Chapter Text
Finally, it was Friday. It was three hours past lunch when Aiah arrived at Toast & Buns to reward herself with some high calorie comfort food she always got— burger, fries and everything nice.
For someone who was so stressed out with schoolwork, her chaotic and jumbled mind didn't reflect her appearance— she still looked well put, neat, gorg— not a single trace of exhaustion.
Aiah scanned the place and immediately placed her laptop bag on the only empty seat that just got vacated by a couple. She stretched her back, took her wallet and went to the counter.
"Oh hi miss Aiah, usual order po?"
Aiah smiled and nodded. She had been a regular of this burger place for almost a year, ordering the same food every time. She knew all the staff by face and they even called her by name.
Aiah finger tapped the counter in rhythm while looking at the menu in front of her, "Pa-add na lang din po ng extra gravy with caramelized onion on the side po."
The petite woman behind the counter repeated Aiah's order. One of the staff from the kitchen rushed towards her and whispered something. Looking apologetic, the cashier said, "Miss Aiah can you wait for 20 minutes po? On the way pa lang kase yung fresh meat from our supplier. Naubusan kasi ng fuel on the road. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay po ate. I can wait, no problem." Aiah assured with her sweetest smile and voice. Good thing she doesn't have any remaining classes for today. One thing about her is that she's patient. She was willing to wait as long as she knew it would arrive.
The cashier smiled back, confirmed Aiah's order and printed the receipt. "You can wait on your table po and we'll serve you the fries first."
"Okay ate. I'm sitting there po." Aiah turned her back and pointed to the table on the corner. "I'm gonna go sa bathroom muna but you can serve the fries kahit wala pa ako."
Aiah rushed to the bathroom to do her thing. Pee, wash her hands, fix her hair, judge the emerging eyebags and the one tiny bump on her forehead.
After fixing her hair one last time, she decided to go out.
Her steps slowed when she noticed something. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of her table. On the opposite chair where she left her bag was a red-haired girl. And it's not just a red-haired girl, but a red-haired girl eating her fries.
Aiah's fries.
Aiah walked to her table, stood there for a bit, waiting for the red-haired girl to notice her.
But the girl seemed busy on her phone. She took another piece of fries again and shoved it inside her mouth, laughing at the screen of her phone.
Aiah's brows furrowed, she sat down, not gently but with enough force to get the girl's attention. And she did get her attention— the girl gave her a flat expression, took another bite of the fries and returned her attention to the screen laughing again.
"Hey, excuse me. Hey—" Aiah sighed when she noticed the girl was wearing a pair of earbuds. The girl took another bite of the fries, then laughed at the screen. Again.
Aiah's annoyance went up another notch. The girl couldn't hear her so she decided to do the best thing she could do. Eat her fries. Eat a lot. Eat all the rest.
Aiah always took her time eating her food. She wanted to savor every moment and feel every bite she took. But not today. Not when some shameless, pretty girl was munching on her fries.
Aiah took a piece, then another, shoved it into her mouth non-stop, while glaring at the screen-focused girl in front of her.
Aiah didn't have a problem with sharing food with her friends, but this one was a shameless stranger and Aiah was stressed, hungry and she needed to be comforted by eating her food.
The girl's hand was on the plate when she noticed it was empty. She dropped her phone on the table, and looked at Aiah with judgement. Her mouth opened but no words came out. She looked at the plate, then back to Aiah, then on the plate again.
Aiah feeling triumphant smirked. She shoved the last piece of fries into her mouth and ate it in slow motion.
"Miss Aiah, here are your fries po. The manager said na dagdagan as an apology for waiting. Your steak burger will be here in 10 minutes." The server placed the plate of fries on the table with gravy and caramelized onion on the side. He smiled then went back to the kitchen.
"What the fuck?" The red-haired girl—gaze full of judgement, finally recovered her voice from the shock of seeing someone had finished her fries.
Aiah didn't know whether to swallow the fries in her mouth or spit it out. Heat rushed to her face. She gulped, swallowing the remaining fries, unintentionally. She knew she had to apologize, but the embarrassment took her tongue away.
With cold and trembling hands, she slowly pushed her fries closer to the girl and ran out of the shop— because eating her comfort food after that, wouldn't be comforting.