84 CH84: A surprise for Aubree

that can't be cured by breakfast food."

- Ron Swanson

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There were times when Firah would text Delilah up to invite her for lunch. And because the former only has an hour lunch break, they usually had their lunch at a food court that was near Firah's workplace.

One morning, since Amy was still on her leave, Delilah was reading a report that had been given to her by Howard. She was absorbed in reading that she did not notice that there was a message notification from her mobile phone.

It was until someone called her on her mobile phone that she was brought back to reality. She was about to answer the call when the ringing stopped.

Frowning, she grabbed her phone, nonetheless, and looked to see who was calling her. She was surprised to see that it was Firah. It was then she realized that the latter had actually texted her and that she probably was impatient that she gave Delilah a missed call.

Chuckling to herself, she swiped open the message.

Firah: 'Yo, are we still on for later? The Brekkie House? [1]'

Delilah: 'What's later? Brekkie House?'

Firah: 'Aren't we going for lunch? :sadpout: [2]'

Delilah: 'I know I mentioned next week but I didn't say it was today.'

Firah: :cries: 'Aw! So when, then?'

Delilah: 'Let me ask Aubree first. Today should be fine, I guess.'

Firah: 'Yes please! Oh yeah, are we still on for celebrating Aubree's birthday?'

Delilah: 'Sure, why not?'

Firah: 'There's a small bakery at my office. And they sell cakes too. I can buy them and we half-half the price?'

Delilah: 'Sure, I'm okay with that'.

The two continued their conversation until they said goodbye to each other, saying they will see each other later. Delilah immediately texted Aubree asking her about whether she was free for lunch later, who also quickly answered, yes.

Once everything had settled, Delilah continued with her work. After reading the report, she typed another report, cross-referencing each document, making a new report.

There were a lot of people coming in and out of the office. One of them being Howard. As usual, he was wearing one of his bright coloured shirts, together with his dazzling gold-rimmed glasses. Delilah had to squint her eyes first before being able to look at him properly.

The day was quite hectic. Probably because it has been a while since she had manned the front desk, she never noticed how busy Amy can be. It had been years since she worked as an admin or receptionist. She was usually busy in the office upstairs so she would never know the situation was like downstairs. Bella probably experienced this kind of strenuous work twice more than Amy, since she was in the headquarters.

While replying to the text messages, she also had to entertain the guests who came to meet with the employees here.

Again, it was quite frantic. She did not even have the time to sit down and rest. And it's not even lunch time yet!

Delilah sighed as she sadly glanced at the wall clock. There was another few minutes left until lunch time and she has yet to complete her task.

Stretching her arms up, she bent her waist from side to side, drawing amused glances from the people around her. Howard had just come out of his office, about to go for his lunch when he saw Delilah stretching. He lightly chuckled and called out to her, "Aren't you going for lunch?"

Delilah nodded. "I will, in just a few minutes!" she replied.

After she was done stretching, she quickly tidied up her place and rearranged her things. She then shot a quick message to both Aubree and Firah, telling them that she had just left the office and was on her way to the Brekkie House.

Both promptly replied, 'Sure, see you there!' and 'Okay!' respectively.

Delilah quickly grabbed her things and then went out of the office. She went straight to her car and drove out of the parking lot.

It was unsure as to why the traffic was smooth that day since it was always jammed, especially during lunch time. But she has no complaints about that as she was grateful for the easy drive.

The parking spot that she had found was a few blocks away from the restaurant so she would need to walk to get to the place. After crossing the road, she finally arrived at the restaurant.

The restaurant itself was quite big, taking up two units of the building. The entrance decoration looked welcoming where it was decorated with little colorful flag banners and paper flowers.

Opening the door to the restaurant, the atmosphere inside was bustling with life and cheerful chaos. But despite the noises, it was kind of soothing, giving one a comfortable feeling.

Giving a smile to the hostess, Delilah just went inside and began to look for Firah and Aubree. They had just texted her earlier when she was parking the car that they had arrived and were waiting for her inside.

