I was handing out flyers under the scorching sun when the gleaming Maybach pulled up. Vivian got out with her childhood sweetheart, looked at me sweating buckets inside a mascot costume, and said, "You’ve helped me a lot these past two years. Name your price. I’ll compensate you for everything." Drawing the line. Clean and final. I had just opened my mouth when her companion cut me off with a sneer. "Don't say something stupid, like you want to be her boyfriend. Take a look in the mirror. You're not even in the same league." I watched Vivian's fingers intertwine with his. The words I was about to say died in my throat. I changed my tune. "Fifty thousand dollars," I said. "A one-time payment will be fine." The polite smile on Vivian's face froze. She stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief. 1 When Vivian’s family went bankrupt, I swooped in and became her boyfriend. I worked four jobs to support her for two whole years. I gave her everything I had, letting her take whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. The day her family's assets were unfrozen, I was still sweating in this ridiculous costume, trying to save up for her tuition. She was always an ice queen, never letting her emotions show. This was the first time I’d ever seen her look genuinely annoyed. Was fifty thousand too little? An insult to an Upper East Side princess like her? Or was it too much? After all, it had only cost me around ten thousand to support her. But that ten thousand was every penny I had, earned from shaking bubble tea, handing out flyers, and washing dishes day and night. It was everything I could possibly give her. But Vivian was Vivian. In the moment I was lost in thought, she had already regained her composure. Through the mesh eyes of the mascot head, her cold gaze seemed to bore right through me. Sweat trickled into my eyes, stinging fiercely and making them ache. "Fifty thousand? You’ve got some nerve…" Caleb, the guy beside her, scoffed. "Everyone said you were an idiot. Funny how you get smart the second money is on the table, huh?" Everyone? That could only mean Vivian. She always thought I was slow. "Idiot" and "moron" were her favorite nicknames for me. It wasn't my fault. A high fever when I was a kid left me a step behind everyone else. It didn't affect my daily life, but my brain just didn't work as fast as these finance whiz kids from NYU. Case in point: right now, I couldn't think of a single thing to say back. Vivian raised a hand. Her driver immediately pulled a briefcase from the trunk. She took it and practically threw it at me. It hit my chest with a dull thud. "Eighty thousand. Is that enough?" So, she had it ready the whole time. Eighty thousand. I guess I was worth more than I thought. I nodded. "It's enough." Vivian seemed taken aback. Her voice softened, just a fraction. "Is there nothing else you want? Just say it. Maybe I’ll…" "No, there's nothing else," I cut her off, my voice barely a whisper. There was, of course. What I had wanted to say was, I want you to stay with me forever. But that thought evaporated the moment I saw her holding Caleb's hand. In two years, she had never once held my hand, unless I grabbed hers in a desperate, clingy move. She wouldn't even offer me a hand when I tripped over a loose paving stone on the sidewalk. You can be slow, but you have to know when you're not wanted. It was the same feeling I had after my parents died in an accident. Standing there, watching my relatives argue over who would be stuck with me, I made the choice for them. I walked myself to the orphanage. This time, I was choosing to let go again. Vivian’s lips tightened into a thin, red line. A cold laugh escaped her. "Fine. You’re really something else, Miles." "You really are an idiot." So, at the very end, all she had left for me was an insult. She turned and left with Caleb, the hot exhaust from the Maybach washing over me. I pulled off the heavy mascot head and scrubbed my face hard. My hand came away sticky. I couldn't tell if it was sweat or tears. Suddenly, I remembered a sweltering afternoon two years ago, after a summer storm. I found her collapsed on the side of the road, sick and soaked. She looked so helpless, so lost. She looked just like me as a kid. 2 Back then, her father and stepmother had fled the country, leaving her behind with all their family assets frozen. The once-celebrated debutante had fallen from grace. Friends ghosted her, Caleb wouldn't even open his door, and whispers followed her everywhere she went. And there I was, a guy who could barely support himself, taking her home. "Vivian," I had said. "Let me take care of you." She was sitting on the floor of my tiny apartment, crying until her face was a mess, like a broken doll. Her usually beautiful voice was rough and hoarse. "You know me?" "Yeah. I work at the boba shop on your campus." She gave me a disdainful look, probably thinking I was just another admirer trying to take advantage of her situation. To be fair, that’s