Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Your Love Is a Public Service
As she rinsed the cutlery with boiling water, Cecilia Sterling asked with a smile, "You haven’t gone your whole first year of college without ever coming to this street, have you?"
Estelle Goodman shook her head, her brows knitted. She didn’t even know there was a food street behind the university.
Cecilia Sterling wasn’t surprised in the slightest. "I bet the biggest hardship you’ve ever had to endure was an iced Americano," she teased.
"But don’t worry. This little dive may look unsanitary, but in reality, it’s not clean at all."
"What?" A look of terror crossed Estelle Goodman’s face.
Cecilia Sterling burst out laughing. "I’m just messing with you. This street is right behind Lorcain Tech, so the clientele is mostly college students. That means the health department does surprise inspections all the time. The sanitation can’t compare to high-end restaurants, but you don’t need to worry too much."
"Most importantly, the food is amazing. You’ll understand once you try it."
Estelle Goodman might have been a bit sheltered, but she wasn’t a drama queen. She continued wiping the table with a napkin and looked at Cecilia Sterling earnestly. "Anyway, I said I’m treating you, so order whatever you want."
Cecilia Sterling smiled and nodded, setting out the freshly rinsed cutlery so Estelle Goodman would feel a little more at ease.
As the dinner rush began, the small diner started to fill up. The space was cramped, with tables packed so close together that leaning back even slightly meant bumping into the person behind you.
Estelle Goodman felt a bit out of her element, but she was also growing more curious about this kind of dive. The kitchen was just behind a curtain. It sounded chaotic inside, but the aromas wafting out were tantalizing.
’She was even starting to look forward to it.’
"Cecilia!"
It was inevitable to run into people you knew eating here. A few girls spotted Cecilia Sterling and eagerly came over to say hello.
Cecilia Sterling smiled back. They had all lived in the room next to her old one and were good people.
"I heard from Cindy Underwood that you moved out? Is it true?"
"I switched rooms. You all know I couldn’t get along with them," Cecilia Sterling explained. The drama in her old room was no secret in the East District Women’s Dormitory, and the girls next door were the most familiar with it.
The girls nodded in agreement. One of them said, "Good for you for moving out. Cindy Underwood is just jealous of you, leading those two spineless followers of hers to gang up on you."
Cecilia Sterling just smiled without saying anything, but Estelle Goodman was listening with rapt attention. She couldn’t help but ask, "So, Cecilia Sterling switched rooms because she was being ostracized?"
"Yep! You must be her new roommate, right? You’d better get along with Cecilia. She’s a really good person."
Cecilia Sterling actually felt a little embarrassed being defended and praised to her face like that.
Estelle Goodman looked at Cecilia Sterling with an expression of sympathy. ’How could anyone have the heart to bully such a beautiful roommate?’
"Oh, right, Cecilia. Shawn Lane came by the dorm looking for you again yesterday. Cindy Underwood even made a big show of going downstairs to meet him ’on your behalf.’"
"She even changed into a new skirt. It couldn’t have been more obvious what she was up to."
"Exactly! Cecilia, your breakup with Shawn Lane was like giving her an opportunity. She immediately started throwing herself at him without any shame."
"But Shawn Lane didn’t give her the time of day. Word is he left as soon as he heard you’d moved. You have no idea how funny it was seeing Cindy Underwood left hanging like that."
As the girls recounted the previous night’s events, Cecilia Sterling didn’t show much of a reaction, but Estelle Goodman was left dumbfounded.
But just then, as if on cue, Cindy Underwood walked in through the door, with Summer Lynn and Hope Warner in tow.
Upon seeing them, the girls all rolled their eyes. "Well, Cecilia," one said, "we’ll let you eat. We’re going to go find a table."
Clearly, though Cecilia Sterling had been the one ostracized in her old room, Cindy Underwood was the one who was truly disliked in the East District Women’s Dormitory as a whole.
Cindy Underwood, of course, saw Cecilia Sterling as well. Her expression immediately soured, and she muttered under her breath, "What bad luck."
