Chapter 10

Simmi's POV

" I can help you. Tell me, what can I do for you !! " I asked.

" Marry me!! " He said casually.

" What?? " I asked again as I was sure, I heard something wrong.

" Marry me!! " He said again very casually as if I had asked him what is the time.

" You are kidding, right? " I asked.

" No!! I am as serious as I can ever be." He said.

" Are you drunk or high on something? " I asked.

" I am not drunk, rest assured, I am absolutely sane. I want you to marry me. " He said.

A sane man would never do that.

" Please, leave!! " I pointed towards the door and said firmly.

" Listen to me, please! " He started saying but I didn't listen to him.

" Mr Wilson, I think it was brutal of you to say that. You know what happened to me... Still, you are asking me to get married to you?? I don't want to get married to anyone now. " I said.

" Do it as a favour to me... I can give you a job of your choice in my hotel, j will create a new job even if we don't have a vacancy." He said.

" Please leave!! I don't want to marry anyone. Please, leave as I want to sleep, it has been a very long day." I said.

" Here is my card... Please contact me. We can help each other. " He said.

" Thanks!! Good night! " I literally pushed him out of the door, closed the door and exhaled. I didn't know that I was holding my breath.

How could he ask me to marry him like that?? For god's sake, we didn't even know each other. He must be crazy. I slipped into my bed and the moment my head touched the pillow, I slept.

*******

It was 4 PM and I had been looking around in search of a job but either got very odd jobs or no offer at all.

It seemed that people here could not trust a foreigner like me to offer me a good one. So I decided to take the one which the manager had suggested, being a cook at a private villa.

I called the contact number that the man had given to me. I informed him that I was keen to take that job and he said that he would take me to meet the master of the villa. He asked me to be ready at 5:00 in the evening so that he could take me there to introduce myself and if everything goes well I can go to work at 7:00 a.m. from the next day.

I went to my room, washed my face and changed into a neat dress which was very simple and around 5 in the evening, the man came and I went to meet my prospective employer.

A man and a woman were waiting for me. The woman looked unwell and she asked me which cuisines could I prepare with absolute confidence and I told her that I could make almost all cuisines.

They offered to give me a sum of three thousand dollars. I had no option so agreed to do it. At least I would not have to worry about money.

" I would be here at sharp 7 in the morning. " I said and came back to my rented room. I thanked him for helping me in getting the job and asked him if he could find cheaper accommodation for me.

He said that I will get one in two days, I smiled at that and thanked him again.

********

It has been a week since I joined that villa. I started the job with full dedication and it was fine for the first two days but then they started asking me to do other jobs like cleaning and washing also apart from cooking which was irritating me because I was a professional chef, not their hired help.

But as I said earlier, beggars can't be choosers, so keeping my situation in mind, I kept on doing it until I get a better placement as a chef in some reputed restaurant or hotel.

But today, I could not take it anymore because the master of the villa tried to touch me in an inappropriate manner. I felt disgusted and could not bear it and slapped him very hard. He tried to corner me between the kitchen shelf and his large body but I caught a heavy-bottomed pan that was lying near the gas top and banged it on his head, he yelled at me and I ran away from there and went to my rented and shared apartment.

I had worked there for a week and he had already paid for the last week. Only the pay for the last day was pending but I was not going to go there again. But I informed the manager and the man, who had taken me to the villa, about the incident.

I was sharing the apartment with one girl named Jane. She was working as a waitress in a good restaurant and was about to leave for her duty when I reached back.

" Hey, Sim! What are you doing here at this time of the day aren't you supposed to be at work?

" I left the job."

" What? WHY? She asked me and I told her everything.

" Are you alright? I hope you have not been hurt in any way. " She asked.

" Oh, no! I am fine it's just that I am extremely angry at the moment. I found that job with so much difficulty and now I have to leave it. Now I'll have to go for another job hunt" I said with a hung head.

" If you want a job as a waitress, you can get one in a flash. I can get you that today itself." Jane said.

" I will do it... " I said. Though I was not very keen to do this job I had no other option because I had to earn money to pay for the rent and to meet both ends. I needed money desperately to get myself bread and butter.

I went to her restaurant with Jane and she introduced me to the manager. He was a kind man and listened to my request to give me a job in the kitchen.

" See, we have a vacancy for a waitress but there is no place for an additional chef in the kitchen right now. Though I assure you that now that I know you are a qualified chef, whenever there is a vacancy for a chef, I will give you a chance. " He said and nodded.

The pay was ok, and the working shift was not as long as the number of hours, I was spending at the villa. So I accepted the job.

But it was not easy to do that job especially when you were born with a silver spoon. My parents were filthy rich and could afford to buy many such restaurants.

Though I belonged to a conservative family, they never stopped me from pursuing my career option. They always said that I can do the work if my husband does not have any objection to it.

My father never told me, but I heard his conversation with my mom, one day accidentally as I was going to their room to talk about something, I heard him say that he was planning to help me in buying a luxurious restaurant for me to run as I really wanted to do it in my life.

He just didn't want me to work for anyone else and take orders from them. He always treated me as his princess and I didn't even bother to think about them before coming here for that good-for-nothing idiot.

I smiled sarcastically over the irony... my dad's princess was working as a waitress now serving dishes and taking back the used crockery from the guests to the kitchen and accepting tips for my service.

My dad would have died of shock if he ever comes to know what I was doing for my living. But I guess all this was temporary.

*****

It has been three days since I started working here as a waitress. And the manager of the hotel who had helped me find a job and house came to meet me.

" Hi!! I came across someone who was looking for a chef as the wife is pregnant and the husband is sick of trying to fulfil her food cravings. The couple seemed to be fine and in love with each other. It's their first child. If you want, I can arrange a meeting here." He said.

" Ok, let me meet them first before saying anything about the offer. " I said and he nodded. He asked me when was my shift going to end and I told him.

He came back and told me that the couple would be here any minute now. I nodded and hoped that I would like the couple so that I could accept the job. I prefer cooking over anything and was not very happy being a waitress. I didn't like the way some younger men hit on me while I was working.

Just then the door opened and I was shocked to see the man who entered the restaurant.

Liam??