Lucas got home that day and bounced in his bed in excitement. He didn't expect Devon to give him such a response. He felt so thrilled, his blood boiling.
"He didn't say yes yet, but I'm this excited," he said as he grabbed his pillow and hugged it. "What will I do if he does say yes?" His face blushed red.
He really liked Devon. And because of that, his heart often skipped.
But today, he made quite the mistake by breaking the number one and most important rule.
"Let's try not to break any rules from now on." He told himself and lay back on the bed.
He sighed.
His heart kept thumping in excitement. How was he going to sleep?
"I'll probably stay awake all night," he said, laughing to himself, but not more than 30 minutes later, he was fast asleep and snoring loudly.
Contrary to his thoughts, it was pretty easy to fall asleep, but he woke up early because of the nightmare that kept haunting him in his sleep.
He sat up on his bed, his hand through his hair and under his eyes dark from exhaustion.
He had no idea why he was having those nightmares or what to do to stop them. They were messing with his mental health.
As Lucas wiped the tables of the empty cafe, he couldn't help but think about Devon, once again. His words rang in his ears as he paused his cleaning, smiling secretly to himself.
Just thinking about Devon washed away the exhaustion he got from his nightmare.
He had never fallen so deeply in love with someone before; even if he did, he always ended up getting heartbroken.
Devon walked out of the employee's door and looked around the empty shop. It was never this empty before. And then, his eyes fell on Lucas, who was in a corner wiping the table.
He saw how excited he looked and decided to scare him a bit.
He walked up to Lucas from behind with his quiet steps and said,
"I had no idea the cafe would be so empty."
Lucas flinched on hearing Devon's voice right behind him and turned around.
"B-boss," he called, smiling awkwardly, his heart racing incredibly from the shock.
"Good morning," Devon said and inched closer, closing the gap between them and teasing Lucas. "How was your night?"
"It... It was fine." Lucas said, avoiding his eyes as this situation felt too awkward, and Devon was so close.
Devon placed his hands on the table, trapping Lucas in place.
"How's your hand?" He asked.
"Well," he looked down. "It's also fine. It... It doesn't hurt anymore and... Thank you for forgiving me yesterday."
"You should say it to my face if you're grateful." Lucas said with a smile spread across his face.
Lucas's heart was pounding. It wasn't so easy.
"T-thank you, boss." He said, squirming his hands. "For not punishing me."
"Oh?" Devon suddenly leaned in and asked, "Are you sure? Because it looked like you were looking forward to getting punished."
Lucas's heart raced. Why was his boss teasing him so early in the morning? His heart couldn't take it.
Devon smiled and moved back, taking his hands off the table, and said,
"The cafe hasn't been this empty in a while." He said, switching topics right away, and Lucas sighed in relief. "Maybe I should release you home early?"
Lucas's eyes widened.
Release him home early?
"No, don't! I'd go home at the normal time, boss, that's what employees are meant to do, right?" Lucas said as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
Lucas had no idea why Devon was behaving so casually with him or teasing him too; he thought they finally had something between them, but maybe not. Or was this how he was generally?
Just maybe, he was hallucinating.
*Flick*
"Can you stop spacing out on me?" Devon said as Lucas rubbed his forehead. Even if he spaced out, it didn't take that long for Devon to stand up from the chair and have the chance to flick his forehead.
"Uhm, I'm sorry," Lucas was quick to apologize.
"Well, I would hate to let my favorite employee go home so early, but if things go this slowly for the rest of the day, you'll have to leave early as well." He said
"Oh…okay boss," Lucas said as Devon nodded, his eyes trailed quickly to Lucas's neck before he looked away and took a step back.
As much as Lucas didn't want to leave, he couldn't help it because throughout the day, they ended up having only three customers.
As he walked through the streets, he watched a lot of people walking and conversing in pairs. It was still bright.
This had to be the first time he was returning home this early. What was he going to do when he got home?
"Should I have been a little more insistent?" Lucas asked himself but shook his head.
It was best to listen to Devon and not get him mad. He still had a shot to shoot, after all.
Lucas got to his little apartment and opened the door, only to discover the television was on.
"Huh? Didn't I turn that off before leaving?" Lucas asked himself as he threw his sling bag on the couch and went to put it on.
He stood up right, taking a look at the TV he had just turned off. His eyes squinted as he recalled he didn't even turn on his TV that day, so why was it switched on?
"Did someone break in?"
He picked up a stick and began searching the entire house, but he did not find anyone, thankfully. So, maybe it was just his blunder, and he did not remember.
Lucas groaned as he stepped out of the shower. He wasn't that hungry, so he decided to go to bed. He changed into his pyjamas, and it didn't take long before he finally dozed off.
A few hours later, his whole body was covered in sweat as he tossed and turned around the bed.
"Where am I?" He asked as his eyes finally snapped open…he couldn't even believe anything right now because he was in his room a few minutes ago, and now he suddenly appeared here.
"Where do you think you are, boy?" he heard a voice, and out of the shadows revealed a hooded figure.
"Who... who are you and what do you want from me?"