Chapter 16

“I THOUGHT you have changed your mind,” Penelope told Justin as soon as he sat on a chair in front of her. “I waited for two hours here, my gosh. Is that professionalism?”

Justin looked around the café where this woman told him to meet her. The place looked unpopular because only a few people are dining. And, based on the ambiance, it looked old and near bankruptcy.

“Don’t worry, sir. Nobody will recognize you here. As you can see, this café is a little uncomfortable to dine with,” Penelope told him matter-of-factly.

“A little?” Justin smirked. “It’s quite uncomfortable,” he said and pointed at the stained wooden table. “The tables aren’t even clean—”

“Your table is clean, young man,” an old man said behind Justin and sauntered towards their table. He used his wooden cane to support his legs as he walked. “You see those stains? Those were signs of old age.” The old man pointed his cane towards their table. “In fact, all my tables and stools here are made of mahogany wood. An expensive kind of wood,” he smirked. “But I doubt that you knew it…”

Penelope snorted. “What made you say that, Uncle Johnny?”

The old man gave him a scrutinizing look from head to toe. “He looks like a homeboy,” he said and laughed with Penelope. “Look at his pearl white skin. I bet sunlight never had a chance to touch it.”

Penelope laughed so hard that Justin could see her esophagus. “Who needs photosynthesis?” she asked the old man and laughed again as if tomorrow will never come.

Justin cleared his throat. “Did you ask me to go here just to get insults from you and your uncle?”

Penelope suddenly stopped laughing and narrowed her eyes at him. “We’re not insulting you. Don’t be so sensitive, dude.”

The old man stood beside Penelope and studied his face. “He looks familiar,” he said with a knotted forehead. “Where did you get this man that looks prettier than you, Penelope?”

Penelope made a ‘tss’ sound. “Have your eyes check, Uncle,” she said and arched her brow at Justin. “By the way, this is Uncle Johnny. He’s my friend’s uncle and also the owner of this humble century-old café.”

Justin suddenly felt ashamed of himself. He bowed his head to the old man who just scowled at him. “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” he said and hesitantly offered his hand to him.

The old man, who looked like the younger version of Hagrid on the hit series Harry Potter, refused to take his hand for a handshake.

“Oh, come on, uncle,” Penelope grabbed the old man’s hand and forced him to shake hands with him. “Be civilized. The person in front of you is the hottest bachelor in town,” she said sarcastically. “He was also the popular singer idol, Justin—”

“You don’t have to reveal my identity to anyone from your family,” Justin cut off coldly. “Can we please start our business? You see, I’m a busy person—”

“Wait, wait, Mr. Rosburn,” Penelope stopped him from talking. “As far as I can remember, it was you who needs a favor from me, right?”

Justin’s brows furrowed. “I will pay you—”

“Of course, there’s nothing free in this world,” she said. “But it was you who needs my service badly.”

The old man cleared his throat. “Penelope, are you saying that this pretty boy is an employer? And he’s offering you a high-salary job?”

Penelope looked up at the old man with furrowed brows. “I don’t remember saying the salary is high.”

“He looked rich. Must be an heir of a big trading company,” the old man commented as if he’s not sitting in front of them. “Looked at his sunglasses; It’s an expensive brand that only rich people can afford to wear even inside the dim café.”

Penelope burst out laughing again. “Stop making me laugh, uncle!”

Justin raised from his seat. “If you have nothing to say to me, Miss Caceres. I better leave—”

“Come on, boy. We’re just trying to light up the old ambiance of my café,” the old man said and tapped his shoulder. “I will leave the two of you.”

“Uncle, can you bring us two Americano?” Penelope looked at him. “Do you drink strong coffee?”

Justin scowled at her. “Of course,” he said and pulled his chair to sit, but the intricate details of the top rail caught his attention. It was a cloverleaf carved in perfection. The different sizes of the leaves made it unique from other types. “Are all the chairs here have this design?”

Penelope knotted her forehead. “I guess so…” She looked at her own chair. “My mine has that too,” she said. “Why?”

Justin stared at the carved clover leaf. He has seen it somewhere, but he can’t remember where. “This cloverleaf looked familiar to me.”

