An Old Story 017

"Fakri, could you help me with this?" Seohyun asked the chef to help her carry boxes and boxes of new products from the supplier. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and the restaurant was empty.

"Sure. I need a raise thou." Fakri said jokingly.

"Hey." Seohyun called with a worried tone. "Fakri, are you... are you in debt? Please tell me the truth."

Fakri looked away and kept on carrying the boxes.

"Fakri, come one, you've been working here for years and you're my friend. If there's anything, tell me."

"I'm not in debt, but my son is." The 38 year old man sighed.

"You mean Azam?" She asked, remember seeing Fakri's second son as a materialistic teenager.

"No, although he spends a lot, he works part time for it. Zaid's the one owing money." He sighed even more.

"What?" Seohyun was surprised. Zaid was the eldest child. He was a grade A++ student and everyone said that he'll be the most successful out of Fakri's 5 children.

"Hard to believe huh? He borrowed money from loan sharks. Loan sharks!!"

He stood there wondering what to do. His son needed 50 000 dollars to clear the debt. To Fakri, 50 000 dollars is an amount he could only dreamed of having. How is he going to get the money? Even selling everything wouldn't cover half of it. Taking up a few jobs at a time wasn't helping much either.

Seohyun comforted him. "It's going to be alright. Trust me."

Fakri tried to smile. He continued carrying the boxes but Seohyun stopped him.

"Hey, you're tired. Go home and rest for the day. I'll take it from here."

"I need to work."

"Don't worry. I'll pay you double if you go home and rest for the day. Besides, Alen's going to come in 15 minutes." With that, she took his apron and shoved him out of the kitchen. She also managed to hand Fakri a box of cream puffs.

"But he can't even cook an egg!" Fakri shouted from outside the restaurant.

"I'll be head chef for today. Bye Fakri!" She gave him a wink and turned back into the kitchen.