A Bite to Eat

It had been a long day at work for Edith Barns. Too many emails, too many meetings, too many assignments. The list goes on. The life in a big, bustling city took its toll on people. Eddie was no different. As she clocked out for the day, she wondered what she'll do when she gets home. Her heels clicked against the marble flooring in the lobby of the building where she worked. She smiled and nodded at the night guard as she made her way out of the building. Met with the chilling cold, Eddie let out a breath. She was thankful for wearing a puffy jacket today instead of her usual trench coat. As stylish as it was, it didn’t fare well against the ice chilling cold that was winter in December. Eddie popped in her earbuds, playing a playlist on Spotify. The relaxing beats of lofi music felt warm and cozy despite the cold weather. Just as she was about to take another step, her phone buzzed. Taking it out, she saw that she had a message from her friend, Sarah. 

Yo you still coming down this weekend? 

Eddie smiled as she started to text back. 

Yeah girl you know I am. Meeting at the same place as usual

Yep you know it 

How is you anyway finding a new job yet?

Been looking around see whats up and all it hard when you’ve been concussed several times 

I bet if you need help just let me know 

Thanks 

Ttyl gotta get home now

Long day from work?

Yeah same old same old tbh 

Aww sorry to hear that well let me know when you get home okay?

Okay ttyl love you 

Love you too 

Eddie put her phone back into her pocket as she made her way through the busy city. As much as she would like to take an uber or even the subway home, she promised her boyfriend that she would exercise more often. Also, she was broke as hell so she didn’t have much choice anyway. Snow in the city may sound romantic and beautiful, but in reality it’s a pain and a struggle to get around, especially if you’re like Edith, who has to walk her way home in high heels. She sighed. Wishing she got up earlier than sleeping in, she could have worn her other shoes whose heels were not so high and more comfortable. But she made her choice. She was just gonna have to live with it. As she made her way back to her home in the city, she thought about what to do when she got there. A hot shower sounded nice, if her heater was working. Maybe she’ll turn on the fire place. Plotting her evening ahead of her, her stomach growled. Her measly sandwich at lunch was barely enough to hold her over her shift, let alone her way home. Thinking about how much is on her debit card, she debated whether to either wait it out or eat out when she saw twinkling lights ahead of her. She followed the lights to see that it led to a bustling street food market. It covered the entire block, full of vendors and, more importantly, food galore. Eddie’s stomach twinges at both the sight and smell of food. 

“I guess I can eat something here. Hopefully it tastes good,” Eddie said to herself as she walked down the street. “I’m so hungry I could eat anything. Let’s see what they have to offer first.” 

The first place she stopped by was a fruits and vegetable stand. As much as she would like to eat more healthily, she wanted an actual meal. She continued to pass by vendors and their stands, either full of jewelry or leather belts or candles. Eddie quickly walked by them, as tempting as it was, she was on a mission for food. Soon enough, she passed by a bakery stand, selling pastries and breads of all sorts. Not yet seeing a stand selling food that she could eat right away, she decided on a baguette and a croissant. Even though she could eat the croissant right then and there, she still held out hope for a proper meal. Eddie continued down the street, scanning for a sign of a food vendor that wasn’t selling wholesale food items or arts and crafts. As she was about to give up, she spotted something at the end. It looked like a normal food stand at first glance, but there was a smell coming from it. Eddie wasn’t sure what it was, but it smelled cooked and good. As she got closer, she was surprised to see it was a food vendor selling soup.

“Get your soup here!” called out the vendor. “Fresh soup! We got organic  chicken noodle soup, hearty veggie soup, and our famous baked potato soup. Come and get some!” 

The idea of warm filling soup sounded great to Eddie, so she went up to the vendor to order some of their baked potato soup, one of her favorites. 

She took her cup of soup and spoon and dug right in, which she immediately spat right out. 

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-hot!” she cried out. 

Tears were running down her face at this point and her tongue was certainly burned. Still, her stomach growled. This time, she blew on her soup in hopes to cool it down and took in a spoonful. Eddie managed to gulp down the piping hot soup. Her body soon warmed up as she ate the soup. She even began to sweat a little. Opening her jacket, the cold air felt refreshing and cool. Soon enough, she finished the soup, leaving nothing left in the cup. 

“Nothing like hot soup on a cold day,” she said to herself as she let out a sigh. 

Eddie then discarded the cup and spoon into a nearby trash can and went back to get another helping of baked potato soup. This one she was going to bring home for later. As she walked back up the street, she looked around. It wasn’t often that she got to do something like this. She would otherwise Doordash food or simply go to the grocery store. She was so used to always going to work, then going straight home, that this little detour was a great experience. Eddie couldn’t help but smile. Today turned out to be a not so bad day after all.