Chapter 7

Anna

Living with the pain of rejection hadn't been easy. Looking at my reflection was a daily reminder of the rejection I had been through. After arriving, I had spent the first few days sobbing and not going anywhere.

I had to talk myself into getting up and moving on. I had already lost weight because I wasn't eating and Adelaide wasn't even speaking to me. 

After that, I had started roaming around the city, searching for a job but I never found one. I had been searching for over two weeks, but I never found one. I had paid for the motel where I had been staying, but I was quickly running out of money. If I didn't find a job soon, I will be out on the streets. 

For the past few weeks I had been feeling really sick and vomiting in the mornings, but I never went to hospital because I had no money. I got out very quickly but I really didn't know what's wrong. Adelaide had also been very quiet lately. She hardly spoke to me and even when I asked her something, she would only reply me with your word and become quiet again. I asked her what the problem was but she said she was fine. I just brushed it off as it being that she was still feeling sad about Sean. 

I was currently on a street lined with restaurants and I had been going into request for a job had been rejected each time. I was already tired. I had finally gotten to the end of the Street where there was a restaurant that had a vacancy sign in front. It was the last restaurant on the line. When I entered into the building it was really busy and I could see a man I assumed to be the manager shouting from the front of the counter to at someone in the kitchen. There weren't many people in the restaurant, maybe just two or three because they weren't open yet.

I walked to the counter towards the manager. He was a short, chubby man with a receding hairline, beady eyes and stubby fingers. He was shouting so much that the veins in his head were protruding, almost like they were going to burst.

He literally looks like a balloon that's about to pop.

"Um… good morning." I greeted him, trying really hard not to laugh at his face.

"Yes, how many I help you!?" He said aggressively without turning to me and I stepped back, shocked.

He turned to me and his eyes widened when he noticed I wasn't an employee. "Oh… good morning, how many I help you?" He said, his voice becoming soft and he smiled at me. 

"I saw the vacancy for a job outside, so I came in for the interview." I said and realization dawned on his eyes.

"Oohh.. come right this way." He gestured to a table and two chairs at the corner of the room. I followed him and we sat across from each other.

"So.. what's your name?" He asked, picking up his pen.

"Anna." He wrote it down.

"Okay, Anna, how old are you?" He asked, smiling at me. I could see that he was forcing the smile.

"I'm twenty." 

"Twenty." I frowned.

Why does he keep repeating my words?

"Do you have any previous restaurant experience?" 

"Yes, I worked at a diner in my pack as a waitress."  

"Diner in pack." I narrowed my eyes at him as he looked down.

He was really starting to get on my nerves.

The smile jumped back to my face as he looked up at me. There was a strange look in his eyes that I couldn't quite place.

"Okay, why do you want to work here?" 

"Because, I saw a sign on the front and I need a job." I try to hide the sarcasm in my voice as I smile tightly.

"Need a job." 

I am really going to strangle this guy.

"Where do you live?" 

"I don't have a place to stay, so I live at a motel." I say and he stares at me for a while before he looks down at his clipboard.

"Motel… okay, just write the address here and you've got the job."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows as my eyes widen. "Thank you, Mr…" I trailed off.

"Connor." He completed. "And you are free to resume work immediately." 

"Wow, thank you so much. I'll work hard." I stood up and he guided me to the kitchen.

It was weird because no one ever hired someone so easily, especially when I didn't have a permanent address. Plus, I was going to resume immediately. 

I immediately brushed the thought aside and walked forward, not wanting to jinx myself. Maybe some people were just nice like that.

Unlike some assholes I knew.

"You're going to be washing the dishes for now and if you do well, you might get a promotion." He said on the way to the busy kitchen. 

There were a lot of people in the kitchen moving about, getting ready for the day.

"Everyone." He clapped and the chaos of the kitchen halted. "This is Anna, she'll start working here today, so treat her nicely and get along, okay?" His voice sounded really bored.

"Yes, sir." They chorused.

"Tony, you've been promoted! Show her to her station." I heard an excited shout from the back of the room. He left after saying that.

 Well, thank you, Tony for giving me your job. I appreciate the enthusiasm.

Someone walked up to me and getured for me to follow him. He was head chef of the kitchen, I guessed. He was a man in his late fourties and had brown hair and brown eyes that had wrinkles beside them. All the other employees were staring at me as he took me to the very end of the kitchen in a quiet corner.

"Well, my name is Adrien and I'm the head chef." I knew it. "And you'll be starting here today. You'll wash every dish brought to you and put them in this rack." Already in the sink were a ton of dishes waiting for me. Now I knew why Tony was happy.

Did Tony even do anything this morning?

"If you have any questions, you can ask me, but for now, you can start." He said and walked away, without even welcoming me.

Rude much.

Damn you, Tony.

Tying my hair up, I put on the gloves on the side and got straight to work. Some of the stains on the plate were almost impossible to remove, but I was able to get them out after minutes of scrubbing hard.

I'm better than you, Tony.

I hadn't even seen who Tony was, all I knew was that I didn't like him. 

The more I washed the dishes, the more dishes were brought in. The restaurant had probably opened and judging by the amount of dishes brought in, it was popular. I wiped my sweat with my arm and sighed as I tried to increase my pace. 

It was finally time for my break, my body was already spent. I was getting more tired than usual. I was given some food to eat and rested for just a few minutes before I was told to get back to work. 

All the people in the kitchen were polite so far, but no one approached me, and I was grateful for that. I wasn't ready to associate with people yet because I wasn't sure how to relate yet without being unnecessarily angry and irritable.

The restaurant finally closed by seven which was actually quite early, but I wasn't complaining. I got in line for my pay and was given fifty dollars. I looked at the manager, confused.

"You only wash the dishes, so your pay isn't much." He said and told me to get out of the line.

"But…" I stuttered as I stood there with my mouth open. I had worked all day for just fifty dollars. I sighed and walked out of the restaurant. There was nothing I could do, I really needed the money to survive.

Damn you, Tony and also you, Connor.

I walked all the way back to my motel room and dropped in my bed. I was beyond tired. I decided to talk to Adelaide for a bit before I took a shower.

'Hey, Adelaide, what's up?' I asked.

'Im fine, Anna." 

'Youve been very quiet lately, is there a problem?' I asked her as I stood up to put my things away.

'There actually is something that I have to tell you.' 

'Okay, I'm listening.' I bent down to pick up my bag that had fallen down.

'Please, promise me you won't get mad, for any reason; either at me or the thing I want to tell you.'

I scoffed. 'Umm.. okay, whatever, what is it?' I was really curious now.

'You're pregnant, Anna.'