Chapter 21: Breakfast
1005 Words
Roger looked at Jessica with a poker face as he dumped her on the sofa in his room.
"Ow! what the hell! You are so barbaric! You could have broken my arm!" Jessica rubbed her arm, exaggerating her voice on purpose.
"That would be too lenient," Roger simply replied and turned around, pouring himself a glass of wine.
"Um…are you okay? Wine in the morning?" Jessica asked, eying his glass. It was not even ten o'clock! He's crazy, Jessica thought to herself.
"Did you eat breakfast?" Roger asked her.
Jessica stared at him, confused. Why was he being nice to her?
"Um…yes…I mean no…" Jessica replied, remembering how she had felt dreadful this morning and decided to skip the breakfast. She had been planning to grab a coffee on the way, but it slipped her mind.
"Why didn't you?" Roger commanded.
"Um, because I didn't feel like?" Jessica replied in a confused tone. She was unsure how to answer Roger as he had never asked her any question before like this.
She watched as he walked towards the room telephone and dialed a number.
"Yes, room service, please. I would like two plates of the traditional breakfast. Yes. Yes, coffee and orange juice."
Jessica felt she was in the Twilight Zone. Was he ordering breakfast for both of them? She sat on the sofa quietly, without making a peep. She felt as if she was dealing with someone with bipolar disorder. One day he was ready to murder her, and now he cared enough to ask her if she had eaten?! The sun must have risen from the other side today!
She watched him doing his work, sorting through papers, and typing something on his phone. When the knock came from the door, he put down his work and opened the door. Jessica watched as one of her coworkers, the chef, rolled a cart in which was filled to the brim with food. They had certainly gone above and beyond, which made sense since he was their boss.
The chef, when noticing her, gave her a weird and confused look. Since they worked downstairs in the kitchen, Jessica guessed news about her and Roger had not traveled down there yet. She smiled innocently and shrugged her shoulders.
When the chef left, Roger uncovered the trolley and grabbed two chairs.
"Come, eat." He ordered Jessica as he sat down and grabbed the plate, starting to pile it high with food.
Jessica gingerly stood and walked over. "You didn't have to do this," she mumbled quietly, not knowing how to respond to his kindness.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why did you skip it?" Roger replied.
"Um…I just did not feel like eating it…" Jessica shrugged her shoulders.
"Why?"
Jessica looked up in surprise. That last why immediately reminded her of her son. Evan asks her questions and keeps on going with ‘Why…why…' It drove Jessica crazy sometimes, but she enjoyed his incessant talking. She tried to break herself out of the trance as she realized she was staring at Roger in a weird way.
"Sorry…um…I just did not have a good night last night, I guess…"
Roger frowned as he chewed his eggs slowly. He did not question her further. He could guess he was the reason for the rough night last night as the image of her shaking shoulders came to his mind.
Jessica piled her plate high with food. It was not often that she got to enjoy this much food from a restaurant. She could not even remember when was the last time she had eaten out. They ate their breakfasts quietly, only the sounds of their cutlery breaking the silence.
When they finished, Jessica was full to the brim. She had thoroughly enjoyed the food and hoped Roger did not mind her eating most of the food off the trolley.
"Um…thank you for that," Jessica spoke up.
Roger nodded.
"Um…I should get going, I guess…" She hesitantly spoke up.
Again, he nodded.
"Alright then," she stood up and wheeled the food trolley outside the door. "Bye then," she spoke awkwardly.
"Bye," he finally replied.
As she got on the elevator, Jessica felt confused. Did this just happen, or was she still dreaming? She pinched herself hard. Ow! Nope, it was definitely not a dream.
Something had changed in Roger from last night. He was more kind and seemed more caring towards her, but why? Just last night, he had kept on reminding her that his ultimate goal was revenge. And now he was telling her to eat breakfast and ordering her food? Unless that's part of his revenge, a voice spoke up in her mind. Oh come on, Jessica muttered to herself. I'm sure he did not poison the food; it came straight from the kitchens!
She felt strangely happy at the thought. Maybe he had changed his mind about revenge and decided she did not deserve any of his torture? Even though this was too good to be true, Jessica could not help but imagine that he would invite her into his room every day for breakfast or lunch and make sure she ate properly, that he would not let anyone else talk about them, that she would introduce Evan to him.
Oh, hold up, Jessica! You're going way too far!
Jessica shook her head out of the clouds and walked to the change room. The reality was that he was still her boss, and she was still a cleaner here. Although they were husband and wife, it did not change anything. And she was a mother, first and foremost. Evan was the most important thing in her life right now, and she could not afford anything that would possibly harm him.
Jessica changed into her work clothes, rolled out the cleaning trolley, and started another long shift.
- Writer
