"Thank you." The boy's voice was surprisingly gentle. "I'm waiting for a friend."
"You can schedule your order through the app, or call for service." She did not know what had come over her, but she found the boy very attractive. She discreetly looked over this boy who appeared to be a high school student, trying to find qualities in him that resembled those of her previous boyfriends.
The boy looked up and met her eyes. The atmosphere turned awkward.
"Uh..." The waitress blushed, realizing how rude she had been. At the same time, she found her answer-his eyes.
The boy was not particularly handsome, but his eyes had a power that seemed to pierce straight through people. Deep within that forceful gaze, there was also a faint trace of sorrow. This was why no one disturbed him. His air resembled that of a widow attending a funeral, inspiring pity while making people reluctant to intrude.
"Your eyes look a little melancholy, sir... as though you've seen something sad," she said.
"I am a little sad," the boy said. "Something came up, and my friend couldn't make it. I'm leaving too."
The boy rose and walked toward the exit against the flow of people.
"Sir!" The waitress suddenly called after him, then raised a fist before her chest and gave it a little pump. "Remember the beauty in this world."
"Thank you." The boy left.
A few minutes later.
The waitress was still sighing over the tragic school romance she had imagined when her gaze suddenly froze. In the time it had taken her to clear a few tables, that boy had somehow seated himself on the other side of the café and was being lovey-dovey with a girl about his age, looking every bit a sweet young couple.
She