STEPHEN
“Where is she?” I asked myself as I entered Star Café. I looked around but didn’t see her anywhere. “She is late, but she said she is on the way to the café,” I said to myself.
“I should call her,” I thought, so I dialed Laura’s number.
She picked up the call and answered, “Yes, Stephen?”
“Hey, Laura, where are you?” I asked her.
“I am stuck in traffic,” Laura answered.
“How much time will you take to get here?” I inquired.
“Give me 10 minutes, I am just coming,” Laura replied.
“Okay, I am waiting,” I said before hanging up.
“She’s stuck in traffic, so she must be late. I should order something,” I said to myself as I went inside the café and took a seat.
“Hey, waiter,” I called.
“Yes, sir, what would y
KARENAfter bidding farewell to Alex, I felt a bit bored and uneasy. So, I went to the window, thinking maybe Devon needed more time for his work. Soon, he said, “Karen, let’s head home,” grabbing his coat from the chair. He opened the door, and I followed. Devon drove us out of the parking lot, and it got really quiet between us.Looking out the window, the weather was nice, and a cool breeze hit my face. But Devon seemed focused.“Devon, what are you thinking so deeply?” I asked.“Nothing,” he replied in a rude tone. I started looking outside again.After some time, he looked at me and asked, “Now what are you thinking? It must be a new idea to hurt me,” he said while looking at me in shock.“No, why would I hurt you? I was thinking about Alex. How could his mother leave him? He is a small kid; he needed her,” I replied in a low voice.“It&rsquo
KAREN“Karen, are you okay? You said you would come back after meeting your friend, but you didn’t come to the salon. Is everything okay?” she asked in a concerned voice.“Yes, I had trouble. You know, I was coming from the restaurant, but my bag was snatched with my phone, so I went to Devon. I wasn’t able to come,” I replied to her.“What, really? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” she asked while sitting towards me, checking on me.“Yes, I am okay. He didn’t hurt me, although he had a knife in his hand. He was showing me the knife,” I replied to her.After some time, it was afternoon when the weather became cloudy outside. Some girls had come into the salon.“Linda, greet them. Hello, how can I help you?” I asked.“Actually, we need makeup. Can you do that in half an hour?” one of the girls asked.“Yes,
KAREN“By the way, I’m Jack,” he said, extending his hand in greeting.I shook his hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Karen,” I replied.“And what’s your name?” he asked, directing his attention to her.“Linda,” she replied with a smile.“So, Karen,” he began, turning to me, “when did you start this salon? I don’t remember seeing it here before.”“I started working here a few months ago,” I replied.He nodded and looked at Linda again; she was already looking at him.“So, Linda,” he began, “how long have you been working here?” he asked, directing his attention to her.Linda looked surprised by the sudden attention, but she smiled and answered his questions, starting a conversation with him. As they talked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there
KARENHe looked at me, and I went to him and sat beside his chair.“Get him here,” the police commissioner said to the policeman who was standing beside him. He went inside and came back with a man, his face covered with a black mask.“Here he is,” the policeman said to Devon.“And here are your things,” the commissioner said to Devon, while placing my handbag and mobile phone on the table from his drawer.I looked at my things with shocked eyes.“This can’t be true,” I thought to myself.“Check if anything is missing,” the police commissioner said, while pointing at my things.I looked at Devon, seeing him already smirking at me.I took my purse from the table and started looking into it. There was everything inside my bag that the thief took tomorrow.“What should we do with him?” the commissioner asked Devon.&
DEVONAfter arriving at the office, I tried to focus on my work, but thoughts of Karen lingered in my mind, disturbing me. Her teary eyes kept haunting me, making me feel like I was in the wrong. I decided to investigate further and made a call.After a few rings, he picked up the call. “Yes, sir?” he replied from the other end.“I need CCTV footage of Karen’s salon and her street from today,” I said to the person on the phone.“Okay, sir. You will have it by evening,” he replied.After the call, I opened my laptop and started reading my emails. Once my work was done, I decided to visit Laura.I went to her home and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, she opened it.“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up,” Laura teased me, leaning against the doorframe.I chuckled, stepping inside. “Couldn’t stay away, could I?” I replied.
