37 CH37: What's for lunch?

"Ask not what you can do for your country,

Ask what's for lunch."

- Orson Welles

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It was another day at work and Delilah had just arrived at the office. It was raining outside with the sky turning dark and gloomy. It was inDEEd a wet morning with a slight breeze sweeping the rain across the area. It was the raining season in the country so there has been an increase of rainfall during the month. Delilah was grateful that the rain wasn't so bad. At least, her house didn't get flooded in, like it used to, a couple of years ago.

She was shaking her umbrella dry and wiping her wet shoes on the carpet, outside the entrance before coming in the building. She cringed at the feeling of using the wet shoes. Not liking the feeling, she took off her shoes and socks and walked barefoot into the building.

She greeted hello at Bella, who was giggling at the sight of a barefooted Delilah. Delilah sometimes can be a bit eccentric, Bella mused. She doesn't really care about how people sees her. She doesn't mind if she was called weird or strange. She probably thought that being weird was great while being normal was boring.

She arrived at her cubicle and looked over at Firah's cubicle. It was then she remembered that Firah has a day off that day. Looking at her right, she also noticed that Deegan has already arrived, since his bottled water and backpack were already inside his cubicle. She assumed that he was probably at the General Affairs department floor, which was on the ground floor.

She shrugged to herself and began to get ready for work. She switched on her computer, took her phone from her handbag and whatnot. She sighed as she sat down. Looking out at the window far ahead, she saw that it was still raining. She shivered and grabbed her jacket which she placed in her drawer. It was getting chilly. She wished she could switch off the air conditioning but since it was an internal air conditioning, it would be impossible for her. She can only use her jacket to keep warm.

After putting on her jacket, she went to the pantry to make herself a cup of hot chocolate. She grabbed her cup from one of the cupboards and poured chocolate malt powder in. She held the boiling kettle and poured hot water over the powder. She stirred the drink and carried it to her mouth, blowing on it. She cautiously took a sip and winced when hot liquid touched her lips. Deng. She nearly burned her tongue.

Delilah sighed and carried her cup to her cubicle. 'I'll wait for the hot chocolate to cool a bit before drinking it,' she thought. She wouldn't want to burn her tongue.

At her cubicle, she was checking her reports, taking notes on the applications that she had received for new employees. She also took note on those who had worked in the company for more than a year and studied the appraisals that were given by their supervisors.

While she was working, Aubree had just walked in, with a pale face. Delilah looked up and watched her walking slowly to her own cubicle. She looked rather weak and frail like a newborn baby.

Concerned, Delilah stood up, clutching her jacket closer to her body and walked over to Aubree. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked, tilting her head.

It was only for a few moments when Aubree finally managed to look up at Delilah with hollowed eyes. Her face was still pale and her lips were cracked as if she hasn't had a drink since yesterday.

Delilah blinked her eyes in surprise at Aubree's appearance. "Oof, Bree. You look awful," she commented.

Aubree sighed. "Thanks for the compliment," she said sarcastically. "As if I didn't know that."

"If you knew that, why did you still come to the office?" Delilah scolded. "You should have gone to the doctor or rest at home." It was not as if the company would force her to work.

Aubree sighed again. "I planned to. But no one is at home. And I just called my aunt if I could stay and rest at her place but she's also not at home," she explained. Her aunt's place was nearby. Just ten minutes drive from the office. Before Delilah worked at the Kang Company, she usually has her lunch at her aunt's place.

Delilah sighed too. "Do you want me to accompany you to the nearest clinic?" she offered. She felt really concerned about Aubree's health. She does not seem to be able to work that day but she still goes to the office. And its really not a good thing for the company to allow an obviously sick employee to work.

Aubree shook her head, rejecting Delilah's offer. "It's okay. I think I'll just rest at the medic bay," she said. Then realization dawned on her. She whirled around to look at Delilah. "Awww… I nearly forgot, D. I did promised that we would have lunch together, didn't I?" she said, feeling guilty.

Delilah waved her concern away. "It's alright. I can ask one of my cousins if they want to accompany me to lunch. Or just get a delivery."

Aubree nodded. She staggeringly stood up and said, "Alright then. I'm sorry. I'll go to the medic bay and take a rest there. I probably feel better after a good rest."

