Chapter 25

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Chapter 25

Bailey

"Um, yeah. That was it," I say, closing off my report to Emma about Ethan's cat.

She groans. "Ah, man! You got to see all that cuteness while I was at home practically on a date with my damn toilet! I swear, I was hugging that thing for dear life all afternoon!"

I glance at Ethan, who stands with his head held low in the kitchen. He hasn't been able to face Emma because he still feels terrible about her getting food poisoning from the restaurant he had picked. From how anxious he appears now, no one would believe he's the same man who, just the day before, had angrily complained to La Cuisine de la Liberté's manager on the phone. Although he spoke mostly in French, the language barrier didn't apply when sensing the huge intimidation in his voice. It almost seemed like he was the boss of the restaurant, ready to fire as many people as he saw fit.

To be honest, as scary as he might have come off to the man on the other end of the line, I think it was really cool of him to take charge of the situation like that. Especially more so, considering he did it because of the girl he is crushing on.

I'm looking at Emma, who is cleaning up a table not knowing just how lucky she is. She also doesn't know of the damage she's done to Ethan's heart today when she blatantly told me earlier how she only wishes no one else had gotten sick like her and that the restaurant didn't receive any serious repercussions because of what had happened. It's a little too late for that though. The guilt on Ethan's face gives it away.

I continue to go about my shift when Emma suddenly raises her head at me. "Oh, yeah!"

I flinch, and so does the customer next to me. Emma still hasn't quite figured out the best volume to use at work.

I ask much more quietly, "What is it?"

"Bae, I forgot to mention I ran into Caleb on my way home yesterday."

Both Ethan and I are immediately interested. However, having no right to be so myself, I'm solely doing this for Ethan's sake when I ask, "Did you two talk?"

"Barely. I was on the edge of hurling again and had to run off."

Even though I can't hear it, I feel Ethan's sigh of relief from across the restaurant. Girlfriend or no girlfriend, it seems Caleb remains a person of concern for him.

Girlfriend...

I should focus on work.

"But about Caleb's girlfriend," Emma says.

Her words stick like magnets to my ears. I have to resist their pull. I don't need to hear about this. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. It is not right to listen in on other people's personal lives.

Ignore it. Leave it alone. Nothing can be done—

Emma literally pulls me closer to her. "I think he's gotten into a fight with her."

"What makes you think that?" My mouth is moving on its own.

She crosses her arms in recollection. "Well, he was with his brother when I met him, and I overheard their conversation. His brother was clearly consoling him about something." She switches to a more dramatic voice as she says, "You're thinking about her again? Things will work out. Don't worry...Believe in the power of love!"

I look at her confused, as does the customer next to me. I feel bad about the fact that we're disturbing her meal too much.

"Okay, I made the last sentence up. But I definitely heard Caleb's brother say the other stuff to him."

A sigh involuntarily escapes my lips. From what I can tell, Caleb must be really worried about her. His girlfriend. I wonder if she knows just how lucky she is...

"Of course, this is only my speculation." Emma shrugs. "For all we know, he could've just been concerned about his sick grandma or something. Best not to overthink these kinds of things, right?"

"Right," I say, catching myself starting to do just that.

"Still," Emma adds. "I can't help being a little curious about who his girlfriend is. He hasn't made a single mention of her on social media."

As I tell myself to stop thinking about it, I'm thinking about that one girl on the Instagram post. The pretty Asian. Then, I'm reminded of how I had cried shortly after seeing that photo.

And how Caleb had seen me—

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" I ask the customer next to me apologetically.

I need to stop thinking. 


A/N: I would cast myself as the random customer next to Bailey. (And I can't believe I just realized that the cast feature is gone now on Wattpad...)

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