In My Desperate Time

"Old Mr. Louis, are you asleep?"

I knock on his door at nine o'clock in the evening,

"Not yet. What's the matter?"

I hear his loud voice, and then the door opens from the inside.

"I just want to ask if you are in the mood for some night snack. I can cook some noodles or dumplings for you." I smile kindly at him, trying not to make myself look different than usual.

The old man shakes his head and says, "I don't like those food. You can make hot and sour noodles for me. Make sure the taste isn’t too blend."

I don’t expect him to be someone who likes spicy food. But making a bowl of hot and sour noodles doesn’t beat me.

"Okay. Wait for a second. It'll be ready soon."

I nod and leave the room immediately.

This is one step closer to please Mr. Louis.

Twenty minutes later, I bring the noodles upstairs and knock on the door again.

knocking for a long

asleep in

Now that is embarrassing.

to eat anything at night to lose weight. And I don’t want to eat anything too spicy

throwing it away would

door of Frances’ room is still open, so I knock on the

lamp in the study is on, and I walk in with the

and has his back to me. He seems to be fascinated by something he is reading. He is so intrigued that he can’t even hear the knock on the door, let alone not noticing me coming

"Are you hungry, Frances?"

my voice breaks the silence.

hides what he is holding in his hands under a pile of documents. "What are you doing in here? Don't you know you should knock on

can’t hear it."

next time." He says after

it is my fault that I enter his room like that. I hand him the noodles after

smile. "You really think

I am truly embarrassed. "It was originally for Mr. Louis. but he didn't answer the knock on the door. I assume he is asleep, so I brought it to

my hand, says while frowning.

slight complaint, he slowly