Black

XLIV

I tied the black apron around my waist as my hand traveled down the fabric of the uniform subconsciously.

It was a simple uniform: A dark green shirt, khaki knee-length shorts, and a black apron.

"It's good to see you here!" Niall chirped as he came to stand beside me behind the counter.

I offered him a polite smile, "Bob told me to ask you about what I was going to do here," I said, my voice coming out so hoarse as if I had just come out of a screaming match.

"Sister healed and infected you?" He smiled, cocking his head to the side, "But, we all here don't have a specific role; we all help each other. You could be taking orders by the cashier a second and serving or preparing orders another second, it depends on how busy the place is."

I nodded, taking a look around the place. Most of the tables were occupied.

"Though for now, you can stand by the cashier."

"Okay," I said and stood behind the grey machine.

"Oh, wait!" Niall said, startling me with his sudden loud voice.

I cleared my throat as I noticed the few heads that turned towards us and moved my eyes gradually to Niall, sending him a questioning look.

"I forgot to give you your name tag," he said, fetching a rectangular-shaped pin from his apron's pocket and handing it to me, not affected by the eyes that rested on him.

I took it from him, moving my finger over the four-lettered name before pinning it to my shirt, "Thanks."

He gave me a thumbs up before walking to the other girl standing by the coffee machine.

Ruby was her name as Niall told me.

"She is sweet, but try not to mess anything she orders because she will bite your head off. She has got OCD."

And she was beautiful.

Her short, brown curly hair that framed her face complemented her brown complexation so well.

She turned her head to Niall, smiling as she said something and shook her head, making her bangs move from side to side.

I shifted my eyes back to the front of the place, not wanting her brown eyes to catch me staring.

Creating rumors for being a creep here too on my first day wasn't exactly on the top of my to-do list.

Although I was sure I was being anxious, I had a feeling all eyes watched my every move, questioning my new dull face in the place.

I thrummed my fingers on the counter, trying to distract myself.

It has only been a half an hour since I stepped into the coffee shop and I already wanted to throw my body on a soft bed.

Harry insisted on driving me here, just like he insisted on waiting until I finished talking to Bob because I knew an apology was appropriate after not attending the first couple of days.

Bob, thankfully, was understanding, claiming that Niall had already apologized for me, then he told me that he might look nice, but he knows well how to be mad when his employees don't do their jobs correctly.

I was only able to mutter continuous apologies with my head down, my mind not able to come up with anything else.

My mind was going through a blackout. It has been a blank canva since yesterday.

I looked down at my hands that haven't stopped shaking since, again, yesterday.

I attempted hiding it, but it was so obvious when we were eating lunch. The way I couldn't place a spoonful of the food into my mouth without half of it falling back into the plate was pretty obvious.