Ring … ring … ring ….
Elaine who had only been able to cry and sit on the floor, was shocked when she heard her phone ring. The woman looked for where her phone was quickly.
"OUCH!" Elaine cries out in pain anymore while she was holding her groin – it hurts so much.
While her phone was still ringing, indicating that the phone call was very important.
Even though her groin was still very sore, Elaine forced herself to walk towards the source of the sound.
Elaine snorts in resignation when she found out who was calling her.
Mr. Mark Lorenzo – a womanizer old man who is the owner of the restaurant where she works. The old man would definitely scold her because Elaine had not been there yet.
"Hel—"
"HEY, M*RON, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?"
Elaine takes her phone away from her ear while she was closing her eyes tightly when she heard Mr. Mark's scream. Elaine takes a deep breath to regulate her heartbeat to return to normal before putting her phone to her ear again.
"Pardon me, Sir, I wake up too late." Elaine says carefully.
"WAKE UP TOO LATE?" Mr. Mark screams anymore. "YOU THINK, THAT FRYING PAN WILL COOK ITSELF, HUH?"
Elaine rolled her eyes lazily.
"DO YOU WANT TO COME HERE OR I WILL FIRE YOU?"
Oh, Elaine, be patient! When facing the old womanizer, you have to be extra patient. Yeah, extra patient. Elaine said in her heart.
"Okay, Sir, I will be right there." Elaine says.
"I WILL GIVE YOU 10 MINUTES. IF YOU HAVE NOT COME WITHIN 10 MINUTES, I WILL—"
"You are going to fire me." Elaine interrupted her boss' sentences with a calm voice. She was used to being threatened and shouted at like this by Mr. Mark. "I understand, Mr. Mark, and I will be there in 10 minutes." Elaine says as she hung up the phone.
Elaine takes a deep breath and exhaled a heavy.
"Okay, Elaine, your problem today is quite complex – not just this d*mn bed problem. Remember that you do not have parents who can fulfill your needs forever, in fact your parents are somewhere. You only have Jasmine who of course will not be with you forever. You have to work, Elaine, for you." Elaine says, encouraging herself.
Even though her groin was still very sore, Elaine still forced her body to move – picking up all her clothes and putting them back on.
"OH, GOD!" Elaine screams out in pain as she closed her eyes and held her thigh, it hurt so much.
Elaine staggers out of the cursed room – the room that made her end in disrepute.
"Are you okay, Sweetheart?"
Elaine was surprised when an old woman suddenly takes her by the arm and asks. The woman looked worried about Elaine who was walking with her legs teetering and straddling her legs.
Elaine wipes the corners of her eyes which were starting to water quickly. No! She can't cry in front of many people!
Elaine did not want other people to know what happened to her, it would be very embarrassing if other people knew that last night was a hot night for Elaine and a man named Nicholai.
"I am okay, thank you so much for ask me." Elaine answers briefly with a smile, trying to make the old woman believe her.
"Are you sure?" The old woman frowns, still worried about Elaine's condition.
Elaine nods firmly. "Yes, I am."
"But your feet?"
"I was falling down from the stairs at my home." Elaine answers, lying.
"Oh, God! Go to the doctor now!" As if her motherly spirit had emerged, the old woman looked worried.
Elaine nods. "Yes, I am heading to the hospital now."
"Do I need to accompany you?"
Elaine shakes her head quickly. "No need, Ma'am. Thank you very much for caring about me so much." Elaine says gently.
"My daughter passed away from falling down the stairs when she was 18 years old. Knowing that a tiny girl like you is also experiencing the same thing, makes me very worried. My heart is beating very fast." The old woman says.
Oh, God, what sin did I just commit? Why did I actually make up a story that turned out to be about that woman's trauma?
Elaine felt like she wanted to hit her head on the street many times because of her stupidity.
"Are you okay even if I do not take you to the hospital?" The old woman still looks very worried.
Elaine smiles and nods.
"Okay, hurry to the hospital!"
Elaine nods again, then says goodbye to the old woman and immediately walks quickly, no matter how much paint her groin had now, the important thing was that Mr. Mark Lorenzo did not fire her.
"Hey, Sweetie, are you okay? Do you need a ride?"
Elaine stops in her tracks when she heard a man calling her. Sure enough, a strange man poked his head out of the car window and follows Elaine.
The man smiles as soon as Elaine saw him. However, his smile faded as soon as Elaine raises her middle finger.
