Chapter 7

KAI was few steps away from Blessie when he turn his gaze back to her and watched her from a distance. He carefully watch her, she seems to be different from the last time he saw her.

“Maybe I’m just over reacting things,” He grumbled and walked away with a smile on his face—an inexplicable satisfaction that he can't disguise.

“What's up with that grin on your face, Kai?” Robert asked Kai when ran into him on his way out of the kitchen.

“Nothing,” he quickly answered.

“Kai, why are you keeping me in the dark? Isn't it true that we're friends?” Robert stated in an overly dramatic tone.

“Stop it, Robert; don't get yourself into trouble by being curious about anything. You're behaving like an old hag who gossips,” Kai spoke without reservation, ignoring the fact that his remarks would offend his friend. And then proceeded to the kitchen to double-check and prepare the ingredients for the menu.

When he entered the kitchen, he projected a domineering personality and started prepping the dishes he'd serve later. Everyone is busy, so the kitchen is noisy: the sharp banging noise of the casserole, the fast chopping sounds of knives on cutting board, the rattling sounds of plates being washed, the blazing fire soaring high coming from the wok because of the liquor that was poured on it, and the delicious smell of the food that will make you want to taste it right away.

For the last few hours, the entire kitchen had been filled with noise, smoke, and bustling employees executing their assigned tasks. Even though his mind was drifting off and thinking about Blessie, Kai kept himself controlled and systematic for those hours. He sped up his movements like a robot who never tires in order to finish his work quickly so that he could see Blessie again. However, something occurred to him at that precise moment.

"How come she introduced herself as Sittie when her given name is Blessie?" I'm not convinced she's the real deal.”

When Blessie's face appeared in Kai's head, he cursed beneath his breath. “Dammit! She reminds me of her!”

He shook his head, convincing himself that the girl he had seen a few hours before was not the one she had met the last time. What frustrates him the most is why and for what reason she would conceal her true identity from him. Is she frightened towards him? Is she afraid he'll do anything terrible to her?

“That is ridiculous. Why would I harm her if I had wanted to help her in the first place? Has she ever considered it?” He inquired while contemplating his own self.

Kai continued to look for clues as to why Blessie was disguising her identity till he saw something to her a while ago.

“Wait a minute, there's something off about her from the last time we met. The atmosphere is entirely different. Last time I saw her, she was kind of simple and straightforward, but now—- when she saw me, I found that it shocked her, and she just tried to compose herself. But what if I'm wrong? What if she really meant what she said and felt we'd never see each other again? What a badass.”

Kai restarts his analysis of the options, but it does not satisfy him in the slightest. He pushed himself to think of more plausible Blessie reasons till he found one that worked out for him that he hadn't realized in the first place.

“Did I happen to meet her twin sister?”

Again, he began to compare the two girls he met in terms of how they spoke, acted, and dressed. That's when he noticed there's not much of a difference between the two save for the fact that they have the same face.

“It may explain her protective demeanor, but this is insane!” He muttered to himself in bewilderment.

At that point, the words of Blessie to him from a while ago resurface in his ears.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry." Stop acting like we don't know each other because I meant what I said last time.”

That can't be! She is not her identical twin. She's the last person I saw. She wouldn't have referred the last time if she wasn't the one I met, so she is most likely the one I met. But why would she behave that way? Is it possible that I harmed her?

While his mind was overtaken by frustration and haze, he missed to notice that the food he was making was on fire.

“Chef! Chef!” His assistant yelled at him, pleading for his attention.

Kai jolted to after hearing his assistant's loud scream and the wailing sound of the smoke detector.

“Holy crap! Why did I make such a blunder?” In his panic, he cursed and quickly grabbed a damp towel and placed it on the smoke detector to stop it from screaming. When the detector stopped, he eventually caught his breath and bowed his head in relief. He raised his head after a few breaths, and to his shock, all of his personnel' eyes were on him.

“Wait a minute—-Crap! Keep your head up, Kai!”

Kai coughed in order to gather his thoughts. “What are you looking at? Re Return to your work now! ” he yelled, and to their surprise, they quickly resumed their tasks as he continued his work.

“Cris, what are you doing?” He questioned his sous-chef, who was staring at him.

“Chef, are you all right? You seem to be bothered.” With a troubled tone, he said.

Kai gave him a stern glance, causing him to close his mouth and return to his counter. He wanders his gaze once more to see if his personnel are still gazing at him, and they are, as expected, but they swiftly divert their gaze away from him when they catch him looking. He let out a sigh and resumed his cooking.

“I need to get my act together!” he said, pulling himself together. He needed to concentrate, especially since there were only a few hours till the event began.