Until You

Charlie, please?

They were not handling it.

By the time afternoon rolled around, it was clear that running Wraps & Roll at this stage wasn't meant for two people anymore, especially on a Friday. Despite it not yet being payday, it seemed like everyone, and their best friend decided to eat out for lunch at NomCom. While their vegetarian food wasn't as popular as the sizzling plates or the tacos, they had a good line for lunch today that had Charlie and Fay very busy for the next few hours.

It was past three o'clock when they finally served their last order. Fay slumped down on one corner of the stall, chomping tiredly on one of the rejected wraps that had a missing ingredient, while Charlie sank on the seat by their computer, resting her head on the table with her eyes closed.

"What time should we start on the online orders, Ate Charlie?" Fay asked in between chews.

"Five minutes." They had about thirty packages to assemble today—not as many as they had last Wednesday's delivery, but it was still a lot, especially since there's still the Friday dinner crowd. The online side of her business was one of the things that her family often questioned after she opened at NomCom, but she had refused to do that. Wraps & Roll had built a loyal following in the first year it had been online, and not all their previous customers could go to NomCom. Besides, these online orders helped pay for their other costs. Sure, it was extra work, but it was the kind that Charlie enjoyed.

Except for today, that is.

"How long do you think until Sophie's okay?"

"I don't know, maybe for the rest of the week?" Mira had called earlier to give her an update. Sophie's asthma was now under control, but she needed to take complete rest until her pulmonologist gave her clearance. Mira had come up with suggestions so she could still work, but Charlie refused, knowing that the sisters lived over an hour away, and she didn't want Mira to worry about work.

"Should we find someone to help out next week?"

They should do that. That meant training whoever it was on how things were done, though, and Charlie wasn't sure if she had time for that. Maybe they should just close for the week and focus on their online orders. Except that closing meant wasting their rent for a few days, not to mention the loss of profit, and she wasn't in a confident enough place to do that just yet.

"Let me ask around." Maybe someone in the NomCom group chat can give her leads, or if not, Charlie could also ask her sister's boyfriend, who also ran a restaurant. "Unless you know someone, Fay?"

"Sir Isi...Sid?"

Charlie wrinkled her nose, eyes still closed. "Why would Sid help us? He's probably busy with his own thing."

"Help you with what?"

Her eyes flew open as she shot her head up quickly–too quickly that the sudden movement made her head spin. Groaning a little bit, she closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, waiting for the dizziness to subside, then slowly opened them again. For the second time that day, Sid Agustin stood before her, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Are you okay, Charlie?"

How many times had he asked her that today? "Yeah, just a bit tired." And a lot stunned, no thanks to how radiant he seemed to look right now. He wore a different outfit this morning, this time with a fitted, dark blue shirt that would look ordinary on anyone but looked annoyingly great on him and black jeans that made him look even taller. His hair was still damp as if he had just gotten out from a shower and brushed back to give her a better view of his forehead, that silver jewelry at the corner of this right eyebrow, and those big, sparkling eyes.