The first person Clara fell in love with in the new city was Ren, the cafe waiter.

Every night, after a long day at the boutique, a tiring contest, and an exhausting after-party at the hotel, Clara would stop at the cafe. It was her favorite time to visit the cafe because Ren would always be working the late night shift. It was a quiet time in the cafe. There weren't many customers at the cafe that late at night, and as it got closer to midnight, Clara would often be the only customer in the cafe.

Ren would do his duties of cleaning up the tables and getting the cafe ready to close down for the night, but he would always wait for Clara to leave before locking up the cafe.

Clara's favorite nights were the nights in the cafe where she and Ren were alone. He would sit down at her table after he was done cleaning up and they would talk about what Clara was doing and her fast she was advancing through the fashion industry. Ren was the first one she she told that Michaela was handing over control of Mira Luna to her. He was also the first to know about her desire to win an international contest.

But while Clara blurted out all her plans, dreams and goals to Ren, she didn't know any more about him than what she could gather from his actions. Ren was always evasive to personal questions and she never saw him outside the cafe.

Even though she had given him multiple invitations to come by her boutique, he never stopped in. Every attempt she tried to meet up outside the cafe, Ren would reply that he was busy. She didn't know what he was busy with.

Clara often pondered if he had a girlfriend? He didn't wear a wedding ring.

One late night in September, a year after she had started her adventure in the fashion industry, after winning another contest and attending another party at the hotel, Clara stepped into cafe.

Ren greeted her with a smile from behind the counter and told her, "Clara, you can sit down at your table and I'll bring your tea to you."

"Actually," Clara said. "I was wondering if I could ask for something else."

"What did you want?" Ren asked as he picked up a cup.

"I like you!" Clara blurted out. Her face felt like it was burning up from embarrassment. "Will you go on a date with me this weekend?"

"Oh," Ren replied. He looked away from her and placed the cup down. The cafe was quiet.

Each quiet second weighed down on Clara. She felt like she had made a mistake.

"It's fine if you don't want to!" she rushed to say with her hands waving frantically in front of her as she tried to defuse the situation.

"I just wanted to tell you how I felt," Clara said quietly.

Ren looked at her and said "I' m sorry, but I don't feel the same way about you."

Clara felt despondent at his reply, but she told him "It's fine!"

"It's really fine," she repeated.

"Do you still want your tea?" Ren asked her.

Clara shook her head and said "No, I'm good. I'm still full from eating at the hotel." She hadn't eaten at the hotel. She was too nervous thinking about her confession.

"I have to go," Clara said, trying to put a smile on her face. She didn't think it was very convincing. "Have a good night."

"Good night," Ren told her as she turned around and left the cafe.

Tonight wasn't her night, she supposed as she walked back to her apartment.