Making It

Chapter 2 - Nightmares and CEO's

THWACK! THWACK! I keep on getting hit, over and over again. I wonder why these people don't have any mercy. I didn't do anything to them, I just gave them their dinner a few minutes later than I was supposed to. I know I'm not supposed to cry; they'd find pleasure in me crying. I knew that. Sometimes I wish my life was a little different. After they hit me for what felt like an eternity, I went downstairs to the "room" I share with Courtney. I limp to the small bathroom to look at my body. My chest, upper arms, and thighs are bruised and cut. I wouldn't be surprised if I have a few broken ribs. They're smart. They wouldn't hit me in places that would be seen. I limp out, trying to change into my PJ's when HE walks in.

I jolt up. I'm covered in sweat and it's all because of those nightmares. More like memories. I check the clock by the couch and it reads 5:00am. I have two hours until my shift at the cafe. I go to the kitchen to start making breakfast for Ophelia and I. I usually wake her up right when I'm about to leave. On weekends I take her to the cafe with me, but on weekdays, I walk her to school.

I get the pancake batter and make her blueberry pancakes with a lot of syrup. I opt out of eating. We need to save money, so I usually skip some meals, but I've never allowed Ophelia to miss a meal. Again, I always make sure she has a good childhood. When I'm done with everything, I see that it's 6:00am. Well that was fast. I go to the room Ophelia and I share and knock on the door. I slowly open the door and on the bed, I see a mop of brown hair sprawled all around a small little girl. Right when I see her, I smile. She's the light to my darkness. The only thing that's really positive in my life. I creep up to her and brush her hair out of her face. I kiss her on the forehead and whisper, "Hey Lia, you wanna wake up?" She starts mumbling and turns around to face away from me. Then, I say, " I made your favourite blueberry pancakes." Right when she hears those words, she jolts up and smiles at me. "Thanks Auntie Mel!" I smile at that. She loves food just like me. "Now, now. You need to get dressed and brush your teeth first. Ok?" She beams at me and jumps off of the creaky bed. "Yep!" I laugh and head towards the kitchen again to get everything set up. After a few minutes, she runs to the kitchen, grabs her plate and starts hoarding the food into her mouth. I laugh and shake my head. "Aren't you going to eat anything?", she says. I widen my eyes a little, but quickly recover and say, "I already. Now you eat up quickly because we need to leave soon." That was close. I go to our room and change into my work clothes. I grab my bag and Ophelia's bag and head out. "You done?" Ophelia runs up to me and beams, "Yep!" I giggle when I see her because there's some syrup smudged on her face. I use my thumb and wipe it off and we head off to get our shoes on and leave.

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A bell chimes as I open the door of the cafe. I head straight inside and set my belongings to the side. I go up to one of my friends, Ren, and greet her, "Hey, how are you?" She smiles at me and says, "Great. By the way, there's a new customer. He's soooo hot. He looks like a businessman. Anyway, I need you to get his order from table 3 and Mrs. Teresa's order from table 7 as well." I nod and quickly head towards Mrs. Teresa. She's a really nice elderly lady who's taken care of Ophelia a couple of times for me. I owe her a lot, but she always waves it off and says that I'm more of a daughter to her than her own daughter. I smile and say, "It seems like you're getting younger and younger everyday Mrs. Teresa. How are you? Did you get the chance to see your grandson this weekend?" She smiles at me and says, "Thank you Melissa. You're still as sweet as ever. And yes, I saw the little man. He was such a cutie. Also, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Hannah." I smile sheepishly and shift a little in my spot. I don't like calling elders by their first names. It seems disrespectful to me. "Yes Mrs... sorry Hannah. So would you like the usual?", I say. She replies with thank you and turns back to her newspaper right after. I turn around to head to the "handsome" new customer when I see the man who fired me last night. He looks much better in the light. With nice wavy brown hair, a strong jawline, high cheekbones, and honey brown eyes. He's so engrossed in his work that he doesn't see me and I'm thankful for that. I quickly shuffle to the counter and go to Ren. "Hey can you go get the order from table 3. I'll go behind the counter." Ren looks at me questioningly, but nods her head and heads toward Mr. Handsome, but Cranky Guy. I head over to the machine to make Mrs. Teresa's coffee. Then, Ren comes. She looks a little flustered. She's a little red, which usually means she's angry. I tilt my head at her and she starts her rant. "That guy is so rude. If only he were handsome and nice, then he'd be the real dude. I knew he was too good to be true. He said that we were late and that we didn't come get his order soon enough! I mean who does he think he is? We have a lot of customers here today and there's only two of us. He can surely wait for a few minutes. Ugh." I shake my head and laugh, "Stop getting all flustered about it and just make his order so he doesn't yell at you again." Then Ren suddenly says, "Why did you want me to go and get his order and take his order to him? Why couldn't you go yourself." I try to find an excuse and stammer, "We-ell, you see, um, hefiredmeyesterdayatmynightshiftjob." She looks at me and says, "Repeat that again." I sigh and say, "He fired me last night at my night shift job at Bartley Industries." Ren suddenly squeals. "OH. MY. GOD! That's why he looked familiar. He is THE Nathan Bartley, one of the youngest CEOs and most handsome single dudes in the world!" She starts jumping around while I just stand there in shock. Well that's just great. I got fired by the CEO the first time I saw him. I sigh and continue to work, but then Ren comes up to me and says, "Can you take his order for him? I need to go visit my Nana. She's in the hospital." I see the sadness in her eyes and pat her back and even though it pained me to say it, I said yes. Her grandmother is the only person she has. Her grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer and Ren visits her all the time and pays her hospital bills. Sometimes, I cover for her so that she could get and visit her if it's an emergency. Ren grabs her stuff and hurries out the door while I grab the black coffee that Mr. Bartley ordered and hesitantly take it to him. I just hope he doesn't notice me.