[Post No. 5]Story #2:
Hi~ back with this episode of story again. HEEHEE. I know, I should have just continued with this to begin with, but I reckon I needed a breather from it to make me want to continue with this part~ :D I work in mysterious ways~
Anyways! please enjoy... :)
Before you read, please know that this is NOT going to make sense if you haven't read the other parts of the story, please check on the blog roll to your left and click on the other parts named "Defining Moments."
=================================
PART III - "Defining Moments"
=================================
please check out Defining moments part 1 and part 2 first before reading this.
During the long term break right after finishing up taking my A'levels, before I would finally start a new chapter of my life by enrolling into a University; seeing as I didn't have anything to do, I asked my father if he would allow me to work part time at the family restaurant for a while. He was ecstatic at the idea because, one; I had never worked all my life - so my work experience was basically nil and he thought it would be a great idea for me to start experiencing what it was like to earn money from your own hard work and two; my father was glad that I wasn't moping around the house anymore; because for the past month I had not been wanting to go out with my friends nor to go out on dates or even do anything remotely interesting with my days and nights.
It was funny how when I had a boyfriend, they had me shackled to the house like a prisoner, but once I was single again; they were practically pushing me out of the front door to find a guy. The only plausible reason for their odd reaction is I suppose they're afraid I'd be alone for the rest of my life... Which made me think that perhaps I was getting old? I shrugged off that illogical thought-- I was only Nineteen for goodness sake!
So there I was standing quietly at a corner, at my third month working for my father-- I was taking in the atmosphere around me... The place was so packed I can't even begin to make heads and tails of anything. Which could only mean one thing and one thing only; it was pay day. Bruneians and their weird or rather, curious habit of going all out on food consumption, still boggles even ME sometimes; makes me wonder what foreigners would think of us. I wonder if on normal days they simply starved themselves until the next pay cheque came - then somehow, they would finally go all out on spending their money or perhaps that's just the culture here; we enjoy ourselves to an alarming extent when money comes out.
I took the notepad in my hands and headed to a table of youngsters; one of the boys was making a pass at me and the rest were making quite a fuss about it, but I couldn't be bothered, I was mentally distorted from the endless orders that people were telling me. It seemed like I only heard the names of dishes and drinks for the past hour-- oh wait, I HAVE been listening to only that! It was really starting to make my head spin. Never in the past few months that I was working here did I aggravate a customer, but somehow today I was so out of my game. I usually treated them with a cool head and a gracious friendly manner. Nothing seemed to go smoothly for me nor anyone else today; I could tell from the distressed faces of my co-workers. Sighing I continued doing what I came here to do.
The reason for this disastrous situation, is because we were short on staff today; three of them got into an accident the night before, when they were headed to the mall, though their injuries weren't serious, the impact of the collision had taken quite a toll on their bodies so the doctor told them to rest for a while, and as for the rest of us? Well, the rest of us were left to fill in the position that they had left empty, and finding replacements on such short notice was simply out of the question. So I was left there with only Raj, Susi and the 2 cooks and one busboy-slash-dishwasher.
Raj was in charge of the drinks so Susi was the designated waitress, I on the other hand, constantly switched roles from waiting tables and being the cashier. The bustling place, the shouting kids, the chattering sounds of teenagers and adults alike and a distressed looking Susi; I was about to cry my eyes out at my pitiful situation. Ughh! I hate paydays!
From the corner of my eye, I saw a customer waiting to pay his bill at the counter. I hastily placed down the plates onto the tables carefully and gave them a brief nod and smile. I almost tripped when I ran towards the counter. Embarrassed at my almost-accident I began pressing on the cash register without directly looking at him in the eye and said apologetically, "Sorry for making you wait, Sir." I was looking through the pile or receipts "Which table?"
"Table fifteen" He simply answered
I told him the amount and he paid in cash, as I handed him the receipt I realized he was holding my hand in his. What the hell? I thought when I realised this, I was on the verge of telling him off when I finally looked up at the customer and realized it was Dean.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked looking at my face that I was sure looked quite oily.
