"Don't you dare touch that bread!" Nora's loud scream startled the group of shoppers around them. She pursed her lips but didn't bother apologizing as she snatched the bread from Xiu's hand saying, "Aren't you tired of eating this? We have spent the whole week on bread."
"And who's fault is that?" Xiu retorted with a smirk as she wiggled her brows.
Nora grumpily huffed. "Focus on the grocery list."
Xiu smiled at her tantrums and turned back to look through the ingredients of the condiment pack in her hand. Seeing that it was sugar-free, she placed it in the trolley and pushed it forward.
"So, are you going to that recreational trip tomorrow?" Nora asked while placing the pasta in the trolley.
"Don't want to," Xiu replied indifferently.
"Don't make excuses this time. Who knows you might get a surprise on this trip?" Nora teased her playfully.
Xiu shook her head at Nora's teasing and didn't pay any attention to her.
"Mom, I want that candy!" Both Xiu and Nora's attention shifted to a little boy tugging at his mother's sleeve and his mother was sternly dragging him away.
"Candies are not good for teeth. You will get cavities. Stop making a scene here."
This particular scene reminded both girls of a particular person they were very well familiar with. Xiu looked at Nora and found her guiltily averting her eyes. Of course! That person was Nora herself who threw these kinds of tantrums when it came to her shopping habits.
Seeing the tears in that kid's eyes, Xiu pulled out candy from her purse and saw how that kid's eyes brightened up. But Xiu languidly unwrapped it before placing it in her mouth. Her look of satisfaction made the kid wail even more pitifully.
The mother of the kid glared at Xiu and said loud enough for people to hear, "Young people these days are really insolent!"
Xiu didn't mind at all. But someone else sure did. As Nora was about to get in her fight mode, Xiu raised her hand to stop her.
"We don't have to concern ourselves with these remarks."
Nora nodded and stomped her foot before walking off to buy the seafood. Just then Xiu heard someone scoffing and turned to see Dylan scowling while throwing daggers at her with his eyes.
"I knew it! You are no good! How can you be so petty?" He was raging over from the moment he saw Xiu teasing that little kid.
Xiu crossed her arms before her chest in an imposing manner completely losing her childlike innocence that created the misunderstanding between them at the first meeting. "Please, enlighten me... How am I being petty?"
Her words were simple but her authoritative voice with a sharp edge gave Dylan an eerie feeling. But he still wanted to hold his ground as he insisted, "Didn't you just mock that little kid? Over a candy! How shameless is that?"
Xiu thumped her hands on the trolley's handle making Dylan flinch in surprise. She started pushing the trolley toward him as she spoke, "The candy was mine. Why am I not allowed to eat it?"
With her each step, Dylan took a step back. "But... Your petty action of provoking him made that kid cry." Dylan spoke adamantly while Xiu rolled her eyes at him.
Xiu gave an illusion that she was going to push the trolley to hit him and Dylan on instinct tried to avoid it, only to bump into a pillar. As he stumbled back, Xiu extended her foot and Dylan tripped only to land on his buttock in a pitiful condition.
"Ommf!" He groaned in pain.
Xiu squatted down near him while he rubbed his forehead. "Aiyo! This is why I think you should walk with a cane. Uncle is getting on age and he even needs spectacles now. Should I lend you mine?"
Dylan glared at her. "Just because you're a girl I'm being a gentleman otherwise..."
Xiu stood up with ease disregarding his words as she turned to leave and said over her shoulder, "Keep your chivalry to yourself. I am an independent woman. I don't need it from someone like you."
Dylan was stumped for words for a while before he shouted at her back, "Don't let me find you again!"
"Don't wanna see you again as well, Uncle," Xiu replied with a sickly sweet smile which made him cringe.
Xiu left Dylan in his pitiful state right there on the floor and came to join Nora at the checkout counter. Coincidently, the mother-son pair from earlier were also right ahead of them.
Xiu turned to Nora and winked at her as she started wailing, "Ahhh! Nora, my tooth is hurting."
Nora had already gotten the hint as she also made an anxious face and said, "Oh my! That's why I warned you to stop eating those candies. You must have gotten cavities from all that sugar consumption."
The kid ahead of them looked at them making his eyes big. His mother was also looking at Xiu and Nora in confusion.
"Now what?" Xiu asked with another scream of pain.
"Let me take you to the dentist." Nora held Xiu's hand as if ready to pull her out of here.
But Xiu resisted like a kid and with glossy eyes said, "I don't want to. The dentist will use that big needle to poke into my mouth. It'll hurt a lot. Also, my face will swell up and all my friends will call me ugly."
