"Hey, can you send this over to the little lady by the window?" One of the baristas asked me and pointed.

I followed their finger and spotted the same little girl from the day before, sitting at that same table by the window.

I hadn't seen her walk-in, or I would have stopped by and said hello.

"Yes. No problem." I told him, carrying the tray with a cup of green tea and a glazed donut on the side.

She didn't have her homework laid out in front of her today, and she appeared to be skateboard less too. She did have her sketchpad, though.

"Hey there!" I chirped. "It's good to see you again."

She lifted her head, giving me a toothy grin, showcasing those dimples. If she had siblings, they must be as adorable as she is.

"Hi Mia!" she said excitedly.

I placed the tray on the table as she moved her sketch pad over to make room. I slid the green tea in front of her along with the donut.

My eyebrows furrowed. "I don't remember telling you my name," I said to her.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but then she looked at my shirt and silently pointed to it with her pencil.

My eyes followed her gaze. Name tag. I palmed my forehead.

"I'm so stupid, of course. My name is right there." I thumbed my name tag. "But still, let me formally introduce myself." I stuck my hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Mia, and you are?"

She shook my hand. "I'm Ella." She squinted her eyes at me, searching for something in mine.

"Umm..." I began, but then her eyes softened as she slumped down into her chair. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was disappointed, but I didn't know why. "So, what are you working on today?" I asked, bypassing that slightly odd exchange we just shared.

She slid her sketchbook over to me before taking a cautious sip of her tea.

This place looked familiar. But it wasn't somewhere I'd been physically, but maybe I've glimpsed it on TV or in pictures. It was a field of Tulips. Everything was in black and white at the moment, but her attention to detail brought it all to life without colors. She had drawn it so well that it would be solid competition against an actual black and white photo. This kid has some serious talent.

"Wow," I said under my breath in amazement.

Ella cleared her throat. "Thanks. I think I'm almost done with it." She tilted her head to look at it from my angle. "Yup. Just a few more additions."

I shook my head in astonishment. "I think I would rather suck at math if it meant that I could have a talent like this." I doubled-tapped her sketchpad with my pointer finger.

Ella giggled. "I don't know. Math is pretty handy. Maybe even handier than drawing." She sighed, biting her bottom lip.

"But drawings, art in general, makes you feel something. It teleports you to different places and moments in time. Trust me, I'd take those experiences overmastering calculus any day," I told her. I didn't want her to believe that her talent had no value. Her talent was a gift.

Her lips curved up into a beautiful smile, then they slowly parted to show those pearly whites. "Thank you," she paused. "Hey, your shift is almost over, right?"

I nodded.

"Do you think we could chat for a little?" Her cinnamon eyes sparkled. "I mean, you don't have to..." She shook her head rapidly, forcing her dark locks to follow the movement. "But I thought it would be nice to have some company until my dad comes to pick me up." Her eyes flickered back and forth from me to her green tea. Then she began to twirl the mug in her hands nervously.

"Of course. I would love to," I said without hesitation. Who knew what she wanted to talk about, but I didn't care. I just knew for a fact that I wouldn't mind spending some time with her.

Ella looked like she wanted to jump out of her chair and hug me, but instead, she clapped her hands together. "YAY!"

Adorable.

"When I clock out, I'll grab a snack and join you. Okay?"

Ella took a quick bite of her donut and nodded eagerly.

"Cool." I winked, walking off.

Thirty minutes later, I was officially off the clock and sent a quick text to Grey asking him if he could pick me up in an hour instead of right now. When he said, "no problem," I grabbed a cherry cheese Danish and made myself a small cup of coffee. I would have paid for them, but he told me it was on the house when Robbie saw me at the register. Boss. Ever.

I thanked him multiple times, and he just smiled before heading back to his office.

When I made it back to Ella, she was laser-focused on her sketchpad again. She hadn't noticed me until I began to pull out the empty chair across from her.

"Oh hi," she mumbled in surprise.

