AN: Hi there! Had my first day off in forever and I had this One-Shot floating in my head for the last couple of days so I decided to just write it out. It was inspired by my new job (which I love way too much since I'm always there x_x). Originally it was called "3 Waters With Lemon" but I changed it last minute. Tomorrow I'll (hopefully) be working on publishing the next chapters for Breaking Free & The Mixed Tape! I hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or the characters!

Summary: How long does it take Sakura to notice that Syaoran likes her? & just how many times does it take Syaoran to finally ask Sakura out on a date?'Third time's charm, right?' Enjoy! SxS One-Shot.

3rd Times A Charm

s-s-s-s-s-s

She was completely mesmerized by him. He was a master at his craft and at capturing hearts, it seemed. The minute she laid eyes on him just 3 days ago, she was hooked and her work was suffering for it. He was like a distraction—an extremely beautiful walking distraction that just happened to be the head chef and her boss.

"I think your table only asked for one cup of water and a lemon, not a whole tropical paradise with a waterfall."

The auburn haired girl awoke from her daze and the cup she'd been refilling toppled over, spilling its contents onto the drink station. The object of her affection looked up from his work and she quickly avoided any eye contact. She further created a mess of things when she knocked over the container that held the lemons, the sliced fruit falling to the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" she clamored while quickly attempting to clean up the mess she'd made. The amber-eyed boy looked back at the chef and shook his head with a smirk. Placing a hand over hers, he halted her movements, "I'll handle this, take the drink to your table and see if they need anything else."

Their hands remained this way and their eyes met. His amused expression changed to one of concern as tears began to well up in her eyes. She removed her hand from his and stood, sighing heavily and obviously flustered at her current situation, "I've been messing things up all day…they might as well just send me home now."

He chuckled as he rose from the ground with the now soiled fruit, "It's your first week so it's expected. Just breathe and stay focused. You've only got 15 minutes until the restaurant is closed and then you're free!"

His words of encouragement went unheard as she roughly placed her forehead against the wall in front of her, her eyes glued to the floor below, glistening with more tears that threatened to fall. He dropped the soiled lemons into the trash and retrieved a napkin from his pocket.

"Here," he held it under her face with one hand while filling a new cup with ice with the other. She took the napkin from him and wiped her face just as he'd finished filling the glass with water and placing the last sliced lemon onto the rim.

"Things happen but you have to keep trying. There's no sense in quitting if you've already made it this far."

She smiled feebly and gave a nod, taking the cup from his hand with a composing breath.

"Now put on a that beautiful bright smile and get that drink back your waiting guest!" the boy said, playfully pushing her back towards the front end of the restaurant.

She laughed along as she walked through the swinging door, "Thank you!" she shouted with a quick glance over her shoulder before racing off towards her table.

He watched her retreating figure and turned back towards the messy station only to be met by a piercing gaze.

"'Put on that beautiful bright smile?' Someone's extra nice and cheesy today. Definitely unlike the Syaoran I know."

He took a startled step backwards, "Geeze, Meiling. Can you not sneak up behind people like that?" realizing it was only his cousin, he brushed passed her and continued the task of cleaning up the station. Her eyes followed him intently, "You like her, don't you?"

He loudly placed the dirty cup into the dish bin and shut the ice tray a little too forcefully, causing the remaining cups and glasses stacked on the station to wobble unsteadily.

"It was a simple question, no need to break the restaurant." Meiling teased as she followed him through the cloth flaps back out into the restaurant.

Ignoring her comments, he continued to wipe down the visibly clean table.

"You should ask her out before—"

"Before what? Before she gets too into Mr. Big-shot-head-chef back there? Too late for that." he spat, noisily and aggressively rearranging the condiments on the table.

Meiling looked around worriedly, luckily his section was cleared of any customers. Sakura seemed to have the last large party in the restaurant. Grabbing his forearm she dragged him towards the server station for more privacy, disregarding his attempts to stop her.

"Stop acting like such a big baby and suck it up. If you like her then tell her, don't sulk around here just because every new girl that you happen to have interest in quits or gets fired. It's not their fault that our head chef just happens to be outrageously good looking and they can't stay focused."

"Not helping, Meiling."

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "Sorry. But look, if you like Sakura all that much then you would save her from the same fate."

