A MILLION SMILES

There’s a hotel not far from my apartment that I once stayed at for a few days when I came to this country as a tourist. It’s a luxurious hotel in the busiest part of the town. As far as I know, it’s the highest rated one in the country.

Because it’s very expensive, it’s not a place most people would actually frequent, so the people that stay here are people that really splurges on a vacation, or high-profile people on a business trip. It shows in the fact that it has a few rooms to accommodate business uses.

The first floor has a couple of luxurious restaurants that’s open to the public, so you would often see people going about in the lobby, even though they aren’t staying at the hotel.

The building is large, so there’s also a restaurant on the 23rd floor, and the 47th floor. Also, on the 47th floor is a bar that stays open all night long, which is where I’m headed.

I walked through the front door and made a beeline towards the elevator.

The security isn’t very tight in the lobby because it’s mostly open to the public, but you can’t press most of the buttons on the elevator unless you have a room card. The 23rd and the 47th floor are the two floors with public facilities that you can access without a room card.

Once I’m inside the elevator, I pressed the button for the 47th floor, and the elevator quickly made its way up. After only a few seconds, I’m already on the 47th floor.

Once the elevator door opened, I stepped out and saw the sign on the wall right in front of the elevator door. The restaurant is towards the left from the elevator, and the bar is towards the right.

Following the sign to the bar, I was greeted by a waitress stationed by the door. “I apologize, sir. But the bar is currently closed, and will be open again at 12 o’clock, exactly at midnight.”

“Right. Thank you.” It’s too bad, but if it’s closed then there’s nothing I can do about it.

I fished my phone out of my pocket and called Alan. He picked up after a few rings. “Hey. I’m still on the way.”

“The bar’s closed for the night, said they’ll be open again at twelve.”

“Oh yeah, I asked them to say that. Just tell them you’re with me.”

“Say what, now?”

“Tell them you’re with me. I reserved the whole bar and asked them to tell people they were closed.”

“You reserved the whole bar?!” I asked in a louder voice, and the waitress by the door audibly gasped when I did. “Sorry. That came out louder than I expected.” I said to the waitress.

“It’s alright, just get a drink while you wait for me. I’m already close by.” Alan replied on the phone.

“I wasn’t talking to you, but okay.”

Alan then let out a chuckle. “Right. Be there soon.”

He let out a chuckle and cut the call. I placed my phone back inside my pocket when the waitress asked me with a worried look on her face.

“Sir, I apologize. I didn’t know that you would be with Mister Alan tonight.”

“It’s alright. I also didn’t know he had reserved the place either.”

The waitress then gave me a slight smile before opening the door and urging me to come inside. “Please enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.” I replied and made my way towards the bar.

I took a seat at a bar stool, where I remember I used to sit when I had stayed in this hotel.

The bartender then approached me and asked what he could get me tonight. I ordered a long iced tea, and he promptly started making one for me.

When Alan had asked me to meet, he only mentioned the place ‘The bar’. This was because we first met at this very bar. When I stayed in this hotel as a tourist, he was also staying here at the time.

As an up-and-coming star from his hometown, he landed a big job in this town and was staying at this hotel at the time.

He was much less popular compared to he is now, so this hotel was supposed to be out of budget for him at the time. However, his managing group back at his hometown wanted to provide him with the best working environment possible.

Since the job he landed was directed by one of the largest names in the industry, they wanted Alan to leave a good impression in the hopes of building a lasting relation with the director.

While I was reminiscing about the past, the bartender brought me my drink. I thanked him and took a quick sip of my drink.

I don’t usually go out to drink at bars anymore, but in the past, I often frequented bars, even in my home country.

With my frequent nightmares, I used to have a lot of sleepless nights, which was why I often frequent bars to help me sleep better. After I was prescribed sleeping medicines, I stopped visiting bars as I no longer feel any need to do so.

I stayed in this hotel before I was prescribed my sleeping medicines, and I met Alan during one of my sleepless nights.

He started staying in the hotel a couple nights before I did, and when I had unknowingly taken a seat next to his usual seat, I fell victim to his nightly rants.

