HARI'S POV :
By the time we finished cleaning up and closing the café, it was already late.
The warm noise of the day had long faded, leaving behind only silence and the faint hum of the refrigerator in the back. The chairs were pushed in, the counters wiped spotless, and the soft yellow lights above the café cast a sleepy glow over everything.
Everyone else had already left.
It was just me and Ciara.
That alone was enough to make my chest feel strangely light.
I was wiping my hands on a towel when she turned toward me, trying to sound casual.
"Can you get the keys from the kitchen?" she asked.
I nodded. "Yeah."
Without thinking much of it, I headed into the kitchen.
The place was dimmer now, quieter than usual. The scent of coffee, sugar, and baked bread still lingered in the air. I looked around the counter first, then near the sink, then beside the stacked trays.
Nothing.
I frowned.
"Where are they? I can't find them!" I called out from inside.
Her voice came from the front. "In the drawer!"
I opened the drawer she usually kept things in and searched through it.
Napkins.
Pens.
A receipt pad.
A random spoon.
But no keys.
I checked again.
Still nothing.
"It isn't here either!" I called, a little louder this time.
"Keep looking! It has to be there somewhere!" she shouted back.
I sighed under my breath and searched the whole kitchen again.
Then again.
Every shelf.
Every corner.
Every drawer.
Twice.
Still nothing.
At that point, I was convinced she had either lost them or I was somehow going blind.
Muttering to myself, I finally stepped out of the kitchen and into the sitting area,
…and froze.
My eyes widened.