Chapter 13: Chapter 13

It's Friday and until now there has been no information from the Louis Studio company regarding the acceptance or rejection of Naomi in the company. Even so, Naomi continues to carry out her activities, namely helping her father.

The girl did not let go of her warm smile to the customers who bought their wares. Even though she has a small body, her face is very beautiful to look at even though she is only dressed in ordinary clothes. No wonder she sometimes gets temptations from male customers who adore her beauty,

Naomi only thought the compliments and temptations were just a thing of the past. She just smiled kindly and ignored the temptation, no matter how handsome the man who complimented. And now she was giving a plastic bag of mie ayam and bakso to a person who had been asking for her contact.

"Oh, my question hasn't been answered before," he said to her,

"I broke my phone, sorry..." she said politely. The man looked disappointed with her answer and he languidly took the plastic that had been hanging in Naomi's hand.

After that man had left, the father approached her and said, "You're very good at lying," teased Benny, making the girl chuckle,

"Yeah, well... Naomi is lazy to deal with obscure boys like that," she said honestly,

"I agree that you continue being like that with other boys," he said with a thumbs up he gave to Naomi before another customer came to order mie ayam.

"Wait a minute, please…"

"Just sit here ma'am," she said who invited the woman to sit while waiting for them to prepare mie ayam for her. It didn't take them long to make mie ayam, because Naomi was there to help her father, who was no longer agile at work.

After they finished making a bowl of chicken noodles, she gave the bowl to the woman who was waiting. Naomi was happy to see that their wares were running out, she couldn't hold back her happy words to Benny who was also happy too. And… not too long after that, a man came to them. The father had tagged that man because after Lina did not appear again, the man was there to buy their wares

"Want to buy more, sir?" asked Benny to which the man nodded.

"I want to buy all of mie ayam and bakso," said the man to whom Benny nodded. Naomi was pensive looking at the man before the man turned his gaze to her. Naomi broke her gaze and helped the father to pack all their wares for the man.

“That man, why does he look like Alex?” she thought as she was packing her wares.

She tried not to look at the man because he reminded her of Alex. His tall and sturdy body, not to mention his face which at first glance resembles Alex's.

"Seems like today isn't as many as yesterday, sir," said that man who was nodded by Benny,

"Yes, thank God it almost runs out. Unfortunately, you came late… so there's a little left,” said Benny to that man. That man smiled crookedly while fixing his gaze for a moment on Naomi who was also busy,

"It's okay, sir... the important thing is that there are still few more even if it's a little for me," he said before he returned his gaze to Benny. Both Benny and Naomi are focused on wrapping their wares. And some customers who just arrived, they immediately tell them if their wares are out of stock,"Okay," Naomi said after she put everything into the last plastic bag. She gave that man a plastic bag containing the mie ayam and bakso, then he immediately paid them more. As soon as Benny opened his drawer to get his money back, that man immediately refused,

"No need, sir, just take the change," he said, making the old man a bit disturbed to hear it,

"I-is it okay?" Benny asked him.

The man smiled, "Yes sir, thank you, sir, ma'am," he said before he turned to leave the two of them. Naomi just stared at the man who had walked away from them. Of course, she was happy that his father's wares were selling well, but why did that man keep reminding him of Alex? She sighed and shook her head, "No, he's not Alex!" she thought as she prepared and tidied up their stuff.

"Naomi,"

"Naomi!" called her father in a slightly raised tone,

"Huh, yeah, yeah… what's wrong?" she said with a little surprise.

"Have you checked your e-mail?" Benny asked who was shaken by Naomi,

"Not yet..." she said as she looked at her watch which was already showing 5 pm.

"Check it now... I'm so curious..." he said which made her glance slightly go to some of the young men whom she had refused to give her phone number. They were all still eating while joking around, making Naomi approach her father in a whisper,

“I promise to open it later because they're still there. It will be discovered that I lied about my broken phone," she said, which Benny nodded understandingly.

After they had been standing for a long time, they finally got a chance to sit down and rest for a while. They wait for their customers to eat and return their plates before they decide to go home,

And it's 6 pm, and that's when both of them get ready to go home. Naomi also washed all the glasses and bowls before she and her father decided to go home. Immediately, Naomi pushed the cart towards their house. Along the way, she and her father talked to each other about their assumptions if Naomi was really accepted at Louis Studio.

Unconsciously, the two finally arrived at their house and Naomi hurriedly put all the utensils into the kitchen without washing them first. She hurriedly went into his room and opened his phone after she had been holding herself from playing with phones for a long time.

With her eyes slightly closed, she opened the email. When she started to open her eyes clearly, disappointment was etched on her face when she hadn't received a single message from Louis Studio. She lowered her head, it seemed that she was not accepted.

She put down the charger to charge his dying phone battery. She sighed and left her phone which was charging. Looks like her hopes to enter Louis Studio were not fulfilled. She finally left her room and walked to the kitchen to wash the containers and other utensils used for selling earlier. She held back her sadness and tears that fell because her hopes were dashed. Naomi repeatedly wiped her tears using the back of her hand,

“Huh… what a bad day,” she said,