At the time, he tried his best to make a lasting impression with the director he’s working with. To that end, what he did was basically started helping everywhere he could. He would help the staff out carrying boxes of items on set and help bring drinks to his co-star.

Everyone on set told him not to do so, but he wanted to make it big, so he put in his best effort.

But despite all that, the director wasn’t giving him any notable attention. He was given a supportive role with a considerable amount of screen time, but the director would only interact with him when absolutely necessary. So, he didn’t have much opportunity to leave a lasting impression when the director decided to ignore his effort behind the scenes.

That was when I gave him the ‘Just be yourself’ advice during one of our nights drinking together in this bar. It was just something I said mindlessly as a response, but he apparently took my advice seriously.

As a result, the director ended up really liking him when he was just being himself. The director started talking to him more, and they would have more interaction in general, which had helped him build a lasting relationship with the director.

From his point of view, I had saved him from messing up the biggest opportunity of his life, and he’s ‘eternally grateful’ for what I did. Thus, he felt the need to repay his debt.

But from my point of view, I just gave him the random stuff that influencers would talk about without actually intending to help him whatsoever. Which is why I feel undeserving of his gratitude.

When I took another sip of my drink, I heard the waitress behind me letting Alan inside the bar.

I turned the barstool around, and saw him, with the lady from earlier in the aquarium.

When we made eye contact, Alan raised his hand to wave at me, and I did the same from my seat. He then took a seat next to me, on the other side where he usually sits when we would meet every night for drinks in this bar, and the lady took a seat next to him.

Since he didn’t take his usual seat, it seems like tonight won’t be spent reminiscing about our past.

I already have a guess of what he wants to talk about. Since he explained nothing other than when and where we would meet, the only thing he could want to talk about is the event that had happened earlier today. I was even more convinced now that the lady from earlier, that is to say, his co-worker is also here.

Alan and the lady placed an order for their drinks with the bartender, and he promptly started to make their drinks. “How many glasses have you drunk?” Alan asked me after placing his order.

“This is still my first.”

“Cutting down on alcohol?”

I picked up my glass and inspected its content for a bit. “It's my first drink in two and a half years.”

He looked at me, surprised.

“Alan told me you used to take a dozen glasses of that.” The lady said while pointing at my glass of long island iced tea.

“Not anymore. Say, I want to thank you again. For what you did earlier today.”

“Like I said, I didn’t do it for you. But after I knew what was going on, I really wished I had.”

I replied with a smile, and she extended a hand towards me.

“Oliver, we have been introduced before, but I have yet to properly introduce myself.”

I extended my hand to meet hers. Alan was seated between us, and we shook hands in front of him.

“My name is Emma. As far as the public is concerned, I am Alan’s girlfriend.”

That’s why I thought the lady seemed very familiar when I saw her at the aquarium. She’s the gem that was eating at a restaurant with Alan when I met him on the road the first few days after I moved here.

“Oliver.”

Following our introduction to each other, the bartender brought Emma and Alan their drinks.

After he thanked him, Alan asked the bartender to give us some privacy, and he promptly left towards the back door.

After confirming that the bartender had left, Alan turned to look at me, just as Emma did so. “Oliver, do you know who the girl from the aquarium was?”

“She’s a part of a rising idol group.”

Following my response, Emma and Alan turned to look at each other. When they turned back to face me, it was Emma’s turn to ask the question. “So, I guess Erika hasn’t told you anything?”

I went quiet for a while before shaking my head.

“Oliver, me and Alan are dating each other for publicity. This is something people in this industry usually do while they have casual flings with whoever on the side. But you and Erika are obviously different. You are clearly into each other, so why haven’t you talked about this yet? Have you never asked her? Even after what happened today?”

“You think I could? Knowing that just seeing the other girl from far away, or just hearing her voice had caused Erika to break into an immediate panic?” Emma shut her mouth after I said that. “I’m not dense enough to not realize that she also has feelings for me, but that doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want. I don’t know her well enough to know how she’d react to me asking her about her past. She might tell me when she feels ready, but otherwise I’d just be troubling her by asking unnecessary questions.”

“Oliver..” Alan said while looking at me with sympathetic eyes. “I’ve thought of this ever since you went back home three years ago. I never said it because I didn’t think that I had to, but you are not being considerate. You were not being considerate towards me, and not towards Erika. You are just afraid of opening up to people, and having people open up to you.”

