Chapter 44: How are you so casual with your staff?"

The Demon just kept staring at him. Meera blinked in confusion too.

​Before Meera could form some weird, crazy opinion about Demon in her head, Himanshu broke the heavy awkwardness in the kitchen and blurted out in a panic.

"Actually, she doesn’t know how to cook. Thinks it’s boring."

​He forced a super weak smile, trying to cover up his words, "But she’s really fast with cleaning and stuff."

​Meera took her eyes off Himanshu, looked straight at Demon, and asked.

"Oh, so you find cooking boring too?"

​Glaring at Meera’s smile, Demon just nodded her head with zero expression on her face.

"Yeah. I find it boring too."

​Meera tapped her finger on her chin, tilted her head up slightly, and thought for a second. Then she spoke.

"Alright, so you don’t know how to cook, and... looking at your expressionless face, I’m guessing smiling at customers isn’t your thing either."

​Meera went back to tapping her chin, thinking.

Then what kind of job should I give her...

While thinking, Meera suddenly raised her finger like she just remembered the perfect idea.

"Okay then, since you can’t talk nicely to customers, you’ll handle the back-end stuff. You can manage the dirty dishes and clear the tables after the orders. That way, you won’t have to talk to people much, and the work will get done too."

​The second she heard ’dirty dishes’, Demon instantly clenched her fists. Standing right next to her, Himanshu could literally feel the heat of the anger radiating off her body.

Sweat started shining on Himanshu’s forehead out of pure fear.

​Shit! I gotta do something. Think, think!

His brain started running at rocket speed. How do I stop her? Should I hold her hand? No, no, I don’t wanna pass out again.

So should I just say no to Meera?

No, they’re super interested in hiring couples. If I refuse this, they might just fire both of us.

Think fast, Himanshu...

Screw it! I’m holding her hand. If I could survive being on top of her earlier, I can definitely hold her hand.

​Without wasting a single second, Himanshu slipped his cold fingers right between the fingers of Demon’s tight, burning-hot fist. Her hand was so hot it felt like someone had literally placed a burning coal on his palm, but he didn’t loosen his grip out of sheer panic. Squeezing her hand tight, he looked at Meera and said.

"Yeah, that works for us."

​The Demon instantly snapped her head toward Himanshu, glaring at him with that same scary, killer look. Himanshu knew damn well how much poison and anger was boiling inside her for him right now. But thankfully, she didn’t just slap him right there in front of Meera.

For a solid four to five minutes, Demon’s burning hand stayed glued to Himanshu’s cold, sweaty hand.

​When he felt like Demon had calmed down a bit, he gently let go of her hand.

He knew he was going to pay a heavy, brutal price for this once they were alone, but he couldn’t just risk losing his only job, right?

​Meera placed both hands on her hips and said,

"I guess everyone struggles a bit in the beginning, but you get used to it after a few days."

​Then, bringing her smile back, she added,

"Alright then, today we’ll just show you guys what we do and how we do it. And you guys can try to follow along. Oh, and about the pay, we’ll all sit together and discuss it after the store closes."

​Meera turned to Demon and said,

"Come on, Veloria. We’ll start by taking orders to the tables."

​Then, walking behind the counter, she looked at Himanshu and said,

"Hey Himanshu, before you head over to Gaurav..."

​"Yeah, got it." Himanshu quickly threw both his hands up in front of him.

​A little while later, Himanshu was standing behind the counter, but his entire focus was glued to Demon’s every single move. He had been living with her for enough days now to read her body language and expressions; he could tell exactly what she was feeling.

​The Demon was listening to Meera very carefully. When two customers got up from their seats, Meera asked for their feedback like always, thanked them, and said goodbye.

And right after that, she picked up the used cups and plates from the table with both hands and, while still talking, casually shoved them right into Demon’s hands.

​The Demon stared at Meera like she was about to smash that dirty cup straight over her head the very next second, but Meera completely ignored her and got busy wiping the table.

Standing at the counter in front, Himanshu was just watching Demon. Holding dirty human dishes, Demon’s hands were literally shaking with pure rage.

