"This is ridiculous," Austin deadpans as she sits in the 'interrogation chair' in my room. Travis and I invited her and my parents to my room for a harmless interrogation session. It took a lot of convincing to get her to come to my room for her session.

"Just answer the following questions and you can leave. It won't take more than two minutes," I tell her and she folds her arms.

"Go ahead."

"So, Austin, you are aware that your brother's invention has gone missing and we believe that it is because someone who knows about it must have told someone who isn't supposed to know about it," Travis says and Austin rolls her eyes.

"Did you really have to wear that stupid hat?" She jerks her head towards the hat on his head.

"Yes, it makes me feel like a detective."

"Can we just get this over with? I've been sitting here for five minutes and you haven't asked me any questions."

"That brings me to my question. Who have you told about Avan's invention?"

"Nobody."

"Think of the times when it must have slipped. You have to tell us so we can know where to start," I say.

To my surprise, Austin actually thinks for a moment before looking back at me.

"I don't think I've consciously or unconsciously told anyone about your invention. You made it clear that we keep it private."

"Are you sure you haven't told anyone?" Travis probes.

"No."

"And you also haven't told Chris?"

"I only told him you were done with your invention because he asked. And when he asked what it does I told him I had no idea."

"That would be the end of your interrogation. You can leave now. Thank you."

Austin scoffs and struts out of my room while flipping her hair.

Next we interrogate my parents together. I question them about whether they might have felt the urge to brag about me to their braggadocios friends. They both scoff and look at each other before bursting into fits of laughter. Mom assures me that as tempting as it was for them to do so, they didn't. She reckoned that it would be more fulfilling to brag about me when I win the contest.

"Looks like it's Wyndy who's left," Travis says after my parents leave the room.

"Do we call her here or do we go to her?" He asks.

"I'll go to her. She works during the weekend so I don't want her to go through the trouble of coming here just to be interrogated."

"Do you want me to come with you? Cause I feel like you're just going to end up staring at her pretty face instead of questioning her."

"No, you don't have to come with me."

"That reminds me, you haven't told me what happened between you and Wyndy last night. I noticed that you two were getting all lovey-dovey," Travis says, wriggling his brows suggestively.

I smile at the thought of last night and tell him about what a magical night it was and how it is one of the best nights of my life. I tell him about how we talked at length about a lot of things, just laughing and relishing each other's company. How we danced (more like how Wyndy danced with me) and the rush of excitement that accompanied it. Travis listens attentively and with a pleasant smile on his face.

"I'm happy for you, friend. You got to have a meaningful conversation, share a drink and dance with the girl of your dreams all in one night."

I scratch the back of my head sheepishly. I wish I could relive last night so I can see the heart warming smile on her face and the unmistakable sparkle in her eyes when she talked about the things and places she loved. And also how her eyes seemed to dilate when she looked into mine, or maybe I was just seeing things.

"Too bad I'm paying her a visit just to question her. I'm supposed to be going over there to tell her I love her and not make things more awkward between us," I say, putting on my jacket.

"Good luck, friend. I sincerely hope you don't get distracted by her and forget the reason you're going there."

"Come on, dude." I chuckle.

"You know it's the truth."

I shake my head as I put on my shoes and leave for Rick's Café.

* * * * *

I walk into the café and sight Wyndy behind the counter attending to a customer. I walk over when I see the customer leaving the counter and she beams upon seeing me.

"Avan! What a lovely surprise!"

The smile she gives me is so bright that I nearly melt into the ground. "Hi Wyndy," I manage to say.

"You haven't been around here in a while."

"Yeah..." I drawl, unsure of what to say.

When Wyndy started working here a few months ago, I used to visit this café a lot, a lot as in everyday lot. Sometimes I would show up here and order anything I can just so I can sit across the counter and stare at Wyndy as long as I want without being called a freak. Most times I won't even eat or drink what I bought.

Some of Wyndy's colleagues noticed this and brought it to the attention of Rick, who was the owner and the manager. He confronted me about it and told me that it was weird and unmanly to make it a routine to just stare at a girl if I liked her. He suggested that the best thing to do was to approach her and talk to her about my feelings. Wyndy also got to find out about it and I realized how embarrassing it was for your crush to find out you have been stalking her.

To cut the long story short, I stopped visiting Rick's Café because if I wasn't coming here to see Wyndy, then there was no point coming. Their coffee was not exactly my favorite and their pastry though very good, was not good enough to make me want to come here often. And now, here I am, visiting the café once again with a motive.

"Avan?"

Wyndy's voice snaps me back to reality and I am met by her charming eyes, causing me to look away. I make my order and go to sit at an empty table at the far end of the café. I watch enamored as Wyndy prepares my order, so swift and precise in her actions and her little huff whenever her hair gets in the way of her eyes. I almost forget the reason I am here.