With a sweep glance over the patroning customers, she saw them sitting together at the near corner of the restaurant.

She quickly walked over and sat down.

The two of them were chatting with one another and did not notice that Delilah had arrived. Though when she sat down, only then they looked up and greeted her with a smile and hello.

Delilah took the menu, handed by the hostess, who had followed her to the table and thanked her. The hostess left the table, leaving Delilah to take her time, choosing her meal.

"Have you two ordered yet?" Delilah asked.

Firah nodded while Aubree said yes.

Delilah swiftly skimmed through the menu before deciding on the All-day Breakfast meal. She held up her hand to call for the waitress.

Soon after, a waitress appeared beside Delilah, a notepad and a pen in her hand. "Hello. May I take your order?" the waitress asked.

Delilah smiled up at her and voiced out her order, to which the waitress quickly wrote it down. And once the former was done with her order, the waitress thanked her and said that she would quickly return back with her meal.

The three of them then began their conversation with Firah telling how she has been, how the work at her new place seems so different and more stressful compared to Kang Company. She then asked Delilah and Aubree what was happening in Kang Company; was there any stories to share and whatnot.

While they were talking, Firah and Aubree's food and drinks had arrived. Delilah gestured to them to just eat since hers haven't arrived yet. She doesn't mind waiting since it was logical that hers would arrive late when they had ordered their meal before she came.

The three women continued talking while Firah and Aubree ate their food.

Shortly after, Delilah's food had arrived. The plate was huge that it nearly took much of her table space. On the plate, there were sausages, two pieces of toast, grilled tomatoes, two pieces of hashed browns and scrambled egg.

Aubree frowned when she saw Delilah's food. "You sure that's going to fill your stomach?" she asked, a look of uncertain on her face.

Delilah rolled her eyes as she stabbed a sausage with her fork. She took a bite and the taste of slightly burned sausage filled her mouth. She liked that smoky taste when grilling meat, especially sausages and steak. The sausage tasted nice where the taste of beef was not too overwhelming yet juicy. The juice of the meat oozed out from where Delilah had bite it.

After she ate the sausage, she then took a piece of toast and carefully arranged the scrambled egg on top of it, making it an egg sandwich. The egg was fluffy and soft, just the way she likes it. She poured ketchup on top of the egg and took a bite. The fluffy egg tasted creamy and melted in her mouth when she ate it. The toast gave an additional crunch to the taste with a slightly toasted flavour. The ketchup was a bit sweet which made the whole sandwich delicious.

The other two women looked at Delilah as they watched her enjoyed her food.

Firah chuckled when she turned her head to Aubree. "Looking at her eating them makes me regret ordering this," she said, still giggling. She had ordered eggs benedict with smoked salmon.

"Me too," Aubree agreed, smiling as well. She, on the other hand, had ordered fried noodles with chicken.

They continued to enjoy their meal as they talked with one another.

After they were done eating, Firah gave a look at Delilah, to which the latter nodded.

Firah then turned to grab something from her recycle bag which was placed on an empty seat beside her. She took out a box and placed it in front of a surprised Aubree.

Aubree's eyes widened. "What's this?" she asked, pointing at the box. Obviously, it was a cake box but she was clueless as to why Firah gave it to her.

Both Firah and Delilah grinned. "Open it," Delilah urged.

Aubree carefully opened the box and her eyes widened once more. Inside was a beautiful small cake, with wording, 'Happy belated birthday, Aubree!'

Aubree was touched. She grinned at them and thanked them.

Firah giggled. "We didn't want to hand it to them because we knew that you'd feel shy when they sing happy birthday to you. Hope this is alright?"

Aubree nodded furiously. "It is! Thank you so much!" she said again. She quickly grabbed her phone and took a picture of her cake.

"Here's to wishing you a long life and happiness ahead of you, Aubree!" the other two women wished.

"Ameen!"

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[1] name of a restaurant.

[2] supposedly an emoji.