Syaoran continued his silence as he opened and closed all of the extra soy sauce bottles. Feeling as though she wasn't going to get anywhere, Meiling threw her hands up in defeat and walked away. He let out the breath he'd been holding and looked around the corner from the station. He watched as the remaining guests in the restaurant left and Sakura worked to clear plates and cups from a table. She hummed cheerfully to the music that was playing and a smile danced on her lips.

"Now or never, Syaoran." He said quietly to himself. Ducking back into the cover of the station, he slipped his towel back onto his apron and ran his hands through his chestnut hair, checking his reflection in the window of the emergency exit door.

Taking a deep breath of confidence, he was stopped in his tracks before he even had a chance to start. He froze, hearing the voice of the man he'd loathed the most.

"You've been doing such a great job, Sakura! The restaurant is closed now but I'll need you to prepare a table of 3 settings for me before you leave, 3 waters with lemon. There's a special family coming in."

Syaoran could hear Sakura agree quietly and watched as the head chef walked past the station towards the back of the restaurant. There was a loud clash of plates and his attention was brought back to the new girl. She was crouched in a reaching position towards the ground, a shattered dish and its food contents lay on the floor, while the stack of plates in her other hand threatened to topple over. Racing towards her, he swiftly grabbed the stack just before they fell and placed them loudly onto the tray that lay on the table.

"Are you crazy? Why aren't you using the tray?" He looked around to see if anyone had heard the noise only to realize they were the only ones left in the front of the restaurant.

"I just thought—"

"That you could do something that you're not ready for? This is a job, not high school. You can't doing something stupid because you want to show off for some guy."

Sakura looked up at him, opening her mouth as if to say something but refrained. Her emerald eyes shone with anger at his words. She knew her actions weren't the smartest but he had no right to call her out for it. Their gazes continued to challenge each other before Sakura broke away to the back of the restaurant.

Syaoran relaxed himself and knelt to the ground, picking up the pieces of the broken plate and spilt food. He hadn't meant to snap at her the way he did. He chuckled to himself as he wiped up the food from the floor and placed it on the tray, Meiling was right for once. It was weird that he'd only just met Sakura this week but she'd proven to be something different from all the other girls that just didn't make the cut. Her exuberance was contagious. She held an air of brightness as she worked, greeting and speaking with the customers with a genuine interest in their well-being, something that many people lacked when working in restaurants. To the majority, the people sitting down to enjoy their meals were nothing more than a $3.00 tip at the end of the night but to Sakura, every guest was treated as a close friend or family member. She was just a natural people person. To him, aside from her obvious outer beauty, it was her most attractive quality.

Sakura found herself back at the drink station, her arms locked in place on either side of it to continue holding herself steady. Was it really that obvious that she liked the head chef? She laughed at how silly she must have seemed and slowly calmed. Syaoran was right though, she shouldn't have done something so foolish just to impress some guy. As angry as she wanted to be at him she couldn't stay that way. He was the only one who'd really helped her since she'd started working.

"He means well. He's slightly frustrating sometimes but he's a great guy. He really believes in you."

Sakura turned around and followed Meiling with her eyes a she entered through the flaps and past the station.

Meiling had witnessed the whole thing and decided to step in and intervene before Syaoran messed things up even further. Generally, she was always protective of him. The girls that ended up being fired or quit, she decided were not worthy of being with him. Sakura, on the other hand, was proving herself to be somewhat of a fighter. No matter how many times she messed up, she never complained. She would practice and eventually perfect whatever it was that she was having trouble with. Meiling wasn't about to let Syaoran ruin his chance with the only other worthy girl, aside from herself, of course.

"If he's so great then you should date him." Sakura muttered under her breath but quickly covered her mouth with both hands. She had a horrible habit of occasionally voicing her thoughts.

Meiling laughed as she washed her hands, "Well, for one thing, he's my cousin and I don't think he'd agree with us being an item. Plus, he definitely has his eyes set on someone else." She said, looking straight into the brunettes eyes with a mischievous smile. Sakura didn't know whether her cheeks were red from embarrassment or from the fact that Meiling had clearly hinted that Syaoran likes her.

The raven-haired girl untied her apron and removed the bands that held her hair in two neat buns on either side of her head. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders and she knelt to pick out something from the small fridge. Sakura blinked as her co-worker placed two lemons in front of her. "For the family that's coming in. Make sure they're perfect."

