Bird

xviii

"Raven, I need you to take the next shift,Clara called in sick", Martin said. Again she always does this,I had to pick Merce up from her rehearsals but I can call Anthony or Ash to pick her. Thinking of Merce ,my eyes widened as I remembered I had to pick Caleb an hour ago.

"I really can't Martin",I hesitated.

"Please Raven we need all hands on deck",he pleads,the restaurant has gained a lot of popularity since it opened. Me staying means I'll have to get some paid overtime. Besides, Caleb really wants to enroll in a football club but I don't have the money right. After some deliberation I finally put my apron back on and called Anthony to pick the kids up.

"Thank you for staying, table 10 is yours", Martin smiles and says.

"So what would you like today ladies",I say, painting my face with the best smile I can conjure.

" Finally!", A familiar voice whines. And I feel the smile on my face go stiff. We live in the same city and of course we are bound to bump into each other, even though we are in different circles and there is little to no chance but of course it's not impossible.

She dropped her menu and we locked eyes "Raven?", She said, a little surprised.

"Have you made up your mind or should I suggest our signature dish?", I say.

" Raven Bryce it seems you finally crawled out of the hole you ran to hide in", Kate spits.

" You're now a waitress,suits you well", Vanessa says she was once a friend I knew through Kate.

"I never would have imagined",Kate laughs and raises her hand showcasing the huge diamond adorning  her slender pedicured hand.
"Did you know? William and I are getting married", she said and smiled, her red lips breaking into a triumphant grin.

I looked at the ring on her finger,which William must have placed on her hand and it felt like a cold fist wrapped itself around my heart and squeezed, making my throat tighten and my eyes sting.

"You know what! I just thought of the best idea!", She excitedly laughed " why don't you attend my wedding? But I know you will be there anyway because I plan to hire this restaurant's chattering services for my wedding. You will be there as one of the servers but I'll give you an invitation for old times sake. I would love nothing more than marrying the love of my life surrounded by my friends and family",she pouted.

" Awwww ''Vanessa smiled " you should come Raven '', she laughed.

" It seems you ladies haven't yet decided on what to have so I'll give you more time to decide", I choke, holding in the years that threatened to fall from my eyes. They looked at me amused,they knew they managed to get to me. I rushed off hearing their laughter ringing behind me.

"What is it Raven ?", Martin asked as I ripped off my apron and threw it to the ground.

"I'm not going to serve that table to somebody else!", I snapped as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry Martin '' ,I apologized after noticing I drew the attention of everyone else in the kitchen. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.I don't want table ten,give me another one. Please?",

" Okay. But are you alright,were the customers rude to you? Did they say something?", He asked. I could see the worry on his face as he asked.

"It's no big deal and I just need to catch my breath",I said and took the tissue another waitress handed me.

Martin told me to take a break and that I can take another table. Why? Why did she have to appear in front of me? Until now I still can't believe my friend did that to me. And now the person that ruined my life is marrying the man I love.
After a few minutes the waiter who took over my table came back and said the people at table ten still wanted me to serve them. Martin saw the unwillingness in my eyes and went out himself to handle the situation.

Luckily enough they didn't end up making things difficult and I ended up serving another table on the other side of the room.
We ended up closing later than the usual closing time but the overtime check in my hands made it worth it. I ended up putting my encounter with Kate at the back of my head for the rest of the afternoon.

I grabbed my coat and stepped out of the restaurant hoping to catch the bus.

"Why did you come back?"Kate's voice rang through the night. I turned and she stood there near the entrance,with her hands in the pockets of her expensive Louis Vuitton coat. I recognized it because Ash has been obsessing over it and saving up to buy it at the end of the year.

"Do you think after all these years William has forgotten what you did and will forgive you?",

" What I did? Do you hear yourself right now? Why are you here anyways? Don't tell me you spent the rest of your evening waiting outside for me. I didn't know you missed me that much and wanted to catch up", I sneered and walked away.

" I'm still talking!"She yelled and grabbed onto my arm before I could cross the street. "William is mine and he loves me,so I'm warning you don't think of coming anywhere near him!",

I chuckled and stared at her deeply,her nose has become thinner and her lips fuller,she really looks beautiful. A beautiful woman with insecurities.

"If you're so confident that William loves you and that he belongs to you. why. are you. here?",I mocked. " I will tell you why you're here. You know that no matter what, he will never forget me right? That no matter how hard you try you will never be able to remove my shadow off of you", I laughed and she lunged at me grabbing my hair and slamming my head into the wind shield of the car next to me.

Pain shot through my face and my vision became fuzzy, I cursed under my breath and prepared to kill her with my bare hands.

"Hey that's enough!", Martin yelled and rushed to separate us with a security guard in toll.

"Ms Ford,you just can't attack my employee", he said to Kate who was held by the security guard.

"Let go of me! Don't you dare out your dirty hands on me! Did you know who I am?!", She screamed and the security guard had no choice but to leave her alone when her driver came to her rescue.

"This is a warning,Raven, don't you even think of looking for William otherwise I'll make you regret it!", She warned and stormed off.

" What a bitch", I cursed and pinched the bridge of my nose to stop the bleeding.
We went back into the restaurant to administer first aid to me.

"Well it's not broken", he said lightly pressing my nose,I hissed in pain and cursed again. I wasn't upset that she hit me but because I didn't get to mop the street with her face.

"Is the William, Kate Ford speaking of her fiance William Woodlock?", Martin finally asked. I knew he was dying of curiosity for a long time now but just held it in.

"Yes",I say.

Martin doesn't say anything and just finishes cleaning up my and drops me off at home.