Ashes in the Heart (Editing)

Transition

The next day it was very hot, the temperature didn't drop below 33 degrees and to my surprise I had slept more than I should have, I hadn't heard my alarm and the check-in time had passed. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom to shower, Mr. Mike was going to kill me or leave me without a job, which was much worse, it was my first delay in all the time I had been there and my good streak had gone to waste due to an oversight.

I brushed my teeth and took a bite of toast as soon as I combed my hair with a ¿SHOE? as well as late... retarded. I took my backpack, my glasses and ran across the street leaving the door open, sure that would cost me a scolding from Anna, but that would be something that the Amy of the future would regret, the Amy of the present could only think of arriving to work.

She walked as if someone was chasing me and in the midst of so much agitation I thought, ¿why had I fallen into such a deep sleep? She couldn't even formulate a response from the nerves she was carrying, not to mention the wave of emotions she would hit upon arriving at the mall. If my boss did not kill me with triphasic rage, I would die of emotional suffocation when I ran into Sebastián, my heart seemed to want to get out.

I got to the mall, greeted Louis the doorman and approached the store window with shrugged shoulders. I wanted the earth to swallow me when my boss left a client to go to where he was, I didn't know how he would react.

The central clock marked 10 and not one more soul entered the store, it was prepared to be humiliated fired.

Mike left the premises and stopped right in front of me with his arms crossed and a serious face, I tilted my face as I felt how my existence was getting smaller and smaller. Before he uttered a single word, I started crying telling him how sorry I was for the delay, I didn't want him to fire me because I loved that job and it felt like family, I was embarrassed even though it was the first time it had happened and I accepted my absence commitment or responsibility. The words slipped from my mouth, like verbal vomit, but between the silent crying and the words, Mr. Mike could hardly understand a sentence, perhaps he had only joined the few monosyllables that I could pronounce. He shook his head from side to side and let out his usual laugh, completely changing his expression and his tense atmosphere. He was a very understanding and good man, he could only tell me that he should go to the bathroom to wash my face and return to work without remembering what happened, it had been something insignificant and he had understood. I dried my tears with my hands and thanked him with a big hug for his great kindness, I couldn't be more grateful, not only for his generosity but for the way in which he made problems simple and fleeting. He patted me lightly on the shoulder and returned with the others to the store.

As I turned around, I noticed that many people kept waiting to see the continuation of the show, some kept looking at me, but others quickly averted their eyes so as not to seem gossipy. I lowered my face so that the reddishness of my face would not be noticed and I continued walking to the ladies' bathroom, while there I washed my face with some water and then dried it. I had forgotten where I was when I decided to cry, I had even forgotten that everyone was watching me all that time, including Sebastian. Somehow, I didn't feel ashamed or I didn't think about him before doing something like that, it kept my mind distracted and that was a good strategy to keep my mind focused.

I looked at myself once more in the mirror and noticed that my hair was still tied up, I got rid of my ponytail and shook it a bit to give it some volume and movement, I needed a tan, since being locked up in a place for so long to another it left me paler than usual and I also began to notice some dark circles under my eyes. I decided to apply a little lipstick to my lips to give my face some color and a little mascara to my long eyelashes, at least that way my imperfections were less noticeable.

When I left the bathroom and ready to start the work day, I bumped into Sebastián who was passing by with a coffee in his hand. I took a few steps back when I noticed his penetrating and smiling gaze and I stayed there static without saying anything.