Night Cafe: CEO's Secret Love

'This is Silver Fox Jr.? But his dad is so… suave, so confident. How come he is so… not confident?'

While Jade was thinking, the young man's embarrassed expression deepened. It seemed he had taken her surprised 'eh?' to mean that she had not heard him again.

"Ahem… Pleased to meet you. I'm Patrick. My father spoke to you yesterday about a position hear." After adopting stiffer, more formal language, Patrick spoke much more clearly, but he still did not look all that comfortable.

"Ah, so it's Patrick. I can see that you're your father's son. Do you have an older brother? Your father mentioned that he had a son going to college soon."

"That would be me; I'm an only child."

"Oh… So, you must have skipped some years, right?"

"No, I was actually held back a few years due to illness. I'm twenty years old."

"…" It was Jade's turn to be embarrassed. 'How can you look so young? And to be twenty but still have issues speaking… Well, at least he inherited his father's good looks.'

"Well… at least you're going. I'm ashamed to say that I'm a college dropout."

The two chatted a while longer about themselves. Jade discovered that Patrick wanted to study marine biology, but he did not know what he wanted to do after that. While his father wanted him to join his accountancy firm, Patrick was not so keen on the idea.

While the spoke, Jade thought to herself, 'I wasn't sure at first, but he truly is his father's son. Although he's shy and soft-spoken, he's polite, smart, and most of all, attentive. After a week or two, he'll hopefully come out of his shell, and maybe then he'll open up.'

Ting ding!

"Ah, some customers. Stand to the side and watch how I deal with them."

Jade greeted the two customers with a smile and took their orders. After they found their seats, she showed Patrick the coffee machines. "They only ordered simple drinks, so would you like a go at making one?"

Seeing the panicked expression on Patrick's face, Jade hurriedly added, "Don't worry, I'll talk you through it all."

Patrick followed Jade's instructions perfectly and made the drink without a hitch.

"See? It's simple really. These machines are designed so that even the dumbest people can use them, so you'll be fine." Jade paused for a moment and then said, "I'll just take these drinks over to the customers. I won't be a moment."

After placing the drinks on the customers' table and checking that there was nothing else, Jade returned to the counter and asked, "So, what do you think? You seem like a smart young man, and your dad is a regular, so I see no reason not to hire you. I'll need you from next Saturday onward, but we can work to fit your shifts to your schedule."

Patrick was taken aback slightly. He had not expected Jade to offer him the job so straightforwardly; he had expected at least a trial period. With a smile, he nodded. "That sounds very good, thank you. Shall I leave you my contact details?"