I fell silent for a while before taking a large swig of my drink. This is a very unpleasant conversation.

“Oliver, if you do not learn about Erika as soon as you can, you will only hurt her more. At the very least, you won’t be able to help her when you need to.”

What Emma said was true. I couldn’t even do anything for Erika earlier at the aquarium despite saying to myself that I wanted to give her the ‘more’ that I hadn’t got from my friends.

“I only learned about it today, but what happened to her when she was still in the industry was bad enough that everyone was hushed, because it would be a large scandal if words were to go out.” Alan added after Emma.

I looked at both of them. “Erika used to work in the movie industry?”

“Not only the movie. She started as an Idol and found success as a model, a tv star, and a movie star.”

“She found success at a very alarming pace too. She went up in the industry faster than anyone else. Every large name in every industry wanted to work with her after only a year into her career.” Emma added to Alan.

“What happened then?”

“That’s just exactly what happened.” Alan replied to my question. “She just started working in the industry, and suddenly she’s everyone’s favorite. She got into deals with the largest name in the industry, while some that work their assess off goes unrecognized even after spending a decade in the industry.”

“She was an eyesore to those who had worked for the longest time in the industry. She went up too quickly.”

“So, the girl from earlier is someone that was jealous of her at that time?” I asked

“Yes.” Emma replied. “But the worst part is that she was part of the same idol group that Erika was in.” She added.

“Idol groups are supposed to be this close, sometimes family-like group of young girls. Which is why they are supposed to spend a lot of time together. But despite spending a lot of time together, Erika was the only one that kept on going up in popularity. This ended up with the people that find her a nuisance to bully her a lot. The worst offenders had been her group mates, especially the girl from the aquarium earlier today. Mari”

“Erika excelled in a lot of industries, but she excelled the most in the music industry. At the time, she was in talks with the largest label in the country. Following that, Mari had apparently wanted to ‘celebrate’ Erika’s achievement and invited Erika to a party of sorts. Except it was actually not a party, as Mari had brought seven of Erika’s hardcore fans, all men to play with her.”

I was absolutely floored by this information. What this Mari girl did is way beyond bullying. That’s like orchestrated assault or something.

Anger quickly boiled inside me, and it showed clearly on my face. When Emma and Alan noticed the blatant anger on my face, they tried to calm me down.

“Relax. I heard that nothing had happened.”

I calmed down a little at this knowledge.

“That was the last time she ever showed up in the industry.”

“She broke off all deals and contracts and permanently stepped away from the industry. She was even never seen in public following the incident.”

I let out a sigh. This is all so heavy. I knew that she must have a rough past as she clearly has some traumas weighing down on her, but this is just way worse than what I was expecting.

I leaned my head back and rubbed my temple with my thumb and index finger.

Wait a minute. She worked in the idol and music industry? The music industry alone is one thing, but working in both the idol and music industry must mean she was singing. “What happened to her voice?”

Alan’s eyes went wide in realization, but Emma looked at me quizzically.

“What do you mean ‘her voice’?” She asked me.

Alan turned to look at Emma. “Erika is mute.”

Emma’s eyes went wide when she heard this. She then quickly took her phone out of her bag and looked up something with it.

She played a song on her speaker, and I listened along.

“This is one of Erika’s group songs. She had a few singles near the end of her career, but none of it was ever published.”

Emma points out whenever only Erika’s voice could be heard in the song. From what I could hear, Erika sounded amazing.

The song was also an absolute banger. Erika is really nailing it. I can see why she would make it big in the music industry. I would have been a huge fan, if only for her voice.

“This was their last song. It was released about a couple months before Erika stepped away from the industry. They had done commercials and photoshoots, but Erika was mainly focused on other industries at the time, so the group’s idol activities were slowing down considerably. I don’t know what happened to her voice, but something must have happened during the few months before she stepped away from the industry.”

I let out another sigh and drank the rest of my drink. I should’ve gotten more before the bartender stepped out. I feel like I really need the alcohol for this.

“Oliver, I don’t want to say this, but I think it’s best if you just stay away from Erika.” Alan said to me.

