= Sarah POV =
Heather drove us back to the cafe, and our conversation returned to work-related topics. It seemed that my firm hand in regard to the fish purchases had kept this week's shopping within budget, so the kitchen was in the green in terms of spending.
Heather needed to go collect a few items for the dance studio, so she dropped me off at the café entrance. I went up to the office, beaming, feeling relieved to finally have the chance to talk about this complicated relationship with someone who had a third party perspective.
As I worked, I kept reflecting on the past, realizing just how many times Chris had actually done very inappropriate things to me, and I just let her do it because I felt indebted to her. She talked like she had been holding back; however, when I thought about it now, there was no good excuse for her to insist on saving water by having a bath with me. Or why she refused the dorm's offer to replace her single bed with a bunk bed to accommodate our sleeping arrangements. In fact, the very fact that she insisted on cooking all our meals, which forced me to abandon my friends and run back to the dorms to wait for her to serve us food dutifully, was all kind of controlling… now that I thought about it, and low key, red flags.
Chris had never treated me like a friend…she had always been extremely possessive; I just had written it off as if she was being nice because, well, I owed her a lot, and I should pay her back for her kindness by doing whatever she said.
As my workday drew to a close, I was still deep in thought as I walked through the cafe at about 4 pm during the shift change.
Just as I passed by the coffee bar, I heard a crash and before I knew what was happening, icy cold liquid hit my arm and my leg.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, let me clean that off," Amber said, running from around the counter. I looked down to find mint leaves and milk dripping down my arm and my leg and shattered glass all over the floor.
"Ah, it's ok, I'm actually on my way home," I said, but Amber grabbed me by the arm and pulled me behind, heading to one of the staff toilets.
"No, I insist; you don't want to walk home in a stained dress, do you?" Amber replied, but something felt slightly off with how she spoke.
"Marlin! Can you ask Yuki to help me clean up the mess near the coffee bar?" Amber asked as we passed by Marlin on the way to the bathroom.
"Sure," Marlin said as he carried a crate of apples, probably on his way to the kitchen where Yuki was.
As we walked quickly down the corridor, we walked straight past the staff bathroom and turned down a corridor I had never been down, walking towards what looked like a very old door.
"Amber, the bathroom," I said, but Amber ignored me, grabbing the door handle of the old door and yanking it open, then pushing me inside and pulling the door shut behind us.
"Amber, what the hell?" I asked.
I heard a light switch and then an old flickering neon lights weakly turned on, slowly illuminating the room. It seemed like Amber had taken me to a bathroom, but it wasn't one with stalls but with a proper sink and jacuzzi-style bathtubs, which meant this was an unrenovated part of Ms. Jun's house.
"I'd like to ask you the same question, Sarah. What the hell were you doing with Heather? Don't fucking lie to me and tell me you two were just having a "Work lunch". Seriously? At a place like that? Spill it, Sarah, are you fucking Heather?" Amber asked, pushing me back towards the sinks.
"No, I would never; she's my boss! I have enough trouble with Chris and Ms. Jun as it is!" I exclaimed, " Plus, why do you care what Heather and I do? I thought you had a thing for Ms. Jun?" I asked.
Amber clenched her fists, then she walked away and leaned against the door.
"That's the thing that's really getting on my nerves. Look, you are beautiful; I get it, even I'd like to fuck you, but can you leave something for the rest of us? I do have a thing for Ms. Jun, but I know she's out of my league. Heather on the other hand…I feel like we have a different kind of chemistry…something that I don't want someone else to jeopardize." Amber said, running a hand through her hair.
"Look, I am not competition. I have no feelings whatsoever for Heather. In fact, the only one jeopardizing her relationship with Heather is you. I'm her accountant; you just accidentally or purposefully messed up my clothes. How will this situation look good for you when I tell Heather what you did?" I exclaimed, cold and exasperated.
Amber smirked. She straightened herself up and walked over to me.
"Why ever would you tell Heather about what happened to your clothes?" She asked, standing in front of me and crossing her arms.