Lost Everything

The man took off his shoes, put them on the shelf, and hurried off with the chicken. Put it on the center table. Alice's attention immediately shifted. The girl's appearance looked shabby, unlike usual. "Have eaten?"

"Not yet." Alice's voice was hoarse.

Noah's hands rolled up the sleeves of his gray shirt up to his elbows. Washing hands and taking the dishes on the kitchen shelf, brought them back to the table in the living room. He opened the package until the smell of grilled chicken filled the room.

"I have no appetite."

"Gotta eat, Alice, you'll get sick again."

"You're noisy."

"It must be noisy. I don't want my wife to get sick."

Alice turned when she heard Noah say the words 'my wife'. "What do you mean by contract wife?" she corrected.

"Still our status is legal in the eyes of law and religion? You want me to get some rice, don't you?"

"No need, I'll just eat the chicken."

"This chicken is so delicious Al, you have to try it. Subscribe to me when I'm hungry, I'll invite you to eat there sometime. The sensation is different."

Alice didn't respond. "You haven't sent your account number, I want to pay Aunt Uti's salary using your money, and pay for the chicken you bought."

Noah cut a few pieces for Alice. "This one I bought you purely, why change it?"

Alice couldn't remember the last time someone had come and brought her something, purely especially for her not because of the lure of wanting a bigger reward. It could be years ago, two days before her mother died, her mother gave Alice a large plush panda so that Alice could sleep soundly. Alice ate the chicken. Her tears fell unconsciously. She never cried in front of anyone, except in front of the walls of the room and the locked door. Noah flinched to see Alice crying.

"The chicken is really spicy! I don't like spicy." Alice put the chicken back down after biting into the large chunk. She sobbed.

Noah is confused. Even though Aunt Uti said that Alice was a lover of spicy food, she could even eat three devil chilies at once. The spiciness of the grilled chicken certainly has nothing to do with the spicy taste that Alice likes. Noah took a glass of water to drink, gave it to Alice who was crying even more. It wasn't the cry of someone hot, but the cry of someone who had pretended to be strong for so long. Tears that had probably been suppressed for a long time.

Since childhood, she is good at covering her wounds because the people around her seem to be transformed into people who don't care. Since then she has grown to hide her emotions, forcing herself to forget her feelings. But this time, she couldn't hold back her tears in front of Noah. Someone who had only just entered the circle of her life for a few days.

"Alice, sorry, next time I won't buy you spicy food again."

"So spicy, Noah. I'm not strong."

Alice's tears flowed harder in Noah's arms. The spicy taste was just an alibi to give Alice a reason to cry. Whatever the reason, what Alice needed wasn't a glass of water, but someone who could hold her hand to ensure that everything she went through would turn out okay. Because all this time she had been standing alone, at the forefront, if there was a bullet then she would be the first to be killed.

"Now it's spicy, but it'll go away later." Noah's hand rubbed Alice's back, the girl's crying still didn't stop. Noah once thought the reason he agreed to a contract marriage was that it was only Alice—someone who wouldn't ask for a serious commitment. So he didn't need to be emotionally attached to the opposite sex, but this time, seeing Alice cry, Noah felt something strange well up inside of him.

Anger towards the people who had hurt Alice's heart.

He shouldn't feel this way, right?

****

Three months seemed like three centuries to Alice, she hoped that what she was experiencing was just a bad dream that when she opened her eyes her life would be fine. But what she has to face is far worse than sleeping flowers. After carrying out massive layoffs it did not reduce the possibility of her company going out of business. The decline in sales continued until there was no more income. Even the factory has stopped the production of shoes and now the risk of closing the company is insight. Alice never thought that a company that was built with dedication, a sacrifice of money, time, and energy now has to face the reality of going bankrupt because it is unable to run production operations.

Alice sat back in her chair, her life suddenly empty. It was as if happiness had been forcibly removed from her life. She looked at the row of awards stuck to the back of her desk. The girl took a deep breath. After all the pain she went through to grow her company, it turns out that she can be at this point, at a point that Alice never imagined would come in her life.

Her savings were completely depleted. There is nothing Alice can do but sell her assets in the form of her company building and her favorite car, the money which will be used to cover the unpaid production costs last month. Even then "Afternoon, ma'am, all the items outside have been moved, stay in this section, ma'am," a driver came to tell.

"Yes sir, please move too. Be careful, ok." Alice stepped outside, looking at the three surviving employees. "Sorry, my efforts to save this company can only be at this point," she said.

Hearing the apology sound from Alice's lips was like a wonder of the world. Franda looked up, as annoying as Alice, she was still someone who had taught Franda many things. The only person who accepted him with open arms even though he only had a high school diploma. "Can't we work with Mrs anymore?"

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To be continued . . .