Let It Be Me

7

"For Edward? A medium chai latte for Edward?"

Mikaela gave the tall and chinito guy a smile as she hands him his drink. It is only 6:40AM and Mikaela has already served about a million customers (okay maybe like 20). This has been her life for the past 2 months. Nadine's parents owned a coffee shop, and they gladly hired Mikaela the moment they heard that she was interested. Mikaela has been working two jobs to save money to hopefully get into college next year. She works as a barista at Bean Drinking (Nadine's family's coffee shop) during the day, and works as a server at a small club at night. The latter job wasn't really part of Mikaela's options, but it was the only place that hired her given the fact that she only had a high school diploma. The pay wasn't big, but it was enough to get her through the day, while still saving some for college.

The formerly happy-go-lucky Mikaela has now become a workaholic, antisocial, and exhausted lady. Working 16 hours everyday was not what she hoped for after graduating high school. Her friends were busy with college and she's busy with work so they haven't been able to catch up in the past weeks. Not that she wanted to anyway. Mikaela felt ashamed of how her life was at the moment. She didn't want to see or talk to her friends, for she knows that they would pity her, the way she pitied herself. The only person she consistently talked to was Gino. Despite both of their busy schedules, they always updated each other with their everyday lives. Mikaela would rant about the stupid customers she has to deal with, and Gino would rant about his overwhelming classes in school. Though they both had their own struggles, they were always there for each other, being each other's rock and support.

"Mikaela, the mid person called in sick. Would you be able to work overtime today?"

Mikaela did a quick calculation in her mind. She was scheduled to work 6:00AM to 2:30PM at the coffee shop today, and then 8:00PM to 4:30AM at the club. She was already exhausted, but she didn't mind that. All she had in her mind was the money and how badly she needed it.

"Sure boss! Basta libre na meal ko ha!"

Her manager laughed but agreed anyway. He thanked her before letting her get back to work. Mikaela sighed and thought about the sleep she would be missing because of the overtime. She only gets to sleep after her morning job and it is usually just for around 3 hours, 4 if she gets lucky. Her commute home takes her about 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the traffic. She sold her car to earn some extra cash to speed up her process of getting into college. On top of her expenses, she gives a portion of her savings to her parents to help them out as well. The Manuel's are still struggling to earn back what they lost due to Mickey's vices, and Mikaela did not want her parents to work as hard since they are old. They should be getting ready for retirement and just enjoy the fruits of their hard work over the past years, but instead, here they are struggling just to get by for the day. Mikaela erased their harsh reality in her mind and went back to work. She still had a long day ahead of her.

•••

'Busy ba ang pinakamabait kong kaibigan?'

Mikaela hit send and hoped for the best. It was 6:50PM, 10 minutes before she's done her shift at Bean Drinking. Her next job starts at 8:00PM and she knew that with the traffic, she wasn't going to make it in time. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she looked around first before checking who it was.

'Sus, gagawin mo na naman akong driver no?'

'You know me so well talaga! Hehe mamarapatin mo ba?'

'Fine. Be there in 15.'

Mikaela put her phone away and had a big smile on her face. She was thankful that Gino lived close to the coffee shop and that he was always there to help out, despite his busy schedule.