Volume 2, Chapter 29: Are good luck charms for love effective?
“Mister Zeke, I’m done with the tasks here!”
Helena turned in response to the bright and energetic voice from the kitchen.
She saw the owner of that voice turning towards Zeke happily.
Alan Trail.
Almost two months had passed since he became a chef at Café Omusubi. Before she noticed, Helena began to follow the enthusiastic man around the café with her eyes. At first, she thought he was childish even though he was one year older than her, especially when compared to the ever mature Zeke, who was two years older than her.
However, Helena soon realized that Zeke was the exception, and it was normal for boys their age to act more like Alan. Alan, who had worked as an apprentice in the royal kitchen, but who had come to Café Omusubi of his own accord after receiving constructive criticism from Zeke.
His respect for Zeke never changed… In fact, it was only growing, as he loitered around Zeke, always asking for his opinion.
If only he would look this way some more, Helena thought as she couldn’t help envying Zeke. Well, it wasn’t likely that Alan liked Zeke in that way, though. Besides, Zeke and Risa seemed to be doing well.
They showed no sign that they were dating during work. The café was extremely busy as always despite Alan and Olivia joining staff, so one could say they didn’t have the time to flirt.
Risa was six years older than Helena, and Zeke wasn’t one to show his emotions. For a while, Helena wondered maybe theirs was an extremely dry relationship.
She was proven wrong when she doubled back to the store after discovering she had forgotten something on the way home. Risa and Zeke were still there when she left, but that was a long time ago so Helena thought no one was at the café anymore. However, she stopped in front of the store to see a sliver of light spilling from the closed curtains.
Someone’s still here at this hour? She thought as she entered the store to see the lights on in the kitchen. Helena forgot her things at the staff room on the second floor, and to get there she had to pass through the dining hall to the stairs at the back. Even so, she thought she would say hi to whoever was in the kitchen, if there was anyone there.
She moved to the kitchen entrance and was shocked by what she saw. Then she quickly turned around and hid behind the wall, covering her mouth.
T-t-t-they’re totally kissing!!!
She saw Zeke towering over Risa as if pushing her up against the sink, his back facing Helena. She could see one of Risa’s hands circled around on his back, so it seemed mutual. Helena patted herself on the back for witnessing their love scene, ignoring how she accidentally walked in on them.
What the heck, they’re flirting like proper lovers then.
The doorbell rang upon Helena’s return, but they must have missed it, being so enamoured by each other. Helena gave up on picking up her things as she didn’t want to bother them. She slipped out of the store without a sound.
…Phew. I had nothing to worry about.
Helena was really happy that things were going well with them; she would even go as far to say that she hoped they would marry. But she was also really jealous of Risa as a woman.
Although Zeke seemed like an ice cube, one quickly found that was not the case after talking to him. He took care of people and he worked hard. Helena believed he would carry his weight even in a romantic relationship.
Compared to that…Helena looked at her crush.
Alan’s intense gaze was focused on Zeke, who was decorating cake with chocolate, as if soaking up each and every move he made. He had a serious expression on his face, completely different from his innocent smile just a few minutes ago.
It was great that his skills were improving in leaps and bounds. Although he still had much to learn, as Risa would slowly focus more on the culinary department, he would have to take on more and more difficult recipes at the café every day.
However, Alan’s head was filled with two things at the moment—cooking and Zeke. Helena was frustrated that he didn’t even spare a glance her way, she almost wanted to complain. She sighed while she put the cleaned teacups back in the cupboard.
“Helena, is something wrong? Why are you sighing?”
Olivia peered at Helena.
Olivia Sharlane became an employee at Café Omusubi a week after Alan. She was a twenty-seven year old single mother with almond eyes and voluptuous breasts. A woman with all the appeal that Helena did not have. Helena was wary of her as Alan had looked smitten when she first came to work, but it was clear that Olivia was still very much in love with her late husband and the sweetest person there was.
She gave off a gentle aura, so Helena had assumed her personality would also be warm and kind. However, a single mother raising her child alone had to put her foot down from time to time, so she was also adept at handling more difficult customers.
“Hmm… is it about him?”
Olivia said, glancing towards the kitchen. Olivia had known from pretty much the start that Helena was into Alan. Risa hadn’t said anything, but she looked like she knew; she was so sharp when it came to others, yet so dense when it came to herself.
This was why it is bad for women to be too sharp. No, Helena thought furiously, Alan should have noticed even a little by now. Even so, her feelings had nowhere to go, and she sighed again.
Then she stared straight at Olivia, who was still peering at her.
“Hm?” Olivia said, tilting her head. A tuft of hair escaped from behind her ear.
Her uniform’s design was slightly different from Helena’s. After all, there was a giant difference between the goods they carried on their chests. Olivia had a laced blouse with some specific handiwork done to avoid her buttons from popping off and prevent shortness of breath.
Olivia was overjoyed, as she had always had a lot of trouble choosing clothes. It was a first-world problem that Helena could not understand.
Would Alan look my way if mine were a bit bigger?
After placing her hands on her flat chest, Helena grabbed Olivia’s defenseless pair with both hands.
“W-what?!”
Helena squished those soft, bouncy boobs twice before placing her hands back on her chest.
“A good luck charm I’m starting today in the hopes that my chest will become as big as yours, Miss Olivia.”
“Whaaat? What kind of good luck charm is that?! Wait, by starting, do you mean you’re doing this tomorrow too?!”
“There is power in perseverance. The path to big boobs is one filled with massaging.”
“I’ve never heard of that before.”
“That’s because I just made it,” Helena chuckled.
Although she was joking about the boobs, she knew that it would take a long time when it came to Alan. Until then, she wanted to get along with the other four people on the team.
“Excuse me~”
One of the seated customers raised their hand and called for them.
“Yes, right away.”
Helena cast a sidelong glance at Olivia as she left the counter. Olivia stared at her own chest in confusion and muttered, “they get bigger if you massage them?”