Hoping vs. Expecting
"Hoping is believing that there is a possibility in a certain situation while expecting is believing that the possibility is certainly possible."
These two words were always confused to be the same thing without even realizing it. Hoping and expecting were not the same at all. Hoping could rule out any major disappointments, whereas, expecting could give dissatisfactions and dismays if desires were not fulfilled.
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"Hi, Kenzo! How are you? Are you free tonight? Let's have dinner." Senthie's message made KENZO punch the air. He was extremely delighted by her ex-girlfriend's text. His heart was dancing and pounding so hard as if it was going to burst. He was waiting for this day to come.
Kenzo cleared his throat and sat on the edge of his bed before replying to Senthie with a wide smile on his face. "Really? Sounds great! Wait for me in front of the mall, I'll pick you up."
Senthie replied right away. "Oh, no need. I've brought my car with me. Anyway, it's my treat, so I will let you do the thinking. We'll eat at the resto of your choice."
Kenzo typed, "noted, ma'am. I will send you the location right away." After hitting the send button, he placed a hand on his pounding chest, and mumbled, "why does this feel like my crush just asked me out on a date?"
His phone's message tone interrupted him. He looked at the screen and opened the text message from Senthie.
"By the way, Cecile is joining us, too."
Kenzo's anticipation went down the drain. "I thought we'd be finally spending time alone together again. I guess it was just my wishful thinking." He let out an audible sigh and smiled sadly. "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."
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SENTHIE and Cecile had just closed Fashion Sen's and were now in the car.
"Rychicken's Barbecue?" Senthie gasped as soon as she checked her phone to see Kenzo's reply. Her voice made Cecile pause on buckling up her seatbelt. She was sitting in the passenger's seat while Senthie on the driver's seat.
"Why do you sound like that? Have you eaten there before?" Cecile asked.
Senthie shook her head, brows furrowed, her gaze on the phone's screen. "No, it's just that... The name of the restaurant is bothering me."
"Rychicken..." Cecile uttered while buckling up her seatbelt. "Ah, you mean, you think the name was derived from... For example, from the owner's name just like Fashion Sen's?"
Senthie nodded and Cecile laughed. "Oh, come on, bes! There's a lot of people with the name Rychie!"
Senthie gripped the steering wheel tightly. "But my intuition smells something else, or am I just overthinking?" She laughed at herself and nodded as she loosened her grip. "Yes, that must be it. I'm just overthinking things."
Cecile chuckled as she folded her arms. "That's Senthie for you! She asks and then also answers her own question! Very convenient!"
"I know, right?" she said as she turned on the engine and started to drive--brushing off her gut feeling's suspicion. "Let's go!"
When they had reached their destination, they saw Kenzo waiting outside the restaurant for them.
"Kenzo!" Cecile shouted. Kenzo turned his gaze to them and smiled brightly as he walked toward them.
"Did you wait long?" Senthie asked as soon as they neared each other.
He shook his head and smiled. "Not at all, then shall we?"
The ladies let Kenzo lead the way. He was at the front and they were behind him a few feet away.
Cecile was obviously excited, so she walked faster to keep up the pace with Kenzo, but Senthie yanked her arm and murmured, "bes, wait up. My anxiety attacks."
Cecile rolled her eyes and huffed. "What are you talking about? Just relax, okay? Rychie's not here and if he is, I wonder if he even remembers you."
Senthie pouted and glared at her. "You're so bad!"
Cecile shrugged and gave her a smile that looked like she was going to burst out laughing at any time.
A few moments had passed and they were now inside the restaurant. Kenzo turned around to face the two and pointed his hand at the table in the middle. "Guys, that's our reserved table. Let's go."
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At the Rychicken's office...
RYCHIE was in his restaurant's office and seemed serious. If anyone would see him now, they would think that he was doing some paperwork and reviewing some of his business's expenses--but it wasn't what it looked like. He was just doodling on a paper, drawing a chibi version of his best friend, Jimhuesh.
His concentration was interrupted by a knock on the door. He grabbed a notebook to cover his doodle before he invited the person behind the door to come in.
Rychie's eyes went wide as soon as his gaze landed on the wet red puffy eyes of a lady.
"Ana, what happened? Is there a problem?" he asked sincerely as he stood up from his seat to come closer to his employee.
Ana's eyes kept on tearing up and she was sobbing continuously as if she had bad hiccups. "Sir, my sister just called me. We have an emergency at home. Is it okay if I go home now?"
