Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Isabella's pov;

I woke up to the bright light falling on my face which made it hard for me to open my eyes in the beginning but soon i got adapted to it and blinked a few times and finally opened it in the end. When I opened my eyes, I saw myself lying on a bed in a place with white walls and blue floors. I looked around and found a needle stuck into the back of my right hand. My clothes and the place gave a medicine smell which made me realise that I'm a hospital but how did I end up here? All i could remember was sitting outside the restaurant… someone spoke to me… why can't I remember anything?

A nurse walked in and asked, "How are you feeling now, Ms Garcia?"

"Yeah, I'm good but shall i know why am I here for?"

"You're diagnosed with sleep deprivation."

I didn't expected it soon.

"Then, Who brought me here?"

"Two guys. One left after admitting you and the other…" she looked around and said, "He was here… where did he go?"

"What's his name?"

"I don't know. Maybe it'll be in the record. Shall i look for you?"

"It's fine. What did he look like?"

She thought for a while and said, "He was taller, handsome and looked like someone who's rich…"

"Did he stay all night?"

"Yes, he's the one who reminded me to change the drip everytime it got emptied. Is he your boyfriend?"

"What is the procedure to get discharge myself?"

After a while, i came to Mr Martinez's house. When i entered, i saw Mr Martinez and Big brother in the hall. I ignored them and tried to go to my room but Big brother called out my name and asked, "When did you get discharged?"

"Noon."

He gave me a quick hug and said, "I know you'll come back."

"I came to take my things."

"What?"

I didn't give him a answer, climbed the stairs to go to my room.

I took the travel bag out of the wardrobe and dumped my clothes and books and closed it. I took my purple flowers with me. I saw the guitar hanging on the wall. I can't leave you here. I took the guitar and the travel bag and came downstairs.

Big brother stopped me and asked, "Are you really going to move out of this house?"

I nodded and stood in front of him.

"If you decided to leave…" he gave me the keys and continued, "Then, take this."

"What is this?"

"The apartment Mr Martinez bought for you."

I gave the keys back while saying, "I don't need this."

"Where will you stay?"

"I can find it on my own."

He tried to grab my travel bag while saying, "If you don't want the apartment then come with me. Let's go to my place. You can stay with me and yuyang."

I pulled the bag away from him and said, "I said I can find a place on my own."

Before stepping out of the house, i said, "Thank you for giving me a place to stay all these years. I'm grateful. And, Thank you for taking me to the hospital last night." And walked out of the house.

I sat in the bus terminal with the travel bag and my guitar thinking about what should I do next and where should I go?

I got a call from Mike. Sh*t! Totally forgot that it's Monday. What is the time? My eyes almost popped out when i checked the time. I gotta go.

After a while, I stood in front of the restaurant and walked in with my bag and the guitar. There was customers inside the restaurant.

Emily, "Where were you?"

"Sorry for being late, I'll get changed soon." And dragged the bag and guitar to the changing room.

I came out with the waitress uniform and started taking orders from the customers.

When the clock strikes 10 pm, everyone left to their house. I came to the changing room and got changed into my clothes. I sat on the couch and looked looked around, This place has a roof under my head, a bathroom to get bath, a couch which can also be used to lie down. Why didn't I think of the restaurant? Dumb Bella!

The next day,

"Who's bag was that?" Dylan asked Emily while we're eating lunch together in our restaurant.

I said, "It's mine."

Mike, "What happ…"

Before Mike finished, Victor stopped him and said, "Have you decided on what dish should be listed on special dish for the next week?"

I asked, "What about ciopinno?"

"Ciopinno?"

"Yeah. Ciopinno can be prepared by using fish stew with any sea food ingredient so we can serve clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, fish on each day."

Olivia, "I agree to it too. People been asking for the ciopinno dish from our restaurant in the restaurant page. So, I think it's a good idea."

Emily, "Yeah, one of our regular customers asked for it too. We should serve that."

Victor, "Well, we can go with Ciopinno then. Thank you for recommending, Bella."

