Chapter2
1672 Words
“Hey, you're here”. Simon replied with a smile on his face, stood up, and offered his seat to her.
She walked angrily to the seat and sat down.
“I told you to stop hitting on my boyfriend,” Tracy said to Claire in an angry tone.
“Do you find me pretty?” Claire asked Tracy sarcastically.
Tracy scoffed as she replied, “I never said I did”.
“I know, right? But you're gorgeous, so stop wasting a part-timer’s time. You should either order something or leave”. Claire said firmly as she stood up to her feet.
“Shouldn't you be nicer to your customers? What lousy customer service!” Tracy blunted out
“Oh gosh, I'm sorry,” Claire said sarcastically
Tracy became offended, she stood up, and with anger in her voice, she said to Simon “Let's go. We can't waste our time here, especially when you're leaving tomorrow”.
“Are you going somewhere?” Claire asked inquisitively.
Simon stood to his feet and replied “I'm just…..” but was rudely interrupted by his girlfriend, Tracy.
“Stop! Don't tell her anything. I want to be the only one who knows, let’s go.” She said, grabbing his hands and pulling him away.
“Didn't I tell you to wear something red along with your white shirt? I told you that today's theme is “Christmas in Summer”. She said sharply to Simon.
“I'm wearing red shoes”, Simon replied.
“That's not red. That's dark red, my goodness. Let's go” She yelled as she pulled him out of the cafè
“Sorry for wasting your time”. Simon said to Claire as he was being pulled out of the cafè
“There aren't any customers”. Tracy said bluntly.
“I'll text you later”. Simon said to Claire.
“You'd better not”. Tracy replied as they left the cafè
“They have so much time on their hands”. Claire said softly, sighed, and continued working.
…
“I don't like Claire, I don't. I hate her, I detest her”. Tracy said angrily to Simon as they walked home.
“Stop it”. Simon replied.
“You're making me hate her even more”. She yelled.
“She's poor, but she looks down on me. And she's not intimidated by me. She knows all about your childhood while I don't. She's so annoying”. She stated angrily
“Don't get angry or you'll get wrinkles”. Simon said in a low voice.
“I can't help it today”. She replied, folding her hands tightly.
“My gosh”, Simon teased her as he rubbed her head.
“This is so unfair”. Tracy said as she pulled backward.
“Claire and I are just friends. We've been friends for half of my life. Do you not trust me?” Simon asked softly.
“What a joke. Boys and girls can't be friends”. She yelled as she moved a bit forward.
Simon followed her slowly as he laughed at her frustrations.
“Of course, they can be friends”. Tracy mumbled as she walked home.
…
“Girls like her are the ones who end up in a complicated marriage, she's so obsessed with her boyfriend. I hate girls like her. I hate how she wears different clothes to school every day. I hate how she gets out of her huge car that's driven by a driver. And what I hate the most is that she gets angry all the time”. Claire kept pouring out her frustrations in a voice message with her abroad-based sister, Natalie, as she walked home.
Meanwhile, her sister left her talking to herself as she had a heated argument with her boyfriend.
“This is my house, what do you care what I do in my house?”. Natalie’s boyfriend blurted out sharply.
“Didn't I tell you already? This is why you're trash” Natalie yelled, but was cut short with a slap on her face.
“b***h, get out of my house”. Natalie’s boyfriend said sharply as he walked away.
“Natalie, do you even check my voice messages? You should call sometimes. How are things at school? I'm so jealous that you get to go to school in the US. Anyway, give me a call, I miss you”. Claire said softly as she ended the voice message.
Thunder rumbles as water pours from the sky down to the ground.
“Gosh, it's raining. Why isn't this working?” She said as she tried opening the umbrella being given to her by Simon.
Claire ran in the rain to find shelter. She finally arrived at a shop, where she saw an eye-catching bead hanging on a wall.
“It's a dream catcher”. She said to herself as she kept on stirring at it without noticing that her umbrella had finally opened and was ready for use.
“Huh?” she said in surprise as she noticed it was open. She smiled and gazed at the bead as she hurried home.
…
Simon looked out of his kitchen window as he smiled, realizing that it was raining as he predicted.
“I thought you were with Tracy, why didn't you eat with her?” Simon’s dad asked as he was preparing dinner.
“I came to eat with you. I didn't want you to eat all by yourself, plus it was raining”. Simon replied, grabbing a plate.
“Don't you think you might've turned my possibly exciting Friday night into a very bland one?” Simon’s dad asked.
“Do you have a girlfriend, Dad?” Simon asked inquisitively.
“Don't you think I could've gotten one today?” His dad asked again as he chopped the carrots on the chopping board.
“Dad, the carrots need to be smaller than potatoes”. Simon said firmly.
“On what basis?” His dad asked as he stopped to gaze at him.
“Potatoes have more water in them and get cooked faster than carrots. When cooked together, carrots need to be smaller so that they'll cook as fast as the potatoes”. Simon replied with a thumbs-up and a grin on his face.
“Then how about we just cook them separately?” His dad asked again.
“That will extend the cooking time, but it'll still taste the same. So cooking them separately would be very inefficient”. Simon replied with a smile on his face as he moved around the kitchen.
His dad snapped his fingers in agreement as he said “That's my son”.
“I'll do the dishes,” Simon said.
“Do the laundry as well. I spent a fortune today because of you”. Simon’s dad said as he continued with the carrots.
Simon smiled as he asked, “Did you book my flight ticket?”
“Yes, did you tell Tracy about going abroad?” His dad asked.
“Of course, she insists on coming with me”. Simon replied.
“Does she want to start a family with you there?” His father asked again.
“Care to pitch in some money?” Simon replied with a question,
“I don't make risky investments. What about Claire? Did you tell her?” His dad asked out of concern.
“No, I couldn't. She was busy working, so I couldn't tell her that I'd be studying abroad. How's Claire's mom doing?” Simon asked.
His dad sighed heavily, paused for a while, and said: “She's practically the core member of the Fintech group. She has Mrs. Sydney under control”.
“Really?” Simon shouted in surprise.
…
“Mrs. Sydney wants to eat”. One of the servants in the Winston household told Mrs. Rebecca, Claire’s mom.
“She's not in a good mood today, so be careful. Apparently, her son in the US isn't answering her calls”.
Mrs. Rebecca left the kitchen for the dining hall to be with Mrs. Sydney
“Come on, why isn't he picking up?” Mrs. Sydney asked in anger as she sat down to eat.
“What's with the soup? You can't talk, and you can't even season food properly. Your mouth is of no use”. Mrs. Sydney yelled at Mrs. Rebecca in anger.
Due to Mrs. Rebecca’s inability to speak, she walks with a book and a pen where she writes what she's meant to say.
“I'll cook it again”. Mrs. Rebecca communicated with Mrs. Sydney from her book
“And how long is that going to take? Get rid of this”. Mrs. Sydney said in anger while sipping her wine.
One of the servants in the household ran into the dining hall and said to Mrs. Sydney “President Winston is home”.
Upon hearing the news, Mrs. Sydney almost spilled her drink.
“Already?” She asked in surprise.
“What should I do with these?” She asked, pointing at the wine as she tried gulping everything all at once.
“He went upstairs right……” The servant was yet to finish her statement when she poured back the drink from her mouth and kept it on the table.
“Why do you always tell me the important things at the end? Do you do that on purpose so that I'll get caught? Am I not even allowed to enjoy my dinner with a glass of château Latour?” She said as she tried taking a sip from her glass again when Mrs. Rebecca quickly dragged the glass of wine from her, poured it into her soup, and used a white handkerchief to wipe her mouth.
- Writer
