= Sarah POV =
Chris didn't come home for the rest of Sunday, leaving me to wander around the house aimlessly, trying to formulate what to say to here when she did return.
It was really hard to put into perspective the direction I wanted our relationship to go in. I was already happy as things were, did things really have to change so drastically? Why couldn't things just stay the same?
Eventually, I felt tired after waiting for Chris to return to have a conversation. I had been so nervous I hadn't eaten or even tried to stream, as I wasn't sure when she could walk back through those doors. At about 9 pm, I fell asleep on my bed in the middle of doom-scrolling on my phone, still troubled about what the future held for me.
Honestly, I didn't want to leave. Chris was safe, Chris was warm, and now, knowing that it was because she loved me, I sort of felt more inclined to want to be here because surely someone who loved you would never try to hurt you, right?
A few hours later I found myself being spooned. Strong arms pulled my body against a warm chest, arms wrapping themselves around my body, rousing me from my slumber.
"Chris?" I mumbled in my sleepy state.
"Yeah, g'night," I heard her say, her face nuzzling my neck as she patted me gently on the thigh as if to send me back to sleep. To my surprise, before I could think to say anything coherent, I did, in fact, drift off to sleep again.
The next morning, it was as if it never happened. I woke up to an empty bed and a screaming alarm call for 6 am in the morning.
I quickly got up and showered, changed into my work attire, scoffed down the food Chris had left me on the table for breakfast, and then, after leaving the dishes in the kitchen sink to soak, I rushed off to collect my keys and work bag, then left for work.
I felt so odd to just keep living as if everything was the same and nothing had changed between us, however I suppose maybe everything was the same for Chris, it was now my turn to carry some of the burden of this messy scary relationship of ours.
It was about 7 am when I started approaching the café. The air was crisp and fresh as and the sun was soft and warm, just breaking over the horizon.
I was mulling over what Chris said yesterday when I felt a slap on my back.
"Morning overthinker!" Heather's voice ran through my thoughts as I stumbled forward, catching myself before I fell over.
"Heather!" I exclaimed, turning to find my boss grinning from ear to ear as she slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder.
"Look, it's too early to be this concerned over the accounts. Ruby still has to go shopping for her favorite fresh produce this morning so you can relax, you're mostly doing rounds today" Heather beamed as if she expected me to tell her "good job" or something,
"Thanks I-" I was saying when we got cut off by Ms. Jun suddenly bursting out from the cafe entrance and rushing over to us.
"Heather, Gabriel says they've got fresh salmon down at the market. Is Nakajima in yet? I really, really want to go," Ms. Jun said, shifting from foot to foot as if she couldn't contain her excitement.
"Ah…" Heather started and quickly took out her phone and dialed someone.
"Ah, Nakajima…oh you're still on you way? No, no, umm…alright, see you," Heather said and ended the call.
"So Nakajima is still on the way…" Heather said, looking at Ms. Jun nervously.
"Heather~ you know how fast these cuts sell out; we're not the only restaurant in the area", Ms. Jun whined, grabbing Heather's arm and pulling it like a whining child.
"Look, firstly, we are still not a restaurant, do you can't be providing fine dining at our establishment, " Heather chided, rolling her eyes as Ms. Jun gave her a very serious pair of puppy dog eyes," Secondly, I understand, but the last time you went on your own, you had to dip into your personal wealth to pay that month's salaries. Just because we are doing better financially as a cafe doesn't mean you can spend all of our profits," Heather chided, yanking her arm away from Ms. Jun.
"But you know this would benefit the cafe, and I bet the chefs would be so inspired by the freshness of the fish," Ms. Jun beamed, clasping her hands together and looking at Heather hopefully.
"Well, why don't I go with Ms. Jun? I'm familiar with the budget, and I can let her know if she is getting close to overspending," I chirped up, looking at the two powerful women and wondering if I could help them sort things out in this way.
Heather turned to me and smiled brightly " Oh, would you? I'd usually send Nakajima, but he is still 30 minutes away. It would be such a great help; I'll treat you to a great sushi lunch as a thank you," Heather said.
"Yes, sure thing. Besides, as you said, I only have rounds today, so I'm a lot more free today than usual. I'd be happy to accompany Ms. Jun for the morning produce run," I said and turned to Ms. Jun. " As long as you're okay with me, tag along."
Ms. Jun grinned and linked arms with me " Of course, it would be a delight. Let's go buy the biggest fish!"
"Within budget," I cut in with a warning tone.
Ms. Jun groaned, "Heather, you brainwashed her into becoming a mini you," Ms Jun said in mock-horror.
"Within budget," Heather said with an equally measured, warning tone and crossed her arms, though a playful smile tugged along the corner of her lips as she winked at me.
"Alright, within budget" Ms. Jun finally relented, and then added with a hearty laugh and dragged me along. " See you later for lunch, Heather!" she said, laughing as Heather replied that she wasn't inviting Ms. Jun.