I immediately glared at him in response.

“I know how you feel, but she’s honestly too heavy of a baggage for anyone. Before you make any commitments, you should walk away.”

I know that he’s telling me this because he genuinely cares for me, but at this point, I’m already in too deep.

“Can’t do that.” I said in reply.

He let out a sigh. “I knew you would say that.”

He then called for the waitress outside the door. The same one that had led me inside the bar earlier.

Alan told the waitress he wanted to pay for the drinks, and she made her way behind the bar. There, she totaled our three drinks, and Alan gave his card to the waitress. She used it on a machine under the bar, and handed the machine to Alan for him to punch his pin in. After the transaction came through, he took his card and stood up with Emma to leave.

“You can call me if you need anything. I’ll be glad to help.” He said while placing a hand on my shoulder.

The two of them then left the bar and went inside the elevator.

On the other hand, I stayed behind and asked the waitress for another glass of drink, and she left to get the bartender from behind the back door.

When the bartender was back behind the bar, I asked him for another glass of long island iced tea. But before he started making it, I cancelled the order. I’m fond of the long island iced tea because it tastes somewhat sweet, but I’m not in the mood for that right now. So instead, I opted for a shot of vodka, and the bartender got it for me.

I downed my shot and pondered about what Emma and Alan had told me about Erika for a while.

After a few shots in, I started feeling tipsy, and I went home after paying for the few shots of vodka I got. I didn’t drink that much, so I could still walk straight, but I can feel the warmth of alcohol inside of my body.

As soon as I made it home, I changed into some more comfortable clothes, and immediately went to bed, with my head still storming about what Alan and Emma told me. About Erika.

The next morning, I went to visit Cafe Million as soon as it opened.

Hana seemed to have noticed me as soon as I stepped inside the Cafe. She’s a little surprised to see me but still went ahead and led me to Erika’s table.

“Erika told me what happened yesterday.” She said after letting me sit.

“Yeah?”

“She told me that she had a good time yesterday.”

I stayed silent while looking down after what she said.

“Despite what happens.” She added. “Anyway, you want to get the usual? Want to get breakfast or something?”

“I’m in love with Erika.” I said before turning to look at Hana.

She shrugged a little after a little while of silence. “And?”

“Just.. wanted you to know, I guess.”

“It’s kind of obvious already, you know? Especially after you asked her out.”

I really haven’t been hiding it, and Hana has already asked me about it before. I didn’t give any answer at the time, but she must have been able to tell then.

“In the end, I just want Erika to be happy, and I know you will make her happy, Oliver.”

“I will.”

“Will you, young man?” The owner interjected from behind the counter. He then made his way around from behind the counter, towards my table. “Do you know why I named this place ‘Cafe Million’?”

I shook my head in response.

“The idea is that I want to bring smiles to a million people through this cafe. I love the joy in people’s faces when I bring them their food and drinks.”

I looked at the owner as he slowly took a seat along with Hana across from me. His eyes seemingly stare into the distance as he remembers how he felt when he was younger.

“Then I met my wife. She worked in the cafe alongside me, and during the time we worked together, I learned that the smiles on the faces of families when they spend quality time in my cafe are truly wonderful. And I wanted everyone that comes inside this cafe to be able to spend quality time with their loved ones.” He stopped for a while to look at Hana sitting beside him. “Until we had Hana. For more than a decade it was just me and my wife, but the first time I saw Hana in my wife’s arms, was the moment I knew that what truly matters is their smiles.”

He gently patted Hana on the head, which prompted a protest from her.

Though, despite her protest, she’s giggling and smiling as he does so, and makes no attempt to stop him.

I could tell since day one that they had a very loving relationship between father and daughter.

“But this was harder than what I previously wanted. Bringing smiles to a customer’s face who only comes in for an hour or two at a time is much easier compared to bringing smiles to my family every day for their whole life.”

I looked down for a moment. The owner is basically demanding me that I do the same for Erika. I have to make her happy no matter what, no matter how. For everyday of her life.

