Lena woke up the next morning lying on her couch. The TV was still on. She had passed out from crying her eyes out.
The image of Scott sitting on her front porch kept coming back and made her migraine worse.
She switched her TV off and decided to shower. She looked at her sore eyelids from crying so much and cursed Scott for being stupid. After she showered and got dressed, she made herself coffee and toast and sat alone on her kitchen counter. She didn't really want to show up at work with sore eyes, but she didn't really have much of a choice now that she knew Charlotte was spreading the word about how she was dating her boss.
Instead, she decided to try and wear makeup to make her eyes look pretty. Big winged eyeliner and red lip gloss to match. She stared at her glasses on her dresser debating whether to wear them or not.
"Contacts it is." She mouthed as she grabbed them.
She braided her hair, which was a little different than what she normally did to her hair and left for work.
That day, Lena got to work late. Not because she intended to be noticed. She was late because she spent the whole night crying.
Scott debated whether to point out her tardiness, but he didn't want to add anything to their fight. So he let her off the hook.
The rest of the morning was pretty standard. Harriet sat at her usual table drawing, Scott sulked on his chair, Marcus was busy taking people's orders like Lena. And Charlotte watched closely.
She sat next to Lena when she was out on her smoke break.
"Scott dumped you, huh? I have to admit I absolutely admire you!" - she started and Lena cut in quickly - "Charlotte, please don't. You have no idea what's really going on, so just shut it"
"No! You're getting me wrong! I mean if it was me going to work to see him stare at Harriet all day... Wow! I mean you're a really strong person..." She was sneaky. -"Oh my God! What if they actually start dating?"
Lena threw her cigarette out and walked in. Charlotte giggled but stifled her smirk when she saw Scott looking for Lena.
"She walked in, Scott. Don't upset her any more, OK? She just told me about how much of an ass you were..." She bumped his shoulder as she walked past him.
Scott's fists tightened in anger. He couldn't believe Lena had the nerve to put the blame on him.
He spent the rest of the day making sure she felt ignored by him. He would walk past her and not even acknowledge her. She would come to the register to put an order through and he didn't even hear her.
Lena felt her heart crumble.
Harriet tapped the seat signaling Lena to sit next to her. Lena took the chance and sat down. She was about to open her mouth to talk to Harriet when she heard Charlotte - "I thought we weren't supposed to sit down and have lunch with customers."
Scott looked over and started - "Lena..."
She just stood up and got back to work. He really made her skin crawl.
At closing time she got her coat and headed out without saying a single word to him.
Scott felt Charlotte's words replay in his head and Lena's attitude just confirmed Charlotte was right.
Charlotte waited later than normal to make her way out. She took her own sweet time to put her coat on and waited for Lena to leave. She helped Scott clean up and put the chairs away.
"Um... You look really upset, Scott. Want to go to the pub for a drink?" She smiled sweetly.
Scott shook his head no - "I really shouldn't..."
"Scotty, It's just a drink. I know you're my boss, but you're also a friend. I just want to see you happy."
"Fine... Let's go!"
They closed down, locked the shop's door. They walked to the pub while she kept talking nonstop. He pretended to listen.
Lena turned around and wiped a tear from her left cheek when she saw them walk together. She turned away and walked home.