Ella hesitantly put her sketchpad off to the side, stuffing her pencil within the pages to hold her spot.

I shook my head, sliding onto the chair. "You don't have to stop on my account. You can draw, and we can still talk at the same time."

"Really?" She sighed with relief and picked up her sketchpad again. "It drives my parents crazy when I'm drawing, and they're trying to talk to me. They think I'm not fully listening, and they always ask for my undivided attention." She pouted.

"It's fine. Continue." I encouraged her, picking up my Danish. "I'll watch."

The corner of her mouth tipped up. "Okay."

Within the time it took me to stuff my face and gulp down my coffee, her masterpiece had been completed.

"Finished," Ella announced confidently. She held it up for me to see.

Speechless, I couldn't use any words to describe how beautiful her drawing was. "I love it," I told her.

Ella beamed with pride. "Thank you." She put the sketchpad down, closing it. "I haven't been drawing landscapes or anything like this for long. I just started. I figure I needed to branch out a bit and see how well I could do. So far, I think I've been killing it. And judging by the reaction you gave me, I'm right."

I admired her confidence.

I laughed softly. "Definitely," I said with a firm nod. "So Ella," She lifted a brow, and I took that as a sign that she was listening. "What else do you do when you're not drawing, skateboarding, and or procrastinating on your homework?

A small smile graced her lips. "Well, I got this terrible habit from my dad where I always feel the need to keep myself busy, so my list of hobbies and interests are all over the place. I wouldn't know where to begin." She shrugged a shoulder.

I rested my elbows on the table. "It's fine. We have time."

Ella immediately launched into a conversation about her favorite TV shows, which were the inspirations behind some of her favorite things to draw. All her American favorites were mine, too, like the Flash, Marvel Agent's of shield, and Once upon a time. But she surprised me when she mentioned that she had a few Asian favorites as well.

"So Legend of the Blue sea is about this gorgeous mermaid with super cool powers played by Jun Ji-Hyun, who was honestly one of my favorite actresses, next to Park Bo-young. OHMYGOSH! Don't even get me started on Park Bo-young. But anyway." She flitted her hands in the air. "It's about a mermaid who falls for this con artist and turns out they're like reincarnated soul mates. They had a tragic ending in the past, so they never got a happily ever after. So this is like their re-do. Then there's all this family drama from his side and killer on the loose. It's a great show."

Ella held up her pointer finger as soon as she remembered that she forgot to add something. "Also, the male lead, Lee Min Ho, looked so handsome in this show," she sighed, looking off into the distance.

I quirked a brow, waiting for her to come back down from the clouds.

"Okay, okay, so he might be one of my celebrity crushes, but if you saw him, you would understand why."

I smirked. "One of your celebrity crushes?"

"Yes. A girl needs to have her options." She dramatically flipped her hair. "Plus, there's a lot of eye candy out there. How can I just stick to crushing on one guy? I mean, it's not like I'm hurting anyone."

I shook my head, laughing under my breath.

"Who's your celebrity crush?" she asked.

I thought about it, only to realize that I was in the same predicament as her.

"Well." I bit my bottom lip then released it. "So there might be more than one."

It was her turn to quirk a brow. She was looking awfully amused right now too. With her hand, Ella gestured for me to continue.

"Alright, so there's Sam and Dean Winchester, Oliver Queen, and Barry Allen. But if I had to pick one out of the four to spend the rest of my life with..." I spent a few seconds giving it some serious thought. "It would probably be Barry Allen. I would give you an explanation, but it'll take me all night."

Ella chuckled. "The flash is pretty cute," she agreed. "Then again, I'm biased because he's my favorite superhero."

I agreed. "Mine too."

"Now, back to the K-dramas. Do you think you'd be interested in trying one of them? I mean, I know a lot of people get annoyed with reading subs all the time. It's easy for me to watch them because I'm fluent in Korean, but..."

I gasped. "Wait, what?" I blurted out. "You speak Korean?"

"And Japanese," she added casually as if knowing one foreign language wasn't impressive enough.

