Chapter 1
Wu Zi Mu's brows creased deeper as he listened to the reports given by his trusted follower Guppy. Damn it all. The Da Nang Boys did not make his life any easier.
They trashed their operation last Friday. The Mountain Cloud Boys was supposed to strike a deal with the outside source concerning their arms-dealing. Their rendezvous was at the Doherty Garage. With trustworthy allies like CJ and Cesar, things should be easy. But no, some Da Nang Boys deliberately drove past the garage and open fired, completely ruining the whole operation.
Dammit. He let his guard down. But no more, Woozie vowed to himself.
"Give me the phone, I'll call and set another day for the exchange." Woozie decided.
Guppy nodded. He passed the phone to his boss and Woozie clutched it in his hand. "Can you get me some coffee, Guppy? Thanks." Without another word, Woozie turned in his chair and dialed on the phone.
Today was going to be another headache day.
It turned out Woozie's apartment was out of coffee. Of all the things it could run out, it had to be his precious coffee.
Woozie had gone down the street with Guppy following behind. They strolled down the street quietly as they make their way to the convenient store.
"We should buy more this time, Gup. I hate it whenever my coffee has ran out. I fucking need it every day." Woozie complained.
Guppy merely nodded. "Yes, boss."
Once inside, Guppy went straight to the shelf full of several coffee products. Woozie walked along the aisle that sold frozen food. He stretched his hand out to feel the cold.
"Excuse me, sir. Would you like to try some coffee?" A girl asked. Her voice was cheerful but there was a hint of nervousness.
Woozie was blind. Though he can't see where the girl was, his hearing was pretty good so he knew where she was standing.
He stood before her. His palm held out.
Ann was happy to see a customer approached her. This marked the first customer to ever want to try her coffee. She had been standing here from morning till noon but no one wanted to try her coffee. He was the first.
She got too excited she didn't notice his extended hand.
"Coffee, Miss?" He was getting impatient. She looked down and saw his stretched hand. "Oh! Sorry. Here you go. Your coffee." She carefully lifted the plastic cup and placed it in his hand.
Their fingers brushed and immediately she felt chills down her spine.
Whoa, whoa. Ann, just because you broke up with some jerk two weeks ago doesn't mean you are ready for another romance! Did she just mentally say that?
The gentleman dressed in all black with sunglasses took a sip of the coffee and winced. Shoot. Was her coffee not good enough? "Was it not good?" She asked in panicked. These coffee were her experiments, if they were a success she can lure more customers to her newly opened coffee shop.
He shook his head and blew a raspberry. "Too sweet." He croaked. "I-I have black coffee." She persuaded. Hopefully he was reasonable enough to try another cup of coffee. She had laid different flavors of coffee on the tray she had been carrying. While her arms were getting tired, she refused to put the tray down. Customers may want to try them.
She mentally hoped he will give another shot. She chewed her lower lip and prayed for that. He placed the plastic cup back on the tray. "Black coffee, please." He said.
Yes! Ann happily handed him the Black Coffee. He took another sip. Then he let out a satisfied sigh. "Fuck, this tastes good." He smiled.
What a handsome smile he had. He even commented the coffee tasted good. She beamed brightly.
Oh crap. Need to inform him about her coffee shop. Ann cleared her throat and spoke excitedly. "Well, feel free to stop by at Pierson's Coffee Shop, it's just down the street from here."
His lips curved into a charming smile. "So what, you're here to promote your coffee? Are you not a worker here?"
Pink hit her cheeks as she fought the blush. "Um, no. My friend runs this store. And yes, I'm here to promote my um…coffee." She didn't want to sound desperate, but hopefully he will take a chance and come visit her coffee shop.
He twiddled the plastic cup in his hand, seemingly in consideration. "I'll visit your coffee shop." Her heart soared. "It's just down the street?" He asked to confirm.
Ann nodded eagerly. Never had she experienced this kind of happiness. "Yes! It's just down the street, sir!"