“Erika’s parents first met at this cafe. When they had Erika, that was before me and my wife had Hana, they were busy with their work, so me and my wife helped them take care of Erika. That is why Erika is like a daughter to me. I consider her Hana’s older sister. That’s why I want her to be with someone who can make a commitment, just like I did when I first saw Hana in my wife’s arms. Will you make that commitment, Oliver? Despite knowing how Erika is?”

I can tell from the look in his eyes while he stares at me, that he truly cares for Erika. The gentle eyes he has when talking about her, and the stern look on his face as he asks me if I’m willing to make the commitment tells me.

The question he asked was so heavy, but it was the very question that I have been asking myself since last night.

I absolutely will make the commitment.

“I want Erika to smile a million smiles.” I said in response to the owner’s question.

The owner smiled at my response and left me and Hana at the table to go back to work behind the counter.

After we watched him go, Hana looked at me and I looked at her in return.

“So.. breakfast?”

A day later, Hana told me to come to Cafe Million.

We finally exchanged contact after our talk with the owner the other day, and she made a group chat between herself, me, and Erika.

We chatted a little on the group chat, talking just like we usually do at Cafe Million, but when Hana told me to come to Cafe Million, she did so in a private chat with me.

I walked into Cafe Million a little time after lunch hour and noticed that a couple was seated on Erika’s usual table.

Hana noticed me as soon as I walked through the door and went to greet me. After doing so, she immediately led me towards a table, that is Erika’s usual table.

When we got there, the man seated immediately stood up and extended a hand towards me. The woman sitting next to him stood up a beat later.

“You must be Oliver.” He said.

I looked at Hana quizzically for a moment before extending my hand to him and shook his hand.

The man then introduced himself as Erika’s father, which caused me to widen my eyes a little in surprise. I then shook the woman’s hand who introduced herself as Erika’s mother.

Erika’s father then gestured for me to take a seat across from them, and the three of us took our seats.

Hana told me she’ll bring me my usual before then leaving me alone with Erika’s parents.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Erika’s father said.

“We heard a lot about you. Mostly from Hana, and also from Erika sometimes.”

“It’s also nice to meet the two of you.” I said in response.

“To cut to the point, we heard about your.. intention with our daughter from Hana. She said that you suddenly came to her and told her that you want to date Erika.” Erika’s mother said while giggling a little.

I can feel my face heating up when she says that. I really want to blame Hana for telling on me, and putting me on the spot, but as Erika’s friend, that was the right thing for her to do.

“We actually asked her to call you here, so that we could talk with you.” Erika’s father said.

“A lot has happened to Erika. She’s not always this way, but she’s now very shy and doesn’t interact much with people, as you’d probably know by now. And it’s not only because of her disability.”

Erika’s father nodded along to what his wife was saying. “That’s why we were very surprised when Erika started telling us about you. Every time she did so, she would say nice things about you, and she’d do so with a cheerful look on her face.”

It made me happy to hear from her parents that Erika thinks of me in such a good light. I know that she has feelings towards me, but I don’t know how she exactly feels about me. So, I ended up smiling at the two of them when I heard this.

“I’m happy to hear that. When we all went to the island resort, I had somewhat forced Erika to open up to me, and I felt bad at the time for doing so. I was afraid that I had overstepped my boundaries, so I’m really glad to know that she’s cheerily talking about me.”

Erika’s parents smiled at each other for a while before continuing. “We heard great things about you from Hana’s father. But no matter what was said by who, we could see that Erika is happy to be with you. She always comes home from Cafe Million happier than usual every time she spends time with you and Hana here. She’s also always happily looking forward to when she would get to spend time with the two of you again.”

“We know that this will be a hard thing to do, but please take care of our daughter.”

“I will. I love her. And I will make sure to keep her happy.” I replied with the best smile I could give.

Hana came to our table soon after with my drink.

She left my drink on the table, and the three of us continued talking. They asked me several things about me to get to know me better. There are some things I still wouldn’t like to talk about, and thankfully Erika’s parents are very understanding when they get a little too private with their questions.

They left a couple hours later after asking what they wanted to know. The owner, along with Hana and I walked them to the door and saw them off.

“Good for you.” Hana said, elbowing me on the side lightly. “You got her parent’s blessing to date her.”

I smiled in response. “All thanks to you, and your father.”