10 Chapter 10: Stalking to the Brothel

"So you were Sarah Harris." he leans in front of his desk with a cup of coffee between his hands and smirks at me "Where are your manners, Ms. Sarah? you're dealing with your boss right now." his smirk widens at me.

"You were following me from the start, I knew it!" I clench my fist in front of me."I don't care if you're my boss!" I scowl at him.

"I could dismiss you right now you know?" he arches an eyebrow at me.

"Try to do it and I'll remind you one of my punches." I furrow my eyebrows and give him a hard look, making sure from my demeanor that his position doesn't affect me in any way.

"Feisty, I like you. Okay, I'll keep you to this job. It'll be more fun that way." he said turning on his chair and I raise my eyebrow at him, questioningly which he didn't seem to notice. He throws the Styrofoam cup in the trash near the table, he stands up and walks towards me.

"Well, Sarah I would like that we maintain the discipline in front of the other staff. I wouldn't want anyone knowing that I knew you already." his hand crossed to his chest.

"But... how? Why do you cross my way every time? I thought this city was big enough." I snort.

"Maybe our fate's trying to connect us somehow?" he shrugs with amusement in his eye.

"You have to act like my boss if you expect me to keep my mouth shut." I roll my eyes at him.

"You got it. Now off you go to work, I'll pay you for work not to idle around." he shoos me out of his office and closes his door behind me.

"What?" I stood dazed outside his office door looking around the place like a dumb.

I don't know what more fate has to bring me. The city is full of surprises from the day I came. Nothing unusual.

Soon the place started to fill in and I move into the kitchen where Sabrina gave me an apron and a cap to put on which was supposed to be my uniform apparently. I was appointed as the barista and Sabrina was appointed to train me for the day. Sabrina Introduces me to the other staff and everyone greets me with a smile on their faces.

"Okay let's get you to work," Sabrina says, patting my shoulder and takes me behind the counter. A big window behind the counter reveals the kitchen to the counter so I can see the staff working in there.

Time passes and Sabrina teaches me everything for today that I needed to know. It was fun filling in the cups with different beverages, passing up the ordered meals to the customers. Some customers were in a hurry, while some were patient, some were angry and some were a couple who couldn't stop themselves from doing... you know the forbidden things but overall it was quite fun dealing with all the types.

It was all a new experience, meeting new people with different accents and dresses, witnessing their happy moments and developing a new connection with new people. It was like I was getting to know the outside world better and it wasn't so bad as it seemed.

I heave a sigh of relief when the clock strikes 4. My work was done for today and I go to the back of the kitchen which leads to the changing room. I was provided with a locker of my own, I put back my cap and apron in it and retrieve my scarf again and drape it over my head, I shut my locker behind and head out for home.

Wait...

I can't go home when the sun's still shining in the sky. I needed 'things' to do.

