INNOCENCE

• six

NELLIE

2 weeks ahead.

I am woken up by the annoying & loud ringing of my alarm. I groan in annoyance & hit snooze, not wanting to get my ass up & leave for work. I "rest" my eyes knowing I'd regret it later.

I end up falling asleep.

•••

I scream when a hand connects with my ass, harshly. I snap my eyes open & turn around staring at Nala who's staring at me with a frown.

"I thought you fucking died Bitch!"

"I was asleep." I rub my eye, a satisfied sigh leaving my lips.

"I can see that. Your bitch of a boss called me 7 times because you didn't answer any of his calls nor texts. Angelo & I have been spamming your phone because we thought somebody snatched yo ass." She sighs & I furrow my eyebrows together in confusion.

"Huh?" I tilt my head.

"If you can huh, you can hear. Take your phone off silence mode & do not disturb. & It's 1 pm get up."

"WHAT?!" I jump up & check my phone, multiple messages & phone calls from my boss, Angelo, Nala, & Leo, who texted me Good morning at 9:08 am.

"Oh shit!" I stare at my screen with wide eyes. I click on my boss's texts & I read them. A loud sigh leaves my lips at the last text message.

Boss🤮: You're fucking fired!

Great. I attempt to call him but it goes straight to voice mail.

"He fired you didn't he?" She sits beside me & I nod.

"I made good money & elderly people tell the best stories too." I sigh. As much I hated my job, I liked the stories some of my patients told me.

"So do you want me to set your boss on fire or ...?" She suggested & I stare at her in disbelief, dumbfound by the words that just left your lips.

"Um no." I laugh nervously, my eyebrows furrowed together.

"Okay. The bartending spot is still available at Angelo's club." She shrugs & I smile.

"I got social anxiety. I will have to speak to customers & I might end up stuttering then boom, I embarrassed myself in front of them & now I want to hit myself in the head with a Hennessy bottle." I ramble off & Nala stares at me in disbelief, concern filled her eyes.

"That just got dark." She scratched her eyebrow & I laugh.

"Right sorry but thank you. A big crowd of people scare me. Well, people in general scare me." I speak truthfully.

"So, do you want to go wedding dress shopping with me then?" She suggested with a smile & I nod my head.

"Okay." She smiles. She leans in forward & placed a soft kiss on my forehead before standing. She leaves my bedroom & I lay down.

I grab my phone & stare at it. I click on Leo's message notification & reply with a 'hey'. It's 1:47 pm right now, it's a bit late to even reply but I did it anyway.