Book 3 - Chapter 54 : Sending the Food Back To the Restaurant

= Sarah POV =

I returned to the car and found Ms. Jun already there waiting, talking to someone who was standing next to a white van.

"Ms. Jun, stranger danger, don't get into random unmarked vans," I said, pulling up my trolley beside her. 

Ms. Jun turned and grinned, "Rascal, this is Marlin. I often get him to help transport the produce to the cafe, but my car can't carry all of this. You can load your loot into the back while I finish giving Marlin instructions on what goes to which department," Ms. Jun said and winked before returning to talk to Marlin. 

Marlin bowed at me, gave me a little wave, and then continued to nod diligently as Ms. Jun continued to dump information about what he had to do. 

I waved back and pushed my trolley around the side of the van to the open trunk, and started to unload all my fruits and vegetables next to all the other crates, which must have been all the food Ms. Jun had picked up on her end of the list. 

Once I was done Ms. Jun and Marlin came walking around the corner and they both inspected everything. Once everyone was satisfied, Marlin slammed the trunk door shut and got driving off to the café. Ms. Jun and I pushed our trolleys back to her car, where we could fold them and pack them away into the trunk.

As Ms. Jun was straightening out the trunk of her car, I received a phone call from Heather.

"Hey Sarah, are you and Ruby wrapping things up? I was thinking of finishing up somethings over here before heading over to the restaurant," Heather said over the phone.

"Yes, we just sent the produce back to the cafe in Marlin's van" I explained, giving a thumbs up to reassure Ms. Jun as she looked over with a confused look on her face.

"Alright, can you pass me to Ruby? I want to tell her the restaurant details," Ms Heather said, and I passed the phone over to Ms. Jun, who accepted it, looking confused.

"Heather I swear I didn't go over the budget" Ms. Jun started, and then a look of relief passed over her face "Ah, ok I see. Ah! I love that place….ok, ok sure, I'll book it under your name…alright see you there, bye, bye" Ms. Jun said and ended the call, handing the phone back to me.

"Oh, you are going to love the place we are going for lunch; Heather makes the best lunch reservations", Ms. Jun beamed as she slammed the trunk shut.

30 minutes later we pulled into a little car park down an alleyway near the restaurant. The restaurant was a 2 minute walk away, and we were greeted by waiters who were dressed smartly in dark printed happy coats tucked into long navy blue robes. Ms. Jun mentioned Heather's name and they immediately gathered menus and led us to a private room behind Shoji doors. 

Ms. Jun and I sat down at the table next to me, stretching as I opened the menu and started looking at what was good to order. 

"Why don't we get a few dishes to share? I love the cuts of fruits; you have to try the honeydew that they serve here,"Ms. Jun suggested and started putting in orders on the tablet that was mounted on the table to take electronic orders. 

I asked for Ocha to go with whatever Ms. Jun was happily adding to the order, and then I took off my handbag and hung it on the coat and bag rack provided. 

"So, how are you these days?" Ms. Jun asked, turning to face me when I sat back down.

"So far so good. I'm really enjoying my shift in the accounting department," I smiled.

The door slid open and a waitress came in with a tray of dishes. She placed our fruits platter and sashimi plater down on the table, along with a sparkling apple juice of Ms. Jun and a pot of Ocha with cups for me. 

"Thank you," I said as the waitress bowed and retreated, closing the door as she left.

"Well that's great to hear, we've been so busy these days, I haven't had a chance to speak with you. I hope everything is alright between you and Chris, it seemed a little tense between you two when we were together in the dance studio that time" Ms. Jun asked, picking up a slice of honeydew and popping it into her mouth. 

I poured myself a cup of Ocha as I tried to figure out what was safe to tell this woman. Ms. Jun had already expressed her interest in me as well, so was it okay to tell her that Chris had outright confessed to me the day before?