Chapter 3: Revealing Uniform

"That is none of your business," Winter retorted harshly to the unwanted question and hurried over to the changing room, leaving Zane with a somewhat sinking feeling.

Leon put his arm around Zane's shoulder and mumbled, "Dude, I think you just touched a nerve."

"You really want to lose your job, don't you?" Zane glared at Leon who raised his hands in the air and returned to his work. After he left, Zane wondered if it was the way he worded it that offended her. He should probably apologize when she comes out.

He was putting on his uniform, absentmindedly, when the door of the changing room clicked. He looked up with the words of apology on the tip of his tongue, but his breath got caught in his throat.

Winter came out wearing the revealing waitress uniform of their café, visibly seeming extremely self-conscious.

The black skirt was barely reaching her knees, and the apron was serving no purpose at all by being so short. The thin grey blouse fitted her curves perfectly. Her long black hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with her bangs framing her face.

Zane had always hated the female uniform, and now he hated it even more. As a healthy teenager, who just turned eighteen a month ago, it was hard to control his temptation to not stare. She definitely wasn't the prettiest person he had ever seen, but something about her… it was just breathtaking. And it made his heart thump a little louder than usual.

Much to his rescue, Lucy walked in and gasped in awe. "Oh, my gosh! Winter, you look stunning!" she complimented.

"Um, I have never worn anything like this before. Isn't there any other conservative outfit for me?" Although Winter was grateful that the outfit was long-sleeved—she would hate to apply foundation on her forearm every day—she didn't like showing too much skin.

"Sorry, sweetie. That's the only female uniform we've got here." Lucy gave her a pitiful look; she also hated their work uniform. "That being said, with your sexy figure, you ought to attract some male customers," she added.

Zane cleared his throat and announced, "I'm leaving." He dashed out of the staff room. He walked straight up to the cash counter, ignoring the piercing glares of his forty-year-old boss, and busied himself in his work.

All of a sudden, Leon leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "Bro, if I knew Winter had a figure like that, I would have never proclaimed her as my little sister. Now I can't even hit on her."

"Serves you right," Zane whispered, flashing a smile at the customer who he just handed the bill receipt to. "Besides, you've got a girlfriend for God's sake. At least try to pretend to be loyal to her."

"As if she's loyal to me." Leon rolled his eyes.

"I'm ashamed to say that you're my best friend," Zane taunted.

"Fine, I won't ogle her anymore, so you can maintain the honor of having me as your best friend." Leon sauntered away to greet a new customer.

Zane released a sigh and leaned back against the counter, observing Winter struggling against the customer. From what he grasped, she wasn't very good at communicating and was extremely self-conscious. Then again, it was her first day, she ought to make a few mistakes and feel that way.

When she came to get a bill, he asked her, "How are you holding up?"

"Horrible. Some things just look beautiful from far away. But when you touch them, you realize just how heavy they weigh. For example, these cups and trays," she complained with an exhausted heave.

Zane laughed lightly. "If you need any help, feel free to ask us."

Winter gave him a small smile and said, "Thanks." She took the receipt from him and headed over to the designated table. As he was looking out for her, he didn't miss all the impure gazes on her. It irritated him. At the same time, it was distracting.

"Seriously, the boss needs to change that skimpy uniform," he muttered under his breath but was unfortunately heard by the person he least wanted to hear.

"Zane, you seem to have a lot of problems with me nowadays." Zane startled and shook his head in denial. "Why don't you find a job in a better place? Are you afraid that you wouldn't find a job as great as this and your mother would—"

"Zane, calculate the bill, please," Winter interrupted by slamming a small piece of paper on the counter, a forced smile on her face.

"Uh, yeah." Zane unclenched his fists and started typing on the computer to print out the receipt, silently thankful to Winter for sensing the atmosphere.

The menacing air around Mr. Tanner disappeared as soon as he laid his eyes on Winter. 'Wow, I must say you look lovely, Winter. The uniform was absolutely made for you."

"Thank you, sir." Winter stretched out her smile and sauntered back.

