Plot Twist

2. how weird was this?

"Have a nice day, pumpkin." I said before bending down and pressing my lips against the top of the head of blonde hair, in a loving kiss.

"Thank you, mum. You too." My daughter said, after letting go of my waist.

Leaving her at school had always been a difficult thing for me to do. Lexi was already in third grade, and it did get a bit easier, but never not difficult. If it were up to me, I'd spend every day at home with her, taking in every little detail about her and the way she lives. Because she inspires me every day. She's my main source of inspiration for everything I do.

She ran to the entrance of the school, with a smile that failed to leave her face, and right before turning right on the doors, she waved me one final goodbye. Standing in my place, I waved her back, before swinging back in my heels and making my way to the car, to drive to work.

I parked my car outside The Royal Rose, the restaurant I was currently working at as a waitress. The restaurant was located in Richmond, more specifically in a prime location, between the park and the River Thames, in a quiet, narrow road that led to a wider street, with far more movement than this one.

This was a fancy restaurant. Not Michelin star fancy, but definitely fancy. Chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, high quality linen tablecloths and napkins that decorated the wooden tables, low lighting that set a romantic tone, candles lit up everywhere, slow jazz music playing ever so softly in the background. This was a fancy and expensive restaurant. The kind of place posh members of society would go to, to gather their other posh friends and celebrate someone's birthday or anniversary.

Did I like working here? Yes, but I would like it a whole lot more to work behind the stove, in the kitchen. I would love to be the person responsible for the five star reviews of this restaurant, but, without any proper training in cooking, I had to settle for the waitress job.

People who ate here had money. That was how it worked. I could very easily cook one of these meals and make it taste even more delicious, but I could never afford eating them here.

I locked the car behind me and made my way inside the restaurant, skipping through the rain puddles, and holding my bag above my head to help cover me from the pouring rain.

When I walked through the backdoor, my colleague and close friend, Olivia, was already inside, tying the apron around her waist.

"Good morning, Mel." She said with a smile dancing on her lips.

Olivia Jones is the girl that is the actual human definition of a ray of sunshine. The only other person I know that would fit that category is Lexi, and she's an eight year old, but Olivia is a twenty-six year old woman.

"Hi Liv." I said with a matching smile. "How was your weekend?"

"Well, I was working Saturday night's shift so it wasn't too brilliant. But my sister and I went to our parents' place for Sunday dinner."

"Oh, that must've been nice." I commented, while removing my soaked trench coat.

"Yeah, it was okay, I guess. How's the little missy?" Olivia asked, referring to my daughter.

Whenever I couldn't be with Lexi, my brother was my main resource for help. Mainly because he knew her since forever and they loved each other - having an amazing uncle and niece relationship -, and secondly because I trusted him. However, he couldn't nor shouldn't he be responsible for Lexi all the time, and mostly now that he was married, with two kids of his own and had his own life to take care of. So, Olivia often babysat Lexi whenever I wasn't around.

"She's good." I smiled, thinking of the little missy in question. "I just dropped her off at school."

The morning shift routine was always the same. After arriving at work, it was all about preparing the restaurant for the day, and specifically for the lunches. That meant setting the tables - and checking for any reservations that were made beforehand -, checking with the kitchen staff what the specials are for the day, signing off on large orders that we're expecting such as food and beverages and getting the menus ready.