Penelope knotted her forehead. “Maybe you’ve been here before and you just forgot about it,” she said. “It’s impossible to see those cloverleaf carvings anywhere because Uncle Johnny carved them by himself. It was his late wife’s idea. It’s one of a kind.”

He shrugged. “Then, maybe I just thought it’s familiar…” he said and sat. “Can we talk about my offer now?”

“Are you in a hurry?” she asked, brows furrowed. “You made me wait for two hours here.”

“I have TV guesting when you called me,” he said. “And I told you that I’ll be late because of the traffic. And, besides, you don’t look like you got tired of waiting for me here. I saw you serving around when I arrived.”

“I got bored or not, it doesn’t matter. The point is you arrived late from the time that we agreed to meet,” the woman snarled at him. “I don’t want this to happen again. My time is precious too.”

“Really? Then why did you spend it with the man that doesn’t like you?” he asked with a smirk.

When the woman didn’t respond, Justin thought that he hit the sore spot before she could throw fireballs at him. He took out an envelope from his pocket and placed it on the table.

“What’s that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “Down payment?”

Justin smirked. “You’re a good guesser,” he said and pushed the envelope towards her. “Forty thousand pesos is your signing bonus if you will accept my job offer now.”

Penelope looked at him as if she’d done something ridiculous. “Do you really think I need a lot of money?” she asked. “I live alone. I don’t have families or relatives that I know. I only feed myself and my cat named Nick.”

“Then it makes you more eligible for the job,” he said. “Nobody will look for you when you started to move in my house—”

“Wait,” Penelope raised her hand to stop him. “What did you say? I will move to your house?”

Justin nodded. “You’ll work for me as a nanny and not a housekeeper. Your job description is to take care of my child and ensure that all the things that he needs will be given properly.”

“No way,” Penelope countered. “I can’t just leave my job—”

“I will pay you more than your rate—”

“I am the owner! I’m not an employee,” she corrected. “I’m just starting in my business, and Grace needs me to help her running the clinic.”

“Then, hire somebody that could help her and do all your responsibilities in the meantime,” Justin suggested. “Use your salary from me to pay the new employee’s rates. You said that you don’t need money, then spend it there.”

Penelope caught her head. “You don’t understand…” she sighed. “Grace has an attitude problem that made her blacklisted from her previous employer. She can’t do teamwork with others, except me.”

Justin’s brows furrowed. “Let me guess, your colleague that has an attitude problem work with you well because you understand her?” he suppressed a laugh. “And you understand her because—”

“Shut up,” Penelope hissed, and it made Justin burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still laughing. “I didn’t mean anything with what I say.”

But the woman just glared at him. Her expression changed when their coffee arrived. A young man in a vintage denim jumpsuit and red and white striped blouse served their coffee. Justin looked at the server and remembered his childhood’s favorite retro game from him.

“Why is he dressed like that?” Justin asked Penelope, who was currently enjoying the aroma of her hot coffee.

“Can’t you guess it? This is a vintage theme café,” she said casually. “I thought you’re smart, but you proved me wrong.”

Justin looked around the café and realized that everything inside the coffee shop was old things that looked like an antique shop instead of a coffee shop. “Then, why are there few customers?”

Penelope shrugged her shoulders. “Ineffective marketing strategy.” She put her cup down, a sign that their business is about to start. “Anyway, I called you to come here, not just because I have decided to accept your offer…”

Justin knotted his forehead. “What else?”

“I want to bargain with you,” she said and leaned on her seat. “I will be your son’s babysitter, but in one condition.”

“Condition?” Justin smirked. “What do you need? Endorsement? Do you want me to endorse this café to save it from bankruptcy?”

Penelope narrowed her eyes. “Can you do that?”

Justin laughed. “Of course, that’s easy.”

“Okay,” Penelope said. “But that’s not the condition that I’m talking about.”

Justin scowled. “Then, what?”

Penelope stared at him for seconds that Justin started to feel uncomfortable in his seat. “You will pretend to my boyfriend in front of Nicholas.”

Justin’s jaw dropped. His brows drew together at the most absurd bargain he has heard in his entire existence. “Are you crazy?”

***