"A contract? Are you serious?"
"You said you wanted to work here, and this is part of that." Charlie handed Sid a pen. "All the terms are there; please review and sign if you agree."
Eyebrows still raised, Sid took the pen from her, fingertips brushing slightly against hers. "You had time to do this last night?" he asked, flipping through the pages.
"That's what you call templates. Also, I need this so I can get you access to NomCom's employee facilities."
"Nice."
"And also, to cover my back."
Sid paused from signing to look at her, his pierced eyebrow quirking again. "I'm not going to sue you."
"I didn't say you will." She, however, would like to sue him for how he was looking at her right now. "And it's for your own rights, too."
"Fine, fine." Sid signed the last page, then handed the contract back to her with a flourish. "So, what next?"
Fay handed him the pink apron he wore yesterday with a big smile. "Welcome to the team, Kuya Sid!"
From Sir to Kuya, that quick, unbelievable—as if Fay hadn't been afraid of meeting him in person earlier this week. Charlie put the signed contract away in the drawer under the computer. "Time to work. You were on smoothie duty yesterday, right? Let's get you on the wraps today."
Sid was a fast learner. Despite the slight learning curve, he quickly figured out what to do and seemed more than happy to listen to instructions. Sid had been simply helpful yesterday; today, he was determined to contribute. And because he was now one of Charlie's employees, she was also just as committed to treating him the same way.
That said, Charlie wasn't going to deny that she liked seeing Sid in her kitchen. It wasn't often that she could work with her "ideal guy." He moved with a humble kind of confidence: humble in the way that he was never afraid to ask things or asking Charlie or Fay to check if she was doing it right, and confident in the way he carried himself when he worked, but never overbearing that it felt like he was invading their space.
Sid was annoyingly endearing, too. In the morning, while she was teaching him how to make their wraps, Charlie noticed that his smile started from his eyes, slowly spreading through the rest of his face. Then there was the way his lips would form a little pout when he asked her questions, which was usually followed by a proud little nose scrunch whenever he did something right. It was so cute that Charlie didn't know if she wanted to scream, pinch his cheeks, give him a long hug, or do all the above. Nakakagigil.
She still couldn't help but wonder, though, why he didn't remember her. So, at random times during the morning, Charlie would bring up something from their chats—because despite it disappearing when his profile went away, she could remember most of them, apparently. While Sid did react, she noticed that some of them weren't exactly what she recalled him saying. And there was no recognition whatsoever about their shared history.
Charlie was still thinking about this after the NomCom lunch rush ended on Sunday, a full day and a half after Sid started working for her. Fay had gone on her break while Sid was by the reading nook tree at the center of the food park, on a phone call for his real full-time work. She couldn't help but notice how even the way he stood from a distance was different from all the other guys she knew. Why, oh why did he have to ghost her?
"Charlie!"
A familiar voice broke through her thoughts, and her shoulders tensed immediately. Only one person—well, three people, actually—gave her this physical reaction, especially when she heard it here at work.
"Ate Cams, hi." Charlie straightened up in her seat as her older sister approached the stall with her boyfriend, Kuya Gabriel. Behind them, as expected, were their parents. "Hello, family, you're all here!"
"Thought we'd drop by to have late lunch," her sister replied cheerfully. "And to check on our bunso, of course."
They were together last night, and this morning, Charlie wanted to point out. And why do they never text before showing up? She forced a smile. "Aw, thanks. You really didn't have to. So, where are you guys planning to eat? I think Luv U Sizz upstairs has a promo today."
Her mother looked at her incredulously. "No, of course not. We're ordering from you!" She looked at the menu boards on the counter, running her finger down from the top, stopping at something mid-way. "I think I'll try your Ginger Peanut Tofu wrap this time. Also, Charlie dear, have you thought of maybe installing a screen up there where you can just flash your menu? It might be easier for your customers. We can buy one, and your dad can install it for you."
