Chapter Thirty-Eight
Something shook me. I ignored it. I was too comfortable where I was. My sleep was too precious. I did not want to wake up.
Again a shake. This time I knew it was somebody's hand. Maybe, Shirley was trying to wake me up. If I keep on resisting, she would go away, eventually.
That hand shook me again. A groan of annoyance escaped my throat as I tried to get the hand off of me. But, it was too much of an effort so I let it go. It was like swatting a fly away, an effort wasted.
This time when the shake came, it was firmer and more assured. Along with it, a voice. Someone spoke in the background. "Excuse me, Miss? Please, wake up." I heard a voice say. Not giving a damn about it, I let it pass over me once again.
"Girl." A firm order to get attention.
I grunted and felt like lashing out at whoever this person was. But then, I smelt a very amazing smell.
Food.
I jerked awake this time even before the person could try and wake me. My eyes slowly blinked open and I had to shield them from the sudden rush of lights. The lights hurt my vision. When I finally pulled my hand down, I noticed a hand. It was frozen in mid-air. I followed the hand and saw a boy standing on the other side of the table. As soon as I sat up he retracted his hand, looking a little awkward. He looked away when I met his eyes.
Abruptly, everything came into focus.
Tearing my gaze away from him, I noticed the place that I was in. It took me a few seconds but soon, I realised where I was. The house restaurant.
Soon enough, all the memories came rushing back to me in a flash. From the morning when I met my brother to roaming the street aimlessly to coming here in search of help and getting told off. To the moment when I ended up saving the very person who kicked me out.
It all came back to me. My head was still fuzzy from sleep but I had a good grip on reality now. My sleep was still weighing me down but now I was alert of the place around me. I knew that I was not in my dormitory but in a house restaurant with a strange guy who kicked me out.
A throat cleared. My eyes darted to that guy who was trying to wake me up. I didn't even realise when I had fallen asleep. Especially considering the fact I was with a random guy here and I knew that it could be dangerous for me to let my guard down.
He was looking at me all strange and awkwardly. This whole ordeal was just as weird to him as it was to me.
"We haven't officially introduced ourselves to each other. I'm Nelson. I'm working here until the owners of the house return from their trip." He said, extending his hand to me over the table.
I looked at his hand suspiciously but finally gave in and shook his hand with mine. "I'm Viri. Where did the owners go?" I questioned. Retracting my hand after the handshake. The smell of the food was overwhelming me but I held myself back before I began to eat anything.
"The owners went to visit their daughter back in Japan. They haven't seen her in a long time, so they took a long leave from here and went to Japan to visit her for a month or so. Summer holidays or something." He told me.
Their daughter? I remembered. They told me I looked exactly like their daughter. However, I had never given much thought to it.
"And they left you in charge? I've never seen you here before?" I questioned. Without intending to, it came out as suspicious.
The boy - the guy - uh - Nelson let out a small chuckle. I frowned.
"How many times have you been in this place?" He asked me. His question made me stutter.
"Ah - well. Two or three times. But that's not the point." I said a bit defensively. Only twice, but whatever. "Any time I've been here-"
"Two or three times." Nelson said in a mocking tone, annoying me at my stupidity.
"Fine. Two or three times. On any of those days, I have never seen you here. I only saw Mrs Hanako and Mr Kiyoshi working here. They never mentioned you. Or any caretaker." I retorted. Almost snapping at him. I did not know why I was so angry. Maybe it had to do something with an empty stomach. The hollowness of my stomach was chewing me alive.
My stomach let out a big growl. Both of our eyes went straight to my stomach before meeting each other's gaze. By the looks of his eyes, I knew he was stifling a smile. It was so bloody annoying.
Hiding his amused smile behind his hand, he slid the meal to my side of the table that he prepared for me. "I work here part-time. Or as a hobby, if I like to say so myself. You could hardly make cash from here." He said, glancing around. Shaking his head, he continued. "But I like to help the old couple here. They treat me with free food and I make some cash if they do get some customers here someday." He explained.
He gestured for me to start eating but I did not pick up the spoon just yet. The last couple of days had left me with little to no hope of trusting people's goodness. Especially boys. I was not so sure I was ready to trust this person. What if he turns out to be just like one of the bad people out there? Will he take advantage of the fact that I was alone with him? And god knows if he turns out to be just like Mike, a druggie, who decided to sell me for his gain ... no. No. I can not take chances.
I slid the bowl of noodle soup back to Nelson's side and gestured at the bowl in front of him. Sliding the spoon to him, I told him. "Would you mind tasting the food a little and checking if it's too spicy? My spice tolerance is very low." I said politely. Lying to his face. I wanted him to have a taste of this food first. God knows if he had mixed something in this food. I shuddered at the thought of it. I did not want to end up in the backseat of the car being kidnapped or something.
He frowned at me. But then as if he realised something, he took a fork from my side of the table, scooped a big portion of the noodles and slurped it into his mouth. Eating it all without any hesitancy. He chewed like he was not eating in front of any stranger but in front of a close family member. No shame or any weirdness. I watched him with my mouth half-open.
When he was done eating the big, whole bite, he nodded appreciatively. "Everything is good. It's not too spicy. It's delicious. You can eat it without worrying." He told me. Shocked at how he gulped down everything without any hesitancy, I realised that the food was okay. There was nothing wrong with it. If it was then he would not have eaten it, and that too with this big bite.
A sigh of relief flushed through me and I gave him a half-smile. Nelson slid the bowl to my side and gave me a fresh new fork to eat the food with. I felt a little guilty. I loved spicy food but now that I had already used it as an excuse, I could not ask him for more spice sauce if this was not spicy.
Whatever. It was better than being used for food as payment.
Without uttering a single word, I dove down into my food and scooped noodles and started chewing them down. The moment the noodles' taste filled my mouth, I realised that the food was spicy. Just like how I wanted it to. Surprised, I glanced at Nelson who was silently watching me eat. I did not know how but I was suddenly filled with doubt. Was he messing with me? Did this food have something in it?
I was about to say something to him when suddenly he stood up and walked over to the door of the room, but he stopped. He looked at me over his shoulder and said in a calm voice. "If I had some bad intention then I would have taken advantage of you the moment I saw you sleeping here. Unaware of my presence. I would not have put something in your food. Anyway, enjoy your meal." He said, and with that, he was gone. Leaving me, yet again, shocked and surprised at the same time.
Confusing me, if I should be thankful or worried about what he just said.