"Oh yep I'm good." I answered slightly breathless from running around everywhere.
"You sure? Cause you barely knew I was here or even know that it's me till just now. Am I right?"
I scratched my head and smiled sheepishly, "eheh... Sorry about that. I guess I'm a little tightly wounded... Kinda strung... Busy day."
"I can see that. Well I'll let you get back to work then." he said calmly and letting my hand go.
As he slowly walked towards the exit, I felt the panic slowly creeping back in me. Though quite thankful he distracted me from the craziness even for a little while-- I decided that it was time for me to go and tend to the other customers that came in a few minutes ago, who I think might have grown even more impatient seeing that I had taken time to idly talk to a guy.
Two hours later, the place still looked like it wasn't quite ready to settle or even slow down; torn between being happy that my father's restaurant was doing so well and slightly resentful that people were still coming by the dozens - I tried ignoring the soreness on my right calf, the pain was beginning to bug me, so to make up for not being able to sit down and rest, I felt it would suffice to just massaged my neck for a bit. As I was doing so, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder I turned to see Susi smiling at me, "Miss Kamilla, tu your friend tu."
"Huh?" confused as to what she meant, I followed the direction she pointed to with a nod of her head earlier on.
"Kamu punya friend, ia help out tu." she said amused, "nampak cali bah."
At the corner of the restaurant there stood a well built guy of average height, clad in a white button up shirt and charcoal black pants; I recognised the slightly messy hairdo, it was Dean... again. He looked as though he had changed his clothes to the waiter's attire and was waiting tables like a cute lost puppy who was eager to learn. He looked a bit lost to be honest, as I'm sure he hasn't done anything like this before, considering how he was brought up-- he didn't seem like he would do any labour work, similar to me I reckon, but anyone could tell he was trying his best to help; and he did it quite charmingly too.
Apparently Susi told me he came a few minutes right after he left and voluntarily made himself useful by handing out menus and taking orders. The staff thought I had recruited him and they were all thankful he came by to help. He was just the right type of kindness and the right kind of helping hand that everyone had hoped for. I looked away after I gave him an appreciative glance which he responded by giving me a grin and a thumbs up. I then went back to the cashier, smiling to myself: There's really nothing about him that's not to like, is there?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The shop was about to close down, it was half past 10 and only one couple remained seated inside the almost deserted restaurant. I had not talked to him all day because till the end we were all kept pretty much busy. I grabbed a seat after wiping the last of the tables and he pulled a seat next to mine and started to idly fiddle with the salt shaker. We both look really tired but even then he managed to give me a smile as he sat. Suddenly I realized I must look like crap and subconsciously tried to fix up my hair.
"Hmm...crazy day." I simply said to him when he didn't say anything to me after a full minute.
"Crazy awesome!" he joked, chuckling a little "But yeah, this place is the shit... People wouldn't stop coming."
"Only on pay days does it get really really hectic." I explained to him, "Hopefully tomorrow wouldn't be so busy" I said thinking aloud.
"Yeah..."
"By the way Dean, thanks for helping out today, you didn't have to trouble yourself like that."
He gave a slight nod in response, after which we sat in silence. I glanced at him for a moment and saw him staring at the wall, as if thinking of something, then he started to smile. "I didn't have to, but I thought I could use the extra money." he said laughingly, obviously joking.
I laughed along and gave him a sideway glance. He really looked he could use some sleep; I knew I needed the rest, so I was sure he was dying for it as well. So I began to pack my things and announced that I was going to leave, since I know he would go home if I did. Upon hearing that he offered to take me home, I hesitated for a while, biting my lower lip in pensive thought; despite wanting so much to have him send me home and spend a bit more time with him, I declined his polite offer, because I was afraid that I might fall for him if this continues - maybe I may already have; the superficial attraction I had for him at the beginning, was slowly starting to become stirrings of emotions and I was still not ready for that. I wasn't ready to put my heart on my sleeve for another guy... not just yet. For that, I gave my answer to him in the negative.
