Chapter Two - Lackluster Day!

I ran off my apartment door at great speed after dropping off my daughter at my neighbor, Kanika's, flat. I was really running late. I could only hope that the bus wouldn’t leave me behind, or else I’d be doomed. The hotheaded manager will surely yell at me throughout the shift.

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I dashed along the stairs, almost missing a few steps here and there. I didn’t want to take the old rickety elevator as it would only take more from my precious time. I almost bumped into my neighbor who was an old lady with a bad temper.

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“HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING, DUMBASS!!!”

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She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Uh, whatever, I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted to get to my workplace. As soon as I went out the building, I ran to the bus stop just a few meters away. There was no bus in sight. Just as I predicted, the bus driver was already driving off to the next route. Stupidly, I ran for the bus in the hopes of catching it.

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“STOP!!! DRIVER!!! STOOOP, PLEASE!!!” I yelled, almost crying.

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I was sprinting with all my might. I had forgotten about the high heels I was wearing at the time, until I heard a CLACK!! from underneath my soles.

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Dammit! My heels just broke off! What should I do now?!

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I stopped and looked on as the bus drove away into the distance.

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I still looked around for another bus, until my eyes caught the sight of a taxi. I quickly waved my hands above my head.

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“Mr. Taxi! Sir! I need a ride! Hellooo!” I shouted, hoping the driver could see me.

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No luck, though, the driver drove his yellow cab across the intersection. I could feel that my knees were weak as jelly. My eyes were hot from holding back the tears. It was my first time being late to my job. I was very scared of losing my one and only source of income.

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I crouched on the pavement when I saw a motorcyclist on the side of the road just a few meters away from me. He looked like a delivery guy because his motorcycle had a box on the top of the end of the seat. I ran up to him quickly and tapped on his shoulders. He looked at me with a shocked look on his face.

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“Sorry! I did not mean to scare you, but can I ask for your help? It’s really urgent…” I pleaded to him, “you see, I’m running late to my job and I have to get there fast.”

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His face looked confused but then he opened his mask-covered mouth, “I could be mistaken, but I am pretty certain that you are that girl who works at the Scalavatia restaurant?”

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“Eh? How did you know?”

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“I work just across that restaurant. That little diner named Cabana Craves. Well, I was just going to head back there, so you are in luck, lady.”

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“Thank goodness! Do you mind if I hop on?” I almost jumped onto the motorcycle seat impatiently.

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“Easy there, lady! You'll make the both of us fall down!”

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“Hehe, sorry, can you please start the engine now? Thank you.”

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The man started the motorcycle and sped up before I could tell him to. I started to remember the name of the man because I have heard his boss call him that one time. If I was not mistaken, his name was Allen.

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Allen drove the motorcycle so fast that I felt like my life somehow flashed before my eyes. Before we both know it, we have arrived at the entrance of Scalavatia. I shouted a quick thank you to Allen before running headfirst towards the door.

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The manager was standing on the main podium with his hands on his hips.

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“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! GET THE HECK OVER HERE AND GET SERVING!”

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Bah! I hate being shouted at! I ran to the backroom to put on my apron and name tag quicker than The Flash. After I went out of the backroom, I noticed that the restaurant was unusually busy. There were a lot of people visiting tonight, and to make things weirder, it was during the weekday.

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Before I could snap out of my daydream, I heard somebody shout loudly.

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“You! Over there! Quit your nonsense and come here this instance!” A young man, who was seated in the round table, shouted towards me. He was wearing a fine-tailored suit and he seemed very wealthy.

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I half-sprinted to the round table. The young lady that was seated next to him, spoke in a very cold and harsh manner.

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“Lousy waitress. Pathetic. We’ve been calling out for five minutes already. FIVE MINUTES! Do you know how starving I am?!”

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Wow. How spoiled! Does she think that the world revolves around her? I managed to blurt out a little apology to which she scoffed at after giving me an ugly sneer. Ugh.

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“Here is the menu, Ma’am.”

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“No need for the menu! I’ll have the usual. A plate of salad, low-carb dressing, just lemon and some olive oil. Give it a side of crisp, oven-baked sliced baguette. Make sure it is gluten-free, and vegan. Bruschetta with avocado and tomato topping. Everything must be warm and perfect, or else I won’t eat and will call your manager.”

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I looked at her face and she gave me an apparent condescending face. If I weren’t working right now, I’d be more than happy to slap her face. I finished jotting down all the orders and quickly dropped it off for the chefs to make. When the food is finally ready, I picked it up to serve it.

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“HEY!!! What’s taking you so long?! I’m starving! HURRY UP!” The nasty woman started to shout again.

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I was half running to her table, when my foot suddenly tripped on an uneven carpet surface. I tried to avoid falling, but my broken shoe made my right foot slip. The tray I had on my hands was flung towards the ceiling, and I fell face first on the carpet.

