That afternoon, Evan was in the middle of frosting some cupcakes on the tray when Sarah walked into the kitchen.
Evan paused, as he watched Sarah walking over.
It has been a while since Sarah stopped by the bakery. According to Violet, Sarah has been busy with her training. In the past few days, Sarah received good news. She was finally going to show up on a show. This was the first time I had seen Sarah after hearing the news from Violet.
"Hey," Evan nodded in acknowledgment. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah, I was quite busy recently." Sarah heaved a sigh. "The instructors have been quite strict with my training."
"I know." Evan smiled. "I heard from Violet that you're going to appear on a show. Congratulations."
Sarah laughed. "Thank you." She swept her eyes around the place before turning to Evan again. "Where's Violet?"
"She's out," Evan said. "I think she went on a date."
The corner of Sarah's lips began to twitch. "Right. I nearly forgot about their new arrangement." A long, heavy sigh escaped her lips. "I can't believe that Violet would play along with the elder's arrangement."
"I heard that the elders were keeping their eyes on both of them," Evan said. "They can't lie about their meeting."
Sarah clicked her tongue. She thought that Violet was quite pitiful.
The elders were too controlling.
"What do you think about this new arrangement?" Sarah asked. "Violet told me that she's going out with Ryan as a friend. I'm actually worried that she might develop some sort of feelings after spending too much time with him. You know about their contract. The price for breaching the arrangement isn't that cheap."
"You're worried that she has to pay him that money?"
Sarah sighed. "It's not that. I'm just worried that she may get hurt from this dating thing. What if she falls for him and he doesn't have the same feeling towards her? She's going to be miserable."
"Hey!"
Violet's voice made both Sarah and Evan turn around.
"You're here." Violet nodded at Sarah. Then, her gaze fell on Evan. What are you guys talking about?" Violet asked as she grabbed the apron hung at the side.
"It's nothing." Sarah shot a look at Evan, telling him that they should keep their conversation a secret from Violet. "I just got here and Evan was congratulating me for my future arrangement."
Violet nodded. She did not think that there was anything strange with Sarah's explanation. "Why are you here?"
"My training ended early," Sarah said. "I came over wanting to hang out with you. You went to see Ryan?"
"Mhm." Violet nodded. "I had my lunch at the hospital's cafeteria with Ryan. That's all."
"You're taking this new arrangement seriously," Sarah pointed out.
Violet heaved a sigh. "I have no other choice. Ryan's mother can be quite difficult. But, this arrangement will soon end within a few more weeks. I can hold on."
The girls were discussing Violet's outing with Ryan when Tara, another staff member of the bakery, walked over and stopped beside the table.
"Violet," Tara called, causing the trio to switch their attention to her. "Your brother's on the line." She waved the cordless phone at her.
"Thank you." Violet took the phone from Tara before pressing the phone to her ear.
"I've been trying to reach your cell phone for a while now," Jace complained from the other line. "But, you weren't picking up your phone."
"I'm sorry," Violet said. She slipped her hand in her pocket and noticed that her cell phone wasn't with her. "But you know that I don't keep my tabs on my cellphone when I work. That's why I told everyone to try the bakery's phone."
Jace heaved a helpless sigh. "I'm coming home tonight. Think you can pick me up from the airport?"
"You're coming home?" Violet said excitedly. "Of course I can," she said and nodded. She took the pen and paper across from her and jotted something down. "Alright. I'll see you tonight," she said before she hung up the phone. She walked into her office and inspected her work table. She placed her hands on her hips, closed her eyes, and stood there for a second to think. Then, she went to her locker and rummaged through her bag.
"What are you searching for?" Sarah asked behind her.
"My cell phone," Violet told her. "Have you seen it?"
"No." Sarah followed Violet and skimmed around the room trying to find her cell phone. "Try to call your cell phone and check if you've misplaced it."
"You're right," Violet said. She picked up the phone and dialed her cell phone number. After a few tries, she hung up the phone in frustration. "I didn't hear anything. And no one picks it up."
"Did it ring?" Sarah asked.
Violet nodded.
"Then that means your phone wasn't switched off. There's a thick chance that it wasn't stolen or anything. Why don't you try and retrace your steps?" Sarah suggested. "Is it possible that you left it in the restaurant during lunch?"
"No, I'm very positive that I didn't leave it there," Violet closed her eyes to remember the last time she saw her cell phone and bit her lower lip. "I remember texting my mom when Ryan dropped me off."
"Maybe you left it in his car?" Sarah guessed. "Why don't you give him a call and ask him if he has seen your phone?"
"Good idea!" Violet exclaimed. She reached for the phone, ready to dial a number. She paused for a brief second and looked at her friends "I just realized that I don't remember his number!"
…
Ryan browsed through the document and jotted something on the paper before passing them to one of the nurses in the recovery reception. He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He stared at the caller ID and raised a brow at the unfamiliar number. He waved the nurse goodbye and walked out of the room. "Hello. Ryan Chen speaking."
"Hi," Violet said. "This is Violet."
Ryan looked at his caller ID again and frowned. It was a landline number. He did not think that it was Violet who called.
"I'm calling you from the bakery." Violet massaged her forehead as she recalled that she had to ask her mother to get Ryan's number. Because of that, her mother nagged her for a few minutes before she ended the phone call by telling her mother that she had an important matter to attend to.
"Well, I couldn't find my cell phone," Violet said.
"You and your cell phone issues," Ryan commented. "I told you that you needed to pay more attention to your cell phone."
"I didn't do it on purpose, you know," Violet paused and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry if it's an inconvenience to you," she said carefully. "But could you check if I left it in your car?"
"Alright." Ryan sighed. "I'll get to you back later."
"Okay." Violet nodded. "Thank you."