The kid ahead of them gasped as he held his mother's hand tightly. His face looked horrified. "Mom, I don't want candies ever again." His mother looked surprised as she looked at both Xiu and Nora, she felt a bit guilty for her remark. She judged their intention too soon. Even though their way of giving the message was too peculiar but it worked on a five-year-old very well.
As Xiu watched the mother-son pair leaving the supermarket, both friends did their signature fist bump dramatically.
"And as always, my baby Xiu'er is the best actress." Nora praised Xiu who flipped her hair off her shoulder- even when all her hair were tied up in a bun.
"I told you, I was the most amazing actress in my past life," Xiu replied sincerely.
"Yes, yes. And I was the ruler of the seven seas." Nora obviously took her words to be a joke as she played along.
But Xiu wasn't backing off either as she replied, "Oh my! Your Majesty, you bestowed me with your friendship..." She wiped her non-existent tears and continued, "Now, this peasant of yours can die in peace." She was curtsying like a noble lady as she lifted her eyes and met with Nora's amused gaze.
Both friends burst out laughing happily without any regard for the others around them. They really knew how to live in their own bubble. Perhaps, that's why both of them didn't realize that someone was intently looking towards their antics.
With a soft look in his eyes, Darren couldn't stop himself from following Xiu from the moment he saw her at the checkout counter. And that drama of hers really took him by surprise. Just as he said before, she really knew how to change her shades in the blink of an eye. He was definitely entertained.
"Daz, let's never come to this supermarket ever again!" Dylan's voice broke Darren's gaze as he turned to see the black face of his best friend. Dylan looked like he was on the verge of exploding.
"What ticked you off now?" Darren asked offhandedly while turning to look in Xiu's direction but couldn't find her anymore. He felt slightly disappointed.
"That little monster!" Dylan gritted out. He didn't even have to explain anything and Darren already could figure out who he was talking about.
"She met you here as well?" Dylan nodded his head while Darren sighed out, "You said we won't go to that convenience store since she met you there. Then you stopped driving your Ferrari just because you again bumped into her because of that car. And now, we are even not allowed to come to this supermarket?" Dylan again nodded his head but this time, Darren slapped the back of his head saying, "Knock yourself out of it already! Just say you don't want to help me buy my daily necessities."
"I'm serious," Dylan argued but Darren kept on ignoring his childish behavior.
Saturdays are all about smiles and blessings. With coffee as a companion and a smile to brighten the day that's what Saturday mode was for Xiu.
But...
Things were about to change today. Usually, Xiu would only leave her bed at around noon but this week, she had to get up early.
She looked like a zombie as she roamed around the kitchen to brew some coffee for herself. It was very much needed to wake her. With a steaming hot mug of coffee, Xiu made her way towards her room when she almost bumped into Nora.
"Argh! Gosh! You scared me!" Nora gave a start and pinched Xiu. "Why are you still looking like a sleep-zombie? It's 7 o'clock already."
Xiu yawned in response in a very unladylike manner. "Can't I just skip out on this one?" Xiu's voice came out groggy.
"And why is that?" Nora lifted her brows in question.
"I want to catch up on my sleep," Xiu whined.
Nora pulled her ear. "Ow! Ow! Let me go! It's hurting!" Xiu screamed in pain while trying to swat Nora's hand away.
"Tell me, my crown queen of lame excuses, which kingdom are you going to conquer in sleep this time?" Nora's words were dripping with sarcasm. She freed Xiu's ear but didn't stop glaring at her.
"Fine. Fine! My Empress Dowager! I'm going to dress up now." Xiu rubbed her ear and hastily entered her room afraid that Nora would again start her abuse. 'Wuwuwu! Pitiful me!' Xiu thought with a crying face.
Xiu had been insomniac in her previous life and now that she found the blessing of sleep all over again, she really had a hard time leaving the comfort of a bed. It was a tiring job. She was like a starved person who finally found food. The difference would be that her food was now; sleep.
How she yearned for it, only her heart knew.
Xiu picked black colored sportswear which consisted of a half-sleeved t-shirt and shorts that reached below her knees. It was comfortable for a golf course outing. She matched it with white converse and a white jacket. Pulling up her hair in a high ponytail, she saw the abandoned cup of coffee on her headboard and sighed. "One precious cup of pure delight is just wasted like this. Tsk!" She clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Picking up her purse, sunglasses, and the cellphone she walked out of the room. She found Nora waiting for her in the living room impatiently.
"Did you take sunglasses?" Nora inquired while eyeing her up and down. Xiu dangled her sunglasses right before her eyes. "Good. What about sunscreen?" Xiu rolled her eyes at her and showed the sunscreen bottle to her. "Very good. What about-"
"I have everything, mother." Xiu teased her with a look of annoyance. But Nora didn't mind at all.