I pretend to be busy on my phone as she brings my order to my table. I notice the slice of cake beside my cup of coffee and am about to say something but she beats me to it.

"The cake is a treat from me," she says as she pushes the plate closer to me. "Take a bite, it's delicious."

I do as told and god was she right. It's the best cake I've ever eaten in this café.

"It's delicious, thank you," I say. "Would you like some?"

She chuckles. "Only if you feed it to me."

I look at her to see if she's joking and when I find that she's serious I don't hesitate in feeding her the cake. She smiles as she eats the cake and it's hard to look away when she looks so cute.

"Um, I hope you don't mind my sitting here, I just want to have some company, it's been boring at work all morning. I was so excited when you showed up, it was like an answer to my prayers," she says and I laugh.

"Of course I don't mind, but what about Rick?"

"I'm one of his two favorite employees so I can pretty much do as I please around here." She laughs.

"So, uh....about last night...." I start but trail off when I realize I hadn't prepared what to say in my mind. I just opened my mouth without knowing what to say and good thing I closed it in time before I said something utterly stupid. Wyndy seems amused and just smiles. I mentally chide and facepalm myself.

"What about last night?" She asks and the mischievous glint in her eyes doesn't go unnoticed by me.

"Uh, it was fun, yeah, I had a swell time last night. Chris was right, the party was a whole lotta fun."

Wyndy nods her head. "It was also kind of romantic if you think about it," she adds with a smirk.

"Yeah..."

"Speaking of last night, there was something you wanted to tell me, you know, before Austin showed up."

"Yes, indeed," I say, rubbing my hands together.

Wyndy adjusts in her seat. She probably thinks it's about something serious. "I'm all ears."

"I like you. I really like you, Wyndy Hammers," I confess in a single breath. It feels really good to get this off my chest after so long. I watch her for her reaction, but she doesn't make any.

"I kinda already knew that," she says lightheartedly.

"Oh."

We stare into each other's eyes without saying anything and just let our eyes do the talking. I've noticed that we do this a lot lately but who's complaining.

"Wyndy!" A male voice booms from across the room, causing us to break eye contact and turn around. Rick.

"What the hell do you think you're doing playing around with your friends?"

An amused Wyndy stands up. "I'm sorry Rick, I just wanted to say hi. I was leaving anyway."

Why is she still smiling when she is being scolded by her boss?

When Rick leaves, she turns to me. "Sorry about that, he usually doesn't mind when I hang out with my friends at work. I think it's probably because he's in a bad mood," she explains.

"It's fine, you should get back to work," I tell her.

"Oh no, your coffee must be cold now. I'll get you another cup."

"No, you don't have to, I'm leaving anyway."

"What? You're leaving already?"

"Yeah, got a lot of work to do."

I can tell that she knows I'm lying but doesn't say anything. I bring out my wallet to pay her but she stops me and tells me the coffee and cake are on the house since I was visiting the café after a long time. I protest but when she insists and slightly shoves me towards the door, I'm left with no choice but to accept it and thank her. She waves me goodbye as I leave and I notice Rick glaring at us from the corner of my eye. What's with him?

* * * * *

"He probably has feelings for Wyndy and sees you as competition since you are much younger and probably more good looking," Travis tells me when I narrate what happened at the café to him.

"Very much more good looking," I say. "Have you seen the guy?"

"And I think Wyndy has feelings for you too. I mean, she came to sit at your table just to enjoy your company and lied about being bored."

"What makes you think she lied about being bored?" I can't help but ask.

"Don't you see it? She just wanted to spend time with you without making it obvious."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It makes perfect sense. Man, I thought you were a genius, you know nothing about these things."

"Can't argue with you on that."

"She also mentioned how romantic last night was. This means she likes you in a romantic way but is being subtle about it."

I shake my head. Could Travis be right? Does Wyndy really have feelings for me? The signs are there, but could it be that I'm miscontruing them because I want to believe that she likes me too?

"I'm proud of you, friend. You finally confessed your feelings to Wyndy. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Not one bit, in fact, it felt satisfying."

"So did she tell anyone about your invention?"

My eyes widen in realization. Oh no. I completely forgot to question her. Travis gives me a look similar to one your mom would give you if you were being naughty.

"I knew you would forget your purpose of going there the moment you saw Wyndy."

"I didn't forget it the moment I saw her, it was the moment she came over to my table. Her presence made me forget everything else except her."

Travis rubs his palm across his face. "You are totally lovestruck, my friend."

"Do I go back to the café?"

"No need."

"So do I text her about it?"

"We can just ask her on Monday. Asking her in person would be more effective."

I sigh and go over to my workshop area, brushing my hand across the space where my invention used to be. Travis rubs my shoulders empathetically and I offer a faint smile in return. So this is what heartbreak feels like.

This is sure going to be a long weekend without my invention.