I've got a plan.

~~~

Slowly.

Easy.

I tiptoe towards my target, making sure they wouldn't notice me. They turn around and I instantly hide behind the trunk of a large tree. They observe the place and awhile later starts walking in their direction again.

Okay, we are at a fruit market.

I follow them again and observe them with an eye of a hawk. They keep walking with a plastic bag in hands. I see a building nearing us, they enter the building and I pause at my steps.

Should I walk in or not? It looks like a place for the rich, a very luxurious cafe without a doubt. Without thinking any more I step in and caught them heading towards a table where two girls were already seated.

The girls giggle when they see them arriving. The person asks for permission to sit and the girls gladly allow, they chat for a while and one of the girls stands up and kisses them on the cheek.

OH. MY. ALMIGHTY. I shut my eyes and avert my gaze.

Such a..... Gah! I'm not going to waste my words on this person.

I reluctantly look towards them again and see them coming towards me. Oh no, I immediately take a seat to a nearby table and pick up the menu to cover my face. They pass by me and exit the cafe.

Phew! That was close. I start following them again.

Tip toe, tip toe, tip toe.

I see a man's saloon nearing us. Damn it, I can't enter that place. They go inside and I stand by the newspaper stand and start pretending to read one. I cover up my face with a newspaper and slightly peek from it at the door of the saloon, waiting for them to come out.

And so I wait.

and wait...

A little more...

Come out! It's already been half an hour!

And I catch them walking out of the saloon. They head towards the street and I follow them again. They are entering a suspicious place, It's dark here. We turn to an alley and the alley leads to a wide open place.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to follow...

Why do I always realize things when I can't turn back? Damn it!

I don't know the city much yet, I can get lost easily even though I have the map but it's still difficult to understand it.

I see the place getting crowded slowly and the people here are drinking, smoking and almost naked girls hang on the shoulders of men.

And when I say naked, I mean it. They were barely wearing anything and it was already hard looking at the place but now I couldn't help but observe their sleek figure.

Almighty forgive my eyes!

I find the men and women totally smitten with each other without any care in the world.

What is this place?

As I narrow down, I see a small building in front of me, music bursting from the house and tipsy and almost naked girls dancing at the door of the building, hungry for catching men's attention. Some women were attached to the men in a very unsophisticated manner and it gave me a chill as I acknowledge their closeness which was even blocking the path for air.

Wait! I lost him!

Oh no, no, no, no. no.

this is not happening.

I panic and look around me and found myself in the middle of naked and slurring men and women. I try to search the particular face but I don't see them. I feel someone touch my shoulder, I turn back to look at the person and find a man with red droopy eyes and uneven stance, holding a bottle in his hands.

"Hey, hotness, why so covered? Show me some of your beauty." he moves towards me and I push him away with my hands.

"Don't come near me!" I yell at him.

"Easy there sweet mama, I'll pay you more if you come with me." a strong hand grabs me by the arm from behind me and I turn and find another hungry monster. I struggle against his grasp but it was no use.

"Hey! I bought the girl already!" I hear a familiar voice and swivel my head towards it. A stream of relief gushes through me.

"S-Samuel..." a trembling voice came out of my mouth and I feel the monster's grip tightening on my arm.

"Sorry man, I was here first." the monster gives a weird smile to Samuel but Samuel's glare was enough to make the guy crawl to his knees.

"Leave the girl's hand and I'll spare you," Samuel growls while the man backs away a little but his grasp was still as strong as a brick. The guy reeks of some weird smell that I was unable to identify.

"Dude, let's deal-" Samuel punched the monster before he could finish his words and falls to the ground.

"Hey! Why'd you punch him?!" I asked in a panicked voice, looking forth between the fallen monster and Samuel.

"Seriously? The guy was lurking over you?"

"I think you dislocated his jaw," I say, looking at the man who was currently squirming in pain while adjusting his jaw. He might have broken it badly.

"He deserved it anyway for messing up with my girl." He mumbles while clutching his hand and I look up at him, sternly. I hold his ear and drag him back to the way from where we entered the place while ignoring his protest along the way that he was putting up against my hold on his ear. I stop by the end of the street and put my hands on my hips, facing him.

"How rude can you be to a guy who just saved you? Doesn't this part include when you should be hugging me and kissing me for giving you another life?" I remain unmoved and stare at him, disbelievingly.

"Doesn't this affect you even a little?" He asks, noticing my demeanor "Are all the girls in your village-"

"Town," I say, correcting him in between.

"Yeah, whatever. Are all girls this dense towards a guy there?" Without giving into his words, I punch him to the stomach which didn't seem to hurt him in any way and he scoffs out a silly laugh, making fun of me yet again.

"You knew I was following you?!" I lash out. I wait for an explanation from the smart mouth but he suddenly seemed interested looking at everywhere but me "You did that on purpose didn't you!?" I shout at him.

"Why did you follow me in the first place?" he asks, arching up his eyebrows, suddenly turning the tolls upon me.

"Well I... Uh... I wanted to know your place!"

"And why is that?" He bends lower and hide his hands behind his back

"Because I... I don't know! You keep crossing my way so... I wanted to know if you were spying on me or something." I answer him a bit, hesitantly.

"You could've just asked me about my place if you were so interested" he rolls his eyes at me.

"But..." I try to find something to accuse him of.

"And don't you dare follow anyone like that, It was very obvious to know you were following me all the way from the fruit market. We have to work on your spying skills," he says, giving a thoughtful look.

"Wait, you knew from the start?" my eyes widen at him.

"Who could have not known? With someone dressed like that here in the city, it could only be you," he said in a duh-tone with a finger pointed at my dress. "And when a guy and a girl do some 'kissing' in the public only you could act disgusted at that and that made it even obvious about you," he says, smiling a little.

"You did that on purpose too?!" I ask him again with widened eyes "You asked the girl to kiss you?" I make a disgusted face.

"No, I didn't ask her of course. I just complimented how beautiful she looked and that did the trick." he, says winking at me "Girls like to kiss a handsome man for whatever way they get." he says, looking away while yanking up his collar in a provocative manner. I hit him on his shoulder and he groans a bit, pretending to act hurt.

"And if you knew I was there why did you make me wait for half an hour outside the men saloon!?" I glare at him with fury and cross my hands against my chest.

"Sheesh, woman! a man has priorities. I had things to do and I wouldn't have ignored them just because you decided to pry upon me today." I feel embarrassed after listening to his words "but it was mainly to tease you." he shrugs and my mouth falls open "And it made me wonder how strong and dedicated you were to still continue to spy on me so I had to play my last card to test your skills on a new level." he sticks out his tongue at me.

"What!?" I tremble thinking about the consequences that might have taken place if he had lost me "You brought me there for your fun?" I say in a low voice and suddenly realizing something he motions closer to me and looks at me with concern and.... apology? He brings his hands up in surrender. My anguish was turning into anger.

"I'm sorry Sarah. Maybe I went too far with that but I can-" before he could complete, I bring my fist up and connect it with his jaw.

~~~

"I'm good. I can go home on my own." he insists

"No, I'll take you in!" I protest.