Delilah helped support Aubree to the medic bay, which was on the ground floor. She made Aubree leaned on her while walking slowly towards the bay. Inside the medic bay, Delilah gently pushed Aubree onto the sofa bed. She then went to grab some medicine and hot oil lotion for Aubree. She watched her supervisor rubbed some oil on her temples.

"Will you be alright here alone?" Delilah asked in concern. Although, they have a medic bay, they don't actually have a nurse or a doctor on duty. The bay was usually served for someone who needs a place to rest before going home.

Aubree weakly nodded. "Yes," she said softly.

"Shall I get your phone as well?"

Aubree nodded again. "Yes, please."

Delilah quickly went back to the Human Resource floor and walked over to Aubree's cubicle. She then rummaged through her handbag and grabbed her phone. She quickly returned to the medic bay and saw Aubree closing her eyes. But she was not asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, Delilah quietly placed the phone on the small table beside the sofa bed and went back again.

In her cubicle, Delilah sat down and instead of doing her work, she gazed off-space. She sighed to herself. 'I wonder what should I eat for lunch,' she thought.

She swiftly shot text messages to some of her cousins, asking whether they are free for lunch. Unfortunately, most of them were either busy or already had plans. She texted her sister too since she knows her sister was on school holiday. Yes, her sister was actually a school teacher. To be precise, she taught primary students.

She was reading the news online when she received a reply from her sister. Again, she got rejected. Her sister also had plans for lunch.

Delilah sighed again. 'Guess I'll be eating alone,' she thought sadly. 'I'll just grab some pastries from a nearby bakery.'

She was working on the appraisals when the clock nearly hit 12 PM on the dot. Time flies by so fast when she was too concentrated in her work. But it doesn't bode well when her work doesn't seem to lessen. She has a lot of appraisals to review before going off for her trip.

As she was about to go halfway through the piles when she saw Aubree walking through the door of the office. Peering closely at Aubree, she felt relieved to see her no longer looking pale. In fact, there were more color on her face, leaving a rosy hue on her cheeks.

Aubree walked towards Delilah's cubicle and grabbed a chair from Firah's. She sat down with a sigh and stared at Delilah. "I'm hungry," she announced loudly.

"Are you sure you're alright right now?" Delilah asked, still concerned.

Aubree nodded. "Yes," she assured. "Seems like my stomach is now empty and I need food. I probably puke them all out," she joked.

Delilah cringed visibly. "Uh, OK. So, you're still on for lunch?" she asked.

Aubree nodded again. "Where will we be having lunch at?"

"You're up for some grilled chicken?"

Aubree's eyes brightened. "Yes!" she answered excitedly. She has been craving for chicken. Actually, before she fell sick, she wanted to tell Delilah that she wanted to eat chicken. Thinking that she was probably too weak to eat, she had kept quiet. But now, she can eat chicken for lunch! Yay!

Delilah stood up. "Great, let's go then."

A few minutes later, the two of them were inside a restaurant, ordering their food. Delilah looked at Aubree in surprise as she listened to her shooting off her order. "Hi, I'd like to order Value Meal Set C, Belgian Waffle, Sour and Cream Dips and another set of quarter sized chicken," Aubree said with a sweet smile.

'Dem, she must be really hungry,' Delilah thought. Once Aubree was done with hers. Delilah ordered hers. She only order Value Meal Set E and an extra order of Onion Rings.

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The cashier took their orders and quickly began to prepare their food within minutes.

Moments later, the two of them sat at one of the table and began to eat.

"Didn't expect you to be so hungry," Delilah commented, cutting a piece of the waffle that Aubree shared. She smeared the waffle with some of the ice-cream on the waffle. She brought it to her mouth and ate it.

The chilly sensation from the ice-cream sent a delightful shiver up her spine. The softness and thickness of the waffles felt like happiness being covered with airy clouds. The batter was light and fluffy, making it more moist. The difference between the belgian waffle and other waffles was that this one has a deeper pocket. The rich thick waffle, laced with strings of melted chocolate and topped with three flavors of ice-cream were like heaven for Delilah. The texture of the waffle stood out on its own as it has its own unique sweetness to it, other than from the ice-cream and chocolate.

Aubree gave a small and soft smile. "Yeah, well. I guess I'm just that hungry," she replied.

Delilah closed her eyes in delight as she savours the DEE-licious waffle. "You and I are the same!" she agreed.