Chapter Three: Will She Show Up?

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Tiffany yelled as she entered the kitchen, witnessing Jessica cooking in the kitchen of their restaurant.

“Relax.” Jessica rolled her eyes as she tried to remain calm, and at the same time, to keep her best friend calm.

“What do you mean relax?! Are you crazy!? Get out of my kitchen now!”

Jessica sighed, “No!”

“Yes! Now leave before I drag you out!”

“Whatever.”

“Do you want me to tell your mom that you’re off today, but you didn’t visit her?” Oh gosh. She used the ultimate threat.

“And I’ll tell her…” Jessica paused; she knew her best friend would really do it.

“Tell her what?!” Tiffany bellowed in confidence. She knew she already got her best friend to follow her and leave the restaurant. But suddenly, Jessica smirked and that caught Tiffany’s attention. “What are you smiling there about!?”

“I’ll tell her you overwork me a lot, and you cling to me so much that I don’t have time to visit them anymore. And it’s all because of you.” Jessica finished cooking, setting the dish on the huge white plate. She eyed Tiffany, whose mouth remained hang open. “Relax. Plus, I don’t think you’d want to lose a regular.”

Tiffany’s head tilted to the side, “Huh?”

Jessica shook her head, “Taeyeon noticed the difference between your cooking and mine’s. That’s the reason she didn’t eat much yesterday.” Jessica explained.

Tiffany frowned, “But… it’s unnoticeable.”

Jessica shrugged, “Apparently, it is. She noticed. Twice and she still paid for it. So I want to give her a refund.”

Tiffany sighed. “I didn’t even see her in the lobby.”

Jessica shrugged, “I don’t even know if she’s coming in today.”

Tiffany shook her head as she sighed, “You better pay for that plate.”

Jessica smiled, “It’s already paid.” She then carried Taeyeon’s dish and hers. She was having shrimp alfredo. Luckily for her, she didn’t hear much from Tiffany. They had been friends for awhile now that they knew how to handle and blackmail each other. “I’ll give you back your kitchen. I’ll go wait in the lobby.”

The blonde was wearing her usual outfit; thick, black boots for biking, a pair of ripped jeans, and a black blouse. She looked at her humongous black watch and saw that it was five minutes before three o’clock; Taeyeon’s usual time. She set on the plates where they dined yesterday.

Jessica sat there for awhile; playing with the spoon, fixing the position of Taeyeon’s plate, re-reading the menu that she and Tiffany came up with. Was she fooling herself for being there and waiting for Taeyeon? Well, Taeyeon never did say she would be back so Jessica couldn’t really blame anyone but herself.

It was already twenty minutes past three o’clock and Jessica knew that Taeyeon was never late… she was always in the restaurant at least five minutes before or after three. Maybe she scared their regular away instead of actually trying to keep the kid as a regular.

“You’re late today.” The host’s words reached Jessica’s ears. She couldn’t help but look to the entrance of their restaurant. There walked in a teenage girl wearing her usual uniform, her hair was tied in a pony tail, and her bangs were pulled up. 

Taeyeon flashed a smile and said, “Yeah. The meeting took longer than usual.”

Jessica witnessed the host nodded and led Taeyeon to her. The younger girl seemed confused to see Jessica sitting there. “You…”

Jessica flashed a smile, “Welcome.” Jessica then offered her the seat in front of her, “Please.” 

“I… ugh…”

“If you don’t feel like eating with me, it’s fine.” Jessica stood up from the chair despite the urge to remain seated. But still, she knew it was silly of her to eat with the kid anyway. Plus, what she said yesterday was to cook for the kid, not eat with her. “I hope you enjoy and finish the viand.”

“Ugh…” Taeyeon looked at Jessica, still confused. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Finally, she spoke, “I… I thought you were just kidding yesterday.”

Jessica tilted her head to the side, “Did I seem like I was kidding?” It wasn’t a sarcastic question. She was truly wondering if she did seem like she just joked yesterday and did all those speeches for small talk. “Don’t bother answering that. You can go ahead and have a seat.” Jessica then grabbed her jacket that hung on the chair, preparing to leave. She flashed a smile at the still standing Taeyeon. “I hope you enjoy your meal.”

“Would you…” Taeyeon started as she followed her gaze on the now leaving Jessica. “Would you care to join me? I mean, I’m the one troubling you. I do apologize.”

“Oh, there’s no need for that.” Jessica turned around and flashed another smile, “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable so please do take the seat and enjoy the meal.”

“Oh, no. Please do join me. It’ll be more entertaining to have a chat with someone rather than eating alone.” Jessica looked Taeyeon in the eye. There was something that Jessica couldn’t understand in Taeyeon’s eyes. Or was she simply thinking too much?

“Okay. Do have a seat.” Jessica gestured for Taeyeon to take the seat.  She then took the seat in front of her after she placed her jacket on the same spot.

Jessica was finally happy that Taeyeon was eating her food. “Thank you for cooking this by the way.”