Instead, Nora gave her a bear hug saying, "Take care of yourself out there. Try to socialize. They are your colleagues, not animals. I'm sure they won't bite."
"And if they did bite?" Xiu asked rhetorically.
Nora had a thoughtful look before saying, "Then you bite them ten-folds in return." Xiu had expected this type of childish reply from Nora but it still made her day.
"Okay. I will. But you'll have to bail me out if I ended up in the police station."
Nora patted her chest assuringly, "Don't you worry, my child! I'm here for you." Xiu shook her head and turned to leave but Nora's voice halted her again.
"Now what?"
Nora threw her car keys and said, "Take my car."
"The company is gonna provide us with the rides."
"You just take the car. Don't argue with me." Saying that Nora straight ahead slammed the door at Xiu's face.
Xiu dragged her body towards the lift and greeted the elevator attendant. 'Ugh! I really don't feel worky today, I just want to be comfy today. Why can't I just poof out on my bed?' Xiu whined in her head on her ride to the company where she met with her colleagues.
"Bai Xiu, you brought a car?" Manager Li asked Xiu the dumbest question, in Xiu's opinion. After all, her car was right there for everyone to see.
"Yes, I did," Xiu answered heavily with a premonition creeping up in her heart.
"That's good. Let your interns accompany you. It'd be a good bonding time for you all." Manager Li's words made Xiu grit her teeth.
'After ruining my perfect Saturday morning, you want to ruin my moment of personal space?' Xiu thought bitterly but still had to maintain a composed look as she said, "Sure."
But her words were like a thunderstorm that struck on the new interns. All their faces paled.
"Manager Li, let Ms. Bai go alone. I prefer the bus rides." One of the interns spoke up and ran towards the bus.
"I also love the bus rides." Another one followed along, leaving only Bo Jiu behind.
Manager Li was having a headache seeing how those interns ran. It was like she didn't offer them to ride with Bai Xiu but instead gave them to the Grim Reaper himself.
"You also want to join your friends, Ms. Bo?" Manager Li asked as she rubbed her forehead.
"No. I'll ride with Ms. Bai. She should have some company as well." Bo Jiu stated as she made her way to Xiu's car and settled in. Xiu was left frowning. She had treated Bo Jiu in the worst way by making her an errand runner for the whole week but still, she chose to ride with Xiu? That didn't settle well.
But Xiu didn't comment on it and alighted the car before saying goodbye to Manager Li; temporarily.
As the ride was long and they could see a long stretched black river of tarmac ahead, both Xiu and Bo Jiu were getting bored. But none bother to break the silence.
At least, not until Xiu's curiosity got the best of her. "Shouldn't you be avoiding me like a plague?"
Bo Jiu was a bit startled to know that Xiu initiated the conversation. But soon, she managed to shake her head in negation. "Why would I be?"
"If my memory serves me right, you are a top graduate from Harvard and yet you chose to come back to your city and start as an intern. But I treated you like an errand girl. You must have stabbed me to death by now in your dreams." There was nothing wrong with Xiu's statement. But it still surprised Bo Jiu that Xiu was this straightforward with words.
"It's not that I don't want to hate you. Trust me, I wanted to. But I couldn't do so." This time, Xiu was surprised. "At first, I really wanted to yell and scream at you for wasting my talent like that. But when my rationality came back to me, I couldn't bring myself to hate you."
"Oh, really? I wonder why is that?" Xiu gave a brittle smile.
"You gave me the lowest rank in our department. But it took me a whole day of blisters to realize that being at that rank allowed me to know how the Planning Department operated. In this week, I not only learned about the coffee preferences of my superiors and peers. I also learned about their working habits. And most importantly, I learned how important our Planning Department is to the whole Company." Bo Jiu's words made Xiu feel amused.
"So, I really didn't judge you wrong. You do have a passion for learning."
Bo Jiu gave a start. "It wasn't my punishment?"
"If you'd spent the whole week whining about how I treated you unfairly, then yeah! It would be your punishment." Xiu shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "But you're not one of those who blame others for their own downfall. You're a fighter who learned how to survive in that downfall. Honestly, I would say that you just learned the most important lesson of your career."
Bo Jiu couldn't find words to describe her feelings. In the end, her persistence wasn't all for naught. It was all worth it. Now, she completely believed in her cousin's words. Bai Xiu always had a motive behind her poisonous tongue. Bo Jiu's eyes sparkled with admiration as she gazed at Xiu. The woman before her was really unlike any other she had met.
A little something from the author:
Can you hear my heart?
Or it is just me following
the delicate rhythm of
our broken stars?
Oh! My caring shadow...
Can you really not hear my heart?
Or do you not care that
it's just falling apart?
The voice of my pure soul
filled with my love
Calling your name
Oh, dear!
Just listen to my heart!
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