THE LUNCHTIME SIEGE
Kei decided that if the front door to Fay's heart was locked and deadbolted, she would simply sit on the porch and make a lot of noise until Fay had to acknowledge her. She love this woman so much that She put aside her Nonchalant side just for her. She went for a much more direct, much more "annoying" approach, Culinary Warfare.
Every day at exactly 12:15 PM, the heavy silence of Fay's office was shattered.
Monday: The Bibimbap Invasion
Fay was mid-sentence, dictating a surgery report, when the door swung open. Kei marched in wearing a designer apron over her business suit. She carried a steaming stone pot and several small side dishes.
"You're not supposed to be in here," Fay snapped, not even looking up. "I'm busy."
"And I'm the chef," Kei announced, sliding a stack of medical journals aside to make room for the food. "I made this bibimbap myself. I even hand-massaged the spinach. Do you know how hard it is to get sesame oil out of silk? Eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Liar. Your stomach just growled loud enough to be heard in the maternity ward. Eat, or I'm not leaving this room".
Fay glared at her, but the smell of the toasted rice was intoxicating. She ate just to get Kei to stop talking, but she made sure to maintain a look of pure disdain the entire time.
Wednesday: The "Accidental" Consultant
Fay was in the middle of a high-stakes meeting with the hospital board when she noticed a familiar face sitting in the back row. Kei was there, disguised poorly in a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, nodding along as if she were a medical expert.
"Why is the CEO of the Luz Group in a cardiology budget meeting?" the Chief of Medicine asked, confused.
"I'm a concerned citizen," Kei chirped, winking at a horrified Fay. "And I've brought homemade kimbap for the committee. It helps with cognitive function during boring presentations."
Fay spent the entire meeting fuming, her face turning a deep shade of red every time Kei raised her hand to ask a "medical" question that was actually just a veiled joke about Fay's stubbornness.
Friday: The Breaking Point
By the end of the week, Fay was exhausted. She entered her office to find Kei sitting in Fay's own swivel chair, spinning slowly while eating a sweet potato she had roasted in the hospital's breakroom microwave.
"Get out," Fay said, her voice dangerously low.
"I can't," Kei said, stopping her spin. "I made spicy karaage. It's a family recipe. If you don't eat it while it's hot, it's might not taste good enough and it would be a tragedy for the Luz family legacy."
"I don't care about your legacy, Kei! I don't care about your cooking! I told you I don't want to see you!" Fay slammed her hand on the desk, the jealousy from Sofia's photos and the exhaustion of the week finally boiling over. "Why can't you just go back to the beach? Go back to Sofia and leave me in peace!"
Kei's playful expression faltered for a second, but she didn't leave. She stood up, walked around the desk and placed the warm container of food directly into Fay's hands.
"I'm annoying you on purpose, Fay," Kei said, her voice dropping the teasing tone. "Because when you're annoyed, you're looking at me. When you're yelling, you're talking to me. It's better than that cold, dead silence you've been living in for ten years. I'll be back tomorrow with dumplings."
Kei walked out, leaving Fay standing in the middle of her office, clutching a warm bowl of karaage and trembling with a mixture of rage and a very inconvenient, deep-seated longing.
Fay took a bite of the karaage. It was perfect. She hated it. She hated how much she liked it.