KARENThe next day, I woke up when the sun’s rays hit my face, causing me to struggle in the pillows. I decided to wake up, and upon opening my eyes, I was greeted with the best view in front of me: my husband’s face.I gazed at him for a while, his words from the previous night still echoing in my mind. His apology had meant so much to me, bringing happiness to my heart.I got up from the bed and made my way to the bathroom. After taking a refreshing shower, I headed downstairs to make breakfast for us.As I descended the stairs, I noticed the maids already at work in the kitchen, preparing for the day ahead. Their presence reminded me of the privilege and comfort that surrounded us, and I couldn’t help but feel grateful for all that we had.I went to the kitchen.“Ma’am, do you need anything?” the maid asked.“Yes, please. Could you get me some fresh eggs from
DEVON“That’s why she became unconscious?" I asked the doctor.“Yeah, she will be back to her senses after some minutes. Don’t worry,” the doctor reassured me before leaving the room.When I entered the room, I saw Karen was already awake. She looked at me, confused, and asked, “What am I doing home? I was at the salon. What happened?” She seemed disoriented and weak.“I brought you home. You fainted at the salon,” I explained gently, feeling bad for causing her trouble.“I’m sorry, Devon. I suddenly felt dizzy,” Karen said, embarrassed.As I looked at her feet, I noticed they were red and burned from the spilled coffee. I knew I had to do something. I sat up and went to the cupboard, taking the first aid kit. I sat beside her and took out the ointment from the box.“Let me apply some ointment on your feet,” I suggested g
KAREN“Devon, thank you for taking me out for ice cream,” I said, my voice filled with happiness.He glanced at me briefly, then nodded.“It doesn’t mean you can have ice cream instead of a meal every time,” he said in a rude voice.“Yeah, I know,” I replied.I was so into enjoying my ice cream that I didn’t even notice a bit of it had dripped onto the side of my mouth. When I looked at Devon, I could see he was smiling a bit.“There’s a little ice cream on your lip,” he said, pointing to his own mouth.I got confused and tried to wipe it off myself, but Devon shook his head, still smiling. “No, not there,” he said, leaning closer.Before I could say anything, Devon’s hand gently wiped the ice cream off the corner of my mouth. It felt nice when he did that, and I blushed a little, feeling shy.He sat on his
KAREN“Yeah, my mom told me that during her time, she craved chocolate so much that she ate so much chocolate. Really,” I said to Alice.“Really?” she asked. I nodded.“Well, I’m glad to hear he is good with you. I hope everything would be best for you,” Alice said with a smile.“Alice, thank you for always being there,” I thanked Alice.“Ma’am, your order,” when our order came, we started having our lunch together.After lunch, we went to Alice’s car.“I am dropping you home. Get rest, don’t worry for the salon. I would check again there in the evening,” Alice said, and she drove me home while she went to her salon.After walking into home, I went directly to the room. After taking a shower, I decided to take a nap.I lay on the bed. After some time, I drifted into deep sleep.
KARENRelief washed over me as Alice confirmed what we had thought. The lady who had complained about her facial treatment looked shocked.“I… I had no idea. I’m sorry for causing a scene earlier,” she said in a low tone.“It’s okay. We’re just glad that now you know about this, so you should not use this cream again,” I replied to her.“Now that everything’s fine, can we go back to the salon?” Alice asked from behind.“Yeah, let’s go,” I said to Alice with a smile.The lab technician handed us the test results, and we thanked him before leaving the lab. While Alice and I went in her car, the lady said she would go by cab and left from the lab.As we reached the salon, Linda and Diana were walking in, waiting for the results. Seeing Alice and me coming into the salon, they came towards us.“You’re back! What were th
KARENBut she wasn’t having it. “I don’t care about your investigations!” she said, her face filled with frustration. “If you don’t fix this right now, I’ll make sure everyone knows about the terrible service at this salon. I’ll leave the worst review of your salon!” she said angrily.“Ma’am, please have a seat. Please, calm yourself,” Diana said to her, trying to soothe her anger.However, she was too agitated to listen, her anger boiling over as she threatened to leave a bad review of the salon.Listening to her words, I felt anxiety. Negative reviews could be damaging to our reputation, and I knew I had to find a way to make things in our favor and also make her calm down.As I attempted to understand her complaint, the door swung open again.I looked at the direction of the door and saw Alice there.“Hello, everyone!&
