THIRTY SIX( You owe me)

"…Oh my goodness Mia, we've been trying to reach you all morning, we thought something bad must have happened." Tracey began as she and Betty ran up to Mia. It was their lunch break and Mia just walked into the changing room.

"What happened, you had us so worried." Betty added and Mia let out a small sigh,

"I'm fine, I had a terrible hangover—"

"A hangover, I thought you didn't drink Mia." Betty cut in.

"Yeah, and who gets drunk on a Monday night." Ashley added.

"I know right, I screwed up—"

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up after all." It was Miss Lin and she didn't seem too pleased.

"We'll catch up with you later." Betty whispered as she and Tracey hurried off.

"Good morning Miss Lin." Mia mumbled,

"Good afternoon to you too Miss Anderson." she sneered,

"What type of employee comes to work four hours late! And what exactly is this, huh, you work afternoon shifts now?—"

"I'm really sorry Miss Lin—"

"Oh no, the kitchen has been on my neck the entire day! They had to call in your other colleague. Mr. Fisher didn't seem too happy either, I think a query in your file will really make you sorry." She told her sternly.

"A week without your job should have changed you! What is wrong with these people!" she mumbled as he angrily walked off.

Mia let out a small sigh as she made her way to the kitchen. It was busy as usual, with orders flying around and everyone acting so high and mighty. Meanwhile, Head Chef Christian Oh was walking around making sure all was in order when he came face to face with Mia, a wide smile tugged his lips.

"Mia, I didn't think you were coming into the office today, long time no see." He chuckled,

"Yeah, long time no see Sir." Mia smiled back as she gently tucked back a loose strand of hair behind her ears.

"…I had a rough morning." She told him.

"Oh, and that landed you a query? Mr. Fisher kept going on and on about it." He chuckled,

"Yeah, I had it coming." Mia chuckled lightly, "So you weren't in yesterday."

"Uh, yeah, I had something to do outside work…These older folks weren't too had on you were they?""

"No, not at all." She chuckled,

Christian nodded with a smile,

"Well I spoke to Mr. Fisher on your behalf, and he decided not to punish you or give you that query." He grinned,

Mia's brows suddenly lit up?"

"Really?"

Christian nodded,

"Thank you so much!" She chuckled.

"Yeah, but you still owe me though." He smirked,

"Huh?" Mia replied vaguely,

"Yeah, you should pay me back for having your back." He said with a small smile.

"Ohhh!" Mia laughed,

"A meal would be perfect." He grinned,

"I should buy the chef a meal." She chuckled,

"Uh-huh." He nodded,

"I'm totally broke right now, maybe in my next life when I'm super rich?" She joked,

"Oh okay, it doesn't have to be fancy or anything, I can't say no to a meal."

"Noted!"

---

For the next two days, Mia kept ignoring Ethan's call and focused on work instead. Meanwhile, the news of the Hotel's fifth anniversary dinner/Christmas cocktail party spread like wild fire, every one couldn't stop talking about it, including Mia and her friends off course.

They found a spot at their regular spot and were in the middle of dinner, chitchatting at the same time.

"…Oh my goodness, we're going to be busy all week.

"That's exactly what we signed up for, Betty, but on the bright side, my boyfriend is flying in from London tomorrow, how about you—"

"You know what they say, rich guests, rich tips." Betty smirked,

"Cheers to that." Tracey chuckled,

All this while, Mia sat with them, quietly eating her lunch like a depressed teenager, as they talked, she suddenly let out an exasperated sigh.

"You know, I heard the CEO is coming since it's the company's fifth anniversary dinner." Betty began,

"Really?!" Tracey replied,

"Yeah, he's like a ghost, I've worked here for nearly two years now and no one even knows his name." Betty said.

"Wow!" Tracey exclaimed, at the same time, Mia let out another exasperated sigh.

"What's up with you Mia, I suggest you quit sighing like this, at this rate, you'll probably die single."

"Do I look like I care?" She said in a bored tone.

"You're not planning on ditching work that day are you?"

"Off course I am…Mr. Oh has assigned me to be among the serving team for the night. What if I go out there and mess up and get fired on the spot…Things always go wrong at parties these days." She murmured.

"I can believe you're already getting so worked up, if I could, I'd trade place with you." Betty told her,

"Huh?"

"If you're scared to serve guests, then just tell him plainly that you can't—"

"Tracey, there's no way I can tell him—"

"Well here's your chance, act cool, he's heading this way." Betty whispered to them. "How did he know this spot?" She added.