He chuckled lightly. He finished the Black Coffee in one gulp and let out another gratified sigh. "This is good. I like it." He commented casually. He roughly put the cup back on the tray, nearly knocking down other cups. Ann gasped as she swiftly tried to balance the tray from falling over and spilling all the coffee. Her hand flew to the empty cup and snatched it away from the customer. "I got it." She said quickly.
Jeez. Can't he just throw the cup away? The garbage bin was just beside her. Ann tossed the plastic cup in the bin, annoyed by his insensitivity.
By the time she turned back, he was gone. Huh? Where was he? He was here two seconds ago. She searched around and found him with another man in black by the counter.
He looked cool in that black suit. Was he a mafia?
She had live here in San Fierro's China Town for only a year and she heard a lot about the street gangsters. Judging by the way he was dressed and the man in black beside him. She would assume he belonged to a gang. But which is it, she couldn't be sure.
"Come again!" Ann's friend Lucy bowed to the customers as they left. Ann hurried to the counter and placed the tray down. She went near the glass door and watched them leave.
"What? Do you know them?" Lucy asked.
Ann shook her head. "No. But one of them had tried my coffee."
Lucy laughed. "So what? Now you've developed a crush on him?"
Ann tossed Lucy a narrowed look. "No. After the ugly breakup with John, I know better than to dive in another new romance...or crush." She went to carry the tray of coffee back. "Besides, I am busy with my coffee shop. There's still not a single customer come walking through my shop. It's frustrating." Ann went back to the frozen food section. If she was to stand all day long, might as well stand near the cold area.
"Give it some time, Ann. I'm sure there will come a day where your shop will be filled with many customers." Lucy encouraged. "Thanks Luce, I'm sure it'll come." Ann sighed. She really hoped he will hold on to his words and come by her shop.
It had been 3 days since the arms-dealing operation had been a success. This time it was done outside of San Fierro, at a place where Woozie's friend CJ promised the operation will not be busted by the cops or interfered by the Da Nang Boys. True to his words, nothing happened. Secretly Woozie was so fucking glad he had met CJ. The man can get a lot of things done. He liked that. And he appreciated the friendship as well.
The coffee that he had been drinking lately did not reach to his liking. It felt as though it was missing something. Though he can't be sure what it was. The coffee brand was the same as always and Woozie had been drinking it his whole life.
So what was the missing link?
Could it be...?
Yeah, he was a sore loser if he couldn't bring himself to admit that he was interested in the coffee girl.
There was something about her… Since Woozie was born blind, he had to train his other senses to a point where people wouldn't notice his handicap. Woozie had to focus on the sense of his smell, hear, and touch. It helped him a lot. So what was it about the coffee girl that had caught his attention…?
Her voice.
Her voice was filled with eagerness, happiness and…excitement, although she was nervous, but the passion in her voice triumphed over her fear. Something that this town lacked of, people were so busy working that they no longer felt passionate about their work.
Granted, Woozie still liked doing his business. Who wouldn't love money when it comes to your doorstep every 10 minutes right? Since the business in The Four Dragons Casino had stabilized, he left the casino to his friend Ran Fa Li's care while he managed the arms-dealing trade with the outside source.
Woozie hauled himself up from the office chair in pure frustration. "Guppy, let's visit the Pierson's Coffee Shop down the street." He commanded. It was time to get his filling otherwise he'd die out of stress.
"Yes, boss." Guppy led the way.
When they approached the front door of Pierson's Coffee Shop, Guppy's footsteps slowed.
"What is it, Guppy?" Woozie questioned. He can sense the hesitation in Guppy's footsteps and wondered why.
"Uh. There's no one inside, boss." Guppy commented. He stuck his face to the glass door and peeked. Nope. Not one customer in sight.
"Are we in the right shop?" Guppy murmured more to himself than to his boss.
"Let's just head inside." Woozie decided. With or without customers, he will sure get that damned coffee that had lingered on his tongue and his memories for 3 days straight.
The door let out a tiny bell ring as they stepped in. They randomly picked a booth and settled in. The place was so quiet that the sound of spoon hitting the concrete floor can be heard even from miles away.
