Driven by her strong pride, Fiona got up and walked out without saying a word.
Dexter didn't pay her any mind. Since the people scheduled to turn on the gas and utilities had called earlier to say they'd be arriving that morning, he stayed in the restaurant and kept going through the resumes.
There were a lot of applications.
But picking through them wasn't hard. After all, he was mainly looking at three things: looks, figure, and education level.
For him, those three things were enough to make a choice.
The looks and figure determined the "eye candy" factor—he certainly wasn't planning on having an unattractive woman around all day. The education level generally indicated their demeanor, which would affect how harmonious things would be between them.
So, before he knew it, it was 11:00 AM.
Dexter had gone through most of the resumes and narrowed it down to about fifty people. He planned to filter that group down again tonight, and then tomorrow, he'd call the remaining candidates in for an interview. That would wrap up the whole waitress hiring process.
At 11:20 AM, the gas company worker arrived at Dex Restaurant, taking their sweet time. Soon after, the utility company worker showed up, too.
Once all that was sorted and the workers were gone, Dexter got up to grab some lunch and then go shopping for supplies. The ingredients he got from the treasure chest were limited, and since he'd opened a restaurant, he definitely needed to stock up.
Suddenly, just then, Karen appeared at the restaurant doorway and smiled at Dexter.
When Dexter saw her, he couldn't tell if it was because of his preconceived notions or if it was just the truth, but he felt like that little trollop's smile looked thoroughly wicked, no matter how he looked at it.
"Mr. Ding, I'm here to pick out my car," Karen said, smiling.
Dexter hadn't forgotten. He nodded and walked out of the restaurant. "Get in the car. I'm pretty busy today, so let's get this done quickly."
"Okay," Karen said, happily nodding.
Soon, they were both in the car.
Karen didn't want a new car; she wanted a nice-looking used brand-name car. Dexter didn't care, as his budget was set, so he drove straight to the nearest used car lot.
On the way, Karen was in a great mood and kept talking the entire time. Dexter wasn't much of a talker and just chimed in occasionally.
Karen was sharp. She noticed Dexter's reserved attitude, stopped talking, rolled her eyes, and leaned toward him.
"This little trollop is really something else," Dexter thought, shaking his head. "I'm not interested in you."
Karen, who desperately wanted that car, was startled. She looked at Dexter in disbelief. After two seconds, sensing Dexter was serious, Karen pulled her body and hand back, looking annoyed. "Mr. Ding, you are one weird guy."
Dexter couldn't be bothered to respond.
Ten minutes later, the two arrived at the used car lot.
With cash in hand, buying a car was a piece of cake.
After about an hour of browsing and choosing, Karen finally settled on a car: an older, pink BMW that still looked pretty good both inside and out.
Dexter didn't dither; he paid the money right away. "Handle the paperwork yourself. I have things to do, so I'm heading out."
Karen was completely absorbed in the excitement of finally owning a car and didn't care at all. "Alright, you go ahead."
Dexter left.
---
Around 2:00 PM that afternoon, Karen drove her car to school and started flashing the keys around.
Naturally, it wasn't long before Lip saw the car key clutched in Karen's hand and was surprised. "You have a car? A BMW?"
Karen smirked smugly. "Yeah, I just bought it this afternoon."
Hearing this, Lip's expression immediately changed, and he asked in a strange tone, "Your dad didn't buy it for you, did he?"
"Nope," Karen said. She was very pleased with Lip's reaction and enjoyed the feeling of watching him get bent out of shape over her.
"Then who?" Lip's tone got even weirder.
"Just some rich guy I ran into a while ago—we hooked up a few times," Karen said. She wasn't dumb enough to mention Dexter.
At that, the word unhappy was clearly written all over Lip's face.
"You'll sleep with anyone. How impressive!" Lip said, staring at Karen with a sarcastic, snarky tone. Then, he moved to walk away.
Seeing him go, Karen immediately reached out, grabbed Lip's arm, and chuckled. "Why are you getting worked up? We're not even dating. Besides, think about it: that rich guy has to buy me a car to sleep with me, but you get to sleep with me for nothing. You're the one getting a deal, right?"
"Heh," Lip sneered.
Karen wasn't worried at all. She pulled out her trump card, holding out her small hand. "Alright, don't get so upset. I'll make it up to you."
Lip was instantly defeated, like he was addicted to this kind of thing, and he couldn't say no.
Not long after, they disappeared.
---
At Veronica's house, Fiona was drinking one glass of liquor after another.
Veronica already knew the situation. To be honest, while she understood Fiona's difficulty and confusion, she was starting to get a little frustrated. Going over the same stuff again and again was just annoying.
"Fiona, what Dexter said wasn't wrong."
"The fact that he's so rich means he's not someone you can just mess with."
"Lip tried to screw him over, and he let Lip off once. If Lip keeps pulling stupid stuff, you can't expect him to just take it forever, can you?"
Fiona chugged another glass of liquor. "But what am I supposed to do? That's Lip..."
Veronica couldn't really understand Fiona's blind, 'right or wrong doesn't matter' instinct to protect Lip. She thought for a moment. "You need to have a serious talk with Lip. Make him understand how big a deal this is and that he absolutely cannot pull similar stunts again—not on Dexter, and not on anyone else."
"Otherwise, sooner or later, Lip is going to get a major smackdown."
"Guys like Dexter aren't like you; they're not going to coddle Lip."
"This isn't just about whether or not you can get that job anymore. If you don't find a way to make Lip realize the seriousness of this, one day, the consequences could be unimaginable."
"Do you understand?"
Fiona understood that much.
But how was she supposed to do it?
---
In a sense, Fiona is like many weak, overly-indulgent mothers.
The children raised by such mothers end up, at best, arrogant and totally clueless, and at worst, committing crimes. Either way, they'll eventually get a harsh dose of reality from the world.
Lip is a textbook example.
How badly did the world beat him up later? The brilliant future he could have had was completely gone. His spirit was broken, he gave up, went back to the South Side, and lived that miserable, hard-knock life...
Nothing happens without a reason.