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Next thing I knew, the woman was screaming frantically. I could feel pain on my forehead, but decided to look up anyway. Flipping heck! The salad was all over her head! I could see vinaigrette leaking on her cheeks.

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From that moment on, I knew I fucked up.

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“YOU DIMWITTED DUMBASS!!! HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO ME?! MY FAVORITE PURSE IS RUINED!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT COSTS, HUH?! YOU ARSEHOLE!”

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She stood up from her seat and approached me. She pulled my hand forcefully to make me stand up, and swung her hand as fast as lightning to my cheek. SLAPPPP!

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Woah. What?

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She slapped me?!

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“I will make sure Daddy knows about this! Just you wait! YOU WILL BE FIRED!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

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All eyes were on us. Every patron and employee was looking directly at us. I’ve never felt more ashamed my entire life. I stood there with my feet visibly shaking. I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks.

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“What are you going to do about it, you little bitch? You’re going to cry about it? Go cry about it, you stupid fucking bitch! You can’t even buy this kind of purse with your lifetime worth of salary!”

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I wished someone would step in and save me. I felt so ashamed that I couldn’t move. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my right shoulder. The figure then went in front of me to speak to the devilish woman.

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“Miss, everyone might be scared of you but I’m trying to be fair here. She might have spilled a little food on you, but what you did had crossed the line. I need you to stop.” Noah intervened, knowing that I couldn’t defend myself.

“Oh? A lowlife defending the dunce, I see. You will be fired too.” She kept on ranting.

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“Elaine, please stop. This is too much.” The man who was with her tried to calm her down. The man looked very handsome as he walked closer to the both of us. He looked very young, but also very charismatic.

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“She just ruined my favorite purse, Harry, can’t you see?”

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The manager then stepped in to make clear of the murky situation. He had some negotiations going on with the devilish bitch. It has come to an agreement that for the ‘punishment’, I have to wash all of the toilets in the restaurant after closing hours. My mind went directly to my daughter, what if she cries out for me tonight if I went home late? Sigh.

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The feisty woman finally left with the guy and she still goes on and on about my fault on their way out. I continued doing my shift with a heavy heart while swearing out the evil woman inside my mind.

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It was finally closing hour. Phoebe wasn’t working today as it wasn’t her shift. If only she was here today, she would’ve helped me unconditionally. As I got ready with the brush and all the stuff to clean, Noah approached me bringing the same tools.

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“I’ll help you.” He said briefly. He was smiling but I could see from his eyes that he was actually tired from working the whole day.

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“Thank you Noah, but it’s okay, I can manage.” I tried to decline, but he insisted on helping me somehow.

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"Aria, it's pretty hard for me seeing you punished like this. After all it wasn't entirely your fault." Noah said as he took out a toilet brush from his bucket. He looked into my eyes deeply.

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"I'm sorry Noah, I didn't mean to trouble you like this."

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"Don't be sorry. I really want to help you."

I nodded and broke the eye contact between us. It made me warm inside but I was also embarrassed.

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We started scrubbing the men’s toilet first. It was really filthy that I gagged and almost threw up. How could the restroom of a fine dining restaurant be this disgusting?

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We took almost an hour cleaning everything up. By the time we finished, we were exhausted as heck. We decided to rest a bit. I got up and fix some drinks for ourselves before packing up to go home.

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There were only the two of us in the restaurant. It was cold and very quiet. The heater must have been shut off a few hours ago. I made us both a cup of hot chocolate as there was some leftover milk. Noah sat right beside me, apparently noticing the uneasy look on my face.

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“Aria.”

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“Hum?”

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“She can’t fire us that easily.”

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“Of course, she’s just a mere patron, isn’t she? And what does her Daddy got to do with this? What she said was pretty weird.”

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“Aria. That was Elaine. The eldest daughter of the Bonavichs. She is the owner of the boutique near your house.”

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I instantly froze.

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“Well, you might not get fired, but maybe I might! Did you see the vegetables strewn all over her head and vinegar all over her purse? Noah, this is crazy, I am not ready to lose this job yet!”

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“It’s fine, you don’t need to worry. Elaine might be spoiled as a rotten apple, but Mister Wilfred Bonavich is a kind and humble person. He won’t let that happen.”

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“I hope so…”

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"Yeah, I'm sure he wont let that happen... Be calm... It's okay... It will all be okay."

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"Yeah, thank you Noah."

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I was sitting back in silence again but then something bugged my mind, who was the man sitting next to Elaine? Was it her boyfriend? Or was it somebody else? If it really was her boyfriend, the blatant fact would have blown me away. Having a girlfriend or partner like that would have been a nightmare for a lifetime. I decided to ask Noah about it, wondering if he knew or not.

