In the rainy season, the sound of water dripping from the eaves was bothersome. Sidney carried a large bag of freshly delivered flour and staggered into the big kitchen. One of the cooks saw her and shouted at her to hurry up, as the supplies were waiting to be used. Sidney quickly stepped outside, hoisted a box of butter into her arms, and carried it back inside, carefully placing it in the freezer.
After unloading the supplies, she was busy washing baking trays and wiping the metal trays, barely having time to lift her head. Soon, the bread was ready to come out of the oven, and she was busy laying out fresh bread. The bakery was bustling with a lively crowd.
Sidney watched for a moment, then hurried back into the kitchen. She stayed busy until closing time, and afterward, she had to clean up.
When she left the house, all she wanted was to leave, and forget all the memories there. So, she immediately bought a plane ticket to C City, choosing it simply because the layover was the shortest. This city was unfamiliar to her, a place she had never set foot in before. All she had heard about it was that it was humid, with cold winters and hot summers. At first, she didn't believe it, but after living there for a few months, she began to realize that this place was indeed unusually damp.
After saying goodbye to the other chefs and exchanging polite pleasantries, Sidney hurried to finish cleaning, changed out of her work clothes, and walked out of the store. After locking the door, she opened her umbrella and stepped into the rain.
The rain wasn't heavy, but it was enough to soak her feet. Sidney wasn't in a hurry like before. She tightened her coat around her chest and adjusted her scarf, leisurely strolling in the rain. She stopped by a street vendor to buy a hot drink, sipping it as she walked. When she paid, the vendor glanced at her left hand, which was holding the umbrella.
Her short boots clicked against the rain-soaked ground. She switched the hot drink from her right hand to her left, warming it up.
Sidney, fresh out of college and married without any work experience, found it difficult to land a full-time job right away. However, she wasn't keen on working in an office environment either. After a few frustrating days of job hunting from a small motel, she finally decided to take up an assistant position at a local bakery.
The bakery owner hesitated at first, looking at Sidney's delicate appearance. The position of assistant was the lowest in the shop, with plenty of tasks to be done, most of which involved being ordered around. But Sidney didn't look like someone who would be easily pushed around.
Sidney repeatedly promised and swore that she would not get discouraged, and only then did the boss reluctantly allow her to stay.
After finding a job, Sidney entered an extremely busy period, so busy that she had no time to think about past grudges or fall into self-pitying sadness. When she received her first month's salary, she used the little savings she had left to pay for the hotel and rented an extremely cheap apartment, starting her new life.
Sidney returned to the small rented apartment, switching on the dim, yellowish 20-watt bulb. She sat in the cramped space, barely big enough to fit a chair. The room, no bigger than two tatami mats, felt suffocating. She set her unfinished drink on the low, foldable table, then switched on the tiny 20-inch TV, trying to add some noise to the silence. She planned to grab some fresh clothes and take a hot shower, though the bathroom was barely big enough to stand in. Afterward, the floor would always be soaked, and she'd have to wipe down the toilet, too. The rent was cheap, but it came with its downsides. There were no windows, and the dampness in C City only made things worse. Recently, Sidney had discovered that many of her belongings had started to mildew. After a moment of frustration, she bought a dehumidifier, and now, she had to run it constantly. The water it extracted was used to flush the toilet or mop the floor, a small consolation for the inconvenience.
She pulled out a small electric stove from under the low table, boiled some water, and quickly made herself a bowl of hearty soup with noodles. She ate it quickly, brushing her teeth afterward and heading to bed early. The next day, she'd have to be up at five to prepare for work at the bakery. She enjoyed these busy days, so full that she didn't have the time or energy to think about anything else.
She kept her old habit of not turning off the light. Staring at the yellow bulb, she calculated that she had been here for five months. Starting life anew, no one knew her, and they thought she was just an ordinary woman who had come to C City to find work. She didn't volunteer any information about her past and, when people asked out of curiosity, she only said that she was an orphan without parents and had come to C City because she heard it was easy to find work.
No one ever suspected anything. It was probably because Sidney's appearance was so harmless that they were more inclined to take care of her.
The rain outside was still falling, and the sound of raindrops on the skylight was especially clear at night. Sidney had always found it hard to fall asleep, and now she couldn't sleep at all. She thought of Jayson. The last time she thought of him was half a month ago. Recently, she had gradually stopped thinking about him, which she considered a good sign.
She knew he hadn't gone through with the divorce yet, because she hadn't received any notification.
She didn't know what he was thinking, but she believed that as long as they were separated long enough, even if she filed for divorce unilaterally, it would be approved.
In fact, she didn't hate him as much as she did before. Back then, she always thought she would lose the child because of Jayson's vengeful actions. If he had listened to her and hadn't made threats against Deandre, Deandre wouldn't have retaliated, wouldn't have kidnapped her, and she wouldn't have lost her finger, let alone her child.
But now, with a calmer mindset, she thought maybe it was better for the child not to be with them. If the child grew up in an environment like Jayson's, there was no guarantee that their personality wouldn't be similar to his, and eventually take over Opal Lounge from him, replicating Jayson's life.
It was always complicated there.
She didn't want her child to have such a complicated life.
She comforted herself like this now.