"Look we are in front of the door there's no big deal. You've already helped me enough by walking me here, now that you've seen my home you can come to visit another time." he looks at me, smiling and I suddenly feel embarrassed for the punch.

I was wrong to follow him in the first place and when he tried to teach me the lesson, I burst out at him. Even after I punched him, he was the one to keep apologizing to me even when his nose bled. He said that it was way overboard of him to carry the prank to such an extent but he explained himself that he was behind me all the while when I had stopped noticing him and lost my self into the place. He also said that he wouldn't have let anything happened to me which kind of brought me back to my senses until I noticed the bruise I caused to his face and felt responsible.

Yeah, for the second time.

"But I want to help you with that bruise. It looks.... Painful." I say, looking up to his jaw.

"I'll manage." he sighs "You should have thought that before hitting your boss."

"The boss should have acted like one before!" I argue.

"Okay, I get that. I'm sorry now go home, it's being late. Anna would be worried about you. I will call her and tell her that you were caught up in training today."

"Would Aunt Anna believe you?"

"Of course she would, she is one of our trusty customers." he winks at me.

"You sure you'll be okay with that?" I point at the bruise again.

"Are you leaving or should I call the cops?" he says with a mock attitude.

"Okay, okay I'll leave, take care... See you tomorrow." I leave and move for my house, walking a little far I turn back to look at his house and found him still standing at the door, watching me. I wave at him and he waves me back. Maybe I punched him harder than he deserved. Sigh.

I enter the house 5 minutes later and found Aunt Anna sitting on the sofa, reading a book. She notices my presence and turns her head to me.

"Oh, you're back Sarah." She stands up, leaving the book lay open on the sofa "Samuel informed me just a while ago that you were caught up with your work." I nod at her. "I know Samuel. He's a good guy that is why I asked him to keep you for this job."

"Yes, boss sure is nice." I scoff internally. "How are you, Aunt Anna? Sorry, I rushed out in hurry in the morning."

"Oh child its fine." she waves me off. "I'm okay just... don't get yourself overworked," she says, looking at me with concern in her eyes. "Your mother called for you and was asking about you. You better call her back. She got herself a telephone now."

"Really?! Okay, I'll call her." I walk towards the telephone which was near on the side table.

"I jotted down the number on the notepad at the side of the telephone," calls Aunt Anna. I pick up the notepad.

"Got it!" I respond.

For a mere second I just stare at the rotary phone then I extend my hand and dial the number by inserting my finger in each hole of the dialer pad. The bell rings and someone picks it up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Mama! How are you?" I excite, hearing her voice on the other side.

"My baby! I'm doing well what about you my child?"

I didn't realize but I took almost an hour talking to my family. I talked to mama for most of the time and remaining time was taken by Maria, scolding me more than my mother to not get stressed and telling me if I don't feel good there I should come back soon but I won't go running home this soon even if the situation gets hard for me, not before I see him even if it takes forever.

I asked about father but their answer was, as usual, being silent or changing the subject and I understood that. Soon I'm going to send my first salary to them and hope things turn out better. After hanging up the phone, I lay there on the sofa with my eyes closed and my head laying back.

"Sarah? Come on, dinner's ready," called Aunt Anna from the kitchen.

I sat at the table and Aunt Anna served me dinner on my plate. We ate in silence for a while but curiosity clawed at me and I finally broke the silence.

"Aunt Anna, why did you left the town and came living here?" I always wanted to know that because she didn't get married nor a townie could leave the town that easily let alone become an independent woman, it was a very rare sight to witness. There must have been something. Aunt Anna hesitates a bit before she clears her throat and finally speaks up.

"I was madly in love with a young man in the town and that man loved me back the same. We decided to marry each other, our families got involved and everything was happy until..." she pauses "until he left me." she says, looking down at her food.

"Left you? How could you say that he loved you the same when he left you?" I say to her, baffled by her words.

"He... died, Sarah. Died saving a child from drowning in the sea. Just before the day, we were about to get married." She takes a shaky breath before speaking again "He worked for this editing company where I am currently working and we were about to move into this house that he bought, just for us. He wanted to surprise me but unfortunately, he couldn't reveal it himself." tears trickling down her cheeks and I feel like crying too, seeing her like that. I press her hand with mine, reassuring her somehow but the scar within her is too deep to even sooth.

"I am just living our dream here." she shrugs her shoulders "And I'm telling you all this because I see myself in you, Sarah." I look into her green eyes, our eyes locked with emotions "I see the same passion for love within you which can hurt you deeply and that is why I ask of you... Don't become like me, Sarah." I look down at our hands "Your mother told me everything about you. She is concerned for you, she knows how it feels to lose someone, she saw me... suffer and the worst thing of all is that you can't help them. Your mother, she is my best friend and I wouldn't want my best friend to see their child suffer, just like I did." she presses my cheek with her hand and I feel the motherly touch "I'm all wrecked but I don't want to see another person shattering the same way." a tear drops from my eye and she stands up and envelops me in her motherly warmth.