Chapter 2

“Tring... Tring... Tring...”

Ahhh… Alarm clocks are the most annoying thing in this world. With utter bitterness and distaste, I flung my hand and turned off that small piece of shit and got off from bed to get ready for my job. Even if not my dream job, yet a livelihood to get myself to survive here. I also got a small apartment which I was sharing with Bella. She was my roommate and now my only friend in this new chapter of my life.

“Buongiorno Bella, get up you’ll be late for your work."

Bella woke up stretching her hands. “Morning Zariyah!”

“Hurry up. Your coffee and breakfast are on the table. I’m leaving now. Bye, see you later.” I chirped on her ears and rubbed her chin.

“Grazie, love,” said Bella while giving a lovely yet stinky peck on my cheeks. 

“No problem.” I said and got out of bed.

Bella was my first friend in this city. She had curly red hair with a round face. She hailed from Florence, working here as a manager in a reputed company. Lucky girl. Not always people end up in the positions that they wish to be in. Mostly fate played its game in designating what anyone must do. 

Yet,  I wish my fate would work for me someday to get me the job I love to be in. I want to work as a fashion designer. When I told Bella about my dream job, she literally choked after laughing. According to her, my passion doesn’t go with my appearance. 

Well, I do agree with her. But my choices for me were always simple, and plain. I never fancy exorbitant clothes but I had the skill to turn a sober piece of cloth into an extraordinary one. I had always been praised for my phenomenal fashion sense while designing dresses. 

Finally, I reached the place where I work, AMICO CHEF. This was nearly a five-star restaurant. A place where only the rich could afford to indulge in the exquisite delicacies. A whole new environment could be seen once anyone entered here. 

Waiters will always be rushing between the dining room and the kitchen, murmuring about business class rich people on their projects over lunch. The slovenly laughter of high-class women loaded with several coats of makeup while talking gibberish and the sweet melody of Piano were interfusing with the cacophony of the jocund environment. 

I  rushed right into the locker room, to put on my uniform and get ready for my first day. I got busy working in the dining room and taking orders. It is the peak time of work, the room was already filled with radiant faces. I cleaned the wooden round tables, seated a few people and took their orders with a wide welcoming smile plastered on my face, kind of like a renaissance worker.

While I was busy picking up the dirty plates, I got a call from Giulia, my working pal, to take orders from the upper floor. I stopped picking up the plates and rushed to the upper floor. 

Walking over, I glanced at who was seated at the table. There were two women and a man sitting at the round table to my left. From the expression plastered on their faces, they were probably talking over some business deal. Sometimes we get lucky to have some renowned personalities and celebrities as our customers. 

I greeted them and took their orders. It seemed like the lady sitting at the opposite side of the table was trying to convince the couple sitting with her over something. She was wearing a teal-coloured off-shoulder gown with some white beautiful flowers in them that revealed her peeping bony collar bones and a bit of her sleekly modest cleavage. The dress inconceivably hugged her curvy body.  Even while wearing minimal makeup, she was looking amazing. She looked a few years older than me.

I hastily delivered their orders to the chefs and went back to take other orders and cleaned the deserted tables. Some days we didn't get any spare time to relax our poor legs from running to clean and chasing to convince the table and people. That’s how my life was going. Busy and restless. I didn't even get ample time to search for the kind of job that I’m good at. My dream job. I heaved a deep sigh of disfavour and brushed off the unpleasant thoughts. 

After some time, the restaurant became devoid of customers. None could have a clue of what a delightful relief it was. Only a few people could be seen, one of them was the lady who grabbed my attention earlier for her hyperphysical fashion sense. I had always been a sucker for people who were blessed with substantial comprehension of fashion. She was one of them. 

I looked at her and she was sitting alone in a rather cheerful mood, it seemed something was disappointing her to the core. Continuously rolling the tip of her finger over the glass of wine, she then gulped it down, a certain gloominess and fullness were stuck in her eyes. Putting down the glass morosely, she rubbed her temples before grabbing her purse and got up to go. 

A sudden sound of creak broke the silence.  It was something really bad and notable. Her beautiful gown was torn when she pulled herself out of her chair not noticing that it was clinging to the sharp carvings of the table. Her serene ocean blue eyes came out of the socket on witnessing that. She kept pulling the pieces instead of approximating them. It was too clear from her imbalanced pace and pale shiny face that she was a bit drunk, so I went near her to help.

“Let me help you, ma’am.” I said while bending down to see the damage it had.

“Yes, please.” She managed to force a smile on me with utter difficulty. 

I looked at the ripped piece of her gown and just by glancing at it, I got an idea to fix her gown. 

“Ma’am if you don't mind, shall I fix your dress right here?” I asked politely with a light smile.

“Are you sure? I mean how could you fix it? It's almost torn out from the bottom. It's impossible to fix this dress now.” A big question mark became visible on her face. 

“I’m sure, ma’am. Please come to the restroom.” I directed her to the restroom and collected some stuff to repair her dress from my locker.

Dedicating myself to edifying the dress stalwartly, I scanned the pattern of the cut and worked out an idea. It nearly took me ten minutes to work on the dress. Well, I didn't want to sound boastful but it really came out to be a worthy effort.

“I hope you like it?” Averting my eyes at her in a reluctant way, not sure if she would like it or not, I catechized her. However, from the expression, she was dispersing, it was like she had got Aladdin's magic lamp. 

“Ammazza!  It's unbelievable. It's looking more fabulous than before. Thank you so much, young lady. I highly appreciate your help.” She said in a frolic mood holding and vacillating me much to her delight.

“I’m glad you like it. Have a good day, ma’am.” I turned to get back to work.

“Wait. May I ask you how you get the sense of designing dresses? I don't mean to offend you, but the way you mended my dress is not everyone’s cup of tea unless they have a deep knowledge of fabric, fashion trends and most importantly a skilled hand.” She raised her question out of curiosity.

“I’m a Fashion Designer. I graduated from the top fashion institute in the U.S. I came here in search of my job but I ended up being a waitress.” I was feeling proud and desolate at the same time while introducing myself. Proud because I was the pass out of the top institution and excelled in my studies there, desolated because I could not make it to where I dreamt of.

Standing still she was looking at me with her soothing and twinkling eyes swaddling in warmth now, maybe because she had read my coerciveness. But I always believed that we must be grateful for what we have got rather than sulking about what we haven’t gotten yet. This thought always kept me going.