Chapter 6 Six

• It was the next day when Sarah finally summoned enough courage to come out of her room. Fortunately, the hallway was quiet and deserted. There was absolutely no one in sight. She knew that the cleaning lady had come and gone, and Rosa had also gone to work. The only person whose whereabouts she wasn't sure of was Jake, and he was her number one person of interest. If only she knew where he was right now, her heart rate would be a lot closer to normal.
• Nevertheless, she walked down the hallway and quietly made her way into the kitchen. One look around was enough to tell her that it was equally deserted. This gave her enough relief and confidence to finally start cooking.
• She was really famished, to say the least. In fact, this was one of the reasons she decided to come out of her room. The cookies and fruit juices she had been depending on for survival had run out and there was no replacement to be had unless she placed an order or went out to buy them. But why do any of that when she could just cook? Besides, she had pushed her luck far enough. So far, her friend had not complained about the fact that she was in her room day after day. If it continued any further, it could lead to some serious displeasure. Hence, she had to take the bull by the horn and face her biggest fear.
• The kitchen was very clean. Perhaps it was the cleaning lady that had made sure of that. Sarah was grateful for this. Less time spent cleaning meant more time spent cooking. Within an hour, she was done making a nice plate of crispy fries, eggs and a yummy sauce with some boiled vegetables on the side. She loved food, little wonder she was a bit on the heavy side.
• At this point, the only thing on her mind was how to quench her hunger. In fact, she had already thrown a bunch of the fries into her mouth while dishing out the food on the large plates. Putting everything on a tray, she left the kitchen and made her way towards the dining room, humming happily without a care in the world.
• “Ah, you’re finally out.”
• Hearing these words almost made her faint. Standing right in front of her was none other than a grinning Jake! She had all but forgotten that he could still be in the house!
• Fortunately, she was able to recover her composure pretty quickly, even though her cheeks were still bright red from embarrassment. She couldn’t even look straight at him as she veered to the side and walked around him to get to the dining table.
• “Wow, such a nice meal you have there,” Jake remarked, breathing in the sweet aroma of the food as she walked past him.
• “Don’t talk to me,” she shot back in a murmur.
• “But why? What have I done wrong?”, Jake asked in surprise.
• Sarah ground her teeth in frustration. Damn it! She shouldn’t have said anything, and he would have just went his way. Now, he was coming towards her. She held the edge of the table so tightly to steel herself for what she felt would be the most unwanted and awkward conversation of her life.
• “Come on, Mrs. Garcia, what did I do this time?”, Jake asked again, sitting down at the adjacent side of the table.
• “Nothing. Just don’t talk to me,” Sarah managed to blurt out, keeping her eyes down.
• Jake said nothing for a moment, and Sarah felt relieved. Just when she lifted her hand to start eating, he suddenly spoke up. “Can I join you?”
• Sarah's hand froze midair.
• What should she tell him? Of course, it had to be ‘no'. She couldn’t even look him in the eye, not to mention eating with him. Or was he being sarcastic right now?
• Eventually, she decided to just ignore him and eat her meal. Jake didn’t dare take her silence as an invitation. Instead, he remained silent and sat there, watching her eat. He was so quiet that she soon forgot that he was in the room. It was when she was done eating and looked up that she saw him staring at her. But she swiftly looked away. Why the fuck was he staring at her? It made her feel so awkward.
• All of a sudden, Jake got up and packed her plates. “Let me get these to the kitchen,” he murmured and rushed off.
• Sarah was shocked. This was the last thing she had expected him to do! What exactly was he playing at??
• Well, since he wasn’t mocking or disrespecting her, it gave her a lot of relief. Her biggest fears had now been eliminated.
• Jake took quite some time in the kitchen before returning to the dining room. He was a bit surprised when he saw Sarah still seated at the table. He wanted to say, “Oh, you’re still here?” But he quickly changed his mind and remained quiet. Besides, she had warned him not to talk to her. So he sat down at the table and brought out his phone to go through social media.
• Sarah was watching him intently at this point. She was wondering whether or not to say what was on her mind. Eventually, she decided to just blurt it out.
• “Jake...”
• “Yeah?”, he responded expectantly, turning to face her.
• But Sarah had already turned her gaze to the wall right ahead in order to avoid making eye contact with him.
• “Um... what happened two days ago was a mistake... a big mistake. Let’s just forget it ever happened,” she mumbled quietly.
• “Ahem... um... okay,” Jake managed to reply.
• Surprised by his demure response, Sarah quickly looked at his face to gauge his reaction. She was even more surprised when she found him blushing. Who could have thought... He was just as embarrassed as she was!