Chapter 2

The air was thick, heavy with silence. I turned back slowly. The man already had a robe on, but he was closer to me than I'd anticipated and our faces were only inches apart. 

“W-what?” I stutter 

“I need a wife and I think you'll be perfect for the job” He said simply like he went around asking all the women he slept with to marry him. 

“I don't know who you think you are but I'm not that kind of woman. This was a one time thing and I was drunk” 

He steps back from me and goes to the intercom on his bedside. While I'm busy standing there, in shock of his ‘proposition’ the man calls room service for his breakfast. 

“Is this some kind of joke to you?” 

“Here…” He returns to me with his business card but I barely glance at it. “Call me when you've reconsidered” 

He said, his words closely mirror Harry's and it angers me. 

“Why? Because you think I'm some cheap slut who you can use and command as you please? I don't know who you are mister, but this was a mistake and I never want to see you again” 

He looked completely unfazed and I scoffed before leaving his room. 

It was only after I left that I realised I was running late for my afternoon shift at the restaurant. I hailed a cab as I tried to fix my hair and clean off what was left of my makeup. 

My head still had a light buzz from all the alcohol. Somehow I'd managed to get messed up by two men in one night. I still couldn't believe I'd lost my virginity with a one night stand. 

Even though Harry had cheated on me, a part of me still felt guilty because I'd always refused when he asked, yet I'd practically given it up to a man I knew nothing about. Still, I knew I didn't owe him anything. Not anymore. 

I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes late. I quickly checked in and went to the locker room to change into my uniform. I'd barely made it to the kitchen when the manager cornered me. 

And he did not look happy. 

“You're late, Matthews” His voice was cold and he stared at me in annoyance.

“I apologise sir, it won't happen again”

“That's all you do, tender meaningless apologies. I ought to have fired you ages ago”

“No please sir, I won't be late again” I pleaded desperately. I didn't need more bad luck. 

“If you really want to keep your job, act like it. This is your last warning, Mathew's. The next time you come in late, you'll no longer have a job in this establishment. You understand?”

I winced at the sharpness of his tone. “Yes sir” 

I quickly went about my work, cleaning tables and taking orders. 

It wasn't my first time being tardy. I lived with my mum and she'd taken ill recently. It was hard taking care of her, and sometimes it affected my job. I tried to clear my head of all the negative things happening in life and focus on my job. But clearly, fate wasn't done with me yet. 

Halfway through my shift, one of the other waitresses called for me. 

“What's wrong?” I asked her.

“You've got a call. It's from the hospital” 

All the blood drained from my face as I immediately began to assume the worst. I thanked her and picked up the phone. 

“H-hello?” 

“Are you miss Mathew's?”

“Yes, I am”

“Your mother had a crisis and was rushed to the hospital. She's at St.Peters teaching hospital” 

The phone fell from my hand as I stumbled back into the wall for support. 

No. No. No.

This couldn't be happening.

Without thinking, I rushed out of the restaurant, still in my uniform and headed straight for the hospital. The place was crowded when I got there and I had to hunt for a nurse who could tell me where my mother was. The nurse directed me to the room. 

Mum looked terrible. Her eyes were sunken and her skin pale. Several things were stuck to her wrists and she had an oxygen mask on her face.

“What's wrong with her?” I whispered to the nurse who was busy adjusting the drips.

“She needs to have the surgery soon or she'll only get worse”

“But I-I can't afford the surgery… there has to be some other way–Is there anything else we can do?” 

“I'm afraid not. If she doesn't get the surgery within the week…” The nurse drowns off with a sympathetic look. She doesn't need to finish for me to understand the inevitable. 

I thank her and she leaves. I sit down next to my mother, looking at the frail state she is in. She was all I had left in the world. If anything happened to her… I'd breakdown completely. 

I couldn't afford to lose her.

I stayed with her a little longer before I left to return to work. All the way I kept thinking of how I was going to get several millions for her surgery when my own job barely paid me a couple of thousands yearly. 

When I reached the restaurant, my shift was over. I went to the locker room to get my things and change. Perhaps if I worked more shifts, and picked up another job—

“What are you doing here?” The loud voice of my boss disturbed my thoughts, I flinched, turning around to meet his gaze. 

“I–I…” I didn't know what to say. My thoughts were all over the place and I could feel myself reaching the breaking point. 

“I told you Matthew's, one more slip up and that's it. You really dared to leave during your shift and you think you still have a job here?”

“Please sir. It was an emergency. The hospital called… my–my mum she—”

“Save it. You always have some excuse. I've had it with you. You're fired. Pack your things and leave”

“Sir, sir please… I need this job. My mother has to get surgery done and if I don't have a job….Please sir, please” I beg him frantically but his mind was made up. 

“Leave now or I'll have you escorted off the property” 

Defeated and left with no other choice, I took my things and left the restaurant. 

I didn't call for a cab, instead I walked home that evening. I needed to think but I couldn't figure anything out. I was at a crossroads and it felt like I'd done something terrible in a past life that I was now paying for. 

While I was walking, someone bumped into me and my bag fell to the floor. 

I let out a sigh, bending to pick it up when something fell out. 

It was the business card the man had given me.