Woozie pulled his coat to smooth the crease. He drummed his fingers on the table, waiting.
Guppy watched as a red-haired girl came to them. He checked her out from head to toe. She was dressed in a red waitress uniform with white apron attached to the front of her waist, with short-sleeves and collars designed in white-laces. She looked nervous as hell.
"Hi, um, welcome." She took out her notepad. Her hands were shaking. That poor girl.
"Boss?" Guppy glanced at Woozie.
"Black coffee, please." Woozie requested. Did she not recognize him?
"Black coffee." She wrote down on her notepad, she turned to Guppy. "And you, sir?" She plastered on a steady smile.
Woozie cocked his head to the right and listened intensely. Her heartbeat was loud and fast. She was probably nervous.
"Uh, just Cappuccino." Guppy ordered.
"Cappuccino." She scribbled on the notepad again. "May I suggest desserts for you guys?"
"What do you have in mind?" Woozie smiled. He liked listening to her voice. It soothed him in some crazy level. He didn't know why this strange phenomenon was happening to him, but it did. And there was nothing he can do about it.
"Hmm… We have cupcakes, cakes, uh…cream-puffs, breads, waffles…"
"I'll have the waffles please. Peanut-butter flavored." Woozie stated. "Same as him." Guppy added.
"Okay. Waffles, peanut-butter." She whispered. "Alright, gentlemen. Your order will be up in just a few minutes. Please, enjoy the snacks on your table." She turned and hurriedly went back to the counter to make coffee.
Guppy pushed the basket of snacks to his boss. Woozie took one and tore it open.
While her hands were busy making the coffee, Ann mentally told herself not to get too panicked as she sought only the perfect coffee for these two gentlemen. She can't believe it. He actually came.
She'd been waiting for 3 days and each day brought only disappointment. She started to lose hope and was about to close early for today but they came. She was so touched she can almost cry out in pure happiness.
Once the coffee was done, only the waffles left. But she delivered the coffee to their table first. She wasn't about to let her first customers waiting.
"Black coffee for you, sir." She slid the coffee close to Woozie. "Cappuccino for you." Guppy took the cup and saucer from her. "Thanks." Ann grinned. Guppy nodded.
"Enjoy your coffee. Your waffles will come right up!" She turned and sauntered back to the counter.
All the equipment for making coffee, bread, waffles, every cooking utensil was on the counter. The shop didn't have a small kitchen. After all, it was just small business. And she was content in doing simple things like this.
She came back with two peanut-butter waffles and placed it on their table.
"What's your name, by the way?" The cool guy dressed in black suit and sunglasses asked.
Ann froze in place and felt her mouth dropped.
"Ann." She murmured.
"Ann." He repeated. His voice was something else, the way he said her name was…different.
From the moment they met at Lucy's store something about him drawn her on. Maybe his voice? He definitely had one of those voices where you can call it 'sexy'.
Ann felt pink hit her cheeks. She turned and was about to walk away when he spoke in a calm, gentle voice. "The name's Wu Zi Mu. But everybody calls me Woozie."
"Woozie…" She mouthed. Ann smiled to herself. When she caught Guppy watching her with a funny face, she cleared her throat and made her way back to the counter, trying to act all natural.
Wu Zi Mu…Woozie…huh, cute name. Ann thought.
She watched them enjoying their lunch. She can't tell why she liked watching Woozie gasping in happiness when he drank her coffee. He seemed to like the black coffee she made. But somewhere deep in her core she knew all black coffee tasted the same. So why did he look so damn happy drinking hers in particular?
Frankly, she didn't know. Would she want to find out about it? Maybe…just…maybe.
A/N: This is my first GTA Fanfic :D I'm sorry if my writing's not good but hope you enjoy this story. Chapter 2 will be up soon hopefully I can get it done ASAP. I want to thank my little sister(snlw28) and my friend(clourevgates) for helping me beta read. Look forward to the next chapter! :)