My jaw dropped.

"The thing is..." She went on to tell me that she used to live in South Korea with her father and her grandparents, who are actually her dad's godparents. They adopted him when his birth parents died in a car accident as a child.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your mom?" I figured since we were on the topic of family that I'd ask. She hadn't mentioned her yet. She mostly talked about her dad and grandparents.

Ella bit her lip, something I often did when I wasn't sure of what to say, or I don't want to say anything. But she spoke up anyway. "She and my dad split up before I was born. Then they got back together a few years ago. She's been a part of my life ever since."

I nodded. "Do you have any siblings? I can't imagine your parents not wanting to make more of you." My eyes started to gaze upon all her unique features. "You're so beautiful."

Ella looked away from me, focusing on her hands resting in her lap. "Th-thank you," she said ever so softly. "And um... as for siblings. I-I-I..." She took a deep breath. "I have a sister. She's a few years older than I am, but we don't talk much. We're not super close or anything." She frowned.

I felt my heartache for her. "Her loss," I told her honestly.

She gave me a sad smile with a slight nod.

Okay, next topic. "I feel like I've gotten to know a lot about you, but I haven't told you much about myself." I leaned back in the chair. "To be honest, I'm kind of boring. So you probably don't want to hear my life story." I shrugged.

"Nope! Uh-huh. Tell me everything."

I started with the basics, age, birthday, hometown, etc. I told Ella about my dad and how my parents divorced a while back. I told her about the few hobbies I had, including watching TV, reading, playing video games with my dad. I used to do ballet too up until my mom left. This means about six years of dance classes went down the drain. Then there was this brief time that I was into soccer, but I stopped playing a sophomore year of High school to focus on the debate team and making sure I got good enough grades to get into whatever college I wanted. And, of course, Grey was mentioned now and then.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Ella asked out of the blue.

I felt my cheeks heating up from the simple question, maybe because Grey's smiling face popped into my head and those blue eyes.

"So I'm taking that as a yes?" Ella guessed. "You literally dazed out as soon as I mentioned him. Wow. You must be in love." She waggled her eyebrows and shimmied her shoulders.

This was one of those moments where if I were drinking coffee, I would have spat it out and ended up in a coughing fit.

I shook my head. "No, no. I don't... I mean... I've known him my whole life..." And I do love him but am I in love with him?

Ella crossed her arms. The look on her face was daring me to deny it.

"Listen, we just started dating," I began.

She interrupted me. "What's his name?"

"Um... well... you see... SO he's actuallymybestfriendGreyson," I blurted out in one breath.

Ella gasped loudly. Placing a hand over her heart, she leaned away from me. "You two have known each other practically your whole lives."

"Doesn't matter! It's too soon to throw the L-word out there!" I whined.

"There's no time limit for these things. If you feel it, say it. He'd be crazy not to feel the same," she huffed.

I was experiencing that feeling you get when you realize a 12-year-old was far wiser than you. She may be correct, but still.

My thoughts trailed off, but it didn't last long because the minute I heard what sounded like a motorcycle out front, my head instantly whipped around to look outside the window.

Speak of the devil, I was right. Greyson had just pulled up.

He turned off the bike, slipping off his helmet. In my mind, it was like someone had clicked the slow-motion button, and I swear I was watching his biceps and back muscles flex as he took off the helmet and then run his fingers through his hair. Oh boy.

Grey pulled out his phone, and my pocket vibrated a second later.

"OHMYGOSH! IS THAT HIM!" Ella shouted and pointed.

"Yup, that's Grey." My lips curved up into a grin.

"EEPPP!" She squealed. "He's so cute, and he rides a motorcycle!" She shook her head. "Does he always pick you up from work? Awe!! That's so sweet." She gave me the puppy dog eyes.

"Sometimes, I drive myself or walk, but Grey also liked to pick me and or drop me off. We don't live far from here."

Ella focused shifted from Greyson and then back to me. She stared at me blankly, blinking a few times. "Did you just say 'we'?" she asked carefully.

