Chapter One: Spaghetinni alla Putanesca


The blonde eyed the girl seated at the booth table from the kitchen door. “She’s here again.” The blonde couldn’t help but mumble to herself.

“Boss, why don’t you just go ahead and ask her out?” Yuri, the assistant-chef, said as she tried to take a peek at the girl who was in the lobby. “I mean, you’ve been eyeing her for what? The last three months?”

“Are you guys talking about that girl again?” Tiffany, the co-owner of the restaurant, asked as she approached them.

“Yes, because Jessica can’t even ask the girl out,” said Yuri as she shook her head.

Tiffany frowned, “I don’t want my store to close down though.”

Jessica rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh, “It’s not like I’ll risk my whole life and career just to date the kid and it‘s not like I really want to date her. I‘m just curious as to how someone can eat the same thing everyday.”

Tiffany nodded, “Right. Kid. So, you should know that you can’t take Yuri’s advice.”

Jessica raised her brow, “Sure. It’s not like I will. Plus, I’m not like the both of you.” She then eyed Yuri, “You’re working under your girlfriend, how sad.” She mocked as she walked away. They had always been so friendly with each other that comments like these did not offend them.

“Yah! It’s not sad.” Yuri stated. She then continued  to tail Jessica.

“You can’t date your co-worker, let alone your boss. That’s basically an unsaid rule.” Jessica then looked over her shoulder, “I guess you won’t really understand since you have no work ethic.”

Yuri faked a laugh, mocking Jessica. “I’m not the e here.”

“I’m so not.”

Yuri scoffed at Jessica, who was now starting to marinate some meat for the next evening. “She’s in high school, while you’re done with school. Isn‘t that being a e?”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s not like I’m taking her home.”

“Yup. Just mentally taking her home.” Tiffany teased as she walked out, heading towards the office to do the usual paperwork and supply orders.

Jessica glared at Yuri. “I hate your girlfriend.”

Yuri couldn’t help but laugh by the sudden change in Jessica‘s demeanor. “You know you love her.”

“Yuck. .”

“Go talk to her. She’s right there, like always; in the same spot.” Yuri kept bugging Jessica.

The blonde didn’t pay any attention to Yuri as she continued her work. She went to add more spices on the meat, but every time she grabbed them, Yuri ended up taking it from Jessica. “Yah!”

“Go talk to her.”

“No. I don’t want a freaking felony slapped to my face.”

Yuri sighed and headed out, leaving Jessica to work.

“It’s the girl’s usual,” said the waitress as she walked into the kitchen. “Will she ever change her order?”

“Spaghetti alla puttanesca with tuna?” The waitress nodded as she handed Jessica the order. “Thanks.”

The blonde reached for the order, but didn’t bother looking at the paper. She already knew what the girl wanted. It had been more than three months since the girl started coming to the restaurant, and it had also been three months since she had been eating this dish every single day.

How could someone not be sick of eating the same thing everyday and to add to that, it’s not like the dish was all that common. Pasta with tuna wasn’t really something most Koreans enjoy.

After mixing everything up and laying the food on the plate, Jessica called the waitress and handed the dish to her.

“Can you call Yuri and Tiffany for me?” She ordered another worker.

She looked at the list of food that she was about prepare and sighed. It wasn’t even supposed to be their rush hour, but ever since their restaurant garnered praised by critics and was highly recommended by people from the media, their business suddenly boomed. However, Jessica didn’t expect these people to come and walk into her restaurant at three in the afternoon. Most people were still at work.

“Wow. We’re just suddenly so busy again. I thought we were done with the rush.” Tiffany said as she was now in her chef’s uniform.

Jessica nodded, “I know. I like it, but I sometimes wish these people would give me a break.” she complained. She had been working too much recently. From the moment this restaurant opened, about four months ago, Jessica hadn’t gotten a decent break. Working from open to close, she couldn’t help but feel exhausted.

“Yeah, but don‘t you start your mini vacation tomorrow? Are you doing anything special?” Tiffany said as she started working on one of the orders.

Jessica shrugged, “It’s not like I want to do anything special. I just really want to rest and sleep.”

Tiffany then shut her eyes, thinking to herself. “Maybe you should go ahead and take the day off. Yuri and I can handle this and you can take the next four days off, too.”

“You think that you guys can carry this store without me?”

Tiffany giggled, “No. We can’t completely function without you, but if it’s just for a few days, then there’s no problem with that.”

Jessica then looked at how much employees they had. It really was unexpected since her family thought that she wouldn’t really make good money with this restaurant. She had worked hard enough, and this break was something she really deserved. “Thanks, Tiff.”

