BAIDER (ENGLISH VERSION)

“Anmela! Hurry up! You are so slow! There are lots of people outside!” Leona was shouting from the outside, knocking on the glass door.

I was in ‘Leona’ now, a restaurant, I worked here to earn money to pay for my expenses. Luckily, I also get an allowance from my scholarship so I had enough money to spend on my daily bills. I did not forget to send money to my parents when there was too much because I knew how hard life was in our province.

“Menudo, Adobo, Kare-Kare.” I listed all the orders of the male customer. He was looking up at me while holding the menu.

“Okay, Sir. Wait a minute,” I hurriedly walked towards the kitchen, grabbed the foods and immediately went back to him.

I did not know where to start taking another order, there were so many people in the Leona. I doubled my speed just to entertain all of the customers. They were all hurrying me so I had no choice, but to take all of their requests. There were people requesting water, they did not clear what they needed, just warm water. I needed to go back again to the kitchen and grabbed the command water.

“Hurry up!” The owner of this restaurant kept shouting at me. It added to my frustration. Seriously, I was doing my best.

I was so tired, but I couldn’t do anything. This job was very important, my future depends on my school requirements, to graduate. Education is the key to success. I kept reminding that line myself, I needed to be hard working if I wanted a better future. What we did today had a huge connection to what we want to be.

Tonight, I will study our quizzes. I just hope I can still sleep after that.

“Miss.” A man raised his hand. I quickly went to him while holding the notepad.

“Give me cold water.” He gave me a big smile so I smiled back at him. I stepped as fast as I could.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I grabbed the glass, opened the refrigerator to get an ice cube, and put it in the water. I immediately went back to the man. When I handed it to him, I was a little nervous,  he did not let go of my hand. I just looked at it even though I was already disgusted with his touch.

“What’s your name?” He said with a smile.

I managed not to show him my irritation. He looked rich because of his decent clothes.

“Anmela,” I was annoyed, but I did not let him notice it. A second passed, I slowly withdrew my hand. I was about to turn around, but he called me again.

“Can I invite you for dinner? Tomorrow?” The smile was still there. I observed his face. He was not kidding.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I’m busy.” I wanted to turn my back on him, but he had lots of questions. The way stared at me right now was being rude. He was like having dark thoughts in his mind. The grin grew on his lips, he looked at my chest. Pervert!

“I’m sorry, Sir, I really need to leave.” I hurriedly turned away from him. My chest was pounding so loud and fast, my knee was trembling, weakening my body. A sigh of relief burst out to me when I reached the kitchen.

“What happened?” Rosy tapped my shoulder, looking at me with her worried face. She gently touched my back in an up and down movement, comforting me.

“I was annoyed with that customer. He was a pervert looking at my chest and he was inviting me to have dinner with him. That is gross.”

“Did he do something bad? Like touching you or what?” Her voice was caring.

“Nothing, but his smile was like undressing me,” I said with a  scared on my tone.

“Gosh, Anmela. Be careful, those riches are spoiled brats. They believe they can get what they want with no effort.”

My chest throbbed. I want to contradict what she said. Not all rich are the same as that man, I knew Laurent was different from them. Because if he was like them, he would touch me and drag me into the bed. He pushed me away instead.

The smile slowly formed on my lips when I remembered what happened earlier. If my body was all he wanted, he should do that when that opportunity came. Like in the office, we were all alone. I did not have any bad plans for him at that time. That’s all! I should still be ashamed because I was the first one to act naughty.

“Hey, are you listening?” I just woke up from dreaming when I heard Rosy’s question.

“Ah, just a thought.” I smiled at her.

“I was saying. Careful who you be with, especially the wealthy guys.”

I just nodded, even though I knew in myself Laurent was an exception.

Hours passed and I was exhausted. I went back and forth to the kitchen to take different orders. I hope to see Laurent so that my exhaustion gets rid of.

He is all I need.

I smiled when I saw in my mind his wrinkled forehead. At any angle, any time, he was having those waves on his forehead. I could still feel his kiss on my lips, and his touch on my waist. I was imagining things, just the two of us. I was so excited to see him again tomorrow.

When the work was over, I hurried to go out because I was so tired. Rosy said goodbye to me, we had opposite directions.

II walked along the scary dark tight road, I had to step on its longest to take a jeepney.

In the middle of the night, I heard a strange feeling. It was like someone was following me. My body started to tremble, my heart was pounding so loud and fast as I began to run.

I was looking at my back in every step that I did. My instinct would not be mistaken, I could feel someone was hiding in the dark, waiting for the right time to show his feature to me.

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