Rafael raised a brow and smiled at the man. “I didn’t know Halloween came early this year.”
I groaned at his comment. The young man - an omega - smiled politely, even though he’d probably heard the same thing a hundred times today.
“This is our uniform at the Omega Angel Café, sir,” he said, handing Rafael a flyer. “I can tell you more, if you have time to spare.”
“A café, huh?” Rafael said. He smiled at the omega and folded the flyer up neatly to place in his pocket. “I think I’m a bit too hungry for café food, but I’ll keep this.”
“Of course!” The omega turned to me. “Would you like one too, sir?”
I smiled politely and raised a hand to decline. “That’s okay, thank you.”
“Have a nice day!” the omega said as Rafael and I left.
At the Italian restaurant, we were seated quickly. Rafael pulled out the flyer and unfolded it. “Omega Angel Café… Where do they think of this stuff?”
I shrugged and flipped through the menu.
He put a finger to his chin in thought. “Actually, isn’t there something like that in Japan? Where they get dressed up in costumes and serve drinks?”
“I don’t know,” I said, then searched for our waitress. “Are you ready to order?”
“Uh. Wait. Not yet.”
But Rafael’s eyes were on the flyer, not his menu. I scowled and snatched the paper from him.
“Hey!”
“Order first,” I told him.
He sighed. “Fine…”
Since I didn’t want to stare at the descriptions of food on the menu while I was already starving, I looked instead at the flyer. A cute logo for the café starred at the top, alongside the main attractions listed in the center. On the sides of the paper were - unfortunately - more pictures of food. The café seemed to serve mainly pastries, light sandwiches, and fancy drinks.
I set it aside.
“What do you think?” Rafael asked.
“About what?”
“About the Omega Angel Café.”
I raised a brow. “I think I’m too hungry to think about it right now, and that my friend better hurry up and decide what he wants to eat.”
Rafael laughed. “Fine. You are so bossy.”
Thankfully, the waitress was nearby when he hailed her. We put in our orders - a chicken parmigiana for me, and a mushroom alfredo for Rafael. When she was gone, Rafael snatched the flyer back.
“Why are you obsessed with it?” I muttered. “It’s just a gimmick idea to get more customers.”
“But did you see how cute that omega on the street was?” he said. “Just imagine a whole café full of them!”
I wrinkled my nose. “Uh huh.”
Rafael crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Too hungry to think about it, huh?”
“Uh huh.”
“C’mon, man, aren’t you just a little bit curious?” Rafael urged. His eyes were glued to the paper, as if it was the most fascinating thing he’d seen all week. Then he pulled out his phone and typed something in.