exactly what I did. She hadn't eaten in three days and had spent an entire night in the rain outside Caleb’s brownstone. She was so weak a gust of wind could have knocked her over. I grew up working, so I was strong. I basically kept her under house arrest in my rented room for two weeks, not letting her leave. I even tested the water temperature before handing her a glass. And after that… Vivian just stayed. A princess who'd never known a day of hardship had no idea how to survive. She depended entirely on me—delivering packages in the morning, washing dishes at noon, making bubble tea in the afternoon, and running food orders at night. Sometimes, a flicker of pity would cross her face. "Why are you so good to me? You're just making your own life harder." But most of the time, she just ignored it. She didn't know that in my twenty years of life, the only people who had ever really been there for me were my parents. They loved me, and they were good to me, with no strings attached. So when I was with Vivian, it only felt natural to be good to her, too. … "Miles, go get the shipment! Why are you spacing out again? That’s the third time today." The voice of the boba shop manager pulled me from my memories. "Right, sorry!" I said, rushing outside. The delivery van was parked at the curb. I grunted as I hoisted two heavy boxes of milk onto my shoulder. As I turned, I saw her. Vivian. Caleb was with her, his arm draped casually around her shoulders. "Let's try that new place tonight," he was saying. "My friend said it's pretty good. It’s only like, two hundred a person, so it probably won't be as good as that place we went to in Paris, but still." Vivian clearly saw me too. She paused for a fraction of a second. But just as quickly, she looked away and replied to Caleb in a soft voice. "Okay." I guess it must have been hard for the girl who dines on exquisite French cuisine to eat my egg fried rice for two years. She always cleaned her plate, though. "Whoa, is that idiot working here?" Caleb looked me up and down, then glanced at the shop's sign. "A cheap boba place… hahaha, I didn't even know they had shops like this on campus." "I heard they sell drinks for like, four bucks. That’s terrifying. Aren't you afraid of getting poisoned?" I stared at Vivian and shot back at him, "Of course not!" Vivian used to drink it too. When I brought it to her, she’d complain about how cheap it was, but she always drank every last drop. The memory seemed to hit her too. She looked away, embarrassed, and quickly pulled Caleb along. Back inside, the manager asked curiously, "Wasn't that your girlfriend? Why was she with another guy?" On campus, Vivian always avoided me. No one knew about us. But last month, during a huge downpour, under the dim glow of a streetlight, she had waited for me after my shift, holding an umbrella. The manager had seen her. "You're a lucky guy," he'd teased. "Your girlfriend is gorgeous." It was the first time in my life anyone had ever called me lucky. I was so happy I felt like I was floating. I ran through the rain toward her, but as I reached her, she just shoved the umbrella into my arms and turned to leave. "Can't you check the weather forecast, you idiot?" But I was still happy. She had come to bring me an umbrella. Even if we didn't share it, even if we always kept that careful distance between us. Back then, I naively thought it meant she might actually like me, just a little bit. Seeing my blank stare, the manager didn't press. He just sighed, looking at the delivery boxes. "Another month in the red. I really don't think I can keep this place open much longer." In a city like New York, where every square foot is gold, maybe drinking a four-dollar lemonade really was a crime. Business had been terrible lately. I set down the boxes, looked my boss straight in the eye, and said with a new resolve, "That offer you mentioned before—to sell the shop for fifty thousand. Is it still on the table?" 3 The number I'd asked Vivian for wasn't random. I wanted to buy this shop. As for whether it would lose money… I hadn't thought that far ahead. I just figured that in a world with so many people, if some could afford a $200 meal, then others could only afford a $4 lemonade. The owner happily agreed. On the day the shop officially became mine, Vivian made a special trip just to mock me. "Are you completely brainless? Your costs for rent, supplies, and labor will be more than you make! This shop will go bankrupt in three months!" I just kept my head down, focused on wiping a table. "Oh. That's okay." My nonchalance seemed to choke her. She was about to say something else when her phone rang. I recognized the voice on the other end. It was Caleb. She shot me a cold glare, answered the phone, and hurried away. I'll admit, it stung a little. It seemed Vivian had forgotten what she’d said a long time ago. I had come home from my restaurant job, exhausted and complaining about a difficult customer, barely able to move. Our conversations were usually