Bound To The Seduction

Chapter 8: Who Annoyed You?

It was late afternoon when she finished scrubbing every part of the house. She felt wasted and starving at the same time. Scrubbing the whole house was daunting, but she hadn't felt any of that when cleaning.

She needed something to keep her from overthinking and replaying every scene that happened over the past few days. She did not need too much time to realize how much of a failure she was. Her life had broken into tiny pieces that she needed to sew together.

Sarah dragged her feet into the kitchen and headed straight to the fridge. She wanted to make a light meal to calm her stomach and perhaps she could have a little rest afterwards. She opened the fridge, the only place she hadn't cleaned, and a stream of cold air hit her sweaty face.

She enjoyed the cooling sensation on her face for a few seconds before her shoulders dropped in disappointment. She only found ice cubes and a few bottles of water. The fridge could be considered empty. How could she have forgotten that Emily couldn't cook? There was no point in keeping groceries in the house.

She rummaged through the cabinets where they used to keep their cereals and she almost laughed at what she saw. Emily had finally bought those Chia seeds and oats she hated so much.

There was a note pasted on the wall mentioning something about a gluten-free diet and another one about a Keto diet. It seems she hadn't given up her obsession with dieting. Sarah couldn't find any rice in the house and had no hope of finding any pasta after reading the note. Thank heavens she found some peanuts.

She ate the nuts but they weren't enough to satisfy her hunger. Eventually, she had no choice but to go out and find something to eat. She threw on a clean t-shirt and a pair of shorts before heading to the nearest noodle stand for a quick meal; anything that could fill her stomach for now.

Sarah headed to favourite restaurant instead, not far from their building. This place had the sweetest food at an affordable price. It was also her old friend's restaurant.

In the restaurant, Mr. Guzman sat at a circular table with his two friends in their 50s but kept referring to themselves as old men. The one on the right had glasses and grey hair while the other had all-black hair with signs of thinning.

The three were having fun chatting and occasional happy laughter ensued. The two old men had their hearty meals while Mr. Guzman sipped his tea. He would occasionally stand and grab some more soup or an extra napkin for them.

Sarah always came here whenever she felt sad or needed emotional support. The atmosphere was always warm and less of the regular young people drama here. Mr. Guzman had gotten so close to her heart that he had replaced her runaway dad in her heart.

"Hi gentlemen," she said as she sat on the next table. The restaurant wasn't busy at this hour and there were plenty of vacant tables. Their main customers were old people who usually came here to hang out with Mr. Guzman.

"See, I told you my customers aren't only old folks like me. Pretty ladies also come here." Mr. Guzman said with a bright smile and his friends laughed. He turned his attention to Sarah's table. "Hey Sarah, I haven't seen you in a while. Would you like to eat today?"

"Get me my regular," she said, forcing a smile.

Mr. Guzman gave her a quick look and opened his mouth wanting to say something. Eventually, he let out a long breath and headed to the kitchen. He returned after a few minutes with a bowl of mildly spiced noodles and placed it on Sarah's table. "Here we go. Enjoy your meal."

Sarah took her noodles and ate in silence. She jabbed her chopsticks on the food several times as if she did not like the food. She would run her fingers on her hair a few times and sigh. All the people present had focused all their attention on her at some point without her realizing it.

"Sarah, what is going on?" Mr. Guzman asked. "You look a bit sad."

She remained quiet.

"Girl, are you bothered?" the man with glasses asked, placing down his cutlery and looking at her face.

"Did someone annoy you?" the other man asked. There was unmistakable concern noticeable in his voice. 

"Okay, okay, stop it you two," Mr. Guzman interrupted in a relaxed manner, "She'd always be here whenever she's sad. She will talk about it when she is ready." He turned to Sarah. "What's going on? Any trouble at work?"

"Mmh... close." Sarah nodded. "You know everything. Only you can read me like an open book."

Mr. Guzman laughed a little as he massaged his belly. "You give me too much credit." He waved his hand and dismissed her, "Alright, finish up your noodles before they turn cold. Nothing tastes worse than cold meals."

"It is normal," the two old folks comforted, "everyone has their own troubles."

"Troubles occur in every company, right?" Sarah said, feeling a little better.

"Yeah, yeah," Mr. Guzman nodded. "In this restaurant, most people are picky about the taste of my new dishes."

"Yep, that's true." Sarah thought for a while and felt her stomach churn. She remembered that day when Mr. Guzman had asked her to try out some tea  from his newly discovered recipe for some herbal tea. God, that tea should be classified as a poison. It tasted like an elephant's pee - - probably.

"Ahem..." Mr. Guzman cleared his throat. "From the look on your faces, it seems some people are more than picky." He sipped his tea; hopefully, not one of his new recipes.

"That's why you should be thankful to us regular customers. Otherwise, you will be bankrupt sooner or later." The man with glasses said, dabbing the corners of his mouth with a napkin. The other man nodded.

"Hey Sarah, please get me new customers next time." Mr. Guzman turned to Sarah's direction and straddled his seat. He rested his chin on his palms and said, grinning, "I'll give you bigger discounts."

"These customers are good enough." She smiled as she finished up her meal. "I'm jealous of you. You could have fun even with a meal." She enjoyed this childish version of Mr. Guzman. He has this amazing way of making her feel better, no matter what situation she faces.

"You'll get it after working for a few years. All difficulties can be solved. Try your best, and don't make it too hard for yourself."