KAREN“Devon, thank you for taking me out for ice cream,” I said, my voice filled with happiness.He glanced at me briefly, then nodded.“It doesn’t mean you can have ice cream instead of a meal every time,” he said in a rude voice.“Yeah, I know,” I replied.I was so into enjoying my ice cream that I didn’t even notice a bit of it had dripped onto the side of my mouth. When I looked at Devon, I could see he was smiling a bit.“There’s a little ice cream on your lip,” he said, pointing to his own mouth.I got confused and tried to wipe it off myself, but Devon shook his head, still smiling. “No, not there,” he said, leaning closer.Before I could say anything, Devon’s hand gently wiped the ice cream off the corner of my mouth. It felt nice when he did that, and I blushed a little, feeling shy.He sat on his
DEVON“That’s why she became unconscious?" I asked the doctor.“Yeah, she will be back to her senses after some minutes. Don’t worry,” the doctor reassured me before leaving the room.When I entered the room, I saw Karen was already awake. She looked at me, confused, and asked, “What am I doing home? I was at the salon. What happened?” She seemed disoriented and weak.“I brought you home. You fainted at the salon,” I explained gently, feeling bad for causing her trouble.“I’m sorry, Devon. I suddenly felt dizzy,” Karen said, embarrassed.As I looked at her feet, I noticed they were red and burned from the spilled coffee. I knew I had to do something. I sat up and went to the cupboard, taking the first aid kit. I sat beside her and took out the ointment from the box.“Let me apply some ointment on your feet,” I suggested g
KARENThe next day, I woke up when the sun’s rays hit my face, causing me to struggle in the pillows. I decided to wake up, and upon opening my eyes, I was greeted with the best view in front of me: my husband’s face.I gazed at him for a while, his words from the previous night still echoing in my mind. His apology had meant so much to me, bringing happiness to my heart.I got up from the bed and made my way to the bathroom. After taking a refreshing shower, I headed downstairs to make breakfast for us.As I descended the stairs, I noticed the maids already at work in the kitchen, preparing for the day ahead. Their presence reminded me of the privilege and comfort that surrounded us, and I couldn’t help but feel grateful for all that we had.I went to the kitchen.“Ma’am, do you need anything?” the maid asked.“Yes, please. Could you get me some fresh eggs from
DEVONAfter arriving at the office, I tried to focus on my work, but thoughts of Karen lingered in my mind, disturbing me. Her teary eyes kept haunting me, making me feel like I was in the wrong. I decided to investigate further and made a call.After a few rings, he picked up the call. “Yes, sir?” he replied from the other end.“I need CCTV footage of Karen’s salon and her street from today,” I said to the person on the phone.“Okay, sir. You will have it by evening,” he replied.After the call, I opened my laptop and started reading my emails. Once my work was done, I decided to visit Laura.I went to her home and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, she opened it.“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up,” Laura teased me, leaning against the doorframe.I chuckled, stepping inside. “Couldn’t stay away, could I?” I replied.
KARENHe looked at me, and I went to him and sat beside his chair.“Get him here,” the police commissioner said to the policeman who was standing beside him. He went inside and came back with a man, his face covered with a black mask.“Here he is,” the policeman said to Devon.“And here are your things,” the commissioner said to Devon, while placing my handbag and mobile phone on the table from his drawer.I looked at my things with shocked eyes.“This can’t be true,” I thought to myself.“Check if anything is missing,” the police commissioner said, while pointing at my things.I looked at Devon, seeing him already smirking at me.I took my purse from the table and started looking into it. There was everything inside my bag that the thief took tomorrow.“What should we do with him?” the commissioner asked Devon.&
KAREN“By the way, I’m Jack,” he said, extending his hand in greeting.I shook his hand, smiling. “Nice to meet you, Jack. I’m Karen,” I replied.“And what’s your name?” he asked, directing his attention to her.“Linda,” she replied with a smile.“So, Karen,” he began, turning to me, “when did you start this salon? I don’t remember seeing it here before.”“I started working here a few months ago,” I replied.He nodded and looked at Linda again; she was already looking at him.“So, Linda,” he began, “how long have you been working here?” he asked, directing his attention to her.Linda looked surprised by the sudden attention, but she smiled and answered his questions, starting a conversation with him. As they talked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there