Sakura didn't know what else to do but simply nod. In the week that she'd been employed, she could have sworn that Meiling hated her. Whenever she'd had a question, she was ignored or told to ask Syaoran. Now here they were, having an almost conversation. If only she could bring herself to say something right for a chance. "Thanks." She sighed mentally. There really wasn't anything else she could say.

Meiling walked towards the swinging door and looked over her shoulders with a smile, "Have a good night! I'll see you next week"

Syaoran nearly collided with his cousin as he made his way into the back of the restaurant, "Don't mess this one up." was all she said as she continued to walk.

Before the door had a chance to swing shut, Meiling had disappeared and Syaoran walked through, the tray of plates and food in his hands. Sakura turned away quickly and picked up three cups from the stack. How could he believe in her if everything she'd done was a mistake up until the point. Not wanting to disappoint him any further, she carefully filled each one with ice and then water and lined them up in a row. Syaoran passed by her quietly and placed the stack of plates on the counter near the dishwasher, clearing any remaining food off of them.

Sakura took a deep breath and focused on the task in front of her. She hated cutting lemons. They never seemed to come out pretty or perfect no matter how hard she'd tried. Before her first shift she asked Touya, her older brother, to teach her the right way to cut them but it just didn't seem right after seeing everyone else's perfectly crescent shaped lemons. Touya had told her that was the easy way of cutting them, if she really wanted to impress the staff and guests, her lemons had to be cut into blocks. 'The shape allowed for more juice to be squeezed from the fruit!' she remembered his exact words.

"What are those?"

She looked over at Syaoran who was washing his hands in the sink next to the station.

Looking back down at her block-shaped lemons, she smiled sheepishly, "The best lemon slices I'm sure you've ever seen!" Her statement sounded more like a question.

His laughter pierced through the silent room as he dried his hands. "These," he picked up one of the lemon blocks and held it to eye level before tossing it into the trash. "are probably the worst lemons I've ever laid eyes on. Who taught you how to cut them?" he laughed, picking up the cutting knife and slicing the ends off of the other full lemon that Meiling had left. Sakura mentally scolded herself for believing that Touya would have actually given her solid advice. She rubbed her temples and sighed, "My stupid brother. Remind me to kill him when I get off, alright?" she managed a small chuckle.

"Well then that would make me guilty by association and I'd probably go to jail with you and then the restaurant would be left with horrible employees." He smiled, placing the lemon flat onto one of the sides he'd just cut.

"Yeah, right. This place would be better off without me." Sakura rolled her eyes and fiddled with the towel that hung from her waist.

Syaoran peered at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed to innocent all of a sudden, the way her fingers picked at the cloth and how her eyes scrunched in dissatisfaction.

"If it makes you feel better, you're way better than Meiling when she first started. I had to plead with the managers to not fire her after her first day."

This earned him a small smile from her and she looked up at him,

"But don't tell her I told you that. She'd probably kill me and then you would be stuck with her in jail and I would feel horrible for leaving you to live with such a fate." the brightness in her eyes returned and she laughed childishly at his joke.

"She was right, you really aren't so bad." She nudged him with her shoulder and his eyebrows rose. "Yeah, I guess you're not so bad yourself." He winked.

She felt her cheeks grow warm and an awkwardly comfortable silence followed.

"I can teach you." Syaoran broke the stillness and positioned the cutting board in between them.

"You always want to cut the ends off of the lemon first and cut it in half this way before you start slicing them."

She watched as he sliced the lemon in half with one swift motion and placed the two pieces next to each other.

He nodded his head to the side, motioning for her to move closer. Taking her hands in his, he placed one on top of the lemon and the other he gripped around the knife.

She held her breath as her heart rate increased with the slightest touch from him.

Sliding her in front of him, he stood behind her but slightly off to the side as to still see what he was doing. Leaning his head down closer to hers, he continued his instructions.

"I only use the first 3 slices of the lemon."

"W-Why?" she stammered nervously. Their cheeks were merely inches apart.

Syaoran shrugged, "I don't know really. Maybe the number 3 is my lucky number." He laughed. He moved a few inches away from her.

"What do you do with the rest of it? Isn't that wasteful?"

Syaoran shook his head, "I don't throw them away. I just leave the rest for someone else to cut. It's weird but it works for me. No one ever complains about my lemons." He smirked.

