention was still on them; it seemed they didn't know or maybe they're just used to the attention. I turned away, feeling a bit awkward, but because I was close to them, I could still hear their conversation.

"Fvck, I had a great threesome last night! The twins were so fvcking wild in bed!"

"Hey, be careful with threesomes; the girl might have a disease!"

"I know when a girl is clean or not; I don't fvck a prostitute, dude, and I am clean, you idiot!"

I cringed at their conversation. What else would you expect from handsome men like them? Just like my brothers, they're players! They don't even think about how us women feel; they're just all about their own pleasure! Men like Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara are rare nowadays.

"You must have had a threesome, Colten; it's great!"

"I already did, and it was really great. But it's hard to find a tight one."

I wanted to cover my ears; their conversation was becoming too vulgar for my liking. It seemed like they had nothing else to talk about. God, what an asshole; they're all the same, just chasing after us women. Just as I was about to serve them, thank goodness they stopped talking about what happened last night and shifted the conversation to business.

"May I get your orders, sirs?" I let out a sigh of relief as finally, they stopped talking about what happened last night, and it seemed like the conversation was diverted because they were already talking about business.

"Two orders of frappuccino and three orders of caramel macchiato," I became busy attending to my customers since we were short-staffed and there was a surge of customers.

"Ma'am, can you please deliver these to those five handsome men? I need to be inside," one of my employees asked.

"Sure," I accepted the tray she handed me, let out a deep sigh before slowly approaching the table of the handsome, arrogant men.

"Here's your orders, sirs," I slowly placed their orders on the table. As I was doing so, I raised an eyebrow when the man in front of me with hazel brown eyes suddenly choked.

"You okay, bro?" I raised an eyebrow at his reaction. As I was about to place the last frappuccino, my nose suddenly itched because of the strong cologne he was wearing, which I didn't like. So, I ended up sneezing. I turned my head to the left, thinking I was safe, but I sneezed on a dark figure.

His irritation was evident as my saliva splattered across his face. Because we were so close to each other, I became even more annoyed; it felt like my stomach was about to flip, and I couldn't help but run to the bathroom, feeling sick from the sight of the man with green eyes.

"Ohhh great, you're so stupid, Keisha!"

"FVCK THIS!" I couldn't help but panic as we were both inside my office. I had no choice but to bring him in, and it turns out this guy was scandalous; it seemed like he wanted to strangle me.

"I-I'm really sorry; I just didn't like your smell."

"What the fvck! Do you mean I stink? Do you know that I even bought my perfume in Italy! It's the most expensive perfume!" I rolled my eyes at his statement; I didn't even ask where he bought his perfume, which was so strong! He was in the bathroom, and I was waiting for him to change. I just gave him a shirt, the uniform of my coffee shop.

The bathroom door opened while I was organizing my thick transaction papers, almost like a ledger, and they were really heavy.

"I need my suit right now." Due to surprise, I turned to face him, feeling his presence so close behind me. It was a mistake to turn around because our noses almost touched.

"OUCHHH FVCK!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to," I panicked because my foot accidentally knocked over my recording equipment, which was on the floor, and I knew it would hurt because it was as thick as the face of the man in front of him. He took off his shoes, and his foot was red.

"YOU! YOU'RE MAKING ME HOT-----OHHH FVCK, YOU ARE SO STUPID!" When I turned to him, he was sitting on the floor, holding his plump cushioned seat. Oh, I remember now, I pulled the chair; I was about to sit on it because my kit was high up, so I was going to use it for support. I was about to help him, but he left my office, seemingly unaware of what to hold onto, his seat or his red, throbbing foot.

I winced as he struggled to walk, greeted by his friends with grins on their faces, trying to hold back their laughter.

"Let's go!" He was about to turn away, but he faced me again. "Ohh by the way, I'm going to have your coffee shop closed; it's just bad luck anyway!" Nyenyenyenye, I don't know about this guy; he's so rude.

"OHHH FVCK THIS COFFEE SHOP!" I burst into laughter again, did he not see the 'CAUTION WET FLOOR' sign?

"Ohhh by the way, Mr. BAD LUCK, karma is a bitch! Look around sometimes, maybe you'll slip again!"