"Oh...I'll think about it, Mom. And don't worry, we have someone who can do that for us here." Charlie's cheeks were starting to hurt the longer she forced her smile to stay while her family discussed where to put the screen best in their stall and decided on their order. Finally, after what felt like forever, they finished. Charlie's shoulders immediately slumped when they turned around to find a table, hopefully somewhere far from her stall.
It took a couple of deep breaths and a full glass of water before Charlie's annoyance dulled, and her focus returned. Should she ask Fay or Sid to come back to help? But they were still on their breaks. Anyway, she could and should do this by herself. It wasn't the first time her family had dropped by to order, anyway, so she knew this. However, she just wished that their visits didn't leave her feeling that she wasn't doing enough.
"Get to work, Charlotte. Those wraps aren't going to make themselves," she muttered to herself, heading to the sink to wash her hands. While she was getting the ingredients from the fridge, a flash of silver in the chiller caught her eye. Pulling it open, she saw a row of foil-covered, pre-made wraps, labeled with their three-letter codes in neat block handwriting that Charlie recognized as Sid's. He must have made these earlier before going on break for their advance meal prep.
The labels said: CBT, RP, GPT, VA - Crispy BBQ Tofu, Roasted Potatoes, Ginger Peanut Tofu, Vegan Adobo.
It was exactly what her family ordered.
Charlie could just grab these and go, which they were made for anyway, something ready-made so they won't have to start everything from scratch. And for the last day and a half that Sid had been with them, all the wraps he's made passed her standards. Her family probably wouldn't know that she didn't make them.
But what if they did? Or what if they notice something different?
Gritting her teeth, she shut the chiller, grabbed the ingredients, and got to work.
"Hey Charlie, I'm back. Sorry, it took me a while."
She had just finished putting the last wrap on a plate when Sid returned, the back door closing behind him with a click. He continued, "I saw there were some customers earlier. Do you need help?"
"Just in time," she replied distractedly, checking for the third time if she had forgotten anything. "Can you close the last order on the queue? I have to deliver this to the customer."
"Why not wait for them to go here and pick the order up?"
Charlie wiped off stray drops from the triple berry smoothie on the tray with a paper towel. "No, not this one. That's my family you saw earlier, and this is for them."
"Oh, sure. That's nice of them to order here."
"I guess," Charlie said, suppressing a sigh. She put the full tray on the counter. "Anyway, can you take over for a bit? I didn't have time to clean up, I'm sorry. My mom's going to want me to sit down with them for a while."
"Go ahead, I'll manage."
"Thank you." She scooted out from under the counter and outside of the stall. When she turned around to pick up the tray again, Sid was looking at her tray with a curious expression.
"You made all of these?"
"Yeah, I did. All fresh."
A small line formed between his brows as he looked at the tray, then at the computer screen. Charlie was still close enough to hear him mumbling the names of the wraps, and she figured he was just double-checking the order like she taught him yesterday. But then his brows furrowed further, and when he looked up at her, Charlie's stomach dropped.
"You made new ones?" Sid's voice was small, his eyes wider than she had ever seen them before. "But...I already made some? I thought..." Even the way he motioned to the fridge looked smaller as if his next question was physically weighing him down. Exhaling softly, he rested a hand on the counter and asked, "Did I do it wrong?"
"What? No. No, you didn't, Sid. It's just that –"
"Charlie?" She whirled around and saw Kuya Gabriel behind her. Over his shoulder, she could see her family sitting by a table across the NomCom performance area, all looking in their direction. "Cams told me to check on you; do you need help?"
"Oh, I just need to fix something. But would you mind carrying the tray to the table?" The sooner he leaves, the lesser chances that one of her family members will join him. "I'll go there in a bit. Thanks, Kuya."
Once her sister's boyfriend had left, she turned to Sid again, but instead of only the disappointment and confusion she saw earlier, there was something else in his eyes now. Something like...understanding? And yet it still sent a painful pinch in her heart. Without thinking, she reached for his hand.
"I'm sorry. I'll explain later when I get back. Promise."