chapter two

CHAPTER TWO

I arrived at the store and found the owner entertaining a few customers. I quickly helped him. Once the customers left, he taught me what to do. I'm a fast learner, so he didn't have a hard time teaching me.

While I was waiting for a customer. I sat beside Roman and had a little chat with him. I told him how kind he is, as my friend says. He was a bit shy after that. He told me he's in his 40s. We talked about his family. I can see his sacrifice for his three children, as he had to come here to the city to find a good job to support their education in their province. I was moved by his story, so I also shared mine.

"What's your dream?" he asked me.

I looked at him and smiled, "My dream is to become a successful businesswoman. I want to be able to give back to my family. I want to make them proud."

"I know your parents are very proud of you today."

"How about you? What's your dream?"I asked.

"My dream is for my children. I want them to finish school, to have a good job. I want them to be happy in life." he said, longing for his children.

"They can do it! Life may be hard today, but no one knows what tomorrow brings," I said.

We had a good conversation, but a customer came, so we got back to work.

"Cara?"He asked as I scanned the chips

"Yes? Oh- Austin! It's late. Why are you here?" I asked him. I continued to put the items he bought in a plastic bag.

"I think I should be the one asking that. Why are you here?" He said, looking confused.

"I'm obviously working," I smiled at him.

"Huh? I mean, why are you working?"He asked

"you're asking an obvious question," I chuckled.

"I'm confused. Are you okay?" I can see worries in his eyes.

"I'm okay. You don't have to worry! "I told him joyfully.

"Are you sure? You and carlon are okay?" he asked once again. I nodded at him.

He gets the plastic bag and leaves the store. I know he may be wondering what the hell I'm doing here, but I'm fine. He looked at me again then started walking off.

I didn't notice that roman was watching over us. "I know his dream," he said, smiling at me.

"What's his dream?" I asked him

"YOU" I smiled sheepishly.

"you're funny." he laughed at what I said.

I took care of some customers' needs, so I didn't think about Julia. I just saw her laughing with Roman, so I went outside to join her.

"Hey!" she greeted me, "How was it?" she asked.

"I'm doing great," I said.

"I didn't know Julia was the friend you were talking about earlier," he smiled.

 "I remember her and her cousins. They were fun to watch. They were really having a great time of their lives," he said.

"Roman! You're making me miss my cousins. I wish they were here," Julia said, teary-eyed.

"where are they?" He asked curiously.

"In Europe. They're half german, "She said.

"Look who's here, "Julia suddenly said, so I looked behind us.

"What?"Austin asked

"Who's with you?"She asked him again,

"some friends," He said in a bored tone.

"Why are you here?" She's obviously irritating him

"Why do you have so many questions, Julia?" He said, irritated now. "It's getting late. Aren't you going home yet?" He added.

"I'm going home. I just checked on cara. Why are you so annoyed today? " she asked.

"She'll be fine. I'll stay here until this store close. That's why I bring my friends," he said.

"you're joking, right?"I said, there's no way he'll do that.

"I'm serious. I can't let you stay here late at night."

"You don't have to, Austin. Go home now and rest," I said, making him leave so he could rest since we still have a class tomorrow morning.

"No. I'll stay here, just do your thing, and I'll be here with my friends," he said, then went to his friends who were sitting outside the shop.

I saw Roman looking at me and smiling.

I spent a couple of hours more until we closed the shop.

"I'm going home now. You should go too, "I told Austin.

"I'll walk you home," he said, "It's too far to walk. I'll ride a bus," I told him, but a motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of us.

"Cara, let's go home" It was my dad. I didn't expect him to fetch me.

"What is this? Where's our car?"I asked him.

"let's talk about it when we get home" he's still smiling at me, then he looks at Austin, "who are you?" he asked. Making me nervous.

"Hi! I'm Austin, don't worry. I'm just her friend." Austin said. Dad looked at me this time, "Just a friend, Dad." I told him.

"Nice to meet you, Austin! We'll go ahead" he smiled at Austin, and I waved goodbye at him and roman.

Once we got home, I asked him about our car.

"So, what happened to our car, dad?"

"I sold the car. We don't really need that, so I bought a motorcycle."

"Be honest to me, dad. Why did you sell the car?" I looked at him and waited for him to answer me.

"Cara, your mom needs money because the person she owes the money has been harassing us," he said, looking so frustrated.

"But it's all okay now? We paid off our debt, right?" I asked. I can't help to worry about my parents.

"Half of the amount borrowed has been paid. They said they will give us time to save for the other half." Dad told me honestly.

 My parents are very open to us. I like it that we can talk about everything. We don't need to hide anything from each other.

"It's okay, dad. I'll help you save money, and it's okay if we lose our car. We don't need that anyway, "I told him, just to make him better.

"Just tell me if you have problems. You know you can always come to me," I hugged my dad.

It saddened me a lot, knowing that they have been stressing over money for these past few months.

I almost forgot that Carlon texted me if I had extra money for his project earlier, so I went to his room. I knocked at his door, and he opened it right away.

"How much do you need? " I asked him.

"Even just a few," He said. I showed him a few dollars and asked if it was okay.

"It's okay, cara. I'm sorry for asking for money from you. It's just that I'm too shy to ask mom. I can see how stressed she is right now, " He sighed.

"Don't worry. I'll do good in school. I'll ace the exam. By the way, where did you come from? It's past midnight already," He added, looking concerned, "I came here from work. It's my first day tonight."I told him

"You're working?" he said in disbelief.

"I have to, "I said as I leaned on his door.

"Do you think I should work too?" he asked. I can see the sadness in his eyes.

"No, carlon. Just focus on studying," I said, sternly.

"How about your studies?" he asked.

"I will be a working student starting today, so I have to rest now. I still have a morning class."

"Don't overwork, okay? If you need help in your work, don't be shy to ask for my help," He said. Sincerely.

"What happened to you? You're never this sweet," I laughed at him.

"I'm just concerned. You're a girl, but you're working instead of me," he lowered his head.

"It's okay, carlon. I'm the eldest. I should be the one taking responsibility," I said.

"But you're a girl," He said. Looking at me straight.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't do it," I said, and he sighed, "Okay, but as I said, tell me if you need help," he said.

"Sure," I said. I noticed that my brother has a lot of notes in his bed. "What are you studying for tonight?" I asked him.

"I have a science test tomorrow. I have a hard time understanding one of the topics," Austin said, yawning.

"You should sleep. It's late. Come back to it tomorrow," I said.

"Yeah. I guess I'll be doing that," Austin said as he leaned his back in his bed.

I smiled at him and said goodnight.