Rychie patted Ana's back and nodded. "Okay... It's okay, don't cry. You can, I'll allow you. Just keep me posted, okay? Call me if you need any help."
Ana's sobs cooled down a bit. "Thank you very much, sir."
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CECILE couldn't help but glance at Kenzo and Senthie alternately. The atmosphere they were giving off was so awkward that even she didn't know how to break the ice. Kenzo was just staring at Senthie, while Senthie's gaze was on one thing to another, Cecile thought that her best friend might break her neck any moment now. Cecile thought that Senthie might still be anxious about the thing they had talked about a while ago.
"What's wrong, Sen? Are you looking for something or perhaps, someone?" Kenzo asked, initiating a conversation. Cecile heaved a sigh of relief.
"Huh? No. I was just wondering where is the restroom," Senthie replied awkwardly. Cecile secretly rolled her eyes at her best friend's lame answer.
"Oh..." Kenzo nodded and directed a hand toward the narrow way on the corner. "Just turn there and you'll see it."
Cecile rolled her eyes again and shook her head at how Kenzo was easy to convince.
"Oh, I see. Thanks!"
Cecile sighed at how Senthie flashed a fake forced smile at Kenzo. Cecile thought that it was unfair to Kenzo if Senthie's focus was all over the uncertain 'Rychie thing.'
"Come on, Sen. Don't be so paranoid!" Cecile whispered-shout at Senthie's ear. "I'm telling you, there is no Rychie here!"
Senthie whispered back, "I'm just making sure!"
Kenzo cleared his throat making the two sit properly and stop whispering to each other. Kenzo was in front of them and didn't seem comfortable. Senthie let out an awkward laugh and apologized, then Cecile raised a question to divert the attention to something else.
"What are these flags?" Cecile pulled out the yellow triangular flag in a stick on the wooden vase that Senthie was now holding. Cecile inspected the flag and flipped it to the side, a note was written on it, "bill out."
Kenzo leaned on the table and chuckled. "Interesting, right? Those are like signs or a way to communicate to the waiters here. A green flag means ready to order, a red flag means order not completed yet, the yellow flag means bill out, and the rainbow one for other concerns."
"Wow, that's a cool concept. We don't need to shout or call for the waiter anymore. Unless they're not paying attention to customers, otherwise, this flag-raising would be nothing but useless," Senthie raised her opinion.
Kenzo smiled. "Don't worry, all the employees here are attentive."
"You must have frequented this resto a lot," Cecile stated, placing back the yellow flag on the vase that Senthie had put back on the table.
Kenzo chuckled. "Yes, their chicken is my favorite!"
"Uh, guys?" Senthie hinted that she must have wanted their attention. "You can go ahead and order, anything's fine with me. I'll just go to the ladies' room."
Cecile and Kenzo nodded and agreed with Senthie.
"Is Sen okay? Does she feel under the weather or something?" Kenzo asked Cecile as soon as Senthie went off.
Cecile shook her head and chuckled. "Nah, she's fine. She's just nervous about ordering food."
Kenzo chuckled as he placed a hand on the back of his neck. "I guess you might be right about that."
"Oh! By the way, I don't know what to order. Why don't you order for us? Then problem solved!"
"Okay, got this." Kenzo raised the green flag.
Cecile's eyes roamed around to see if there were any waiters around. When she didn't see anyone, she looked over her shoulder only to see a familiar man. Her eyes widened in surprise, her breath halted as the redhead man with a samurai bun approached them.
Cecile gasped and thought to herself, "oh, god, that's definitely him!"
She turned her gaze back in front of her, which was Kenzo who was now smiling at the waiter who stood right by their table.
"Good evening, ma'am, sir," the redhead man greeted them respectively. "May I take your order?"
Cecile avoided interaction, her gaze on the other side, and her brows were furrowed as she sucked up her lower lip and thought to herself, "Sen's intuition was right after all. Rychie is here!"
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Hello, Noomiells!
Thank you for reading this chapter! Hope you liked it. :)
Have you ever been asked out on a date by your crush? :D
Did you imagine Rychie making a doodle of Jimhuesh? Do you think he could draw well?
What about spot-on intuition? Have you experienced it too? (When you feel anxious that you are almost certain that an event--especially an unpleasant one--would definitely happen in the future, and then it really happened.)
I would like to know your opinion. Please, let me know! :D