Chapter 8

It's impossible to not notice that the store was opening!

'Hellooo.! I made sure to put a big tarpaulin that said, 'Clare's Fried Chicken Resto Opening'! It was impossible for no one to see it!'

In fact, she even spent a hefty sum on the designing and printing of the tarpaulin. She couldn't believe it would ALL be wasted.

Wait, why was she being so impatient? The day was far from over!

Her subconscious tried to counter it by saying,'But, you waited at lunchtime and some time has passed since then. There's barely any human being outside except your friends.'

Still, she held onto the hope that there was at least a single person who would dine in her resto.

Thirty minutes later, June and Stella went inside the store with troubled expressions.

"Hey, Clare! Are you sure this isn't a business district but a ghost town? There isn't even a single person outside. Well. Not really but. There were a few but they were hastily leaving." Stella explained, looking curious.

"Yeah, she's right Clare. There weren't a lot of people outside. And most of the stores were closed. I mean, I only saw that your store was the only thing open." June said.

The doubts that were previously cast to the back of her head made their way back and started consuming her mind.

However, the emotion called 'Denial' won the race.

"But that's impossible! We...We just saw them all open this morning, the streets were even bustling—How...?" she said with her shoulders slumped.

"Yeah. That was one of the things I was wondering about. Everything seemed fine this morning."

Hearing their discussion along with the tension, Clare's father butted in.

"Clare, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

He couldn't feign ignorance that something was not going well.

After all, it was such an important day for their family. Most importantly, for his oldest daughter, Clarity.

He wanted to ask her about how this came to be but he felt like he did not have the right to open his mouth about the issue. His great resentment towards himself encompasses his pride as her father because as the man of the house it was his job to provide for his family.

Which he failed to do...

Just because he couldn't get over their mother.

Ever since his ex-wife left him, everything went downhill. He developed unhealthy habits and vices. His addiction problems were so severe that it led to the deterioration of his health. Thus, he developed an illness which made him another baggage to his family.

A burden...

The food, all the expenses including school fees of his two other children were solely paid by his firstborn. She showed resilience amidst their financial instability and it was like a punch to the gut.

Earlier this morning, he had high hopes that maybe she could finally enjoy the life she could not have .even if it wasn't as abundant as what other girls her age had.

But...

Who would've thought that a few hours later his beloved daughter would be on the verge of becoming hysterical?

"It's nothing... Everything's fine."

Those words were unconsciously spouted by her mouth. It sounded more like a defense mechanism than the actual truth.

What followed was a forced smile.

There was a hint of bitterness in her father's reaction but it disappeared as soon as it came.

Clare pretended to not see it. After all, they were already in a rut. She did not want to burden other people with her problems. It was not ideal to share the sadness that was slowly filling her system. She would not gain anything from doing that.

Now was not the time to lose hope.

It's not like there won't be a single person. Just a single person...Then it would be fine. It would be the best situation to ever happen.

Clare and company waited for another hour to tick by. This time both June and Stella, waited inside with Clare.

Owen, who was in the kitchen the whole afternoon, was waiting there to see if there would be any orders. He was the one who would be frying the marinated chicken. He already heated the oil in preparation. But, the oil was now cold and still because he didn't even fry a single fried chicken!

He, who wasn't even the owner of the store, felt so stressed as to why there were no customers. His hands were already itching to fry a piece that he never thought he'd feel in his life. It was uncharacteristic of him especially, with what he was really like.

It was Clare's fault! She kept nagging him to do free work for her. Of course, he knew she was just kidding but he decided to go along with it.

Now, nothing is happening.

He was just standing there, wearing that lousy pink apron she made him wear by threatening him again, of course. Any longer and he will be covered with dust or probably die of old age before he could ever have the chance to fry his new found obsession known as 'the marinated chicken'.

However, he couldn't complain. He would stand by his promise to work for her today. Besides Clare being a scary woman, she was also his friend. He was genuinely happy for her and anxious about the sudden turn of events. He can imagine how Clare must be feeling worse.

Owen went out of the kitchen and headed in Clare's direction.

"Clare. Do I put the marinated chicken back in the fridge? I'm afraid that it will spoil if I don't cool it as soon as possible." he said while scratching his head. He wasn't sure if this was the right time to tell her about it because he knew that she was currently in a bad mood. But the matter about the chickens was urgent! What if they got bad, it would be his fault! Clare might beat him to death for wasting the chickens!

"It's pretty hot today too that's why it'll—"

"Yeah. It's fine Owen, you could put it in the fridge now. Thank you..." she said tiredly.

Owen didn't wait for another second before he headed toward the kitchen again.

Clare sighed helplessly.

Just as she was about to head to the glass door to flip the placard to show the words 'CLOSED', she suddenly heard a weird sound coming from a relatively large vehicle…