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The sound of the alarm ringing loudly broke into Gabriella's sense of hearing. Her eyes, which were closed, began to open slowly. It took some time for the woman to finally blink her eyes and get out of her cozy bed. Since becoming an adult, Gabriella had realized that good quality sleep was getting harder and harder to come by and after a few days away from Wira at her old workplace, Gabriella was even more convinced that getting enough sleep was what she needed most right now.


Gabriella prepared herself for about thirty minutes. The clothes and belongings she would be taking with her to the new workplace had already been prepared last night, so the twenty-seven-year-old only had to prepare herself, while dressing up a little.

The time set on the cell phone alarm was also sped up by about thirty minutes, giving Gabriella enough time to drive herself in her car in the middle of New York City.

Unlike the resting hours, Selera Chinnese Food was noticeably quieter at eight in the morning. When Gabriella came downstairs, the hanging sign that read closed was still displayed on the restaurant's main door. She pulled her totebag and laptop bag from the seat, before walking into the restaurant without any awkwardness. Gabriella was full of confidence, it was only natural that Wira would trust her. In the end, though, it was Wira himself who made Gabriella walk away from the man.


"Are you there yet?"

Ken's voice coming from one of the tables made Gabriella turn her head. She smiled politely, but only for a moment, before her hesitant stride led her to the owner of Selera Chinnese Food.


"So, have you chosen to be a freelance or full time worker?"

Gabriella pulled out the chair in front of Ken, then carefully placed her totebag and laptop bag on the table. She nodded, then lowered her hands from the table and rubbed her palms on her thighs. "I think I want to take the full-time offer. So, I'm asking for regulations that are clear and completely in line with the contract we're going to sign today."

The man in the tosca-colored short shirt that served as an outer for his white T-shirt smiled. He seemed to nod afterward, before handing Gabriella a brown folder with red lines on the outside. "Here, read it first. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask. But if it's clear and you're ready with all the rules in the folder, there are some papers that you can sign right there."

Respectfully, Gabriella pulled out the folder and began to open it. The woman found two pieces of paper inside the folder, then pulled them out from inside. Gabriella's gray eyes, which were wearing softlens, now observed the writing printed on the white paper.

"Your working hours are from nine to five, the restaurant closes at nine at night, on Saturday and Sunday we close at ten. If there is an event, you must attend and our weekly meeting is on Monday. If you agree to all the rules, you can sign and after this, we'll meet in another room."

The American woman looked up, saw Ken and raised her eyebrows in amazement. "There's a meeting room here too?"

"There is, in the back. It's a separate building from the restaurant, usually used for employee breaks, there's a prayer room for Muslims, there's my room there and a meeting room." Ken shrugged his shoulders indifferently, then grinned triumphantly. "It's not big, but I try to make all my employees here comfortable. Your function here is obviously to increase profits, but more important than that is that I want to strengthen my branding on social media."

Gabriella nodded her head, signaling that she understood what her boss wanted. She smoothed the papers in her hand onto the table, then said, "The rules and job desk on this paper, I think you explained everything yesterday and I'm pretty okay with it."

"Do you want to sign it?"

"Sure," Gabriella agreed.

Ken took a pen out of his shirt pocket, handed it to Gabriella and said, "Just use this."

"Thanks." The woman in a black blazer with a vertical stripe pattern and long black culottes that touched her ankles accepted the pen gladly, then did so happily. The few columns that needed to be filled in with her signature were now well filled in, complete with Gabriella's long name. Gabriella then handed the two papers on the table to Ken. "Here."

"Okay," Ken said and examined the two pieces of paper. His eyes scanned Gabriella's signature, before finally looking at her again and smiling. "Welcome to Selera Chinnese Food. Here are the contract papers, one for me and one for you. Here, take good care of it. If I treat you badly, this paper can help, right?"

Gabriella snorted in amusement and pulled out the paper Ken had given her. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, no, I'm also a professional when it comes to work. I-"

"Ken!"

Another voice echoed in the spacious room, making both Gabriella and Ken turn their eyes immediately to the source of the sound. There was another woman there, her body long and slender. Her cleavage was clearly exposed because of the casual dress she was wearing that morning. Carrying a small red bag that matched her outfit, the woman walked up to Ken. Her interlocked foreheads gave the impression of displeasure and anger gathered into one.

"Why did you just block all my social media?"

The man who was still sitting casually in his chair raised both eyebrows, a little surprised indeed, but in fact, Ken did not give any meaningful reaction there. Ken looked at Gabriella before finally turning to the woman who now had her arms crossed over her chest.

"You think it's that easy to break up with me? No, Ken," she said, then shook her head. The woman then left Ken's gaze and moved to Gabriella who was still watching him casually in her chair. "What are you looking at? Are you Ken's mistress? Why are you hanging out here so early, you can read the closed sign out front, right?"

Gabriella frowned in surprise. How could this woman with her beautiful body, which she showed off for free, also spray Gabriella there, although of course Gabriella didn't know anything about it.

Ken moved on. "Stef, let's not get weird. Let's talk outside," he said and pulled Stefani's hand, heading out of the restaurant. "Elle, wait here for a minute, okay?"


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