The Bridegroom [Iroh II]

☼Eleven☼

Life at the hotel was slowly becoming a nightmare. Sarrin didn't have anywhere to practice her cooking because they only had one bed and a small bathroom. Most of the time, the food that the hotel provided was all gone by the time they got back from work, so they had to stop by restaurants to have dinner. A lot of people had flocked to the hotel for the United Forces banquet that was at the end of the week. The people whose room was above theirs stayed up all night doing all sorts of things that Sarrin didn't even want to think about. 

Since more people had come to Republic City, more people came to the restaurant. She was so busy that she barely had time to even think during the day. All she was doing was cooking, sleeping, cooking, sleeping. After her shifts, she was so exhausted that she barely ate. But this was the happiest that she had ever been in such a long time, and she was grateful for all of it.

Sarrin swept the floor in the kitchen as Reng chatted with a few customers in the front. She had already made their food and brought it out to them earlier. The two customers were young, about her age, maybe a little older, so she wasn't sure how Reng knew them. However, he seemed very happy to see them and even hugged them when they walked in. 

"Sarrin, why don't you come in here for a little bit?" Reng called from the eating area of the restaurant.

She set the broom down and headed there. Reng was sitting at one of the tables with the two women. He had a smile on his face, and his eyes were bright. 

"Yes?" Sarrin asked politely. She felt awkward when the two women stared at her.

"I told you about my daughter," Reng said with a nod. "These two lovely ladies were her best friends."

Sarrin faced the two women with a surprised look. "Oh! Hello," Sarrin said with a slight wave. "I work here if you two couldn't tell."

One of the ladies with green eyes laughed. "We could tell," she said. "I'm Roka, and this is Holaka. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

The bell chimed, so Sarrin glanced at the door. Iroh gave her a small smile when he saw her looking at him, and he said, "Are you ready to go home?"

Sarrin nodded. She didn't know why, but she felt very awkward with Roka and Holaka. Maybe it was because she didn't have any female friends and she didn't know how to interact with females, or maybe it was something else. She wasn't sure.

She followed Iroh outside and breathed in the crisp air. This was her favorite time of year because the trees turned colors and the air got colder. She loved to sit by the fire and sip apple cider and paint. Her father used to paint, so she picked it up a few years ago to feel closer to him. 

"I got a telegram earlier," Iroh said suddenly. The street was empty; for some reason, he hadn't brought his car today. "The construction company said that they were finished with our apartment."

"Oh?" Sarrin asked hopefully. "That's good!"

"Yes." He nodded. "While they were finishing up earlier, I brought all of our things back."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." They stopped in front of their apartment building just as two guys were walking out. "Ah, these two must be here to give us our key back."

Iroh stepped forward. The muscles in his back grew taut as he readied himself to speak to the construction workers. His uniform jacket clung to his arms when they crossed over his chest. Sarrin's breath caught in her throat. She had been trying her hardest to keep her feelings at bay lately, but it was getting so hard. She hadn't expected to catch feelings for this man. Unfortunately, she did.