"You're welcome." And continued eating.

Everyone left when the clock strikes 10. When i was about to close the door, i saw Victor standing near the street light smoking a cigar.

I walked out and asked him, "Vic, aren't you leaving?"

"Did everyone leave?"

"Yeah."

He walked towards me and asked, "What about you? Why aren't you leaving? Why are you still here?"

"I-I was…"

"The bag in the changing room behind your locker. What's the story behind it?"

"I moved out of the place where i was living before."

"Okay, but why are you here? Don't you have any other place to go?"

I shook my head and said, "No."

"Shall i look for you?"

"It's fine, Vic. I don't want to trouble you. I can find it on my own."

"Okay. Then, see ya tomorrow."

After Victor left, I tried to close the door but saw Mr Martinez's car standing around the street. I let out a sigh and closed the door. I turned off the light in the front house and went to the changing room to sleep.

Two weeks passed but I still seeing Mr Martinez's car around the street on every night before closing the restaurant door. What does he want with me? Let's see how long he's going to do this?

Emily, "Hey, what are you thinking about?"

I shook my head and said, "Nothing. I… i was thinking about what dish should we put on next week."

"Can I suggest?"

"Yes. Go on. I'm open to suggestions because my brain's all foggy now." And laughed.

"Californian style pizza."

"Pizza? But we don't serve pizza here. And, i don't know whether the chef can do that. But I'll ask them since it will be our next step for our restaurant. I like your idea." I patted on her shoulder for suggesting me a special dish.

"Hahaha. Thank you. If you excuse me, I'll…"

"Yeah, go on."

Emily left to attend the customers.

I took orders from the customers and came to the service area to give the orders to them.

When Olivia came to check out the order, i asked her, "Do you know how to cook Californian style pizzas?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm thinking about putting it as our special dish for the next week. Emily suggested it. Shall we do it?"

"Yeah. Let's do that. Now, can I?"

"Oops! We'll discuss further about this later."

I waited and received the food from the service area for the customers.

One month passed,

(Snow began to fall)

I came to Mr Martinez's office and waited for him in the waiting room.

Mr Martinez, "Bella, when did you come?"

"Few minutes ago."

"Come on, let's talk in my office."

I followed him to his office and sat in front of him.

He asked, "Can i order something for you?"

I placed a cheque in front of him and said, "The debt is paid. Where is the contract?"

He gave a nod and took out a file while saying, "Finally, You did it." And took the aggreement and asked me to sign to cancel the contract. I signed the contract and gave it back to him.

"And, i don't want to be on headlines again as 'The diner girl being stalked by the CEO' , It's worse than having a affair."

I stood to leave, when i was about to open the door, he asked, "Are you walking out of my life too?"

I didn't give a reply and walked out of his office.

One month passed, it's October.

"What!? When did this happen and how come I didn't know about this? You're getting married?"

Everyone in the restaurant looked at me when i screamed out loud in joy. I apologized to them and received a wedding invitation from Big brother. When I opened the invitation, I saw Big Brother's name in the groom section and Ms Devlin's name in the bride section.

I screamed out of lungs again, "Ms Devlin??? When did this happen?"

Big brother, "Shhhhh…"

I turned to the customers and apologized, "Sorry for the disturbance, my brother's getting married so i got excited."

Everyone clapped their hands and showed their support for him.

I read the invitation,

"Please join us as we celebrate our wedding, Noah Johnson and Ava Devlin,

request the honor of your presence at their marriage,

Saturday, the sixth of October, Two thousand and twenty,

GP church, Santa rosa, California. It's good. But there's only three days for the wedding. Did you arranged everything?"

"We planned it as a simple wedding with a small circle. Only close ones and friends."

I gave a quick hug to Big brother and congratulated him for the wedding.

"You have to come for the wedding no matter what because Mr Martinez will be there too. I know it'll be awkward for you but please come for me, Ms Devlin and for yuyang."

I smiled at him and said, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

After Big brother left, I went back to the work.