"You d*mn b*stard! How dare you tease a weak woman, huh? Are men always like that?" Elaine glares, her emotions rising again and causing her tears to fall a little. Elaine wipes away her tears quickly. "Men always rely on lust, but never think that their behavior actually hurts women." Elaine says again as she walked away, leaving the strange man on the side of the road while he was looking at her confused.
"I do not know, I just greeted her!" The man exclaims as many people looked disapprovingly at him, trying to clarify.
Elaine no longer cared, she continued walking with her legs which were still very sore. Elaine had to arrive at the restaurant quickly so that Mr. Mark would not fire her. Whatever Mr. Mark's attitude towards her, Elaine does not want to lose her job. That is the only way to earn money.
"ELAINE!" Ben – a well-built man with firm facial lines, runs and approaches Elaine. "Where are you from?" Ben asks panicked.
"Where is Mr. Mark?" Instead of answering Ben's question, Elaine asks him back. Ah, who needs an answer that will only reveal her disgrace, right?
"After answering a call from Mrs. Miranda, he left." Ben answers.
"He is angry because I did not come?" Elaine asks once again.
"Of course. He even threatened to cut our salaries this month if you do not come oon, Elaine."
"God!" Elaine exclaims, not expecting that Mark would be that cruel to another employee.
"We keep hoping that you will come soon so that our salaries are not cut. Luckily you came soon." Ben says, relieved. "Hey, put on your apron quickly! Weekends are our busiest time. Those people are like crazy because they are hungry."
Elaine nods, she knew how the restaurant where she worked was like on weekends – it was overflowing – filled with hungry people who could turn into zombies at any time when the food or drink they ordered never arrived.
Because she did not want to make the 'zombies' go berserk, Elaine put on her apron and runs quickly.
"Ouch!" Elaine almost fell because her groin was still very sure. Fortunately, Ben holds Elaine's body quickly so that she did not fall to the floor.
"What is wrong with you, Elaine? Why are you walking like that? Does your leg hurt?" Ben asks attentively.
Oh, really, Elaine wants to cry right then and there when she remembered what made her move like this, especially with Nicholai's attitude of condescending and insulting her. Ah, even Elaine did not want to pick up the money scattered on the floor of the room.
Elaine has high value, she is not a prostitute like Nicholai thinks. Elaine did not want to collect the money because that would mean that she was really a prostitute. No, it was all an accident. Elaine does not want it.
"Elaine, why are you crying?"
Elaine was shocked and reflexively wipes away the teats that had wet her cheeks. D*mn it, how could she cry so easily?
"Ahem! Do you think people are here just to watch these petty dramas?"
Elaine and Ben were shocked, reflexively turning to the source of the sound.
Dania and Jena – two girls with long blonde hair and beautiful slender bodies looked at Elaine and Ben who were still in the same position – Ben was still seen holding Elaine's body.
Elaine reflexively moved her body away from Ben, not wanting a misunderstanding to occur.
"Pardon me, Elaine." Ben says.
Elaine nods awkwardly.
"Whoa, I never thought that you guys secretly have a special relationship." Dania says while she was smiling mischievously.
"Yes, even in front of Mr. Mark, you seem like strangers." Jena adds. "Um, by the way, what if Mr. Mark knows their relationship?"
"He will definitely be very happy. His veins, which were always tense because of anger, turned into butterflies." Dania answers while she was laughing, followed by Jena's laughter.
"Jena, Dania, that is not true. I almost fell and Ben helped me." Elaine says, trying to clarify everything.
"Oh, is it true, Ben?" Dania asks, as if she could not believe what Elaine was saying.
"Um … yeah." Ben answers carefully.
"Is it true, right? Ben and I do not have any special relationship. We are just friends." Elaine says firmly.
Ben smiles very faintly, his heart seemed to be cut when he heard Elaine's sentences saying that they were just friends.
Wait, are not they just friends? Then why does Ben's heart have to hurt? Has not it been that Elaine did not have any feelings for him all this time?
"Hey, Elaine, what is wrong with your feet? Are you sick?" Jena who noticed the change in the way Elaine walked, asks.
"Yeah, you are like someone who …." Dania looks afraid to say her words.
"Just gave up your virginity to someone?" Jena asks.
"What?" Ben was surprised.
"What do you mean?" Elaine looks offended, her eyes widened, she did not accept what Jena said.
"Well, you know, someone who has just given up their virginity must be in a lot of pain and find it difficult to walk." Jena answers lightly.
"You mean, I am that despicable?" Elaine did not seem to like Jena's sentences.
