Chapter 9: Feelings Left Behind
A few days later, Odelia went to work as usual at a coffee cafe not far from Rihanna's house. She worked as a cashier at the cafe, because she was very good at managing money.
Although this job was a far cry from the one she used to have, it was enough for her to be able to save money until she gave birth.
"Welcome, what would you like to order today Miss Joanna?" she asked, smiling kindly at the curly-haired woman who came every morning to buy coffee.
"Oh hello Odelia, I'll just have my usual coffee. Yesterday a lot of things happened, so today I want to drink my usual coffee but with a bigger cup size," Joanna replied as she opened her purse and handed Odelia some money.
The woman smiled and accepted the money and asked Joanna to wait a moment. While waiting they chatted with each other, and it was at this moment that Odelia knew a few things about her loyal customer.
"It must be very hard, isn't it? I used to work as a secretary too, but only for two years. Sometimes my boss can be very annoying," Odelia said, trying to cheer Joanna up.
"Really? Then why did you choose to quit and become a cashier at this cafe? Isn't the salary a lot different?" she asked curiously.
She chuckled and said it was a very long story. But if she could have the opportunity again, she would like to go back to being a secretary like before.
Before long, Joanna's coffee order was finished and the woman said goodbye to leave for work.
"See you tomorrow, Odelia! Cheers to both of us!"
"Sure, see you soon!" replied Odelia.
One by one, the coffee drinkers got their orders and now that the clock struck company time, the queue became a little quieter.
"There's no queue now, you'd better sit down. You must be tired," said one of Odelia's male colleagues who worked as a barista because he knew that she was pregnant.
"Yes, thank you," she replied and sat down on a chair near the counter.
She looked at the businessmen sitting in the cafe with their laptops or their business partners. It reminded her of her first meeting with Vincent.
A very embarrassing meeting because of her own careless actions.
Flashback
At that time Odelia was still working as a personal secretary for a man named Daniel. One day there was a business meeting between Daniel's company and Vincent's company in Mocoado. In the meeting room, Daniel was waiting with Odelia for the arrival of Vincent and his secretary, Ronald.
"Where is he? It's been five minutes and he isn't here," Daniel said sternly as he checked his watch.
Odelia knew that her boss was strict about time, but their business partners were late. She then asked Daniel for permission to look for them, worried that they were lost.
"Then hurry up before my patience runs out."
"Yes, Mr. Daniel!"
The woman walked out of the meeting room and searched for Vincent and Ronald. Since she had never seen the two of them, she didn't know which one was Vincent and which one was Ronald.
"How am I supposed to find them?" she mumbled in confusion as she walked down the hallway of the meeting room, until she came across a well-dressed man she had never seen before in the hallway.
The man was leaning against the dividing wall that led directly to the small garden in the center of the building.
Thinking that it was Vincent's secretary, she approached the man and spoke to him.
"Are you Mr. Ronald? Mr. Daniel has been waiting for your boss since earlier, where is your boss? My boss is very strict on time, so you'd better call him here right away."
The man turned to her and saw how Odelia was talking to him. They both stared at each other, making her feel confused as to why he was silent.
He then smiled and said he would call his boss immediately.
"Hurry up, don't take too long! Is your boss a very late person?" Odelia asked again.
He laughed when he heard it. "Yes, I think he really likes to be late. Especially after being a little lost in this company," he replied.
"My boss might actually scold you later," she retorted.
Not long after, another man approached them coming out of the bathroom.
"Mr. Vincent, I'm sorry I took so long. We should go to the meeting room immediately," said the man.
This surprised Odelia because it turned out that the man she was talking to was not Ronald but Vincent himself. She felt ashamed for talking badly about Vincent, even though it was a normal conversation among secretaries about their boss.
"I'm sorry, I really apologize Mr. Vincent! I didn't mean to say that!" she said repeatedly while bowing her body.
However, the man just smiled and said he had no problem with Odelia's remark. He was just happy to have met a woman who was so honest and sounded like fun.
"Maybe if there's a chance we can talk again. Then we'd better get to Mr. Daniel's room before he throws us out," Vincent said with a chuckle and they went to the meeting room.
Flashback End
Now she could only sigh remembering all those things. Now Vincent was no longer hers, and she should forget about him instead of remembering him.
"I'd rather focus on my current work than keep thinking about Vincent. You can't get back together anyway, especially under these circumstances," she said while rubbing her stomach.
She continued working as customers started to arrive again until the cafe finally closed at 5pm. Odelia tidied up her things to head home, Iya then called Rihanna to ask what she wanted for dinner tonight.
"I've already bought dinner, you don't need to cook anymore tonight. Just go home immediately because I need you," Rihanna replied over the phone.
"Alright then I'll be home soon, don't you want to leave to buy something at the convenience store?" asked Odelia again.
But Rihanna replied that she didn't need anything and just wanted Odelia to go home immediately. She said she understood and then turned off the phone and walked home.
When she was in front of Rihanna's house, there was a black car parked on the side of the road near her friend's house.
"Is she receiving guests? Or is that the car of a guest at another house?
Curious, Odelia then entered Rihanna's house and she walked into the living room after hearing a man's voice talking to her friend.
"So it really is Rihanna's guest? Why didn't she tell me that she actually had a guest?"
As she peeked into the living room, she was surprised to see a dark-haired man sitting with her friend. It was the man she had met at the hotel a few months ago, the same man who was the father of her child, Sean Osbert.
Sean turned his head and they locked eyes with each other after a long time of not seeing each other. The man seemed to be smiling, having finally gotten what he had been looking for.
"I finally found you."