Chapter 22 Part II Tasin-3

"Wow!" she exclaimed, "that looks really good!" "I know." I said proudly, sitting down across from her. "That's pretty cool, isn't it?" I watched her take a big mouthful and put it into my mouth, and I also took a big mouthful and sent it to my own mouth. "Well, great!" Suzie chewed with relish. "It's quite spicy." After a while, she added another sentence. "It has paprika in it," I said, "and fresh red peppers. But it's delicious, isn't it?" "Brilliant!" said Suzy, "Becky, you're so smart! I can't do it in my life!"

However, as she ate, a strange expression appeared on her face.Frankly, I was almost out of breath myself.This curry is too spicy.It is extremely spicy! Suzy put down her plate and took a long gulp of wine.She looked up and I saw her face flushed. "Are you okay?" I asked, not caring about the pain in my mouth, and forced a smile to her. "It's okay, it's delicious!" she said, taking another big bite of the naan bread.I looked down at my plate, and resolutely scooped up another big mouthful of curry and put it into my mouth.Immediately, my nose was spit out.I noticed that Suzie was blowing her nose too; however, she was still smiling happily when our eyes met.

Oh god, this is so spicy! My mouth can't take it.My cheeks were burning, and my eyes filled with tears.How much paprika did I put in the damn thing? Probably a teaspoon...maybe two teaspoons.I trusted my intuition too much, and poured the amount I thought was right into the pot directly.Well - let's stop here for my gut feeling. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I sobbed loudly. "Are you okay?" Suzy asked in panic. "I'm fine!" I replied, putting down my fork, "just...you know, a little spicy." But, actually, I'm not good at all! And, it wasn't just the heat that caused the tears.Suddenly, I felt like a total failure.I can't even cook a quick and easy curry meal.Look how much I spent on this, another batty pan, another apron, and all the spices... oh, I screwed up on everything, didn't I? I didn't cut expenses at all.This week has been a total disaster.

I sobbed loudly again and put the plate on the floor. "Too bad!" I said miserably, tears running down my face, "Don't eat it, Suzie. You're going to be poisoned!" "Becky! Don't be stupid!" Suzie said, "This is great!" She looked at me and put her own plate on the floor. "Oh, Becky." She trotted up to me and gave me a hug. "Don't worry. It's just a little spicy. But on the other hand, it's really good! Nasi is good too! It's true. Don't be so upset." I opened my mouth to answer, only to hear myself let out another sob.

"Becky, don't do this!" Suzie begged, and she was about to cry. "It was delicious! It was the best curry I've ever had." "It's not just about the curry!" I cried, wiping away tears. "The point is, I should have cut back. This curry should have cost £2.50." "But...why?" asked Suzie, puzzled. "Are you betting with someone? Or...?" "No!" I said sadly, "It's because I'm in debt! My dad said I should either cut my expenses or increase my income. So I tried to cut my expenses, but it didn't work..." I couldn't go on, Crying tremblingly, "I am a complete loser."

"Of course you're not a loser!" Suzy retorted immediately, "Becky, you're not a loser at all. It's just..." She hesitated. "Just maybe..." "what?" There was a silence, and then Suzie said seriously, "I think maybe you've chosen the wrong way, Becky. I don't think you're the type to cut expenses." "Really?" I sniffed and wiped my tears. "Is that what you think?" "I think you should take the method of increasing income." Suzy thought for a moment. "Actually, to be honest, I don't know why people choose to cut expenses. I think increasing income is a much better option than cutting expenses. If I had to choose, I would definitely choose to increase income. "

"Yeah," I replied slowly, "maybe you're right, maybe that's what I should be doing." I reached out with a trembling hand and took a bite of the warm Indian bread - Suzy Well said.It does taste delicious without the curry. "But what should I do?" Finally I said, "How can I make more money?" There was another silence as we both chewed our bread thoughtfully.Then, Susie's eyes lit up. "I see. Look here!" She reached for a magazine and flipped through the classifieds in the back. "Look what it says here: 'Want to make extra money? Join the Fabulous Frames family! Earn thousands of pounds just by working from home in your spare time. Complete kit available.' Get it? How easy ah!"

Wow! I'm hooked! Thousands of pounds, that's not bad. "Yes," I replied tremblingly, "maybe I can try." "Or you could invent something," Suzie said. "for example?" "Oh, whatever," she said confidently, "you're really smart. You can come up with something. Or... I got it! You could start a dot-com and they'd be worth millions Where's the pound!" She is right.There are tons of things I can do to increase my income.Many, many things! It's just a question of whether you want to do it or not.Suddenly, I felt so much better! What a friend Suzie is! I couldn't help but go up and give her a big hug.

"Thank you, Suzie," I said, "You're amazing!" "It's nothing." She also hugged me back. "Then, you cut out this ad and start making money..." She paused. "Can I call for a takeaway curry?" "Okay!" I whispered back, "I wouldn't mind a takeaway curry." Rebecca Bloomwood's Cutting Plan Sheet Saturday, March 11 Homemade Curry Rice Estimated spending: £25 Actual cost: Butty pan £15 Electric grinder £1499 Blender £1899 Wooden spoon 35p Apron £999 Two chicken breasts £198 300g mushrooms 79p Onions 29p

Coriander seeds £129 Fennel £129 Multifruit Powder £129 Dill seeds £129 Clove £139 Ginger root £195 Bay Leaf £140 paprika Oh God, forget about all that! PGNI First Bank Credit Card 7 Camel Square, Liverpool LI 5NP To: Ms. Rebecca Bloomwood London SW6 8FD Unit 2, No. 4 Burnie Road Dear Ms. Bloomwood: PGNI First Bank Credit Card Number 1475839204847586 Thank you for your letter of March 3. I can assure you that our computer systems are regularly checked, so the possibility of the failure you wrote about is unlikely.We are also not affected by the Y2K virus.All accounts are completely correct.

Write to Anne Robinson at Watchdog if you like.But I'm sure she'll also think you have no reason to complain. Our records indicate that a payment on your credit card account is past due.You will see this on your most recent credit card statement and your minimum due amount is £10,540.I look forward to receiving this payment as soon as possible. Yours sincerely peter johnson Customer Finance Manager March 10, 2000