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"By the way, Noah, is the guy sitting next to her, her boyfriend?"

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“Oh, the dude beside her? That’s Harrison. The spoiled son I told you about last time.”

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I stared at Noah for a few seconds, unable to process the information that he just told me.

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“Huh... What? Welp... He doesn’t look eighteen to me.”

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“He is, though, he just dresses that way to look more mature.”

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"He is doing great then, he looked much more older than his age. If you hadn't told me, I would have guessed that he was on his late twenties."

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"He does that a lot... I guess it was so people would take him seriously, and not treat him like the child he is."

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I felt cold, so I just kept quiet. We spent the next few minutes sitting in silence. Noah scooted a little closer to me. I felt his warmth and it was quite comforting. I tried to scoot a little closer to him because I was freezing. I could feel him blush a little. How cute.

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A smile appeared on my face as I thought about how cute he was.

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Without another thought, Noah tried to slowly grab my hand. I looked up at him and saw his beautiful eyes. Those beautiful eyes were looking at me almost piercingly. I didn't know what intentions he have, but it sent me chills in a mere second. He had this soft expression on his face, too, which balanced out the look on his eyes.

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My heart skipped a beat as I realized what we were doing. Why are my feelings getting so strong? I mean, sure, he looks like he belongs with someone else. But I am not his girlfriend! So why do I start to have these weird feelings right now when I am sitting right next to him? I didn't feel this kind of feeling when I have normal conversations during work hours.

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I tried to calm down because I did not want him to know what was going on inside my head. It's not like he would care anyway, right? But what was his initial intention though? Why did he suddenly hold my hand like that? Does he like me? Or was he only feeling cold and freezing?

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"Do you wanna go home?" I asked after a while.

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It seemed like he didn't realize what I was feeling. It was not like I understood what I was feeling too, though. It was all so confusing, if I was to tell the truth.

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"Um... Uh..."

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His voice sounded a bit shaky. Was he okay?Oh no. Did my question triggered something in him? Maybe he wanted to spend a little bit more time in here with me? I was guessing that. I was not quite sure after all.

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After a few minutes of being in silent, Noah slowly let go of my hand. My hand instantly felt cold and freezing again. He took another sip of his drink. Then he put the cup down.

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"Yes. Let's get outta here. Let the cups be there, somebody will clean them up in the morning."

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"Oh, okay..."

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"Alright, come on Ari."

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We got out of the building. As soon as Noah had locked all the doors, we walked slowly towards the parking lot. It was pretty dark outside since it was almost midnight. The streetlights flickered, adding creepiness to the already dark ambience. The night was cool but not too cold. The wind blew against us as we walked side by side. The only thing that broke the silence was Noah's footsteps.

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"Do you live nearby?" I asked him in an attempt to keep the conversation alive.

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"Well, not so nearby, but I'm guessing not as far as your apartment is, right?" he answered, but he also questioned me.

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"Yeah I guess..."

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“Okay, but how will you get home? It’s already very late and the last bus had left an hour ago.” His question seemed genuinely worried. Maybe if I were his male coworker, he would not be this worried about me. I am a lady after all, trying to reach home in the late hours of the night.

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Though I have done it several times before, I still get this anxiety sometimes whenever I try to get home alone during the late hours of the night. It could be just me being paranoid, but it could also be those basic human instincts kicking in.

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“I will find a taxi, relax.” I tried to calm Noah down and decrease his worries.

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“I think it’s pretty dangerous for a lady to take a taxi alone so late at night.” Noah's tone started to get more serious. I knew at this moment that he was being utterly serious about it.

“Well-“

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“Let me take you home. My scooter is more than ready to take you home.” Noah insisted.

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“Noah, you’re so kind to me, I owe you one.” I finally complied, I knew I could not negotiate anymore with this guy. I will just try to trust him now.

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“It’s always a pleasure to help you, Aria.”

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I threw a big smile at Noah, and he did the same to me. I saw Noah’s dark blue scooter parked alone there, with a helmet hanging on its rearview mirror. He walked over to his scooter and opened the luggage compartment under the seat. He then took a spare helmet from the luggage compartment and gave it to me.

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On the way home, it was very cold and quiet. I wanted to sit closer to Noah so that I could feel warm, but I was too shy. After dropping me off, Noah decided to go home directly because of how late it is. I decided to rest as well, after picking up my daughter from Kanika’s flat.

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I took Amy into her bedroom and tucked her in bed. She kept on hugging the stuffed rabbit that I have had from when I was younger. I decided to give it to Amy because she loved it so much. Although my little girl was peacefully asleep, I kept looking at her, trying to figure out what I should do. Eventually, I went out her room with a smile on my face and decided to go catch some rest myself.