“Just don’t miss your girlfriend. Okay? You won’t see her for four days.” She teased.

Jessica shot her a glare, but Tiffany was too busy to even bother looking at the blonde. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a kid I’m curious about. I mean, come on. Won’t you get tired of eating the same thing every single day?”

Tiffany then looked to the ceiling, thinking. “Well, I personally can’t eat the same thing every single day. I might end up vomiting. But, shouldn’t it flatter you?”

Jessica nodded, “I am flattered that someone really appreciates my cooking. But… I don’t know.”

“Quit thinking about her. You know, it’s getting creepy!” Tiffany shook her head, “Poor kid. She might even just be a freshman.”

“Oh God, no.” Yuri chimed in. “Freshman? Then that would make every effort I made go to waste.”

“Effort?” Tiffany asked.

“Well, I kept on telling Jessica to talk to the girl. If she’s really just fourteen or fifteen, then that’s really sad. Jessica’s going to go jail for that.” Jessica threw an onion at Yuri. “Ouch! What did you do that for?!”

“You better shut up! It’s not like I’m taking her home and molesting her.” Jessica stated, glaring at Yuri. She then grabbed another onion and started cutting it.

“Then, why do you look at her like some kind of maniac?!”

Jessica threw another onion at Yuri. “I’m not a maniac! Like I said, I’m just wondering.”

“So you don’t think more of her? Like if she’s pretty and stuff?” Yuri raised her brow, playfully interrogating her friend.

“She’s pretty and?” Jessica began stirring the food in front of her.

“Well, she is.” Tiffany said and as soon as she said it, Yuri shot her a glare. Feeling that there were stares on her, Tiffany looked at Yuri, and then Jessica. “Relax. It’s not like I want to go to jail.”

“So, that’s your reason for not hitting on her?” Jessica teased; her eyes were on Yuri.

Feeling that she was being cornered, Tiffany then said “No. Not at all. I have a girlfriend that’s human.”

“Human?” Jessica scoffed.

“Yah! Jessica Jung, go ahead and leave! We’ll be the ones finishing work.” Yuri said as she just finished making an order and the starting on another.

“Let me j---”

“No. Go.” Tiffany was firm.

“Fine.” Jessica finished up what she was doing and washed her hands. “Bye guys!” She bid as she headed towards the back door.

“I better not see you here for the next four days or I‘ll kill you.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. She may be a workaholic but it’s not like she’d spend a day to work instead of resting. “You’ll see me in the condo. It’s not like we’re not neighbors.”

“I’ll see you there, too.” Yuri said as she waved her hand.

“Unfortunately.” Jessica headed in a small room. She changed out of her chef uniform and shoved it in the knapsack inside her locker. She just had a white tank top and jeans. She wore her white leather jacket that hung in her locker and grabbed her boots. Gathering all her stuff in her knapsack, Jessica was ready to go.

She headed for the door, “Bye guys.” She said as she ran her hair with her fingers. Unlike earlier, Jessica’s hair was no longer in a bun. It was loose and somewhat wavy. She then wore her aviator sunglasses; ready to face the annoying sun.

“Jessica, you look hot.” Yuri said, and Tiffany nodded.

“You do. You’re going out?”

Jessica shook her head, “Just going for a ride.”

“Be careful.” Tiffany said as she went back to what she was doing.

“Bye.” Jessica bid for the last time and headed for the backdoor. She walked towards her black street bike with red designs on it. It was her uncle’s graduation present to Jessica. The MV-Augusta F4CC that she always wanted. She actually used it more than the BMW M3 her father bought her. She was really grateful that her father accepted her profession in the end. Though her father’s wish for her to be less ‘gangster like’ and act a bit professional was still there. Her father thought that an entrepreneur shouldn’t use motorbikes, but Jessica’s old enough to not listen. She accepted the car; however, it rarely left its parking spot.

Jessica tied her hair to a loose pony tail, and put on her full face helmet. “Where to go…” she mumbled to herself as she got on her bike and started its engine, creating a roaring sound.

She slowly drove towards the main road from the back alley; she then saw the regular. She was being picked up by a black car as a man in suit opened the door for her. “Good afternoon, Miss Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon… Jessica couldn’t help but hear the conversation. Of course, it wasn’t as if she was stalking the kid. It was pure coincidence and she couldn’t really pretend to not hear them when she was just a couple of feet away from them.

It was taking them so long to move that Jessica honked. These people think they own the roads or something.

The car finally moved out of Jessica’s way. She saw a closer profile of Taeyeon, who was seated in the back seat. She was right. The girl was really beautiful, and being up close just gave her beauty more justice.

Too bad she’s just a kid.


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