I felt like I was going to cry right now.
"We apologize for the inconvenience, Miss. There has been a problem with our digital wallet payments recently, so we can't accept them for now. Do you want to use another payment method?"
The words of the cashier, who was in front of me at the time, kept ringing in my ears. The problem was that I hadn't carried cash or an ATM card with me since digital wallets were introduced to the public a few years ago. So I just bit my lip while staring at the row of bread that I had painstakingly selected in front of the cashier.
"It's okay. I think I'm gonna cancel it."
"Are you sure you want to cancel your order, Miss?"
I only nodded my head before letting the cashier cancel my order and left the queue quietly.
"Next line."
With unsteady steps, I walked out and stood near the entrance. My eyes looked towards the highway in front of my regular bakery, seeing one by one the vehicles that passed on the highway.
I should have asked first if there was a problem with the digital payment system or not. Not assuming that everything was good.
And now, I had to bite my finger because the row of bread I carefully chose would surely return to its original place. The worst scenario of all was the possibility that someone else would take them all. That was not the situation I wanted to imagine right now.
"Here, take it."
Someone's hand pointed to the box from the bakery right in front of my face. I immediately turned to the owner of the hand that pointed to the box.
"Mine? But I did not buy it."
"Take it."
There was a man with a super curt face, gesturing for me to just accept his gift without asking much. With a bit of confusion, I decided to accept the box he gave me earlier.
"Thank you."
He nodded his head and walked away from me. I then opened the box and saw the row of bread that I had not bought before now sitting nicely in the box. I closed the box again and followed the man before actually leaving like a bat out of hell.
"Wait!"
Unfortunately, the man did not answer my call at all.
I accelerated my pace until he finally stopped walking and turned to look at me.
"I will pay your money back. Please give me your account number. Or maybe you can give me your QR code for the digital wallet you are using, so I can scan it. Oh, by the way, what kind of digital wallets do you use? " I asked, as I was pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket.
"There is no need for you to do that."
"But I insist on it. Don't worry, I will pay for it anyway. As long as it is not cash."
The man rolled his eyes. I told you there was no reason for you to do so. Such a stubborn woman."
"It is much better than accepting a stranger's gift for no apparent reason."
"So, do you want a clear reason right now?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I will tell you right now." he said, walking towards me until we were only inches away. I could even smell his perfume, which was intoxicating, as if inviting me to get closer to him.
"Because the bread you chose bothered my eyes."
I blinked my eyes as soon as I heard the reason that made no sense and at the same time stabbed me right at heart.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Did he mean, the bread I wanted to buy earlier was some kind of nuisance insect that had to be removed before it further disturbed the people around him?
"If it bothers your eyes so much, why did you buy it? You can say you feel sorry for me, so you feel like it was your obligation to pay it for me." I asked while raising my voice in anger. "Then you can take it back. I don't need pity from someone like you."
I returned the box he gave me while holding back my anger. Who needs pity from others, especially from a person like the man who was standing in front of me right now?
He clicked his tongue and handed the box he bought earlier back to me. "Listen. I still have some business to do after this. So I would really appreciate it if you got out of my sight as soon as possible."
"Even without you telling me to leave. Shén jīng bìng!" I exclaimed before leaving him, who was still standing near the bakery and bringing the box he had handed me earlier.
Anyway, I believed that I would not see him again, so why should I feel bothered about what he would do after I left him there? Right?
#
Several days had passed since the incident at the bakery. And now I met that annoying man again in a different place than before: at my favorite restaurant. Why, of all the places I wanted to enjoy dinner alone, did I even meet an annoying man whose looks I did not even want to remember?
"Sorry, but as you can see right now. All the seats here are full tonight. Would you two mind sitting in the same place?"
We exchanged sharp glances before turning back to the waiter at the restaurant we were at, who was waiting for an answer to his question.
"Are there really no other empty seats left?" I asked, hoping that what I had heard was not part of the truth.
The waiter shook his head. "We are sorry, but unfortunately there is no seat left here. If you don't mind, I will take you to the only empty seat we have at this time. Over there."
"Okay. Then, please take us there now."
I turned to look at him, who had casually asked the waiter to lead us to the only seats left. How did I end up at the same table as the most annoying person I've ever met?
I would rather go home than sit at the table with him!
Before I turned to leave the restaurant, his hand violently pulled me to come with him to where the waiter had directed, then whispered in my ear. "Just do as I say."
"Huh. Whatever."
I then followed the waiter until we arrived at the place in question. The location was quite far from the restaurant entrance, but private enough for the two of us.
This place appeared to be for couples looking for a date rather than two strangers, one of whom has a personal grudge against a super-inhuman person like the man in front of me right now.
He did not even seem to care about the candles and vases that were on our table right now as if they were just part of the restaurant decor.
"Here is the menu book. Please read it first. When you are done, you can call me. I will be waiting over there." said the waiter, pointing to where he would be waiting for us to order food.
As soon as the waiter left our table, I took the menu book and read it carefully. Likewise, with the curt man in front of me right now.
His eyes looked busy looking at the menu list in the menu book, while his hands were busy flipping through the pages of the menu book until they were finished.
After selecting the menu I wanted to order, I took out my wireless headset and cell phone from my beige tote bag.
Then I put the wireless headset in my ears and played a song by my favorite rock band, Linkin Park. I put my smartphone, with the screen still on, on the table and listened to the song while waiting for him to finish selecting the food and drink menu he wanted to order.
"Is that Linkin Park you are listening to right now?" He asked, after peeking at my phone screen earlier.
"Yes, it is Linkin Park. Why did you ask that?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I did not expect to meet someone who also likes Linkin Park."
I removed the headset I was wearing earlier from one ear. "What did you say? Sorry, I did not hear what you told me just now."
He repeated the question earlier. "Is that Linkin Park you are listening to right now?"
"Yes, it is Linkin Park. Why did you ask that?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I did not expect to meet someone who also likes Linkin Park."
"Also?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do you mean, you also like Linkin Park?"
"Yes."
His initially curt attitude slowly softened when he found out that I also liked the rock band which had been on hiatus for a long time from the music world.
We were silent for a moment before laughing at each other.
"Are you done choosing our dinner?"
"Yes. Should I call the waiter now?"
I nodded slowly while he called the waiter, who looked relieved once we finally started ordering something.
Then the waiter wrote down the menu we wanted to enjoy, with a few notes about the food and drink preferences we wanted to enjoy tonight, before leaving us to prepare the order.
After the waiter returned with the menus we ordered, we started eating our dinner and spent the evening talking about music and Linkin Park until we realized that the restaurant where we had our dinner was closing soon.
After paying for our dinner in total (which I had to let him pay for because he kept pushing me), we walked out of the restaurant.
He was even kind enough to accompany me to wait for the taxi I ordered through the app to come to pick me up.
And today, I learned that maybe the person I first met as annoying is actually not as annoying as I thought.