​Himanshu knew exactly what was coming next. But deep down, he also had this weird trust that Demon would handle the situation. No matter how mad she was, she knew exactly who to take her anger out on. Maybe it was because of her 8000 years of age and experience. But still... facing such massive disrespect right to your face, who could actually stay calm?

​"Hey? Zoned out?"

Gaurav’s voice coming from right beside him snapped Himanshu’s focus away from Demon.

​"Uh, no, I was just..." Himanshu fumbled.

​Gaurav looked toward Meera and Demon, trying to understand Himanshu’s stress.

"Guess your GF isn’t exactly loving the job."

​"No, no, it’s not like that. It’s just..." Himanshu quickly lifted both his hands off the counter and held them up in defense.

​Showing understanding, Gaurav cut him off,

"I get it, man. It sucks when you’re forced to do a job you hate."

​Accepting defeat, Himanshu slumped his shoulders. It was like he was silently telling Gaurav.

​"Look, don’t stress over it," Gaurav said, comforting him. "I trust Meera. She’s probably got her personality all figured out by now. And how to deal with her too."

Smiling a little, Gaurav added, "So maybe drop the stress about your partner and focus on yourself for a bit, yeah?"

​Himanshu took one more look at Demon standing far away. Her shaking hands were back to normal now. He let out a deep sigh.

Maybe Gaurav is right.

​"Alright, let’s start with making some coffee," Gaurav said.

​"Yeah." Himanshu nodded.

​But slowly, Himanshu’s brain started slipping back into its overthinking loop. One question had been bugging him deep inside right from the start. Seeing an owner work like this with their staff, building such a deep bond with them... this question just wasn’t letting him focus on making coffee at all. And honestly, anyone seeing them behave like this would have the exact same question pop into their head.

​After fighting the questions in his own head for a while and struggling to find answers on his own, when he got nothing, he figured it was best to just ask. Though honestly, asking a boss this kind of question on the very first day was pretty weird.

​After practicing the words silently in his mouth a couple of times, and raising his hand two or three times to gather the courage to ask... he finally blurted it out.

"Uh, can I ask you something?"

​Gaurav stopped his work and looked at him.

​"How are you so casual with your staff?"

​Hearing this question, Gaurav suddenly stopped pouring milk into the empty cup. For a second, he looked straight into Himanshu’s eyes without saying a word... and then a small, genuine laugh broke out on his face. That laugh didn’t just stay on his lips; it reached his eyes, as if Himanshu’s question had just sparked a really good, old memory.

​Right then, Himanshu felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. Gaurav reached out and patted his shoulder twice.

​"Man, you sound exactly like me right now."

​With a faint, nostalgic smile, Gaurav continued.

"On my very first day at our old cafe... I got a bit uncomfortable with how casual they were, too."

​Gaurav looked back down at the cup.

"And I asked the exact same question."

​Hearing all this, Himanshu had no idea how to react. He was just trying his best to keep that confused, nervous smile stuck on his face somehow.

​Carefully pouring the rest of the milk into the cup, Gaurav kept his eyes on it and said,

"And I was trying just as hard to keep my smile from slipping. Exactly like you."

​The moment he heard that, something inside Himanshu just settled. Honestly, this was a massive deal for him. Today, for the first time ever, someone didn’t treat his nervousness and panic as some kind of weakness. They just saw it as a normal human emotion. Today, for the first time, he felt like he wasn’t a loser—he was just a little nervous, like anyone else would be.

Himanshu just stood there silently, staring at Gaurav’s hands working on the counter. Those few words from Gaurav had somehow blurred out all the surrounding noise and the massive crowd in the cafe. He couldn’t hear anything else around him; only those words were echoing in his head.

A few moments later, the loud whirring noise of the coffee machine broke Himanshu’s focus, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Himanshu was now looking at Gaurav like he had known him for years. He felt it deep down—like a new path had just opened up for him, a place where he wouldn’t be scared to ask questions anymore. Maybe today, a new person had just been added to his life. Someone he wouldn’t have to overthink twice around before saying or asking anything.

Once the machine stopped, Himanshu slid an empty cup across the counter toward Gaurav. This time, with a very faint but completely genuine smile, he asked.

"So... what did they say to you?"