me rambling and her making sarcastic comments. But that day, she stared at the burn mark on the back of my hand for a long, long time. Finally, she said, "Then I'll make you a boss someday. That way, you can just tell other people what to do. It won't be so tiring." It was the first time I ever considered that my life could be something other than just working for other people. But Vivian's mockery had reminded me of something important. I needed to hire someone. How could I be a boss without any employees? I grabbed a piece of cardboard and scrawled "Help Wanted" on it with a black marker. I was chewing on a piece of tape, about to stick the sign to the door, when a pair of long, slender hands took it from me. I turned. A slim girl stood there. She pointed at the sign. "Are you hiring? I'm a student here." She wore a mask and a neat ponytail. Her gray t-shirt was faded from washing, but she looked clean and tidy. And just like that, for $15 an hour, I hired Nina. I was officially a boss. Three days in, business was still dead. Nina had nothing to do, so she sat at the counter, reading books with titles I couldn't even pronounce. After what felt like the hundredth sigh from me, she finally closed her book. "Let's sell at the basketball court," she suggested. "We can keep the drinks in coolers with ice packs. They’ll be more refreshing than water." My eyes lit up. "Let's make twenty cups. Let's go!" The university was in the middle of a basketball tournament, and the stands were packed. The two of us hauled a pair of styrofoam coolers toward the gym. The air was thick with heat, so hot it felt like you were suffocating with every breath, yet every seat was taken. Caleb was a star on the court, weaving past defenders and sinking a three-pointer that sent the girls in the crowd into a frenzy. And right at the front, holding court, was Vivian. She was surrounded by a small entourage—one person holding an umbrella over her, another a portable fan, a third offering a cold drink. I guess when you have money, the whole world rushes to kiss your feet. She was no longer the lonely, forgotten girl who only had me. Nina walked ahead of me, guiding me through the crowd to the front. "The half is about to end," she whispered. "You go try to sell to the players first. They're the hottest and thirstiest. Once they start buying, the crowd will follow." I nodded, then it hit me. "Wait, who's the boss here? You or me? No way, you go." "Fine. You sell to the guys, I'll sell to the girls. Deal?" "...Deal." When the halftime buzzer sounded, I walked over to the players' rest area and locked eyes with Vivian. We both looked away at the exact same time. She didn't want anyone to know her embarrassing past. And I didn't want her business. But Caleb wouldn't let it go. As he came off the court, he slammed his shoulder hard into mine. I didn't have time to react. The cooler crashed to the ground, lemonade splashing everywhere. 4 "Shit! You got my shoes dirty!" Caleb jumped back, staring in disgust at the splash on his expensive basketball shoes. "These are eight hundred dollars!" he snarled. "That's more than your life is worth, you get me?" His shout drew the attention of the entire crowd. Vivian walked over. She didn't even glance at me. Her eyes were fixed on Caleb, full of concern. "What's wrong?" "This idiot was shoving his way through with that huge box and crashed right into me." Only then did Vivian’s gaze fall on me. It was cold, and laced with blame. Her voice was just as icy. "Is this really the place for you to be running a business?" I might be slow with words, but I couldn't stand being falsely accused. "He's the one who crashed into me. He should apologize, and he should pay for the drinks." I was certain Vivian had seen the whole thing. But even if she did, she still blamed me first. I’ve been pushed around my whole life, but it was always by people I didn't care about. This was the first time it actually hurt. I fought to keep my voice steady. "Apologize." She stared at the corners of my eyes, which were starting to turn red, and for a second, she looked stunned. After Vivian came into my life, I was so happy all the time that I felt like nothing was too hard, nothing was worth crying over. Not difficult customers, not exhaustion. I was always smiling. Not even on the day we broke up did she see me with red eyes. Now, she actually looked a little flustered. