His Barista - Soap MacTavish Coffee Shop AU

3

╭──────────.★..─╮
  Chapter Three
╰─..★.──────────╯

When morning came and the birds chirped annoyingly loud outside of Elsie's bedroom window, she frowned and turned to reach for her phone to check the time. It was only ten minutes before her alarm was scheduled to blare in her ear to wake her for work, so she decided to just get up now and avoid hearing it altogether.

Rubbing her itching eyes with her fists, she yawned and entered the bathroom to inspect her cheek, wondering how good a job her mother had done of it the day before and if she needed to cover it before she left for her shift.

When her eyes landed back on herself through the mirror that sat above the bathroom sink, she bit the inside of her cheek nervously as she saw a faint bruise.

It was mostly pink in colour but had a slight purple tint that outlined where her mother's slender fingers had collided with her soft skin.

Elsie's complexion was usually very pale, but the way the bruise looked on her, she could easily just blame it on the cold nip in the morning, and then sweat from the heat of the coffee machine in the afternoon. She didn't bother using any makeup to cover it, not having any energy today to do so even if she had wanted to.

She spent very little time actually getting ready for work, wanting nothing more than to get out of the same house that her parents were in too, not bothering to grab anything for breakfast before she was out the door and scraping the thin layer of ice from the windshield of her car.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Elsie arrived at the cafe and opened it up shortly after, making her usual hot chocolate while she yawned deeply from the lack of sleep her parents had caused her.

She always had a bit of doubt that always sat knowingly in the back of her mind, telling her that her parents didn't actually love their only daughter, that they only kept her around for their own benefit. She often dismissed these thoughts and reminded herself that no matter what, they were her parents and she would always love them even if they couldn't reciprocate that feeling the same way she did; but now she wasn't even sure she believed herself.

Last night hadn't been the first time her mother had raised her hand at Elsie, but it had been quite a while since doing so. She had learnt not to talk back to the woman, not to give her any attitude and to listen to whatever she commanded, she had just slipped up last night, forgetting what would follow from her disobedience.

Elsie was lost in thought, absentmindedly staring into her cup as her mind seemed to block out any noises happening around her, like a selective deafness that only happened when she was thinking dreadful thoughts.

"Elsie?" She vaguely heard a voice call, her eyebrows furrowing before she looked up and saw Johnny standing in front of the counter, leaning down so that he was head level with her.

She hadn't even heard him enter and he startled her a small bit, but she was quick to recover, straightening herself out as he followed her movements.

"Johnny, hey. I didn't hear you come in, sorry." She didn't smile at him yet, still stuck in her emotions.

Johnny noticed her bruised cheek immediately.

"You okay Elsie?" He asked her, his head cocking to the side so he could get a better view of her face. "What happened?"

She didn't expect him to catch on so quickly, and for a moment she was actually going to tell him what happened, that she wasn't okay. She mentally slapped herself and pulled on a facade.