Unsual Day

Five days later, Amanda went to work as usual. That day she had a box in her hand to give to Jhon. She hoped he would like it.

When she arrived at the cafe, Amanda went straight to the kitchen to see Jhon. As she was about to call out to him, he seemed to just stare silently at the photo in his hand. Amanda couldn't really see the photo clearly, but she could see a family photo there.

'Jhon... He must miss them...'

Knock knock

Amanda knocked on the kitchen door, instantly making Jhon put the photo in his pocket and look back. "Morning Jhon!" greeted Amanda.

"Oh... Yes, morning."

"What kind of cake are you making today? Matcha? Tiramisu? Or chocolate?" Amanda asked approaching Jhon.

The man said he made vanilla cake today. Amanda laughed because her guess was wrong. She then put the box in her hand on the table. Jhon asked what the box was.

"This is for you, open it."

Curious, Jhon opened the box. It turned out that inside was his favorite black pepper seasoned chicken dish. Amanda deliberately made it for Jhon, she knew Jhon's favorite from Camille.

"You always give me cakes to take home. So I made that food for you. I... I'm not sure if the taste will suit your tongue because I'm still learning how to cook. But I hope you'll like it."

Jhon took the spoon and tasted Amanda's chicken.

"How is it? Is it... Good?" Amanda asked worriedly.

"Not bad. It's just that the pepper flavor is too much so it's a bit pungent," Jhon replied. "But thank you for making it for me..." he continued with a slight smile.

This was the first time Amanda had seen Jhon smile after working for him for so long. Since they first met, Jhon always looked grumpy and never smiled. Now she saw it.

"You're welcome! Then enjoy yourself, I'll start my work." Amanda turned to leave with a happy feeling.

The cafe was open as usual, Amanda returned to serving the customers who came in. That day the cafe was more crowded than usual, Jhon said it was because in that month there was usually an influx of couples on honeymoon every year.

That's why Amanda does see a lot of couples coming to their cafe, as well as filling the beach opposite the cafe.

"So I think maybe this weekend and the next few, I'll ask you to stay at work. The café will be very crowded," said Jhon.

"No problem, I'll do my best to stay in," Amanda replied as she picked up the coffee pot and started going around offering her coffee.

One of the customers who wanted a refill was their sheriff, George. As usual he came to the cafe for lunch and also to meet Amanda.

"Good afternoon, George. Want me to refill your coffee?"

"As usual, Amanda. Oh yes... How was your day here? Is anything still bothering you?"

Amanda took George's cup and poured the coffee. "Still, but they're not as aggressive as that guy. So I guess I'm okay," she replied.

George was relieved to hear that. He told Amanda not to go home alone, as the cafe closed very late. It was dangerous for a woman like Amanda to walk alone at night.

"Someone could kidnap you or do something bad to you. You have to be careful. Maybe you can ask your boyfriend to pick you up?"

"Oh... I don't have a boyfriend. Plus I'm used to coming home at night while working here. I'll be careful," Amanda replied.

Actually she wasn't worried about that, considering she could take them down easily if they dared to mess with her. Street thugs were no match for a former secret agent like Amanda.

Hearing that Amanda didn't have a boyfriend made George feel so relieved. He thought he had a chance to get close to Amanda.

"I see. If you need help or feel that someone suspicious is following you, you can contact me." George gave Amanda his phone number.

She nodded and thanked him and went to serve another customer. She would just keep the number, even though she didn't know whether she would need it or not.

As Amanda was wiping down a table that has just used, she noticed a car parked on the side of the road. The black car that had been there all morning. At first Amanda didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that maybe someone had gone to the souvenir shop near the cafe and parked their car there.

However, when Amanda squinted her eyes, looking more carefully. There was someone in the car who seemed to be watching the café from behind the café's large windows that showed the whole cafe.

'Why do they keep looking here? How strange...' she thought.

She got out of there and approached Jhon to report the matter.

"Jhon, there's someone watching the cafe from across the street."

"No way, why would they do that? This cafe has never had a problem with anyone. It must just be your feelings," replied Jhon while looking at the car across the street.

Hearing Jhon who didn't believe what she said, Amanda felt that maybe it was just her feelings. But her instincts told her that there was something strange about the car.

'Maybe... It's just my feelings. I'm too caught up in my old job to suspect something like that,' she thought and went into the kitchen to put away the dirty dishes.

In the evening after the cafe closed, Amanda washed the dirty dishes in the kitchen. This time it was her turn to wash the dishes, Jhon had said they would take turns washing the dishes every day. Amanda agreed to this because there were not many dishes to wash.

After washing the dishes, she turned the chairs onto the table one by one while Jhon was busy calculating their income for the day.

While they were busy with their own work, the door of the cafe suddenly opened and someone walked in.

Ting!

"Sorry, our cafe is closed. Come again tomo--" When Amanda raised her head, looking at the person who came in, she was surprised to recognize him.

It was the man who tried to harass Amanda and offered a lot of money to pay Amanda. He came back to the cafe when it was already closed.

"Oh no, I didn't come here to order your trash food," he said.

"What are you doing here?! Get out of my cafe! I told you you're no longer welcome here!" Jhon shooed the man away.

"Pffft... Don't be so fierce like that. Do you know you've made your own cafe look bad by kicking me out?"

The man grinned and snapped his fingers. From outside came five large men carrying wooden beams and staring at Jhon and Amanda.

"Just because of that bitch, you dare to kick me out. Heh, you made a big mistake," he said again then turned to Amanda.

"Look at that woman, so fragile and stupid. Working for such little pay when I've offered her a lot of money and she just needs to entertain me, but she refuses,"

"Your money won't be able to buy my worth, no matter how much it is. I'm not willing to accept money from an arrogant and disgusting man like you. Do you think you can have everything with money? No!" said Amanda firmly while glaring at the man.

Disappointed by Amanda's answer, the man became very upset. He glanced at the five men standing behind him now.

"Take that woman and destroy this place!"