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but Caleb cut her off. He jutted out his chin, his face a mask of contempt. "Are you actually stupid? Even if I did it on purpose, there's no way in hell I'd ever apologize to you." Vivian, who always loved to lecture me about principles, now only seemed to care about his. After a moment's hesitation, she stuffed a few bills into my hand. "He's always been arrogant like this. He's not going to apologize. Take this as compensation." It was a lot of money. Enough for two weeks of our food budget back in the day. I stared at the mess on the ground, at a complete loss for words. Nina came over. She bent down, picked up the empty cooler, and said to me, "Let's go. We need to get the drinks ready for the second half." She took a small step forward, her slender body trying to shield me from the mocking stares of the crowd. I was really down that day. I felt like a plant that had wilted in the sun, my head hanging low the whole way back. It wasn't until Nina said, "I sold all of mine," that I finally looked up, a new spark of energy igniting within me. But since I was soaked, Nina wouldn't let me go back for the second half. She ran back and forth with the cooler by herself, trip after trip. And every time, she sold out. Not only that, but more and more guys started coming to the shop. They would steal glances at Nina, nudging each other, clearly wanting to ask for her number. It was only then, when she took off her mask, that I realized how beautiful she was. 5 A month passed before Vivian came to find me again. She walked into the shop hesitantly. "That egg fried rice you make," she started, "how do you do it?" During our poorest days, every cent we saved was for her next year's tuition. We ate egg fried rice for a month straight. It was cheap and filling. I always copied my mom, who used to hide the best pieces of meat at the bottom of my noodle bowl. I'd scoop my portion out first, then crack two more eggs into the pan just for Vivian. Now that she was back to eating gourmet food from all over the world, it seemed she was craving that simple taste again. "My family hired three different chefs, and none of them can get that flavor right. Could you just make it for me one more time…?" "Boss," Nina interrupted. "I think there's a problem with yesterday's accounts." I left Vivian standing there and went straight to the register. I looked over the numbers several times but couldn't find anything wrong. Nina was patient. "Look closer. The number of boxes of cups doesn't match the supplier's invoice. I'm worried they shorted us." "Ah, I think I forgot to count yesterday. I'm so stupid." A box of cups wasn't cheap. I sighed, annoyed with myself. But Nina just smiled. "Everyone makes mistakes. It's not a big deal. I'll check the security footage and give the supplier a call." I nodded gratefully. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vivian watching us, her expression unreadable. The second month, the shop finally turned a profit. It was all thanks to Nina. Not only did her looks draw in customers, but she also developed a little delivery app for campus, and I would run the orders to the different dorms. I was genuinely thankful. I patted her on her thin back and said, "I'm adding an extra five hundred to your salary this month!" She was in the middle of eating the egg fried rice I'd brought her. My sudden action seemed to startle her, and she choked, turning her head to cough quietly. The tips of her ears turned bright red. "Do you need some water?" She shook her head. "I get free meals from you every day. Just pay me the hourly rate we agreed on." The shop had gotten so busy, especially around mealtimes, that I had started making simple egg fried rice every day and bringing a portion for her too. After a month, she'd gained a little weight. Her once-gaunt frame filled out nicely, and she had more color in her cheeks. As a result, even more guys came to see her, some even from other universities. Since she refused the bonus, I didn't press. But looking at her two rotating t-shirts and her worn-out canvas shoes, I got an idea. On my day off, I went to the mall. I bought two dresses from the clearance rack and a pair of discounted shoes. It cost me nearly two hundred dollars. I was heading down the escalator, bags in hand, when I ran into Vivian and Caleb. She was carrying several designer shopping bags, listening to Caleb with a gentle expression. "This mall is so trashy," he was saying. "Not a single store here is good enough for you." "Hey, what are you doing here?" he said, spotting me. "Don't tell me your little shop is going bankrupt already and you're back to working odd jobs." I held up my bags. "It's none of your business. Can't I just be shopping?" The color drained from Vivian's face. She stared at the bags in my hand. "Who are those for?" "Also none of your business," I retorted. Vivian recognized the brand. It wasn't cheap for us a year ago. For her birthday, I had carefully picked out their newest jacket, which cost me a small fortune. But when I presented it to her, she didn't even give it a second glance. "You try so hard, but I’m just not impressed." Maybe I was just slow by nature, or maybe I was just used to being ignored. My expectations for emotional validation were incredibly low. But that day, not even getting a simple "thank you" had hurt more than I expected. Vivian shook off Caleb's arm and stormed over to me, grabbing my sleeve. "Don't you dare tell me you bought those for that broke part-timer."
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