"Bullshit." Monika took a deep breath and plopped down into her chair rubbing her head in frustration. She just got a new piece of work from the manager to come forward with a record-breaking article. That too in just 5 days. "Like an incident would pop out of nowhere." She muttered and cursed the manager under her breath. Working for an entertainment agency was not at all fun like everybody said. With the duration of just 5 days she knew, finishing this article will be a tough row to hoe.
As she scrolled through various events on social media, she whined loudly enough for her colleagues and manager to hear. And all she could see were wedding photos everywhere, as if God was telling her she needed to get married before she died. "Why are so many people getting married?" She said that out loud in frustration until she came across a lovely photograph of a couple holding hands. It would be an understatement to say she was angry; instead, she was boiling from within and gripped her phone so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Wow, what a lovely couple." She clenched her teeth and blocked the user ID mingi<3meg. "Fucking couple goals."
She spent nearly an hour looking for a mind-blowing event but came up empty-handed. Defeated, she packed her belongings as her shift ended and dashed across the street to the café. This is a place she frequently visits to unwind. It was a small and cosy space with a bookshelf full of books of various genres. Her favorite spot to be.
"What? But she just ended her relationship with Dan two weeks ago." Monika said indistinctly as she scrolled through the photos her friend had just uploaded a few minutes before. She took a far-away corner seat to avoid being noticed and ordered a bubble tea. She put on her earphones on a whim and eased herself through soft music, or so she thought.
However, her peaceful time was cut short when a group of college students burst into the café, making a lot of noise. Their voices were so high-pitched that they could pierce anyone's eardrums. Monika, who groaned for the nth time today, was that someone.
"My girlfriend would kill me if I ignored her texts on a night of drinking." The tallest of the five boys said and laughed loudly. And in an instant, the entire café had transformed into a college canteen where students were constantly shouting. They were too loud, especially the blonde one, who spoke loudly enough for even the corner seats to hear.
"Men…" Monika simply rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
"Here you have your bubble tea, Monika." The waitress smiled as she placed the bubble tea on the table. Everyone who worked here obviously knew Monika. She is always present, and they enjoy her company. Monika quickly thanked her and began sipping her tea.
"You're just jealous that I'm dating and you're not." The tall one said again.
"Jealous? Me? I can get any girl I want." Another boy responded, eliciting a sceptical look from the other four. Others just cooed at his sudden boldness, and he facepalmed himself, now embarrassed by what he said. Monika turned up the volume on her phone and continued to scroll through Instagram on the corner, so as not to be overheard. She made strange faces at every photo that appeared on the screen.
"I need to stop scrolling through these social media sites." She mumbled as she looked at pictures of her friends getting engaged or finding a new boyfriend. She locked her phone, irritated by the reality, and facepalmed as she remembered her ex-boyfriend, who had left her 6 months before.
"I'm so sorry, Monika, but this isn't going to work." "I believe we should break up." Her ex-boyfriend declared without a trace of remorse. As if he'd wanted to do this for a long time but couldn't bring himself to do it until now.
Monika blinked a few times in order to correctly decipher the words. She didn't expect this when she took the day off to spend time with him. She was taken aback by this sudden confession and was on the verge of crying when she noticed someone.
"And I've already moved on so." The girl jumped out from behind and intertwined her fingers with him.
"Oh- so you were cheating on me," Monika observed the girl standing beside him. "And with my friend!!" she snapped again, causing the girl to stumble. Suddenly regretting the decision to introduce them.
"Thank you, God." I almost cried, but you guys aren't worth it." She took a pause to look at their expressions. "It's all over now. Traitors." She stomped outside, slamming the door behind her, and said the last word loudly enough for the neighbours to hear.
"Ex-Excuse me," Monika was startled by sudden tapping on her shoulder. She returned around quickly removing her earplugs, when she noticed someone standing in front of her with a wide smile. She sighed and forced a smile, as if everyone on the planet was determined to annoy her today.
He was one of the five boys who had entered just after her. She glared at him, then at the boys sitting in the distance, and then back at him. When he extended his hand for a handshake, she furrowed her brows in suspicion.
"Hi… My name is Steve. "May I take a seat?" With a wide smile on his face, he said. She accepted his handshake and responded with a gentle nod. He sat across the table from her, facing her. For a brief moment, they stared at each other without blinking, as if they were in a staring contest.
"Umm… "Thank you very much, Miss...?" He paused to wait for a response.
"Monika," she called out coldly.
"That's right. So, are you here by yourself?" He finished with a burst of confidence. He maintained his calm demeanor until she gave him a sickly smile. Then his face sagged with embarrassment.
"Seriously!! How old are you? …. five." She looked at him with her arms crossed. "Play your childish pranks on someone else. "I'm not going to buy it." She sighed and rolled her eyes. Her angry outburst reflected her bad day. To say Steve was terrified is an understatement. When he saw Monika's murderous gaze, he flinched and raised both of his hands in a surrendering gesture.
The other four boys were confusedly observing the scene, attempting to eavesdrop but failing. It was difficult to hear anything clearly from this far. Only movements are visible, similar to watching a movie without sound. "I'm sure she'll turn him down eventually." Looking at Steve's expressions, the blonde said. The rest of the boys just nodded, except for one who sat quietly sipping his coffee, unconcerned.
"I think he got her." When Steve's face lit up with a smile, the tall one exclaimed. "She took his phone.... she took his phone,". He muttered and flailed his arms in the air, striking his friend in the process. The latter screamed in agony and raised his hand to strike him back, but he stopped. Four pairs of eyes were now looking at their friend's return, but he was not alone.
"All right, see you later." Monika waved goodbye and walked away, drawing four puzzled looks from Steve's friends in the distance. Steve returned with a proud smile and gently tossed his phone on the table after saying his goodbyes. They were all staring at the screen with their mouths open. When they saw the new contact number, the boys exclaimed 'oh' loudly enough for everyone to hear and began to fire questions at him one by one.
"You haven't yet won." Said his friend as he handed back his phone.
" I'm not going to back down. "I will complete what I have begun." With a cheeky grin, Steve said. He couldn't back down now; what was done was done.