Chapter 04: Poor Waitress

Oyasu Japanese and Thai restaurant is one of the best in the city, it is known for its delicious Asian Cuisine. It also gained reputation for serving delightful, authentic and flavorsome dishes from various regions of Asia. All of the dishes are prepared by skilled chefs. Their staff are friendly and welcoming, their drink menu is also impressive It is among the place Gregor goes to once in a while whenever he feels like eating out.

 He held flora’s hand as they both walk inside the restaurant, they walked to a table in the corner of the dimly lit room and he pulled out the chair for her to sit. She sat and placed her handbag at the corner of the table, Gregor sat down too and a waitress was seen walking towards them with a smile.The waitress handed the menu to them and waited patiently for them to make their order. 

“I want Chicken Teriyaki and for the drink I want Mango Lassi.” She said closing the menu

“I want Salmon Sashimi Salad and the same drink she ordered” Gregor said and closed his Menu

“Okay, I will be back with your order,” The waitress said as she took both menus walking away

As they waited for their meal, Flora was busy scrolling through her phone while Gregor was enjoying the atmosphere. The sounds of clinking glasses and soothing music filled the restaurant. As their meal arrived, they dug in and started eating enjoying their meal to the fullest.

 Flora finished her glass of juice and signaled the waitress for a refill. The waitress walked to their table to refill her glass. However, she accidentally knocked the glass in a fit of clumsiness, causing juice to pour all over Flora’s dress. 

With her eyes burning with rage, She exhaled and leaped out of her chair. What in the world?

 She yelled, staring down at the juice smearing her dress, "Are you blind? She asked the waitress glaring at her.

The embarrassed waitress mumbled, "I'm…. I’m very sorry, ma'am. It was an accident. I'll grab you a towel, please.” 

Flora who was not having it said with her voice raising at each word “Did you just say towel? You are so poor that you don’t know how much this dress cost, now it’s ruined!”

Gregor quickly stepped in, in trying to calm the situation “Babe, accident do happen, you can clean it up with a towel. In fact no need for that, you will change once we are about to leave”

“That doesn’t stop the fact that she’s clumsy! What if I had no other dress? Flora asked as she kept on berating the girl

The waitress who was getting more flustered, stammered “I’m so sorry ma’am, please do forgive me” Sir please it wasn’t intentional, help me beg her,” She said as she turned to plead with Gregor

Flora turned to Gregor glaring at him and declared “This is unacceptable, let’s leave this place”

Gregor was so ashamed and embarrassed. He sighed and said to the waitress “We will make payment and then leave. I appreciate your service.”

“Where is the manager? You should be fired,” Flora fumed

“He is not around at the moment” The supervisor who was so afraid to talk since finally spoke up

“Hmm…make sure she gets fired!” She said to the supervisor who nodded

Gregor held her and whispered to her ears “Babe wait for me outside, I will join you soon” 

Flora reluctantly walked out, Gregor turned to the supervisor immediately he saw she was outside 

“I’m sorry for what happened, forgive us for creating a scene here” Also don’t allow your Manager sack her, everyone does make mistakes.” He pleaded. The supervisor nodded in agreement. I mean, who wouldn’t listen to him; the supervisor has heard how humble he is but is yet to witness it and luckily for him he gets to see it today.

Gregor went outside to meet Flora already sitting inside the car, still fuming over the ruined dress. He entered the car and took a deep breath trying to compose himself, while tapping his fingers on the steering with his back relaxed on the car seat. He was still in thoughts when heard Flora’s voice.

“Are we gonna be here all day?” Flora who was tired of the silence yelled jolting him back to himself, he finally broke the silence.

“Flora, what is wrong with you? Did I do bad by taking you out today? Why is it so hard for you to control yourself?He asked turning to her, his voice stern

“Are you really asking me that!? I didn’t force you to take me out! Besides, it was all your idea!” She yelled at him as she stewed in anger

“Are you trying to say if we didn’t come out today, this drama wouldn’t have happened? He asked

“Maybe” She snapped 

Gregor sighed and said. “You are talking as if this is the first time such a thing is happening” you should know that people make mistakes, she didn’t intentionally pour the juice on your dress."“

"Think about how you would feel if you were in her shoes….” He added

“I will never be a waitress. She ruined my dress, I got upset that’s all. End of the story” She said rolling her eyes

“I know that you should have accepted her apology at least she did, instead of being unnecessarily rude and dismissive” He said

Flora’s eyes widened in disbelief, “I’m the victim here, you don’t tell me how to act. I choose how I want to act or react to things, I can’t believe you are scolding me over this. Are you kidding me?” 

“Flora, I’m not scolding you. I’m just saying you should be mindful of how you treat people.You can’t just lash at people like that. And you don’t have to cause a frenzy,” He said trying to reason with her

“Are you calling me a mad woman? She asked as she folded her arms

“Let’s go home, I am not sure, I can go anywhere again today” He said ignoring her question

“So I’m now a mad woman? I’m crazy?” She kept asking but Gregor wasn’t answering. This 

got her mad more, she started hitting him with her hands violently. Gregor was driving out of the restaurant with one hand and also at the same time trying to block her punches with the other hand.

 He kept driving and when he couldn’t have it anymore, he pulled over to the side of the road and parked. He turned to her trying to catch her two hands which he finally did and yelled at her.

“Stop this madness! Stop it right now and be calm for once!”

“Take me home, take me to my house. I want to change out of this ruined dress Just take me home!” She screamed at him

“Fine, I will. Just don’t hit me again” Gregor said calmly releasing his grip on her hands

Flora remained silent throughout the drive to her house. She often turn to look at Gregor and then roll her eyes. Gregor who noticed kept driving, all that is on his mind is to drop her at her house and go home. His head was already banging, he wish he could just disappear and appear in his room. 

As he pulled up to her house, She got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Gregor sighed as he watched her go feeling disappointed and helpless. They have a lot to talk about.

Gregor drove away from Flora’s house heading to his mansion, his head was pounding due to the argument.It was difficult for him to concentrate but he tried o focus on the road. 

Immediately he arrived home, he pulled into his driveway and parked his car. He went through his front door and made his way towards the living room and fell on the couch. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm his thudding headache. As he lay there, the memories of everything that happened kept replaying in his mind. He need to address the issue at hand even though he may have hurt her.

Picking up his phone, he dialled Flora’s number, he didn’t expect her to pick up because he knew she was going to ignore it. He was hoping she would so that they could talk things through, the call went straight to voicemail. He tossed the phone to the table next to him and sighed in frustration.

He needed to take care of himself and rest but it was just difficult to relax. He tuned on the television to distract himself from thinking about the argument he had with Flora; it wasn’t helping so he turned it off.

A few minutes later he was exhausted, he took his phone and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He just want  to go into bed and forget about the day's happenings. He crawled into bed, closing his eyes and drifted off to sleep.