“Pleasure is all mine.” Jessica then took a bit of her own pasta. “How can you tell that yesterday’s pasta wasn’t the usual?”

Taeyeon was already half done with her plate; she eyed it then moved her gaze to Jessica. “There’s just something about it that told me you didn’t make it.” She flashed a proud smile; like she discovered something magical. “I love it.”

Jessica wore a flattered smile and nodded. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“Is Italian your specialty?” 

Jessica nodded again, “Yes. Tiffany and I mainly focused on Italian dishes; however, we can also cook Chinese, Korea, German, American and other viands, too.”

“That’s really wonderful. I can cook basic things, but I can never make it look so pretty.”

“It’s not that hard.” Jessica said humbly.

“Taeyeon?” A tall customer approached their table. She was wearing the same uniform as the kid. Jessica figured she may be a classmate or something relating to that. “Are you finally out on a date?” There was another girl that walked behind her.

“Oh, no. This isn’t a date. We’re just sharing a meal together.” Taeyeon hurriedly explained the situation.

Jessica smiled and nodded, “Yes. You’re completely mistaken.”

“Oh… of course. It’s Taeyeon after all. She’ll never do anything that would break her schedule.” The petite then said to the tall girl. “She’ll never date.”

“Right. Miss President will never date...” The tall girl then whispered something to the shorter girl and then looked at Jessica. “Do you mind going out on a date with us? You look really cool.”

Jessica flashed a smile and said, “Yes.” The duo’s eyes lit with joy. They got all giddy and so Jessica continued, “I actually do mind.”

“What?!  Why? What does Taeyeon have that we don’t have?” The shorter girl asked. “Sooyoung, do you know what Taeyeon has that we don’t have?”

“I don’t know? Well, she is taller than you.” 

“Lee Soonkyu, please stop this. I’m with a guest.” Taeyeon said; eyes pleading.

The shorter girl just rolled her eyes. “Come on. You should just go have fun with us.”

The girl named Sooyoung nodded, “Yeah. You’re hot and you dress cool, too.”

“I’ll have to decline. Thank you for the offer though.”

The shorter girl sighed, “What does Taeyeon have that we don’t?”

Manners? 

Kids these days think they could just go around picking up random people. 

“I don’t have any answer for that.”

“You don’t seem like you hang out with boring people.”

Jessica smiled, but it was something different. It no longer omitted a friendly aura. The duo along with Taeyeon was taken aback in fear and a mixture of surprise. “I actually don’t hang out with boring people. That’s why I can’t go out with you. Now if you’ll excuse us, we would like to finish our meal.”

The duo left without uttering another word. They simply glared at Jessica. 

“I’m sorry if they’re your friends, and I was rude to them.” Jessica sighed as she eyed the girls walk out of her restaurant.

“They’re right.” Taeyeon said and that caused Jessica to shift her gaze from the door to the girl who was sitting in front of her.

“Huh?”

“You don’t seem to be the type to hang out with boring people. If you’re doing this because you own the restaurant, thank you. But you don’t have to sit with me.” Taeyeon looked down.

What’s with the sudden change of attitude? Just earlier, they were having a nice chat and were ruined by those two delinquents. Of course, Jessica viewed the duo as delinquents after what they showcased.  

“It’s nothing like that.”

Taeyeon lifted her head, looking Jessica in the eye. “What do you mean?”

“I want to be your friend.” Jessica just looked out the window as she rested her chin on her palm; her elbow was on the table.

Taeyeon was shocked. In school, they come to her for Student Council stuff and was never really invited to any type of party, thinking she was a party pooper. She was the model student that every teacher favored her above all. It was tough to keep that trust, and she tried her best to do so. But that also made her circle of friends too small. 

“Because I come here by myself all the time and you feel sorry for me?”

Jessica shook her head, “I don’t know where you got that idea from but no. Can’t I make friends?”

“Even the boring me?”

“I don’t think you’re boring. I don’t know how those kids view you as someone boring.”

Taeyeon sighed, “People in school think I’m boring. My friends tell me that I should be more spontaneous, but…”

“But?”

“But I really am trying to study hard enough to have an impressive transcript to get into law.”

Jessica nodded, “So you don’t party and do things other kids do?” Taeyeon nodded in response. “Well, do you not want to have fun?”

“I do. I want to experience things before I can no longer do so. But it’s just that I don’t know how to break my habit.” Taeyeon then looked at her watch, “Oh shoot! I’m late for my tutor.” 

Another schedule… you ought’a break that habit of yours.

Taeyeon reached for her wallet in her purse, but Jessica shook her hand. “I need to pay for it.”

“It’s paid for.” Jessica pointed at her watch. “Go. You’re late, right?” she flashed a smile.

“Thank you! I promise I’ll repay you.”

Jessica then stood up from the chair, wore her jacket and took out her aviator from its inside pocket. She headed towards her bike and saw the side profile of Taeyeon’s face. The blonde could tell that the duo really left Taeyeon sullen.

Spontaneous, huh? She thought as she got on her bike and wore her full-face helmet. This sounds fun.