Jena shrugs her shoulders.
"Hey, Jena, watch your mouth!" Elaine shouts while she was accusing Jena, making everyone there shocked, some people even looked at them confused.
"Elaine, calm down!" Ben whispers softly as he held Elaine's arms, trying to calm her down. He did not want to be affected by Mr. Mark's anger because he was involved in a commotion that disturbed all his customers.
"If you compare me to you, sorry, I am not that vicious. I do not have anyone in this world, that is why I am always careful in my actions. Watch your mouth! Do not let yourself reveal your habits!" Elaine says as she walked away, entering the restaurant, leaving Jena with a red face.
"D*mn you, Elaine!" Jena exclaims, preparing to take revenge for what Elaine did to her.
"Jena, stop!" Ben grabs Jena's arm quickly, restraining the woman from continuing her actions.
"Ben?" Jena was surprised by what Ben did. Why is Ben like that? Is not it too much just to defend Elaine?
Ben shakes his head gently, indicating for Jena not to continue with her actions.
"Calm down, Jena, she is in really bad mood right now. Do not add to the noise!" Ben says softly.
"You should have said that to her, not only me! She started it all, she—"
CRUNCH!
Jena, Ben, and Dania were shocked when they heard the sound of breaking glass from inside the restaurant.
"What else is that girl doing?" Jena snorts. Even though she seemed too lazy to deal with Elaine, Jena still runs and approaches the source of the sound.
"I am sorry, really, I am so sorry." Elaine says as she knelt down, trying to clean up the spilled coffee and broken glass scattered around.
"Sorry? Do you think just those words of yours can clean my shirt?" Not accepting that his shirt was dirty, the man was angry.
"Really, I am so sorry. I did not mean it. I will help you to—"
"No need!" The man slapped Elaine's hand roughly, making Elaine stagger a little. "From the first time I saw you, I suspected that you were drunk. Oh, God, why did You have to come to a d*mn restaurant that employs drunk women like this?" The man screams in annoyance.
Occasionally he can be seen shaking out his shirt, trying to reduce the coffee stains on his shirt.
"Hey, you! You know – oh, d*mn, I do not think a country girl like you would know how expensive this shirt is."
"Sir, you are too late."
Elaine and the man were shocked when Ben suddenly made a sound and came towards them. Do not know when Ben and many other people gathered around them.
Ben pulled Elaine's arm so she could hide behind his back, as if to act as a shield for Elaine.
"Who are you? What is your deal with her? You are her boyfriend?" The man did not seem to like it because Ben suddenly intervened.
Ben glances at Elaine for a moment, then nods firmly. "Yes, why?" Ben answers with a challenging look.
The man smiles crookedly. "Whoa, what a plot twist – I met a pair of problematic couple in a restaurant that even served cheap and unpalatable menus."
Everyone there looked tense, including Dania and Jena. They will definitely also be affected by this incident.
"She – my girlfriend – has not my girlfriend offered to help clean your shirt?" Ben says while he was pressing the words 'my girlfriend' as if Elaine was absolutely his girlfriend.
"Clean?" The man laughs condescendingly. "My shirt is even more expensive that it is worth."
The man's words immediately pierced Elaine's heart, reminding Elaine of Nicholai's words.
"Even if you replace it with anything, it will not compare to my—"
"STOP IT!" Elaine finally shouts after being silent for a long time.
Elaine's face peaked, her emotions uncontrollable this time.
Bravely, Elaine steps forwards, passing Ben in front of her, now looking at the arrogant man.
SMACK!
Everyone was shocked, including Elaine's three co-workers, when they saw Elaine slaps the arrogant man.
"You slapped me?" The man looks shocked and did not accept being slapped.
"Yes, why? Do not you accept it?" Now Elaine did not seem afraid, she actually looked at the man with a challenging gaze, as if she was not afraid even if she did something extra to him.
"YOU!" The man raises his hand, preparing to slap Elaine.
However, fortunately, Ben's hand was quicker to hold the man's hand so it did not hit Elaine.
"Sir, I am sorry, but you went too far. You should not slap women." Ben says politely.
"Too far?" The man laughs. "What do you think about—"
"With your shirt which is very expensive and even more expensive than my value?" Elaine interrupts the man's sentences.
"Hey, Sir, remember! I do not know who you are or where you live – nor do I care. But, I have offered help to make amends. Do you think a man like you has high value? Men who always look down on women are nothing more than trash." Elaine leaves with her heart beating very fast, her tears were all over her face. Really, Elaine could not help it.