Chapter 1

Reina's POV 

“I’m really sorry, sir. I’ll bring you a new cup.” I apologized to the man I had spilled coffee on.

“Will sorry fix this?” The man hollered, towering above me. Tears sprang to my eyes. I hated being yelled at and believe me, trying to hold in your tears is an extreme sport.

“I could….” I was interrupted by my boss, Mrs. Smith, a nice elderly woman.

“Go attend to someone else, Reina.” She said to me, her kind eyes showed her pity towards me. She then faced the man and said a few words to calm him down.

I went to take someone else’s order and handed it to my coworker, Jessica.

“You’re so clumsy and that's disgusting.” She said, harshly.

I sighed. 

Welcome to my world.

I am the one and only Reina Jackson, I guess. I will be twenty four years old by May. First child and only daughter of the Jackson’s family. My mum died from a heart disease two years ago. Things got hard because we spent all our savings on her hospital bills.

My dad spiraled into an alcohol addiction leaving me to take care of my twin brothers . I had to get several jobs and at the same time ensure I graduated from college that year.

“Get your head in the game, girl.” Jessica whisper-yelled, shoving the tray into my hands.

“Sorry.” I hate the fact that I was so weak. That I couldn’t stand up for myself and say things I really wished to say.

I straightened up and got ready to serve the next customer.

“Here is your espresso and croissant, ma’am.” I said, a huge smile on my face.

************

I stared at my red hair and dull brown eyes as I got ready in the locker room for my afternoon lectures. Too basic right, I know.

I changed from the restaurant’s shirt to a cute pink top I got on thrift recently. Packed up my hair into a ponytail and applied lip gloss then I made my way out the back.

A faint buzzing sound reached my ears. Rummaging my bag for my phone, I sighed in relief when I found it.

“Hey girlie, where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.” Anna shouted through the phone.

Anna is my best friend. Literally the best friend a girl could ever ask for and we’ve been friends since high school.

“Where are you? Why is it so noisy?” I asked her.

“It’s just a little get-together with my course mates. I asked you a question though, where are you?”

“I’m almost at school. Just left work.”

“Oh.. I will talk to you later, this really cute guy is coming towards me.” She squealed, hanging up.

I shook my head in silent laughter as I boarded the bus.

************

“Hey sis, what are we having for dinner?” Diego, one of the twins, asked, diverting his attention from his video game.

“Pasta.” I replied, scribbling furiously. My exams were fast approaching and I hadn’t completed my final year project yet.

One thing kept me going. I believed that once I got my degree in accounting and became an accountant, I could cater for my brothers without depending on my dad. 

“I’m cooking dinner already.” Jerry said, wrapping his arms around me. “Aren’t you working tonight?” 

“I have a project due Monday and I can’t take an off-day since tomorrow is Friday.”

“Hmm.. busy Fridays.” He kissed my forehead.

Jerry was the more mature of the two and I could trust him to take care of Diego when he started acting out. 

“Dad isn’t coming home tonight, right?” Jerry asked.

“I hope he doesn’t. I can’t deal with him tonight.” Diego mumbled.

“That’s not a nice thing to say, Diego. No matter what happens, he’s always your dad.” I chided him. 

“Okay. I’m sorry.” He apologized and returned to his game.

************

After dinner, we all retired to bed after I had locked up all the doors.

My dad hadn’t come home yet. He was probably drunk to stupor in a bar and had forgotten his whereabouts.

The first few weeks after mum’s death, I always went to help him home but when I noticed he wasn’t keen on dropping the habit, I left him to find his way home in the morning.

I went into the bathroom to have my bath, changed into my nightwear and picked up my phone.

Anna had uploaded pictures of the get-together on her I*******m and Snapchat. I liked every single one and commented on them.

I was dozing off already when I heard a loud bang. I ignored it and snuggled deeper into my duvet.

It came again, louder this time. I groaned and forced myself to get up from the bed. I switched on the lights and went to check who was behind the ruckus.

It came again. I knew who it was this time and I opened the door.

“Hi dad.” His eyes were glazed over as he tried to recognize me.

“Rosalie?” He called out.

“I’m not Rosalie. Mum is dead, dad. Get a grip of yourself.”

He staggered in, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“Rosalie isn’t dead. She can’t be dead. You are a little liar.”

I groaned and stared at him. He had laid on the floor by this time.

“Goodnight dad.”

But he murmured inaudibly in reply.

It hurt to see him like this, he had already been suspended from work for his behavior. I just wished he would go back to the way he was. Full of life with hope for greater things to come.

“He came home today?” I heard Jerry ask rhetorically. I turned to look at them.

“Apparently. He doesn’t remember me. Just mum.”

“Doesn’t he realize what a bad example he’s being? Mum would be so disappointed.”  

“I’ll speak to him tomorrow. You should both go back to bed. 

“Okay sis. Good night.” They said in unison, heading back to their room.

I grabbed a blanket from the laundry room and laid it on him. 

***********

The next morning, my dad was nowhere to be found.

I just prepared breakfast for the boys before leaving for work.

The restaurant I worked at was a family-owned breakfast diner owned by Mrs. Smith’s parents. It was located in the busy part of town where most offices were located. Most people came there for breakfast, hence, mornings were the busiest.

I changed into the shirt and made my way out of the locker room to attend to customers. 

I was on my fifth customer – Jessica didn’t come on Fridays which made everything so much harder and I started sweating heavily. 

All of a sudden, I felt my chest tighten. I dropped the tray I was holding, grasping my chest. 

“Are you okay?” I heard someone ask. I couldn’t tell who it was. I beat my chest, unable to breathe.

“Reina, Reina..” I felt myself fall to the floor, slowly losing consciousness.

**************

I woke up feeling really drowsy. I saw Mrs. Smith smiling at me, her face full of pity.

“I’ll go call the doctor.” She said, leaving me by myself. 

I turned towards the window, remembering what happened to me. I had a fleeting doubt of what it could be but I refused to believe it.

Mrs Smith came back with the doctor a while later and excused herself, saying she had to go back to work.

The doctor checked that I was doing okay.

“I feel much better. Could you please tell me what’s going on?” I asked, impatiently.

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion.

“I’m sorry to inform you, Miss Reina, but you are exhibiting symptoms of a heart disease.” 

I couldn’t believe my ears. Yanking the drip off, I ran away from the room.

I furiously wiped away my tears. I couldn’t believe this. I refused to.

I bumped into someone as I tried to get into the elevator. 

“Hey!!” The guy thundered. “Could you be any more careless?”

I stared at him, his words refusing to register in my brain.

“Are you deaf? Or you have problems speaking. An apology would have been really nice.”

The huge brown patch on the white suit caught my attention. Did I do that?

“This was my best suit.” He shouted again.

I finally looked at him. He was handsome in a way that screamed ‘look at me’. His dark brown hair was gelled back and the gold watch sitting firmly on his wrist could be two years worth of my salary.

“Since you are so rich, you could always get another one.” I shouted back before covering my mouth.

Shit.