She rolled her eyes jokingly and made a mental note of his quirky habit. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess!"

"So let's get started."

With her hand still in his, he guided hers with the knife and sliced a crescent shape from the half of lemon. They mimicked this action 2 more times in silence, both too afraid to move.

Sakura unconsciously closed her eyes. She came in this morning for the early shift and ended up picking up another server's evening shit too, telling herself she could use the practice. The warmth emitting from Syaoran was comforting at the long day. Her eyes remained closed for nearly 10 seconds before she blinked them open again.

He hadn't realized how close he was to her but didn't mind. The silence made him realize that she'd zoned out momentarily.

"You should head home. I'll bring the drinks to his table." He whispered, removing his hands from hers and reluctantly moving away. He thought about using this opportunity to ask her but was interrupted once again.

"Li, you're still here?"

The two brunettes turned suddenly to see their head chef standing in the doorway.

"Sorry sir, I accidentally dropped a plate and just finished cleaning everything up." Syaoran quickly gestured to the stack of plates at the dishwasher.

"That's fine just don't let it happen again. Finish cleaning up and I'll see you tomorrow. Kinomoto. Please bring those drinks to table 35."

Sakura and Syaoran both nodded quietly as the man disappeared back into the restaurant.

"Boy does he know how to stop a heart." Sakura breathed out quietly. The words left her before she'd even had a chance to think about what she was saying. She glanced quickly at Syaoran who had definitely heard what she'd said.

Syaoran tensed at her words. In that instant, he'd once again lost all confidence he'd built up to ask her out. He untied his apron and placed it on the shelf above the station and made his way to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." He muttered quietly, leaving Sakura in an uncomfortable silence before she'd even had a chance to respond.

With a sigh, she took the lemons and put a small cut down the middle of each of them before sliding them onto the glasses. Placing the cups and a handful of napkins onto the tray, she made her way into the restaurant towards table 35. There was no doubt that she'd felt special. The head chef had asked her personally to prepare something for him but she couldn't shake the feeling of guilt. She would have to find some way to apologize to him, but how exactly do you apologize to someone for something that that really didn't need an apology?

She was taken from her thoughts as she approached the table to find the head chef waiting.

"Sir, I didn't know that you the table would be for you tonight." She removed the first two glasses from the tray.

He looked up at her, his usual sternness was replaced with a soft expression and a smile. The fluttering in her heart returned at this gesture. She knew it was wrong to feel this way for her boss but she couldn't help it. He was an attractive man despite how serious he'd always seemed. For him to smile at her in the way he did was pure torture.

"Yes, every Friday night I have dinner here with my family."

Before Sakura could fully understand what he'd said, a little girl ran into view, followed by a woman cradling a much younger baby in her arms.

"Daddy!" the girl yelled as the head chef rose from his seat to great his daughter. She jumped into his arms, capturing him in a tight embrace.

Sakura watched the scene unfold before her as he then greeted his beautiful wife and child. She took a step back from the table, only to slightly trip. The remaining glass on the tray tipped over with a soft clatter, the contents spilling over onto the confused girl.

All eyes were on her as she excused herself quietly and hurried to the back of the restaurant. She slid the tray back on top of the station and picked up another cup, her hands shaking as she filled it with ice.

'How could you be so stupid, Sakura? He's your boss! Your married boss at that.'

"I don't use the tray and I drop a plate, I use the tray and I end up covered in water. There's no winning!" she spoke aloud to herself as she quickly filled the glass with water. She was not only embarrassed, but soaked and cold.

She retrieved the cutting knife and absentmindedly began slicing into the other half of the lemon, angry at how careless she'd been. She stopped after the third slice, realizing that she'd successfully cut her own beautiful, crescent-shaped lemons. Her mind drifted back to what Meiling had told her. Syaoran's actions not only tonight but throughout the week did nothing less than to prove that he liked her but she was too busy fawning over her boss to truly realize it. Placing the knife down, she covered her eyes, hoping that she hadn't completely ruined things with him. After a couple minutes had passed, she'd managed to fully compose herself.

She picked up the first lemon slice and cut a line down the center before placing it onto the glass. Removing the remaining pieces of lemon from the cutting board, she put them in a container in the fridge and picked up the glass before heading back into the restaurant.