Cecilia Sterling didn’t even spare her a glance. The owner happened to bring their food over just then, and she quickly urged Estelle Goodman to dig in while it was hot.
The two had ordered "Salt and Pepper Pork Strips," a light vegetable stir-fry, and "Fish in Golden Soup." The pork strips were fried to a golden crisp, the vegetable stir-fry was light and refreshing, and the tangy aroma of the fish soup assailed their senses.
Estelle Goodman was blown away by the first bite. Each dish had a distinct *wok hei*—that rich, smoky essence from the wok—and the flavors were wonderfully rustic and pure.
"This is amazing, Cecilia! You really weren’t kidding!" Estelle Goodman said, her eyes lighting up as she ate and nodded.
Cecilia Sterling smiled, telling her to eat as much as she wanted if she liked it. She, too, had sorely missed the taste of this place.
Unaffected by Cindy Underwood’s presence, Cecilia Sterling’s appetite was wide open. The two girls managed to polish off all three dishes completely.
Estelle Goodman had eaten to her heart’s content. Despite usually being strict about maintaining her figure, she’d actually eaten two whole bowls of rice. After the meal, she slumped over with a look of blissful defeat. "I can’t," she groaned. "It’s nothing but lettuce for dinner tonight."
Cecilia Sterling was also feeling a bit stuffed. Seeing that it was still early, she suggested they go for a walk, since she needed to buy some things for her new dorm room anyway.
After paying the bill, Cecilia Sterling said goodbye to the other girls and prepared to leave with Estelle Goodman. But as they passed Cindy Underwood’s table, a foot shot out, deliberately blocking her path.
Immediately, they heard Cindy Underwood’s snide voice. "What’s this? Can’t afford fancy restaurants after getting dumped by Shawn Lane? Had to resort to eating at a greasy spoon? That’s a pretty serious lifestyle downgrade, isn’t it?"
Cecilia Sterling’s expression hardened. She turned to face her and sneered, "Are you so determined to be a bitch that you’ll even insult yourself? Aren’t you sitting here too? If you look down on greasy spoons so much, why don’t you treat your friends to a Michelin-starred restaurant? Or is it because *they* wouldn’t like it?"
As she spoke, Cecilia Sterling’s gaze swept over Summer Lynn and Hope Warner. "Then again," she scoffed, "for two followers who haven’t seen much of the world, a few cheap scraps are enough to buy their loyalty. Treating them to a real feast would be a waste of money, wouldn’t it?"
Her intentions exposed, Cindy Underwood’s eyes flushed with anger. "You’re the one who got dumped by Shawn Lane, Cecilia Sterling! Don’t you take it out on us!"
She tilted her chin up with a look of feigned triumph and intentionally raised her voice. "But it’s only natural you can’t stand the sight of me. After all, Shawn Lane and I spent quite a while talking downstairs last night."
She thought mentioning Shawn Lane would be enough to get under Cecilia Sterling’s skin, but she had no idea that the name only filled Cecilia with a sense of revulsion.
Cecilia Sterling nodded. "Oh, that’s wonderful. If you two could really be shackled together forever, I’d be willing to pay to have you buried in the same grave when you die. It would be a public service, after all—you’re so in love."
Then she shook her head. "Then again, that’s probably not possible. I told you a long time ago: he’s not interested in you. After all, once you’ve tasted fine dining, who wants to go back to eating shit?"
With that, Cecilia Sterling pulled Estelle Goodman toward the exit. Before Cindy Underwood could retract the foot she had stuck out, Estelle stepped squarely on top of it. Cindy immediately let out a shriek and yanked her foot back.
She looked down to see a heavy, gray footprint marring her white sneaker.
"Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see it," Estelle Goodman said, looking at Cindy Underwood with a perfectly innocent expression.
Having been insulted and then stepped on, Cindy Underwood completely lost it. She shot up from her seat, instinctively grabbing for Cecilia Sterling’s wrist, and shrieked, "Cecilia Sterling, stop right there! You’re going to explain yourself!"
But that one movement was all it took. The diamond bracelet on Cecilia Sterling’s wrist snapped, breaking into several pieces.
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