Zane killed their boss a billion times in his head. If he wasn't in an urgent need of money, never in a million years would he work under such a despicable person.

Meanwhile, Winter kept running back and forth for a particular customer who kept changing his orders again and again. She almost spilled a cup of coffee on another customer and apologized frantically. The man didn't say anything at that time but snapped all of a sudden about something else when she brought him another cup of coffee.

"Why's the price for this espresso so high?" demanded the middle-aged man.

"Sir, I think the price is pretty rational," Winter replied politely.

"What rational? 4 bucks for an espresso? Do you add anything extra in it?" he yelled.

"I don't really know." She started to regret getting this job. Some of the customers were very ill-mannered and hard to handle, after all.

The man raised his voice even higher. "You should be able to answer that—"

"Excuse me, sir, please lower your volume," Zane interrupted out of the blue.

The customer narrowed his eyes at Zane and huffed. "You again?"

"I should be the one saying that. Just how many black cards do you need before you stop coming here?"

"That's my choice," he challenged.

"Fine then. Here is your thirteenth black card." Zane slammed the black card imprinted with 'you are not welcomed to Coffee Secrets' on the table. Winter's eyes widened, wondering just how troublesome this customer was. "Anyways, what is your problem this time?" Zane asked.

"The price is unreasonable and this waitress almost dropped the hot coffee on me," he complained.

Zane covered Winter from the man's wrath, blocking her vision of the angry man. "Well, she has already apologized. If that's not enough for you, I apologize on her behalf as well. As for the price, it's completely reasonable, considering the effort put into it. To begin with, you shouldn't have ordered it if you couldn't afford it.".

"Ugh, you're annoying," the man spat out.

"You're the one who's bothering our other customers. Our cafe is known for its peacefulness and comfort, so if you could kindly leave, I would be grateful."

"Whatever." He grumbled and stood up.

'Please don't forget to pay for the coffee you ordered, sir."

The man hissed and threw the coins on the ground before scurrying out of the coffee shop.

Zane gritted his teeth and picked up the coins.

As Winter watched him bent down to the floor, she felt bad, thinking how some of the customers didn't consider them human, more like slaves. And them too. They had to suck up all the disrespect just for the sake of earning money. Heck, some misers didn't even have the courtesy to give tips.

When Zane stood back up, she was hit with another wave of uselessness. How was she going to be self-dependent with such weak resolve if she needed another person to come to her rescue? Not to mention, she kept creating extra troubles for him.

"You've got to deal with customers like this the hard way. If they yell at you for no reason, just hand them a black card. And if it gets out of hand, call the supervisor," Zane saed.

"Thank you and sorry for causing trouble, Zane," Winter mumbled quietly.

Zane smiled and said, "Hey, it's fine. We all make mistakes. Even I screwed up on my first day." She nodded half-heartedly.

"Now come, I'll teach you how to handle the cash counter. We're about to change duties. Try to learn properly, okay?"

'I'll work hard." She created her resolve again.

As Winter busied herself in trying the new works, the time flew by and it was past eight already. The painful three hours of their work shift was over. It also meant Winter would be able to get out of her slutty uniform. She was finally able to breathe again when she put on her normal clothes.

"Guys, why don't we go out for dinner together to get to know Winter better? It will be like a welcome party!" Lucy suggested once they were done changing.

"Sounds good to me," Leon chimed, and Zane nodded.

"Sorry, I can't come. I need to be somewhere tonight," said another of their colleagues, Stephanie, and left.

"Thank you for your consideration. But I don't have any money on me," Winter said shyly.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have my boyfriend's credit card, so it's my treat."

Winter was slightly confused. Seeing her confusion, Leon jumped in. 'Luce's boyfriend is a gangster, so he's filthy rich. The only reason she's still working part-time is so that she doesn't want to become fully dependent on him, though God knows how she puts up with him."

Winter's face became ‘O' at the information. Lucy's boyfriend must be scary, she thought.

'Don't make him sound like that. He's a sweetheart, okay?" Lucy rebuked Leon and turned to Winter. 'Don't worry. He isn't that scary. Recently, he left for an urgent business and won't be back for at least a month. So when he comes, you will see how nice he is to my close friends."

