"Yeah, Boss is here, he just went to the back real quick to take a call," Mel heard Chris say as he stepped back out into the lobby, "he was waiting by the door to see if you'd show up but...I guess Jenny had a real bad cold and won't be able to make it in so he had to find someone to cover her shift,"<br/><br/>Jenny was one of their few female staff members, a part-timer who had the job mostly for work experience. Mel hoped she felt better soon though his thoughts didn't stay on his employee for long. Standing across from Chris was Caden. He looked different. Not just the clothes, which where more in line with something Mel would wear than a twenty year old kid, but his expression. It was dull, flat, and had Mel's pulse doing nervous little jumps and lurches. He didn't like it. Not one bit. No doubt it was his family's idea. Caden never talked about it but after twenty five years of experience he'd learned to spot family problems quickly. And Mel could empathize. His own family situation was...well he didn't have words to describe that. Though Caleb did and his friend's wording was always incredibly colorful.<br/><br/>But that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was that Caden was back and didn't appear injured. Which was much more of a relief than Mel thought it would be. He was too old to be so damn smitten.<br/><br/>Mel smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles in his sweater, a deep forest green as usual, and adjusted the sleeves so they covered his wrists but didn't get in the way. A task seeing as his shoulders where a bit on the narrower side and few of his shirts, all of which were long sleeve, fit just right. Not to mention he didn't want them to slip as Caden wasn't the only one with secrets he'd like to keep.<br/><br/>"I'm back," Mel called, drawing Chris and probably Caden's attention as well, "go ahead and eat Chris I'll get Caden's coffee,"<br/><br/>Chris nodded, though he didn't seem all too thrilled by the idea of food, and headed back to the break room through the kitchen. With Chris gone Mel turned his full attention to Caden. He would say one good thing had come out of Chris and Caden fooling around. That being that he learned Chris was gaining weight, which was great since the man had been far too thin for too long. Chris claimed he was being a mother hen but his staff where like a second family. One that he wanted to help and keep safe since so many had issues with their biological families. Not to mention Mel simply enjoyed helping them. Making them happy made him happy. It was one of the reasons he'd opened a cafe rather than fallow his parents' wishes.<br/><br/>"It's been awhile," Mel said, his voice soft as always, as he gave the boy an equally gentle smile. He knew Caden could easily pay for the coffee but didn't charge him. The poor kid looked like he needed it. So Mel fixed him the largest cup of coffee he could, brewing it fresh and making sure it was stronger than he normally brewed, "I was beginning to worry something had happened to you. Nothing did, right? You look fine but...if you need to talk we can head to the break room when Chris comes back,"<br/><br/>It wasn't something he'd normally offer but, he wanted to check up on the boy. Make sure he was fine. That he wasn't holding something in that he needed to let out. He also wanted to just talk with him. To allow Caden to vent if that was what he needed. To listen to whatever problems he had or felt he could voice, and offer what advice he could.<br/><br/>By the time the coffee was done Chris had returned. Mel handed the cup to Caden with yet another smile, before turning to Chris, "I'm going to head to the back for a bit, can you watch the store? Caleb should be in to help soon,"<br/><br/>Chris nodded, "Can do Boss,"<br/><br/>With that Mel fixed himself a quick cup of tea, something all his employees found funny. Why open a shop that specialized in coffee if he preferred tea? He then removed his apron and once more smoothed out imaginary wrinkles, before heading towards the kitchen door and holding it open for Caden. His smile still soft and reassuring.