FRIGHTENED LOVE

What a disgrace

"The aisles of the supermarket hummed with activity as shoppers wheeled their carts through towering shelves, well arranged in an array.

Sila navigated the labyrinth of goods, carefully selecting items for purchase.

It was a weekend, nearing month-end. It had been over 2 months since she got promoted, and she was growing to love her job passionately.

After she finished selecting all the necessary items they'd need in their house for the month, she approached the counter for clearance.

A sinking feeling washed over her like a cold wave. Her heart raced as she patted her pockets and rummaged through her bag, desperately searching for her wallet. Panic tightened its grip on her chest upon realizing it was missing.

Sila gently swung her gaze to the cashier, who had already scanned all the goods she'd picked.

The cashier, a middle-aged woman with a terrible demeanor, glanced at Sila expectantly. Sensing her distress, she raised her eyebrow and cleared her throat loudly in a manner less than courteous, attempting to draw the attention of her colleagues and nearby shoppers.

"Sorry, I seem to have misplaced my wallet," Sila stammered, her face burning with embarrassment.

The cashier's expression hardened as she spoke with a firm voice, glancing at me with a mixture of sadness and irritation. "Does that mean you aren't paying for your goods anymore, because I've already ticked it in our system as sold?"

Sila's heart sank as the words drew attention from other shoppers. "Wait, aren't you supposed to mark it as sold after I've made the payment?" she asked, her tone barely audible.

"Wait," the cashier looked at Sila with disgust, narrowing her gaze as she spoke in fury. "Are you blaming me for leaving your wallet at home? How am I even sure you left your wallet at home, because you look ragged," she uttered with a tone louder than Sila's.

"I won't have you insult me," Sila replied, her voice filled with fury and shame.

She felt like disappearing when she saw Daniel walking towards her with a tall, hefty man beside him. He was wearing a red T-shirt together with black shorts and a pair of Crocs, looking very simple but stunning.

"It's fine, I'll pay for her," one of the customers standing beside her came out to help upon seeing how the cashier had humiliated Sila.

"It's fine, Sir. Let me rush home to see if I can find my wallet. I'll come back and pay for them," Sila said with a calm tone, thanking the man for his offer.

He gave her an assuring smile, insisting on helping.

Sila's heart raced as Daniel approached the counter. She was amidst chagrin and fear, seeing her boss's son meet her in such a situation for the first time they were meeting outside.

She attempted to back him so he couldn't notice her presence, but unfortunately, she was the one he saw before walking towards that direction as he had just entered the supermarket to pick up a few things.

"Sila," Daniel called her out with a deep male tone, his voice mixed with pleasure and surprise.

It felt like a butterfly just entered Sila's belly upon hearing her name from behind. "Oh no, that means he had probably overheard everything that had been going on here," Sila muttered in her thoughts as she slowly turned her neck to meet Daniel's gaze.

Sila gave him a tight-lipped smile, attending to her name. "Hey, good morning, sir," she stammered.

"Good morning. What are you doing here?" Daniel gave her a warm smile, asking in a puzzled gesture.

"I..." Sila slowly gestured her right hand to the back of her neck, as if she was trying to scratch out something in mortification.

"Please, can you step aside if you don't have money to pay? Let me attend to other customers," the cashier interrupted, attempting to disgrace Sila after observing the warm smile coming from the tall, fresh guy.

"But I said I'll clear the cost of her groceries," the average height chubby man who was standing beside Sila and Daniel replied to the cashier, widening his eyes. "Why are you so abusive?" he asked her with a deep and serious voice. "I've been observing all the attempts made to disgrace her just because she couldn't find her wallet. You don't deserve to stand here because you don't have any idea what customer service is all about."

He brought out his payment card, handing it over to the cashier as she slowly and awkwardly stretched forth her hand to take the card from him.

"Don't worry," Daniel held his hand as he slid his hand into his pocket, bringing out his card. "I'll pay for her. She's my good friend," he glanced at the man with a warm smile, flashing the card he had just brought out from his pocket.

Handing it over to the cashier as well.

The cashier took Daniel's card instead, giving him a tight-lipped smile, but he returned the smile with a furious look on his face, telling her she really needed to learn how to be nice to people.

"Thank you so much, Sir," Sila appreciated the man for standing up for her in obeisance.

"You are welcome, my dear," he replied her with a warm smile, "besides, I'm sad you didn't let me help you because I wanted to be the good Samaritan today."

Sila chuckled at the jovial word. "Actually, you did," she replied with a low and calm tone.

He lowered his tone, tossing his gaze into Sila's eyes in a pleading gesture. "Can I get your phone number? Maybe we can get in touch some other time, somewhere else," he said, dumbfounded, with his hand stroking his head.

"Hmm, my number?" Sila replied, looking confused on what to do. She wanted to say no, please, but she couldn't be so mean to a guy who had just saved her from humiliation. "Okay, sure," she hitched, sighing with a tight-lipped smile as she called out the number for him.

The man, upon noticing how difficult it was for Sila to give him her number, asked Sila if Daniel was her boyfriend?

She said no, feeling a mixture of shame and tension, but she covered her feelings with a tight-lipped smile.

"Okay, great," he replied her with a tight-lipped smile. "You should be more careful next time so as not to forget your wallet at home because you might not be this lucky," said the stranger, waving Sila goodbye.

"Sure, I will be extra careful next time," Sila replied, waving him goodbye in return.

"Hmm, I see you've gotten a new boyfriend," Daniel peeked at Sila with a wave of jealousy appearing all over him, forcing a grin on his face.

"Thank you so much, Sir," Sila replied with her head bowed down, ashamed of his words.

They both walked towards the exit where Sila was going to meet the taxi she had ordered.

She wanted to ask Daniel if he's not buying anything again when she noticed he was following her to the exit of the supermarket, but the word seemed too heavy to come out from her mouth so she kept quiet and kept walking.

"Thank you, sir, my taxi is waiting outside,"

She gestured to Daniel's bodyguard, who was helping her to carry her items as she reached for the bags.

"Don't worry, I'll drive you home," Daniel replied, his tone soft.

"My... My... taxi... Is... waiting.. outside... already," Sila replied to him, her tone slightly above a whisper, in obeisance.

"I insist," Daniel replied with a light tone but a determined look.

Sila wanted to say please, no, but the words refused to come out of her mouth due to how shy and nervous she was. She swallowed her words, blinking at him in concurrence.

"Your house is beautiful," Daniel broke the silence, glancing at her with a trace of a smirk on his face as they arrived in front of Sila's compound.

It was one of the most awkward drives anyone had ever experienced; they didn't look at each other, not to talk of speaking.

Daniel wanted to discuss something with Sila during the drive, but he kept quiet due to how Sila had focused all her attention on staring through the window. He could tell she was shy, so he decided to give her a breathing space by keeping quiet.

Sila wondered if Daniel actually came to the supermarket to be her saving grace because he didn't even pick up a thing.

"Thank you," Sila replied to him, grinning, and opened the car door to come down.

"Can we hang out tomorrow evening? It's Sunday," Daniel forced the words out of his mouth rapidly before Sila came down from the car.