After a week, I was able to fall into a routine and get enough time to have a quick meal before returning to work. Palesa never found out, of course; that would be asking for trouble. Since there was no way out of my situation, it was wiser to adapt until a solution was found.

But Palesa had eyes everywhere, so I kept wondering if she really didn't know I was taking breaks between my work to get my food. Or maybe she just didn't care about what I did. I ...