It was a cloudy day full of people, one of those only-happens-in-New York City kind of day. I walked with Bella the four blocks that separated our apartment from the Starbucks where I worked.
"Hey there, girls!" said Micaela, my best friend, walking in our direction to hug us.
"Auntie Mikkie!" Bella ran and hugged her.
The café was straight up empty. We had to enjoy those five minutes of freedom before it got full. I left my stuff in my locker.
"I still don't understand why you come here so early. There's literally no one here at six in the morning" I told my best friend.
She shrugged.
"I'm just used to it, I guess. And I earn a little more cash"
I nodded.
"Is Gretchen inside?" I ask her about our boss.
"Yeah, she's working on the week's menus"
"Let's go up to her, Bell" I told my daughter, she took my hand, and we went inside of the "personal only" door.
"Good morning, Gretchen" I greeted my boss, a woman probably on her late twenties, tall, black, straight hair and dark blue eyes.
"Hello, my girls!" she smiled from her little wooden desk.
"Say hi, Bella" I whispered to my daughter.
"Hi" she said, shy as she always was with people she didn't really know.
"Good morning, hon" said Gretchen.
"I'm just going to sign in" I tell Gretchen and signed in the register I had gotten here at eight o' clock.
"At what time do we leave for ice cream, mommy?" Bella asked.
"Oh, honey, not now. Once I'm off work, on the evening"
I put on the café's apron all employees had to wear during their shifts and left Bella on the counter.
"Stay here, okay?" I handed her my phone. "Here, play all you want" I kissed her forehead and stroke her hair.
"Yay!" Bella unlocked my phone and started playing that Barbie game she loved so much.
I went up to Micaela for customers but, as I previously said, there weren't any.
At nine the café was full, and the rest of the employees were already here. Micaela, Rose and I went from side to side, with the breakfast trays and taking orders while Peter, Marcela and Santiago worked from behind the counter on everyone's orders. Bella got off the counter and started talking to them.
We closed at one and had a short, thirty minute break. The six of us employees sat down in the same table to eat and talk. Bella sat on my lap and ate some of the cookies I had brought from home. My co-workers played and laughed with her.
Gretchen soon joined us and she let us have some drinks on the house. So I ended up sharing a Starbucks with Isabella.
We opened again at one thirty, and I was busy running around to get people their orders until six. Yes, I worked ten hours a day in this place.
I was exhausted and it was only six. I still had to take Bella for ice cream and...
My phone buzzed.
Paisley: hey girlie! Is it okay for you to meet today, same time, same place as always? :)
And now I had to see Paisley. Hopefully, Bella would understand. Poor kid.
Me: sure! I'll see you there
I grabbed my bag, took off the apron, signed the register and said my goodbyes to my co-workers and boss.
While I was doing that, I was thinking about some way I could meet up with Paisley and still get Bella her ice cream. But my meetings with Paisley were usually about two or three hours long, And we always met up at seven. Dammit, I really wanted to do both things.
"But mommy, why?" she whined. I don't blame her. Sitting for ten hours playing the same three games can't be so much fun. And it's much worse when you were promised a reward and you don't get it afterwards.
"Bella, I'm really sorry, but I have to see Paisley at seven. I just don't have time right now" I told her while I hugged Santiago goodbye.
"But mommy! I want it now!" she said as she dragged her feet and entire body instead of walking.
"Bell, come on. I promise you, we'll go tomorrow"
"But you told me we were gonna go today..."
"What's making my baby sad?" Micaela asked Bella, seeing her sad little face.
"I promised her we were gonna go get ice cream after work, but I don't have time now; I have to see Paisley and well, she got a little mad"
"Oh, well, I have a solution for your problem" she said. "Don't you wanna go get ice cream with your favorite auntie?"
Bella looked at me first, then at Micaela. She smiled.
"Yayy!! Can it be chocolate mint?"
"Any flavor you want, baby"
"Mica, thank you so much. Really" I told my friend, hugging her.
"Oh, it's nothing really. Plus, it's been a while since I've spent time with Bell" she said and, getting on her knees to be the same height as her, hugged my daughter.
Micaela helped me so much when it came to taking care of Bella. Since she didn't live with a dad, I constantly had to look after her to do everything and it, I'm not gonna lie, became exhausting sometimes. Lucky for me, Micaela was always there to help me and take care of Bell so many times. I owed her so much.
"Well, I'm gonna have to go now, guys. Do I pick her up at your place once I'm done?" I ask my best friend.
"Sure. See ya" she kissed my cheek. "Good luck".
"Thank you!" I got on my knees to be the same height as Bella. "I love you, princess. I'll see you later, okay? Have fun."
She hugged me, I kissed her forehead, and left the café.
I went inside of a restaurant halfway there to see if they let me use their restrooms. Surprisingly, they let me inside without having to buy food from their place.
I looked at myself in the mirror. Damn, I was a mess. I washed my face, brushed my hair and put on some makeup before leaving and thanking the man who had let me in.
Paisley was a girl who was five years older than me, blonde and green-eyed, tall and thin.
I had been working with her for a while now as a designer for this fashion show that was coming up. Yeah, I do have my style, but I don't go crazy over shopping or the mall. Fashion isn't really something I'm interested in, but Paisley offered me the position in the fashion show, I was getting paid a nice chunk of money (which is what I was needing at the moment), and I was having a fun time designing with Paisley; such a sweet and nice person.
I got to the building where we meet in Times Square ten minutes before seven o' clock. I used the elevator to get to the fifth floor and there was Paisley, looking great and smiling like she always did. She had her blonde hair tied on a low ponytail, a green dress that made her eyes pop out and white flats, that matched her bracelets and earrings.
"Hey girl!" she said as she hugged me. "Let's talk about business."
Author's note:
Hi guys! Hope you're enjoying the story so far!
I want to apologize in advance for all the typos, my first language isn't English 🙄😂
Please vote and leave a nice comment😊
