STIGMA

"Carla Ji! Where the hell are you? Have you been slacking off? You're running behind with all of the deliveries. The customers have been calling and are complaining that they haven't received their orders yet!"

Karen was the owner of the diner where Carla Ji was working as a delivery girl. The many complaints that she received over the phone from angry customers overwhelmed her and she vented it out on Carla.

"I'm sorry, Karen, for the delay with the deliveries.

I had a problem with my scooter and couldn't find a repair shop to fix it. But I tried fixing it myself and it seems to be working now. I promise I'll deliver all the orders.

I'll be there in 10 minutes. I have to go now, Karen. I'll talk to you later." Carla Ji had just delivered an order to a customer and quickly hopped back on the scooter to go to the next. She was in such a hurry to make up for lost time that she forgot to put her helmet on. She turned the throttle to maximum speed, blinked uncomfortably in the cold wind that was blowing in her face, while stewing on the abuse that Karen had unfairly flung at her on the phone.

The scooter that she was riding was a cherry red color and had little details. After speaking with Karen on the phone, Carla felt a little nervous about facing her.

'What a bad day!' Carla Ji thought to herself as she was driving to the next delivery. Her scooter had broken down and there were no repair shops available, so it wasn't her fault. 'Everything is going to be all right. Just take a deep breath and smile!'

Determined to finish all her deliveries for the day, she put her phone inside her pocket and concentrated on the road.

The strong wind blew in her face and whistled in her ears. She had to focus on her driving and not to think about Karen.

Finally, she had caught up to all of the deliveries that she had to do for the day. There was just one more delivery left and she was excited about finishing so she could go home and rest.

Delivery played an important role in the food industry. It allowed customers to choose what they wanted to eat without the hassle of getting it themselves. But for the delivery person, it was a very demanding job. Deliveries were all over the city and it took a lot of traveling to and from each customer which was all time-consuming. Carla Ji would start work early in the morning and usually finished late at night.

It was nearly nine in the evening and had become dark. The street lights had been lit up for a while now and there were very few people walking in the streets. Most were already in their warm homes with their families.

Carla Ji had almost arrived at her last destination, which was just around the corner about two or three minutes away. She was so relieved that her working day was nearly over.

After the stressful day that she had with her scooter breaking down and then being abused by Karen for being behind on her deliveries, all she could think about was delivering her last order as quickly as possible and going home to relax and let this terrible day be behind her.

Distracted by her thoughts and driving fast, she didn't notice that someone was in the middle of the road until the last minute.

"Hey! Get out of there! Hey! Get out of my way!"

She yelled at the person to move as she was fast approaching.

The man wasn't moving out of the way. He just stood there slightly hunched over as if he was hurt and looked at her with a cold and defensive glare. She tried to brake but the scooter wasn't responding. She let go off the throttle and kept squeezing the brakes desperately trying to stop in time, while yelling at him at the top of her lungs,"Hey! Get out of there! Get out of my way!"

The scooter wasn't working properly, ever since it broke down earlier that day. Even if she did manage to brake, she was too close and would surely hit him if he didn't move.

Just as the scooter was about to hit the man, Carla Ji held on tightly and squeezed her eyes shut at the last moment and waited for the inevitable, thud! But instead of the 'thud', Carla felt the scooter ease to a stop.

She opened her eyes in surprise and saw two strong hands holding on firmly to the handlebars of the scooter.

Carla Ji blinked with wide eyes, trying to process what had just happened for a few seconds.

And then she looked the man up and down that was standing in front of her to make sure that he was okay. She noticed that he had muscular arms and a strong robust body. 'With that physique, no wonder he was able to stop the scooter, ' she thought.

His shirt was covered in blood and he seemed hurt. He looked at her questionably and asked as he winced in pain,"Are you okay? Can I let go of the handlebars now?"

He seemed tense and uneasy, and kept looking around.

He spoke a little abruptly to her, but there was something about this man that Carla Ji liked. She had an earnest and sincere feeling about him. He was charming and had deep expressive eyes. On top of that, his aura was so engaging.

The man that stopped the scooter when Carla Ji had lost control even though he was injured, was Terence An.

She put her feet out to the sides of the scooter to steady herself, and then remembered why she was going so fast in the first place. She still had an order to deliver.

Carla Ji turned to look at the delivery box that was on the back of her scooter. And saw that the contents were all scattered about and ruined. She frowned at the sight and it was then that she felt her scooter sink down by the weight of another person. Terence slid in behind her and yelled,"Let's go!"

"I can't! The orders!"

He was trying to tell her something, but she wasn't listening. All she thought about was the order that she had to deliver and how it was just one big mess now. She worried about what Karen was going to say when she found out.

'What will I tell Karen? How will I explain this to her?' Carla Ji didn't know what to do anymore.

She was still thinking about the dilemma that she was in when she was suddenly jolted out of her thoughts by something that was wrapping around her waist.

Terence An was holding her so tightly that she felt like her slim waist would break because of the strength of his hands.

"Go!" shouted Terence. "I'll pay you ten times the price of that."

Carla Ji suddenly heard the sound of stomping feet. And as she turned, she saw a group of fierce-looking men heading towards them.

"There he is!"