I smirked. She doesn't miss a thing. "Yes, I did. We live together. That's another part of my story. I'll have to tell you about some other time." I winked, making a move to get up.

Ella's eyebrows scrunched together, "You really want to talk to me again?" she asked skeptically.

"Of course. I liked spending time with you, and I'd love to do it again." Her eyebrows knitted together, making little crinkles in the middle of her forehead. "Is that alright?"

Her face softened. She opened her mouth, but no words came out, so she just nodded instead.

"Awesome!" I replied with a grin.

"Mia." Ella stood abruptly. Opening her sketchbook, she ripped out a page and rolled it up before handing it to me. "Here, since you like it so much. You can have it." She smiled up at me.

My grin grew even wider. "I don't like it. I love it. Thank you." I covered my heart with one hand so she could understand how much this meant to me.

I extended an arm to hug her. She visibly stiffened, her eyes filled with uncertainty. Maybe this was too much. What if she was not a hugger?

I was about to put my arm down when she dashed towards me, knocking me back a step as she wrapped her arms around me in a firm hold.

Instinctively, I did the same.

I didn't know what this kid had going on at home that made her want to run here almost every day and try talking to me, but I wanted to learn more about her if she'd let me.

Slowly, she pulled away from me, not meeting my eyes. "Is everything okay?" I asked her. I feel like her vibes had changed entirely.

Ella nodded, putting on a halfhearted smile. "It's fine. I'm totally fine."

"Do you want me to wait with you until your dad comes?" I offered, I don't want to leave her alone if she's not okay with it.

She shook her head no. "It's fine." She repeated the exact words that I didn't believe.

"You sure because I can wait. Greyson, won't mind at all." I tried to reassure.

Ella tilted her head up to meet my gaze. "I don't want to keep you."

"Okay," I smiled, but it was forced.

Tucking a strand of her behind her ears, I told her. "I'm off for the next few days. But I'll be back working the same shift after that. So you can swing by then if you want to."

That sparkle was slowly coming back into her eyes once more. "Okay."

"Okay," I repeated. "I'll see you then. Bye." I waved, watching her get comfy in her chair to draw something else on a blank sheet waiting to be blessed by her artistic talent.

I saw Freya walk in after saying hello to Greyson. "Hey, Freya."

"Mia, I thought your shift was over an hour ago," she asked, confused.

"Yeah, it was. I stuck around for a friend." I glanced over at Ella one last time. "Can you make sure she's okay after I leave? Her dad is supposed to pick her up, she said."

"Yeah, of course. No problem," Freya replied.

"Great. Thank you. I'll see you later!" I waved, heading out the glass doors and running straight for Grey.

He caught me as I leaped into his arms, wrapping my legs around him and planting a quick kiss on his lips.

Grey rested his forehead against mine. "Miss me?" he asked smugly.

I pulled back and scrunched up my nose. "Eh..."

Those Caribbean blue eyes turned into slits. "Liar," he whispered accusingly.

I playfully rolled my eyes.

"You made a new friend?" Grey asked. He tips up his head in the direction of Ella, who he can see through the glass.

"Yup," I grinned. "You might have a competitor fighting for your best friend slot." I teased.

He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You're okay with that?" I asked incredulously.

"Yup," Grey replied with absolute certainty. "For one, she looks absolutely adorable. I wouldn't dream of competing against her. And two, I'm not only your best friend anymore. I'm also your boyfriend." He leaned into me, lowering his voice to a husky whisper that had goosebumps traveling up my arms. "I don't mind sharing you because only I get to have you in a way no one else can."

I licked my lips and folded them into a thin line, and took a long deep breath through my nose. "Why are you always like this?" I grumbled.

"Because it's fun. And I love it when you blush because of me." Grey used the back of his hand to brush across my cheeks that are now burning scarlet.

"You are so annoying sometimes," I mumbled.

"You like it," Grey replied without missing a beat. He planted a kiss on my forehead. "Come on, let's go home."