"I'm really sorry about that. I've been so clumsy today." Sakura laughed as she placed the glass onto the table.

"It's no big deal. Now head home and get some sleep, alright? You've done a great job this week."

Sakura nodded with a smile, "Thank you sir. You have a lovely family. Have a wonderful evening." She said as she took a few steps away.

Her boss nodded in approval and she made her way back into the kitchen. Removing her apron and undoing the bun she'd had in her hair, Sakura trudge out of the back door of the restaurant. She looked around, realizing that the parking lot was practically empty, and remember that she'd decided to walk to work that morning since she was only supposed to work the morning shift. Adding another mental concussion to herself for the day, she made her way towards the street that would lead to her apartment. Aside from the bosses car, there was one other vehicle in the lot, passing it on her way out, she stopped when she recognized the familiar chestnut hair of her co-worker.

Syaoran's eyes were closed and his chair was slightly reclined. A tapping on his window woke him abruptly. He looked around and took notice that he'd been sleeping in his car before spotting the source of the tapping noise. Sakura stifled her laughter behind her hands and stood up straight as he opened his car door.

"And you were telling me to go home to get some sleep. You couldn't even make it out of the parking lot."

Syaoran ruffled his hair and grinned, "I usually like to rest for a little bit before heading home but I guess I was just a little too worn out tonight" he yawned.

"Did everything turn out ok in there?"
Sakura nodded, "As good as it'll get. I spilled a glass of water all over myself—but I managed to cut my own lemons!" she added proudly.

He grinned at her. Truly amazing. Here she was, soaked and probably embarrassed beyond belief but excited at the fact that she managed to cut her own lemons. Noticing his gaze, she looked away nervously, remember her current situation.

"Can I ask a favor?" she asked timidly. "Do you think you could drive me home? I forgot that I walked today and wasn't expecting to be here this late. I live down the street in those new apartments complexes but it's kind of dark out so…" her statement dragged on. He watched her as she quietly pulled at a lose string on her shirt. 'There goes that innocence again.' He smiled.

"Sure, get in." reaching over and unlocked the passenger door, she ran around to the other side of his car.

Once settled, he started his car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry about earlier," She said quietly, her eyes remained towards the window. "Sometimes I just blurt things out without thinking. I also wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me this week."

It took Syaoran a minute to realize what she was apologize for and he shook his head, "It's fine. I'm used to being ignored by the entire female population in the restaurant. I've got nothing on that guy." He laughed.

Sakura looked over at him curiously, "I don't think so. I mean, sure he's extremely good looking and his culinary skills are unparalleled and—"

"I fail to see how this is supposed to make me feel better."

Sakura laughed, "Just know that you're a great guy. I even made a mistake and told Meiling that she should date you. Of course this was before I knew she was your cousin."

Syaoran was taken off guard by her forwardness but mostly by her embarrassing confession. He couldn't stop himself from laughing, nearly failing to break at the red light.

He turned the corner once the light had turned green, "Thank you I guess. But please never mention that Meiling thing again. Don't tell her I told you this, but when we were kids, she used to tell everyone that she was going to marry me."

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes, "You're joking?" her laughter picked back up where his subsided and before they realized it, he brought his car to a stop in front of her apartment complex.

"Well, I guess I'll see you sometime next week since I'm off this weekend." She said, halfway removing herself from the car.

He nodded, "It's no problem and I actually have the weekend off too."

"Lucky us!" she smiled. "So…I'll see you later then." She continued, lingering a moment longer and looked back at him. Their eyes remained locked for a few moments. There was nothing there to distract him this time,

'Third time's a charm right?'

"Would you like to have lunch with me, tomorrow?" he asked her just as she was about to turn away.

Without hesitation she gave a small nod and smile, "I would love to!"

Relieved, Syaoran smiled in return, "Great! I'll pick you up around noon then?"

"I'll be ready." she replied with a warm smile. Quickly leaning back into the car, she placed a small kiss upon his cheek before bounding from his vehicle. "Thank you again! I'll see you tomorrow!" she yelled from the top of the stairs just before reaching her door. Turning back briefly, she gave a small wave and disappeared into her apartment.

'Maybe 3 really is my lucky number.' He thought to himself as he drove away in blissful silence.

Thank you for reading ^_^!

- Synea K.