"Hi, Raymond," said Victoria. She feels very awkward shaking hands with a cafe customer.
All that she remembers is that a waitress should not flirt with customers. If she's acquainting with them, that must be just fine, right.
"You can call me, Ray," added Raymond.
Victoria nods, then she walks towards the kitchen. Courtney, who had just returned from delivering food to customers, walks up to her and screams hysterically.
"You will date that guy!" exclaimed Courtney, smiling happily.
Victoria grins. She feels uncomfortable. "I'm not dating him. I just … he suddenly told his name. That's it. I can't possibly date a guy I just met. He's a stranger, Courtney."
"So, what? I usually date with a stranger man who just met me," said Courtney proudly.
"What's the matter?" Mariah asked.
Courtney looks up at Mariah and smiles broadly. "Vicky has a new date."
Mariah was surprised but looked pleased as she covered her gaping mouth with both hands. "Oh, my ghost. Finally, you made it ... "
"It's not what you think," said Victoria, but neither of them wanted to listen.
"Is it that handsome guy who is sitting there?" Mariah asked as she peeked through the kitchen door.
"Yes, he is!" exclaimed Courtney.
"I will always support you, Vic," said Mariah assured her.
Victoria shakes her head. "You girls are crazy."
"Come on, Vicky," Courtney said encouragingly. "This is your chance to get a date. I'll teach you. Tease him. Straighten your body and puff out your chest. Give him the best smile. Write your cell phone number on a piece of paper and give it to him."
Mariah moved quickly. She takes a paper and writes down Victoria's cell phone number on it.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" exclaimed Victoria. Her eyes widened in surprise at Mariah. "Don't do it or ..."
"Or what?" challenge Mariah. "Everything it's for your sake, Victoria."
"I feel good without having a boyfriend," said Victoria firmly.
"Order table number fourteen is ready!" exclaimed Sean, ringing the bell on the table.
"Oh!" Courtney hurriedly takes the pan filled with Paella and puts it on the tray. She handed the tray to Victoria in a solemn gesture.
"Do your duty, My Daughter. You can do it," Courtney said with a tense face.
Mariah added up the paper with her telephone number and slipped it in Victoria's hand. She nodded briefly, raising an eyebrow dramatically.
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Seriously."
She walks over to table number fourteen, where Raymond was sitting, waiting for his food to arrive. The man looks up at her with his charming smile.
At the moment, Victoria couldn't stop staring at that handsome face. Raymond was a good-looking guy, but that didn't mean she had to date him.
Victoria put the pan of Paella on the table. "Enjoy."
"Thank you," Raymond replied politely.
A small piece of paper with Victoria's number fell on the table. Raymond picked up the form. "What is this?"
Victoria hurriedly pulled the paper. "Don't!"
Raymond looks confused. He raises his hands in surrender.
"I'm sorry," said Victoria.
"It's OK."
Victoria bit her lip, and then she turns to return to the kitchen. She feels very embarrassed. Mariah is standing behind the counter and making coffee. Courtney is taking orders from a customer who had just arrived.
"What are you doing, Vic?" asked Sean. He shocked Victoria.
She straightened her body and fixed her work uniform. "I am good."
Then she walks forward to greet the new customers. She treats all customers as usual, friendly and polite, without looking at her customers' faces carefully.
Her feeling is so chaotic. She feels like she is working under the watch of an eagle's eye. And the eagle's vision is coming from table number fourteen.
Finally, after an hour that felt like a century, Raymond had finished his meal. He went straight to the cashier to pay. Victoria watches him as he finishes paying and walks out of the café without saying goodbye.
Courtney goes straight to her again. "Did it work?"
"What?"
"Your number," Courtney said as if it was apparent.
"I didn't give it."
Courtney grinned. "Why?"
"You can see it by yourself. He left without saying goodbye. He's not interested in me. He was just an ordinary stranger man, eating here. You can't match him with me. "
Courtney raised both eyebrows. "Fine. I'm sorry."
"It's OK. We have to get back to work. Chop chop! "
Victoria walks over the table number fourteen and wipes it longer than usual. She wants the table to look shiny so that the other customers who come will feel comfortable.
After work, Victoria does grocery in the supermarket. She buys bread, eggs, apples, milk, potato chips, and many more. Her mother never shopped or even cooked in their house. All the things about the household belong to Victoria. She is taking care of all.
Her mother was too busy with matters at the hospital. Victoria will be waiting for her mother this evening. Hopefully, there will be no sudden surgery.
When Victoria is about to fetch the yogurt, she feels like someone was watching her from down the hall. She turns, looks at the entrance, but there is no one there.
The hair on her neck suddenly bristled. She rubs the nape of her neck and then straight up. Maybe it's just her feelings.
Victoria walks down the meat aisle to pick up a few boxes of frozen beef and chicken. She will cook spaghetti with chicken meat and creamy mushroom sauce.
It happened again. Victoria feels someone watching her from the corner of the hall. Victoria turns and sees no one there.
She feels scared. She better finishes shopping immediately and pays at the cashier.
After paying for all the stuff with her mother's credit card, Victoria put her shopping bag in the basket on the front of her bicycle.
Victoria rides her bicycle through a silent basketball court. There is a narrow alley beside the basketball court. She had heard the sound of a person who was in pain from being beaten.
She stops her bicycle. She didn't know what she had just done. She didn't mean to help the person who was being hit, but she was very curious. Victoria pulled her bicycle back and saw someone she knew.
Some thugs are beating up Raymond. Victoria widened her eyes, startled. She leaned her bicycle against the wall and rushed over to them.
"Hey!" exclaimed Victoria.
The thugs turn their heads, look at her.
"What do you want, Cute Girl? Is he your boyfriend?" asked a man who is not older than Victoria.
"Let him go!"
One thug has printed a sly smile on his face as he strolls toward Victoria. Raymond falls to the ground, clutching his stomach. His face shows extreme pain.
"Hi, Lovely Girl, do you want to have fun with us?"
"Stay away from me."
Instead, the thugs walk closer to Victoria. "Don't be shy. I won't bite you."
Something in Victoria's chest was hot. She clenched her fists tightly. She could feel vibrations that she couldn't control.