Friendly Dinner

"The dinner is ready. Eat it." Zannie handed a bowl with a newly boiled egg on it.

"Thank you," he replied nicely. He didn't ask Zannie to prepare something for him after they safely arrived at the barracks and cleaned other rooms for their fellow colleagues. But he concluded, that was just the girl's way to thank him for saving her out of embarrassment.

“That’s our first dinner, Mr. CEO,” Zannie said as she started to eat her own food. The young man just let her go first. But she noticed how Howard remained staring at her and still did not eat the food she had prepared for him.

 "Is there any problem?" She deliberately released the spoon from her hands because she was conscious of Howard's stare; she probably had put more salt in the boiled egg in his dish.

"Nothing." Howard even smiled at her before he started eating. 

Zannie just nodded. "If you don't like the dish, I'm sorry. The canned goods you often eat are also out of stock. Maybe our comrades already consumed all of them." 

She smiled apologetically.

Howard chuckled. "Actually, you don't have to do that. I can prepare my own food. As for what happened earlier, don't think too much about it. Tomorrow will be fine, I promised."

"I'm really ashamed of you. I always insult you but I don't expect you to defend me. It’s the only thing that I could do."

“As of now.” He put a grin on his face.

“As of now? Are you trying to say that you want me to do things for you after this?” Zannie’s brows furrowed while asking.

“Yep. Because I think that we’re gonna meet again even if this humanitarian activity ends and about what happened to you, I know you're right, and you don't deserve to be embarrassed. Even if you're not, when that's the case, I'll still defend you."

Zannie smiled as she took another taste of their dinner. "You're not a cruel CEO then. Maybe you're also defending colleagues and other employees under you."

"Nope. I haven't done that yet. While the crazy head officer scolded you earlier, I remembered all my mistakes as CEO. I saw how scared people were of him, I also observed that there were very few people he could get along with here. I've realised that we're no different. And believe me, it's not fun to avoid and fear." Howard smiled with a bitterness in his mind. 

"I felt so regretful. I realised late that I was hurt and resentful a lot. Actually, it was only here that I experienced having friends and it was here that I experienced the toxic free environment. It was very different from what I was used to," she continued.

"It's funny because you're really reflecting on your behaviour now." Zannie even tried to hide another ear to ear smile of hers. She is starting to get to know the real Howard Fontabella, it is also possible that she will lose her annoyance at him. With that kind of attitude, Howard was getting more handsome in her eyes.

"Good then. I hope that continues," Zannie replied. 

"Yeah. Thanks to you."

"Your welcome—"

Howard was surprised by Zannie's sudden strangulation. Her cough was also steady and she seemed to have difficulty breathing. 

He immediately gave Zannie a glass of water. "Are you okay?"

Zannie nodded twice. "That egg is salty. I've added too much salt." 

She even winced before Howie smiled. "Apologies for that."

"That's why. You almost ate the salt," Howard pointed to the plate with rice and salt behind the boiled egg.

"That's right. I didn't notice much, I've gotten worse."

"Okay." Howard finished his dinner and he was ahead of Zannie. After that, he stood up and went outside to breathe some air. He managed to smile when they were no longer facing the girl.

‘I rarely see Zannie’s smile, and surprisingly she already smiles at me. But even more surprisingly, I was already smiling because of her smile.'

Howard looked up above the starry sky. "Why do I feel like I'm starting to know myself more? There's more things that I have to fix when I return to SLI. I have a lot to apologize for."

He allowed himself to think of good things he should do when going back to Manila. But he couldn't help but feel sad when he thought that he would leave Trias. Yes, he admitted he didn’t like this place before but here he felt the importance of human fellowship. He realized that there were more things to focus on besides business. Life does not just revolve around business growth. Every opportunity to enjoy life must be spent well. His father always said that he didn't have to focus too much on the company. He even pushed her to date or attend the reunion of his old friends, but he always said 'no'. 

He is not the type who prefers to socialize with people. He became accustomed to sulking due to the failure of his relationship with his ex-girlfriend. And when he got the position as CEO, he felt even more pressure. His ex left her because of his imperfections. Because of his ex-girlfriend, Tanya's, family is business oriented and so is it. An argument led to their breakup, Howard was not interested in business then because he really dreamed of becoming an engineer. 

Tanya is against what he likes because it has been urging him to get hands on with SLI for a long time even though it's not Howard's goal in the first place. They have been in a relationship since they were high school students. Tanya's ideal husband is the man who will inherit her family's business, and for her, being just an ordinary employee will never bring a stable wealth. According to her point of view, it is better for her to marry a boss than just an employee. She believed it so strongly that it was contrary to Howard's beliefs.

Enough of this drama. Howard, on the other hand, cut off his sudden recollection of his ex-girlfriend. He no longer has feelings for Tanya and the only thing left for the girl is her huge influence on his attitude now. Because of Tanya, he became a man who's not satisfied at all. He became a perfectionist and became selfish.

“How are you, Tanya? Have you found your happiness with that guy when you left me?”