“Sorry, Miss…” the guy who bumped her muttered before immediately walking past her.

“Chiara, are you okay?”

Chiara realized that Gabe was already in front of her.

“O-oh, I'm fine. Don't worry,” she muttered with a small smile. It was her fault that she bumped into someone anyway. She wasn't obviously looking in her direction.

Gabe's eyes followed the guy who bumped his furrowed brows, then he let out a sigh as his gaze went back to her.
“Are you going home alone, Chiara?" he asked with a concerned tone. “Maybe you should call your boyfriend to pick you up," he suggested.

She shook her head. “No need, Gabe. I don't want to disturb him. Besides, I can go home on my own."

The crease in his forehead didn't disappear."Are you sure you're fine on your own?"

She smiled and nodded at him. "Uh, yeah. Besides, if I ask Toby to fetch me here, I'm sure he will see my gift for him. I don't want that to happen. This is supposed to be a surprise."

Slowly, Gabe nodded and gave her a smile. “Then just take care, okay?”

Chiara didn't know why at that moment, something felt touched her heart.

“Thank you, Gabe," she muttered.

“GOOD morning, welcome to Cafe Frances—” Chiara stopped when she saw a familiar man who just entered the Cafe. “Gabe!” she muttered to him.

Just like the first time she saw him, he looked immaculate in his all-white uniform.

“Hi, Chiara,” Gabe greeted her with a smile on his face.

“Uhm, what's your order?”

Gabriel looked and scanned the menu board before his eyes went back to her.

“I’m not a coffee person so I’ll go with strawberry and cream frappe. And two slices of blueberry cheesecake. I'll take out the cheesecake."

"Okay. You can sit first while waiting for your order," she said.

But Gabe remained standing at the counter. Aside from him, there was no other customer in the Cafe at that time so she has been able to talk to him.

“Gabe, thank you again for yesterday," she couldn't help but mutter.

The guy gave her an easy smile. “No problem, Chiara.”

“Uh, by the way, today is my boyfriend's birthday. I planned to give him the watch later. I hope he likes it."

“It's from you. So, I'm sure he'd like it.”

Chiara pursed her lips. "I really hope so. Toby was kind of picky when it comes to gifts so I always make sure to give him things he really likes."

She noticed that Gabe's eyebrow knitted a little, but then he didn't comment on what she said. Instead, he gave her a small smile when his order came.

“Thanks, Chiara,” he said, grabbing his cup of frappe and his box of cheesecake. "I'll go ahead."

She smiled as she nodded at him. "Thank you, Gabe."

She watched him leave the shop.

“Oh my God, Chiara, is that guy your boyfriend?"

Chiara almost jumped in shock when Reese poked her from behind. Just like her, the girl was also a part-timer in this cafe.

Chiara's eyes widened at her. “Gabe? No, he's not. We just kind of knew each other. But he's not the boyfriend I'm talking about.”

"Oh, gosh. He's too handsome for his own good," Reese muttered beside her.

“He's like an angel who just descended from heaven. Those beautiful pair of brown eyes, that aristocratic nose, those pair of red lips?"

"You're gushing over him, Reese," she said, shaking her head.

"Because he's really that gorgeous," Reese said, letting out a sigh. "I wish I could touch and run my fingers over his hair. And the way he smiles? He could easily charm any woman with that smile." Reese sighed dreamily again. "He looked so gentle you'll never think that he's gonna hurt you."

Chiara couldn't help but smile at Reese's description of Gabe. Well, she agreed to everything she said about him.
"Are you two close?" Reese asked in a curious tone.

"Not really," she said. "I just met her yesterday. She helped me get my bag back from a snatcher."

"Oh, wow. He's really like an angel, huh."

She smiled at her. "Yeah. He is."

“You have a date, Chiara?” Reese asked her when she saw her in front of the mirror in the employee lounge after her shift ended. She was applying makeup and preparing to leave the shop.

“Yup. Today's my boyfriend's birthday, " she told her with a wide smile on her face.

“Oh, good luck, Chiara!”

"Thanks, Reese."

Her smile was wide as she left the coffee shop. Instead of riding a jeepney, she took a taxi this time.

She already called Toby earlier this afternoon. She told him she'd go straight to his apartment after her shift. He had no idea that she'd go straight to his university to surprise him.

After arriving at the campus, she went straight to the Engineering Building.

She immediately smiled when she spotted Toby. But then her smile faded when she saw a woman beside her boyfriend. She knew that girl. She was one of Toby's classmates. Toby already introduced her to the girl before when she visited her boyfriend in his class. Chiara just forgot the name of the girl.

From her direction, she saw the two of them talking about something serious.

Maybe they’re just talking about school stuff… Chiara told herself.

Toby promised her that he would repeat what he did before. And she trusts him.

While walking towards them, she heard their voices.

“Toby, until when are we going to stay in this set-up?”

Chiara stopped when she heard what the girl said to Toby.

Set-up?

“You always tell me you love me but until now, you still haven't broken up with Chiara!"

Chiara felt like something sharp stabbed her in the chest. The paper bag she was holding almost slipped from her hand.
At that exact moment, she suddenly remembered the same scene that happened more than a year ago.