"It's kind of late at night," he said showing his concern, looking at his watch.
"I live nearby you see, so it'll be fine." I persisted.
"Even so, I insist on taking you, Brunei's starting to get freaky nowadays. Remember the story about that prison break?"
"Ah yeah, the moon dude."
"Moon?" making a comical face at my stupid pun of the prisoner's name. It was my own little joke.
"I meant the indon guy, never mind it's something lame I made up."
He laughed, I couldn't tell if he found my joke funny or he just found me to be lame, "So okay?lemme take you home yeah?"
Knowing that he wouldn't let up till I said yes, I finally allowed him to take me home. I have to admit, I was a little excited at the prospect of being alone with him.
"Okay, great!" he said clapping his hands with enthusiasm, which made me laugh, then he looked at his watch, "but uhmm if it's alright with you, can we wait a while?"
"Oh sure, did you have something you wanted to do first?"
"Waiting for someone." He said looking outside the restaurant's window, "She said she'd find me here."
The mention of the person he was waiting for, being a female, made my heart ache a little, I cursed at myself; it seems like my fears have been confirmed - I already liked him. I sat down, surprised at my own revelation, so as I fought to contain my emotions - however confusing, I sat slowly back down on the chair and told him that I agreed to wait for his friend; the nameless and faceless person that he was waiting for. Slowly, minutes turned to a little over half an hour. To me, she seemed like a no-show but Dean was still willing to wait for her, drumming his fingers as he waited, as if he was anxious about something.
Then Susi came out of the kitchen with her phone outstretched to me, it was my dad asking me where I was; I had accidentally left my phone at home so I guess that explains why he got hold of her. My father wanted me home right this instance, I guess that means I'd have to leave now.
"I have to go home, Dean." I said standing up from the chair and he followed suit.
He turned to Susi who was standing beside us and asked if she could take me home. He looked a little uneasy when he asked for that request but it seems like he really had to wait for the girl, whoever she was. I somehow felt slightly dejected but still left with Susi anyway. I wave him goodbye, said my thanks and went out without uttering any actual sentence to him.
We got out of the restaurant and on the way to Susi's car I saw a petite girl wearing the most chic outfit you could only see in magazines. She was slowly crossing the road, I couldn't really see how her face looked like because it was dark and the street lamps were slightly dimmed, but my 20-20 vision could tell that she had a perfectly pretty face to go with her beautiful outfit. That must be her.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
She was slightly shorter than I had expected but she was definitely prettier than I remembered. Now here we were face to face. She looked at me expressionless then I felt her give me a once over, probably trying to see how well I dressed. I guess she approved of how I look cause she smiled widely afterwards.
Oh lord, she's the type who cares about appearances. I matched her smile because it was only fair, I don't have any reason to have any beef with her.
Surprisingly after wasting our time at the gift shop and walking around for some clothes, we got along pretty well, I guess I could understand why my cousin got along with her-- seeing as how she and I were after all almost quite alike, I guess our taste in friends were somewhat similar too; I found Kara quite likable, despite there being one or two things about her that I found just a tad bit annoying, she was actually pretty fun to hang out with. I instantly felt bad that I even felt remotely annoyed with her just for knowing who Dean was, for all I know she could have been his cousin or his younger sister or something; though if I had believed that for myself, I'd have been a fool since she was SO NOT a cousin or sister type to Dean and everyone knows Kamilla is not a fool.
From the time that I spent with her, I found out a lot of things; Kara was born and raised in Korea for the first 5 years of her life, later though, her family moved to France where she learned both English and French, she's quite fluent in both and I really envied the ever so subtle french accent in her English. She was quite well-to-do as well it seems since she mentioned that for the past 4 years, she studied in Korea because her dad was suddenly given a position as a CEO for some multinational company back at her birthplace in Korea. Her Korean name was actually Soo Ga Eun, how it turned to Kara-- I wouldn't know; didn't quite ask her, she was the chatty sort so there was not a time where she would just keep quiet, I guess that explains why I didn't know about anything, unless she herself mentioned it, though it was quite interesting to listen to what she had to say, she kept moving from one topic to the other at such a short span of time! You would think she was a radio spewing out random facts.