Winter smiled politely and nodded.

After that, the four of them went to the nearby restaurant, which was Lucy's favorite one. They talked over a lot of meaningless stuff, trying to get to know Winter better.

"You said you left California when you were three years old which means you don't remember ever living here. Where did you live until now?" Leon asked.

"I lived in Bangladesh. It's a small Asian country near India," Winter answered.

'Bengladesh?"

Winter almost snorted the way Leon pronounced her country's name, but then again, she can't blame him for that.

"Why did your mom move away after she got divorced from your dad?" Lucy inquired next.

Winter fell silent. She felt uncomfortable answering that. How could she possibly say that her mother ran away with her dad's money and didn't want to be discovered by him?

Noticing her uneasiness, Zane diverted the topic, which she was grateful for. "So how are you adjusting to the weather here? I suppose it's very different from Bangladesh."

"It's fine, I guess."

"So how did your mother die?" Zane kicked Leon under the table for asking such an insensitive question.

"Uh..." Winter trailed off, not knowing how to answer that. Her face paled looking at the knife placed beside her plate, the haunted images flashed in front of her eyes as if it all happened yesterday—the way her mother died.

Zane noticed the change in her attitude and passed a glass of water to her, while the other two lowered their gazes.

Winter drank the water and lied with a forced smile, "She died in an accident four months ago."

"We are really sorry to hear that," they murmured reluctantly.

There was an awkward silence between them, only the clattering sound of utensils in the background filled the air.

"So... um, how are you liking California so far?" Lucy spoke up.

"Not very much. Some people are so much touchier than the people back in my hometown. The first thing most girls there would have done is give a tight slap to that person," Winter blurted out.

Zane and Leon stopped fiddling with their meal and let out in unison, "I'm so sorry!"

Lucy quirked an eyebrow in question as the two boys looked at each other with suspicion and mouthed, "What did you do?"

"I wrapped my arm around her shoulder," Leon gulped.

"And I held her wrist," Zane said. "Winter, trust me, we aren't that sort of guys. Leon is just lacking the love aspect in his life, so he tends to get a little hyperactive even with unfamiliar people. As for me, I was just guiding you out that day."

"You make me sound like a depressed touch-starved high schooler, you know?" Leon objected.

"Well, that's exactly what you are," Zane shot back.

Winter burst out laughing at the two of them. It was the first time that day they saw her laugh genuinely, and it was fulfilling. "I didn't mean you guys," she managed to say in between her laughter.

"Then who?" the boys asked.

"Mr. Tanner. I find his touches really weird." Winter made a disgusted face. Even right before she was leaving, him encouraging her to work harder was fine but patting her shoulder gave her the chills. She noticed how his hand lingered there for more than normal.

"Um, the thing is..." Lucy trailed off, making a suspenseful air around herself as if she was about to reveal something horrible.

"What? Is Mr. Tanner possessed by a ghost? Please say no. I'm really scared of ghosts." Winter panicked.

Leon and Lucy cracked up. She was way too innocent. It would be fun to mess with her, they decided. "Zane, you say it," Lucy urged, trying to control her laughter.

Zane stopped sipping his cold drink and narrowed his eyes at her. "Why me?"

"Because we're both too busy laughing," she replied and bumped her fist with Leon.

Zane scowled at the two of them and set his eyes on Winter before blurting out, "You would better not stay in the same room as Mr. Tanner for more than ten seconds."

"Why not?"

Zane pursed his lips and leaned back on his seat, saying, "Unfortunately, our boss is a pervert."

Winter dropped the fork in her hand as her eyes widened like saucers and let out, "Say what?" That explained the revealing female uniform.

"Chill, it's normal. Don't panic. Most guys around here are perverts and tend to get a little touchy," Lucy assured her and rubbed her shoulder.

Winter nodded, but the doubts still lingered in her head. If touches like that were normal, she would have a hard time adjusting to the living style of California. It was indeed a strange place to live in.