Awkward Situation

"Come on guys! Let's have dinner together. It's such a tiring day. Let's call it a wrap."

Quickly, Howard approached Lucille's place to have dinner. Earlier his stomach was churning due to hunger. Normally, he can't allow himself to feel hungry even if he's working in his office. The few boxes of rice he carried to the soldiers' camp were really exhausting to him. 

Honestly, he was pressured as Zannie was consistently nagging him. Clueless, he glanced at the girl and guided himself closer to her.

"Do you have a problem?" he asked in a whisper.

"Courage, you'll just eat and you won't even help even if I told you to." Annoyance registers on her beautiful face. Howard also heard a hissing sound from her.

Their eyes met once again. She dared not to look at Howard's attractive eyes but it seemed like someone on her inner side was begging her to look at Howard for a long time—even about five more seconds. All she knew was that she had been grabbing rice from the big pot before as she was busy staring at Howard. Clearly, she was distracted by Howard's presence. 

"Hey, Zannie. Are you the only one fighting for our town so your plate is full?" Joel whispered to her with a laugh and so did the rest of their colleagues who were just waiting for their turn and patiently waiting for her to finish.

"Ah. No, I'm sorry." It was as if hot air was blowing in her face because of what had happened. How did she lose her own focus instantly? Why does Howard have such an effect on her even if he doesn't do anything?

Zannie put the extra rice back in the pot and left only what she could consume on the plate. She quickly sat down on the bamboo chair and began to eat. She kept herself away from Howard. There is an unfamiliar thrill when he is close to her. 

"Zannie, you haven't taken a dish yet. Are you sure? You're just going to eat rice? Are you fine with just a plain rice"

She felt another embarrassment because of what Lucille had said. That’s right, she hasn’t picked up a dish yet. She was totally out of focus.

"What's the dish for tonight?" Zannie asked her friend. 

"There's stewed corned beef and noodles with eggs. Just go back and get some of it."

"Okay," she sparingly replied. She approached where Lucille was about to go. It is on the other chair which is also made of bamboo. There's the dish that is inside the bowl that was placed on a table made of Palochina wood.

She hurriedly scooped up the dish. As much as possible, she doesn't want Howard near her so she speeds up the action. She moved back to her previous table and ate quickly.

"Here you are Zannie. Why can't you just join us here?" She ignored what another colleague, Maita, suggested to her. 

"I'm okay sitting here. All right, huddle in there," she replied as the food slammed into her mouth.

Her colleagues left her alone. She was almost done eating but her heart suddenly jumped when she saw Howard approaching the table where she was.

"They're crowded in there so I guess it's better to sit beside you."

Sitting next to him is not a good idea at all. But on the other hand, Howard continued to eat. In fairness, he doesn't seem to be faking his attitude right now. He couldn’t imagine that a CEO and son rich like Howard would be fed ordinary food like what they are consuming right now. 

"All right. I'm done too." She stood up. But what she said is just a lie. She wasn't really finished yet and she wasn't in the habit of not consuming all the food she put on the plate.

"The elders say it's not good to leave food on the plate. It will give you bad luck."

She stopped at what the young man said. If so, she knows he’s not finished yet and she was noticed by him. 

"You don't care if I don't consume all of it." Her cursed side started working again.

"I care, you know why? My grades depend on you in the evaluation my father did. And I have to live with you despite the roughness of the attitude you show. Are you aware of that? And besides, we're in a place where it's hard to get food."

Her heart jumped even more and she seemed to have been slapped by what the young man had said. How did he know that she was the one to evaluate him instead of Jacob? But she was more affected by what Howie said about her attitude.

"And I'm going to knock you down. You know that too?" She turned around while raising an eyebrow.

"Even if you overthrow me, I will lose nothing. I will return as CEO of my own company and you, you will be like that for life. Your attitude is still unbecoming and people won't stay longer for a person like you."

Maybe, that's what she hated the most in Howard's attitude. The more he persevered, the more he could turn around and cut the edge of the tongue of someone he's been talking to. 

"Really? As far as I know, that's why you were thrown here because you also have a bad attitude!" Zannie's irritable response that grabbed the attention of their other colleagues.

"Hey, what's that? Are you guys fighting? Are you having another misunderstanding?" Lucille asked them.

"No. We're okay. We're just teasing like children do. It's not a big deal," Howard lied.

"In that case, let's talk first Mr. Howard. We still want to get to know you."

Howard complied with Lucille's invitation. But before he left, he said something which made Zannie feel overwhelmed. 

"You don't have to be harsh on me in situations like this. I still have to grasp everything, Zannie.”

Zannie ignored Howard's words. Meanwhile, she just washed her hands and went straight to her own room.

“Howard was talking to me as if he's already changed. He's good at faking his personality. I finally understand why my dad used to tell me that higher-ups in a big company are all two-faced.”

She let out a sigh as she was still peeking at the people outside.