Hibiscus Films by FlynnTalwar..,

Author’s note: You’ll see I use Felipe Cifuentes’s and Carter Amos’s names interchangeably for most of the story. It might be slightly confusing but it’s not a mistake. He’s referred to as Felipe from the narrator’s or his own point of view, and Carter from Juno’s and every other character’s point of view.

Felipe/Carter

“Excuse me, Sir, but you have to leave.”

Felipe Cifuentes felt the dread build up in his chest, not wanting to turn around and have this confrontation. He’d miscalculated that standing between the double doors of this place instead of going inside would give him a low enough profile to wait out the rain.

“Look, Miss, it’s only until the weather lets up a little bit,” he responded to the hostess who’d spotted him from her perch inside the restaurant. She was short and looked like she was about his age, maybe still in school. It’s always the ones you think might cut you a break, he ruefully thought.

He knew that at six feet, with olive skin and mahogany brown hair and eyes, a girl like that might have thought to date him if he’d been showered and clean-shaven. And perhaps wearing something much better than an oversized trench coat and sweats. But for someone who was homeless, those luxuries were a world away.

“You can buy something or you can leave,” the hostess confidently stated, just as another young woman in a hibiscus patterned sundress pushed through the outside door and strode in. He only caught her gaze for a moment, but her eyes lingered on him even as she opened the second door and went inside. Felipe noticed she didn’t go far, though.

“Miss, I really need you to have just a bit of compassion, here,” he tried to reason with the hostess. “I don’t have anywhere else to go right now. I promise I’ll be gone as soon as it’s down to a sprinkle out there.”

“You’re making our patrons uncomfort–” she raised her voice but was soon cut off by the inside door being pulled back.

“Hey, dude, sorry, I didn’t recognize you right away,” the young woman in the hibiscus sundress said, standing in the threshold. “I left my glasses at home. Come on, I’m starving.” Both Felipe and the hostess stood there with their mouths agape. “Are you coming?” the girl pressed.

Felipe studied her for a moment, convinced she was pushing this awkward situation into full-blown cringe-worthy territory. Imagine pleading with a service employee for temporary shelter from the elements because you’re homeless, and then having a beautiful girl mistake you for someone she knew.

She was beautiful, though. He couldn’t remember having a meal with any girl that lovely even when he had a place to live. She looked like she was Southeast Asian–Thai or Filipino, maybe? She had straight, jet-black hair that fell down past her shoulders, almond-shaped eyes, and a bright complexion. And now she was grabbing his arm and pulling him inside.

“Ma’am, are you sure?” the hostess checked with the hibiscus sundress girl.

“Yes, this man is my friend,” the girl averred. “We’d like a table for two if you’re still interested in our business,” she continued, picking out a card from a pocket against the wall that read How Was Our Service? Felipe smiled to himself, still confused but admiring the young lady’s not-so-subtle power move.

The hostess led them to a table that was somewhat out of the way, perhaps for her own satisfaction but also unintentionally to Felipe’s great relief. She curtly handed them two menus and told them their server would be there shortly.

“Ugh, I’m never eating here again,” the girl said as Felipe continued to stare at her, bemused. “At least not as long as that jerk is working here. Imagine getting paid a smidge above minimum wage and then gatekeeping for the people who’d replace you that same day if you had a heart attack and died on shift.” She looked up at Felipe, and gave her head a gentle shake.

“I’m sorry, I’m Juno. Juno Ngam.”

“You realise we don’t know each other, right?” Felipe stammered.

“You know me now,” Juno reasoned. “I still don’t know you, though.”

“Felipe Cifuentes,” he remembered. “Why… why are you doing this?”

“I hate eating alone,” she smiled. “Also, I like sticking it to bootlickers like her. Also, you’re not bad looking.” Felipe smiled in spite of himself, suddenly feeling a bit shy.

“I clean up good, but I don’t really get a chance to do that too much nowadays,” he said.

“You will soon,” she said. As Felipe wondered what she meant by that, the server arrived. Felipe searched for the cheapest thing on the menu as Juno ordered. She’s going to eat all that? he thought, looking at her petite frame as she asked for three different dishes. Where’s she going to put it all?

“That’s a big appetite for someone so small,” he said, thinking Juno couldn’t have been taller than 5’4″.

“That’s for you, hon,” she replied nonchalantly. “I could have goaded you into ordering more but I figured this way was more efficient.”

“I can’t eat all that,” Felipe protested.

“Maybe not now, but if my understanding of humans is correct, they tend to get hungry a few times each day.” Felipe grimaced at her. “The food is Thai and I’m Thai, so I know what I ordered,” Juno continued. “It’ll be fine until tomorrow without refrigeration, especially if the weather stays cool. We’re going to get most of it packed to go.”

“Look, I appreciate you buying me lunch and all, but you’re kind of taking it too far,” Felipe told her. Even as he was saying the words, the irony wasn’t lost on him that he was complaining about Juno’s kindness when just minutes ago he was ruing how awful the hostess had been.

“Taking it too far would be asking you to marry me so we could share assets,” she replied, just as flippantly as she was conducting the rest of their conversation. “I’m setting you up with food for like, one day, my guy. You need to cool your jets.”

Felipe continued to glower despite knowing she was right.

“How long have you been on the streets?” she asked, finally breaking their mutual silence. He sighed, not wanting to get into this story because he was sure she’d give him the ‘just get a job’ tripe he’d heard before.

“About a year now,” he said. “I don’t want to give you a sob story, though.”

“Unless you can make up a fun one, I’m good with any kind of story,” Juno smiled wryly.

“Well, okay then,” Felipe obliged. “I lost my mom when I was 14, after which my dad drank himself into oblivion. I expected him to die of liver failure at some point, but I didn’t think it would happen when I was 19. I’m 23 now.” He paused to examine Juno’s face, but her expression was surprisingly neutral.

“He–I found out soon we weren’t financially stable, so whatever was in his estate went to paying off his debts. I was in university on a soccer scholarship and I was lucky to have friends I could stay with during breaks, because I didn’t have a house to go back to anymore.”

“What about family?”

“I’m an only child and the rest of my family is back in Colombia,” he said. “Plus, I was in school and legally an adult so I had to manage on my own somehow. I got my degree in theatre and fine arts, but the only place I had to live after I graduated was my car.”