Her Hope

Chapter 14

Emily's POV:

The walk towards the restaurant didn't take as long as I would've liked it to. I won't deny the fact that I have been avoiding the restaurant or more specifically Leila like plaque, for I honestly felt ashamed for telling her my whole life story even when I had just met her.

But, now it's time to face her. Besides, I'm probably just being the dramatic person I always am, and she'll surely act as if nothing happened if I do the same. So, I took a deep breath and opened the restaurant's door, but the moment I stepped foot inside, someone collided into me  harshly; however, before I could apologize, the person fled off quickly at an unbelievable speed. Looking back at the person, I immediately knew that she is Leila because of her extremely unique hair. I also managed to catch a glimpse at her faced which looked shiny as if she has been crying.

"Wait, why are you crying?" I shouted out after her.

But, instead of stopping like I expected her to, she continued running. For a moment, I thought about running after her, but I dismissed that thought for I'm sure she would want to be alone for a while to figure out whatever was bothering her, and when she comes back, I'll ask her what happened. So, I entered the restaurant and went straight to the counter where my dad was standing since both Lana and Leila weren't here.

"Emily, I didn't expect you to come here today. You haven't come in almost a week." Dad exclaimed the moment he saw me.

"Good morning dad. I was passing by, and I thought I'd come in to say hello. And, You know I haven't come by in a while because of how busy my life is with all my college work. By the way, I just saw a crying Leila running out of here. What happened? Did she receive bad news?" I asked as I walked around the corner to give dad a brief hug.

"I fired her." He answered blankly.

"What? Why? You know how much we need her here in the restaurant. Now we are short on staff again. Why would you fire her dad?" I was truly lost since I never expected him fire Leila. After all, he always told me how good of a waitress she is.

"She stole one hundred dollars. It's not about the money, it's about me not tolerating liars and thieves. Anyways, she was too young and made lots of mistakes with the orders, and I never say anything; however, stealing was the last straw. Now, she paid for the consequences of her actions, and I didn't even report her to the police."

"Stole? No, I don't think she would ever steal. You yourself told me how desperate she was to get this job and how she's saving up money to go to college, so why would she ruin all of that to steal a hundred dollars? Why wouldn't she steal more if she planned on taking money? And, no she didn't make any mistakes with the orders. She's really the best waitress we've had in a while." I argued back, for I truly don't think she took that money. She's much smarter than that, and I'm sure of it.

"You only met her twice and in both times, she was extremely rude, so why are you defending her? And, she lost all my trust and respect the second she decided to steal money from me so her being a good waitress is nothing without her being trustworthy. I need to get back to the customers instead of wasting time her having a meaningless argument with you. Why don't you help around if you have nothing to do today." With that, he kissed my temple and went back to stand behind the counter.

I was planning on going to the mall with some of my friends, but this can wait because I don't want dad to get overworked during rush hour. So, I went to the back room, grabbed my apron and set off to work. I know today is going to be busy since it's the last day in the week, and people always love coming to the restaurant to have lunch or grab a cup of coffee after finishing their work for the week, so it wasn't that much of a surprise when tens of people entered the restaurant the moment the clock struck two in the afternoon. And, it also wasn't a surprise when the customers started getting angry when their orders took a long time to work making me look towards the door every five minutes in hope that Lana would come to start her shift. With so many customers being angry and me running around the restaurant without any break, I could see the regret of firing Leila drawn all over my dad's face, yet I said nothing.

Half an hour later, the door opened again for the second time in the same minute; however, this time it was thankfully Lana. Her being here literally made my day, for my dad and I wouldn't have been able to carry on this way. But, instead of Lana happily greeting me like she always does, she asked me where dad was while looking serious, and the moment I told her he was in the kitchen getting an order, she quickly went in there disappearing in the blink of the eye, so me being the curious person I am, I followed her.

She opened the kitchen door slamming it against the wall then ran towards my father. The first thought that crossed my mind was that she got to know about Leila getting fired, so she came here to talk it over with my father.

"Mr Smith, I discovered that you accidentally gave me an extra hundred dollars with my salary, and I wanted to come back to give them immediately, but my parents wouldn't let me. And, this morning, I had an important exam that I couldn't miss, so I came here right after finishing school. I know you always count the money at night before closing the restaurant and that this missing money probably made you restless all night. I'm so sorry for not returning it last night." She said in one breath while handing my dad the infamous missing hundred pounds.

I could see dad paling significantly while staying silent, as he digested the words Lana said before finally speaking up.

"Are you sure that it's extra and that you didn't miscount?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Why?" Lana answered cluelessly since she still didn't know about Leila getting fired; however, we both ignored her.

Looking at my dad, I could see the true regret painted on his face, but unlike the regret he had when we were tremendously busy, this time he has a real reason to feel sorrowful for his actions.

So, at that moment, I decided that I would search every nook and cranny until I find Leila and bring her back, for after all, she's just an innocent girl who wanted to save up money but was falsely accused of stealing instead.