"I love how long your hair is." Kara said to me all of a sudden, taking a strand of my hair as we waited in line at McDonald's.
I smiled shyly and said my thanks, "I plan on getting it shortened though."
Her eyes widened with shock and she almost nearly hugged my hair to her face, which got me slightly taken aback. "OHMYGOD don't."
"Ohh... Okay..." I said a little scared and my cousin gave a small giggle and smacked her mouth shut.
"Never chop of your hair." she said solemnly, "never." when I nodded in response she smiled cutely and asked, "so how old are you Kamilla? you look so fresh and... cute." she said almost squealing at the last word she said.
"Oh I'm nineteen, I'll be twenty next month!" I answered happily at the thought of my birthday, I love birthdays, I enjoy celebrating my friends' birthdays more than I do mine, cause I love planning surprises and finding them nice gifts.
"Oh wow, you ARE young, I just turned twenty-three."
"Yeah well, I'm the oldest of the bunch, I turned twenty-three at the beginning of this year." Chloe said chipping in and we both patted her back in unison and laughed.
By the end of the day, I found that I was enjoying myself immensely, she was nice and quite easy-going, a little pretentious with her constant need of mentioning that she's branded from head to toe, but I've been around much worst people, so her level of annoyance was still tolerable. Chloe and I said our goodbyes to her when we dropped her off at her hotel and she even asked for my number, so I did the polite thing and asked for hers as well.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Sammy stepped out of the shower, he grabbed a towel and dried himself, then he wrapped the towel around his waist and went into his messy bedroom-- he took a quick glance at the clock on the wall; 9:30 PM. For some reason he thought about calling Kamilla; he entertained the idea in his head for a moment or two and then unsure of where this sudden urge was coming from, he threw his phone back on the pillow and went to play on his PS3 instead. It would be weird to call her out of nowhere.
Halfway though-out playing 'Heavy Rain', he glanced at the time again; 10:56PM. He messed up his hair in confusion, "Bloody Hell! Why am I thinking about calling her?" With a loud grunt, he took the phone from his bed and scanned the list of contacts for her name, he was determined to just get it over with before he went insane.
There was a dial tone and he waited for her to pick up... "Hello..?" Kamilla answered questioningly, probably surprised that Sammy was calling her at such an hour.
"Hey... uhmmm... so what are you doing?"
"I was just about to get into bed. why'd you call?"
"Bed huh? You going to sleep?" he cursed at himself for saying something so stupid, he'd have to think quick.
"Ahahaha awu lah, apakan kau ani~ what the hell! are you high kah Sam?" she laughed.
Think, think... think! "I was just bored okay, thought you might want to play a round of zombies with me online."
"Oh~ no thank you, I'm sleepy. Next time okay?"
After Kamilla hung up, I remembered thinking how that must have been the weirdest and most awkward conversation I had with her. I really need to stop worrying about her history with Adam; it seemed like since her story the other day, I could not stop thinking of the time when I saw her crying her eyes out for him, like a broken record that scene kept replaying in my mind over and over again. I kind of feel like I should ask how she's doing, I reckon I have to know she's okay so that I'd stop thinking about how in pain she must still be feeling. She doesn't seem to like anyone these days, nor does she go out a lot... so maybe she hadn't really moved on from Adam.
"Maybe I should talk to her about it soon," he said to himself and then shut off his console, switched off the lights and lied down on his bed.
================================
TO BE CONTINUED...
================================
The next episode of this would be revealed in....
I guess two or three days? OR until I get inspired to write again :)Please comment and/or bookmark this page if you found it even remotely interesting! Thanks.
Might have grammatical errors, nobody's perfect~! HEEHEE :D
