Terrified

Chapter 2: Meant To Meet You (Part 1 of 3)

There are a lot of encounters that can overturn a day, to make it dark or to brighten it. First encounters leave the best impression on someone else and this meeting can either be planned or by chance. There are also encounters they never wished to happen again, coming across someone they aren't expecting to be around. Most of the times, the first meetings are unexpected and no one prepared for it to happen but the following ones that come are considered fate. These kinds of encounters that can happen to anyone, where do this lead?

Another typical day, and so they believed, that's showered with work and fulfilling responsibilities for Yumi, whose freezing early morning, as her precious time is being spent in this kitchen, she loves to be in almost every day of her life. Together with her two assistants actively helping her out, she puts finishing touches on her cakes and pastries, flawlessly decorated with the taste of heaven. She does her work without anything in mind but to produce the best possible cake she can give to the customers and with this, she excels great in every detail that can be critical to her work.

Putting the last tray of pumpkin tarts on the oven, Yumi heaves an exhale of relief as she removes her apron covered in flour but keeping her tied up hair in a hairnet. She leaned against the table stained with doughs and ingredients, letting her drenched black shirt uniform from sweat be tainted by her hard work. The process is undoubtedly difficult and definitely time consuming, but, nevertheless, a huge smile of satisfaction crept up in her lips as she listens to the oven's timer and looking over at her assistants taking out the variety of finished cakes one by one to be displayed on the racks.

"All set." The assistant said as they cleaned up the table.

"Good. Now let's have a short rest so we can open up in an hour. I know our works are done in the kitchen but we should always be on standby in any case that we need to refill the racks." Yumi breathed deep as she stretched her arms up for another set of rounds of work inside the kitchen and that's to tidy up all the used equipment and tools.

They are yet to start the work but Fatima came barging in from the café's back door and rushes straight inside the kitchen, out of breath and soaked in her sweat under her black coat and white scarf. She couldn't talk straightaway for she's puffing in and out heavy breaths but she has her finger pointing at the café's front door, indicating what she's about to tell. She has her eyes wide as if she's in shock and in an urgent state, making Yumi to gaze at her in bewilderment for her actions.

"What happened to you?" Yumi questioned as she tossed a towel to wipe off her sweat and have her strands of her hair that are stuck on her face be shoved away.

Straightening up, Fatima exhales one more before conveying in between her breaths, "There's a huge crowd outside our café. They are all lined up and waiting for us to open. At first I thought they are waiting for the apparel store beside us to open but as I walked closer, they are actually in front of the entrance already. I had to run all the way through the back door so they won't see me. What's going on? Do you know this is happening today?"

"Excuse me? I don't know anything about this. Crowd? There are people waiting for us to open then?" Yumi in shock defended herself and her confusion grew larger in her head.

Yumi quietly but in haste jogged to the second floor, followed up Fatima and the assistants who are as disordered as she is, to their small office and from the windows she peeked outside. From above, Yumi clearly saw the people in long line and some are taking photos of the closed café from outside. This naturally took Yumi aback, unknown what to feel for this sudden huge crowd for them as they haven't started a day this way, with so much attention and with so many people waiting for the café to open. She glanced at Fatima asking for more explanation but she shrugged her shoulders, same goes through with the assistants who are clueless as well.