[Amanda]
“Here’s the apron”, Cassey flung the piece of cloth at me as soon as I entered the changing room. Thanks to Tracy, the blondie who showed me the way. I gave her a sidelong glance as I wound the ribbons around my narrow waist. Then I proceeded to tie my hair into a tight bun. I took a deep breath as I heard Tracy call me from behind. A new job, a new beginning. Saying a silent prayer to whoever was ready to listen in the Heavens above I left the room.
By 9, the cafe was almost full. The clinking of porcelain mugs and forks and spoons against the plates teamed up with the soft background music, for some reason, had a somewhat calming effect on me. I was asked to refill the mugs when needed and asked to clean the dishes later. Since the cafe was new they were short of staff even now. There were only four of us excluding our employer. Trevor, a guy in his 20s, was in charge of making coffee. Cassey sometimes waitresses and sometimes helps with the stocks. Sammy or Samantha, the cashier whom I met the other day, was well...in charge of the cash. Tracy waited tables because she was as I could see popular among customers for her bubbly nature.I pasted a smile, trying to be jovial with the customers. It wasn’t hard. I just hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with someone who tested my temper and be able to keep this job until I could get a better one.
~~~~It was a crisp Friday morning but I was running late. I somehow managed to slip on the sneakers and rush out. I gave a swift glance at my watch, it read 7:30. Dang! How on earth did I sleep in? I cursed the gin that I had yesterday as Tracy, Trevor and I made a detour to the local pub. My head was hammering and the whole bus ride was made even more tortuous by a wailing kid. God, I need to remember that I have low alcohol tolerance.I stumbled into the cafe and thankfully did not face Mr. Brown’s’ wrath immediately. Trevor greeted with a huge grin, “Hey Many”. I groaned a greeting in return as I hurried towards the changing room.
“She finally decides to show up”, Cassey snarks the moment I stepped in. “Cass, please”, Samantha warned. My head was throbbing now. My gaze flitted towards Tracy who smiled apologetically. I remained silent, all the while listening to Cassey’s grumbling. The last thing I needed was to argue with a coworker and get fired. For some reason, Cassey did not like me. She just thought that I was not cut-out for this job which I wasn’t but do I care? Nope.Mr.Brown did not surprisingly say anything to me. Maybe because I was late for the first time. I had diligently filled the cupcake trays, ground the coffee and cleaned the counter. I had also re-checked the cleanliness of each table. At 8:30 he flipped the sign and we got ready for business.
I should have known that when your day starts badly, it somehow manages to maintain that status. My day had turned from bad to worse. First I managed to spill coffee on one of the customers - totally not cliche. I blame it on my hangover! The guy was cute and courteous but what made me feel bad was I had spilt coffee on his dairy, a certain portion of the page was stained and the ink was blotched. We had to compensate for it with free breakfast.
This earned me a good lecture from Mr. Brown and I silently listened to it. I deserved it after all. But that wasn’t the worst highlight of the day. It was when all of sudden, a girl shouted, “Oh my gosh, it's Dominic!” I stilled. I heard excited whispers and saw several pairs of eyes turn to look out of the window.
I did not once turn my gaze towards that direction. Instead, I concentrated on cleaning the counter and grounding more coffee. “Can’t believe the guy is here”, Trevor gushed. So his charm works on other guys as well. Interesting. The bell jingled and by the soft, collective gasps I knew he had entered the cafe. Thankfully my back was turned to him.
“Oh, is that his girlfriend?” I heard Sammy whisper excitedly. My back tensed. My heart gave a painful squeeze. Why was I feeling this way? I shouldn’t. He was after all, not mine anymore.
I clenched my teeth and took the coffee kettle to refill the mug of table number 4. I deliberately avoided looking at their direction. I threw a surreptitious glance at their way, his face was obscured by a brunette. Mr. Brown was attending them, a huge smile on his face. My heart was pounding as I was called by another customer - a middle-aged man, for a refill. His table was right next to theirs. He wouldn’t recognise me, would he?
Mr. Brown had also waltzed away as I reached the designated table. Damn he, at least he could have distracted them. My pleas were heard as two girls went up to him and asked for a selfie. In the meantime, I hurriedly refilled the mug and went back to the counter. For the moment it was my safe haven.
I refused to listen to his voice or look at him even though he was sharing the same space as me. “Oh they are arguing”, Trevor whispered to me. I jumped, not having noticed when he had sidled up next to me, “So?” He gave me a funny look, “You don’t like Dominic?”
I opened my mouth to say an answer but couldn’t give any. My feelings were still complicated. So I settled for, “I am not nosy enough to pry into his personal affairs”. He scowled, “You’re no fun”. I shrugged nonchalantly. He didn’t know what I was feeling at the moment.
I did not need to know or want to know who he was with now or was with earlier. Who he sleeps with or who is his current girlfriend. My heart was battered enough and was still in the process of healing. Deep down I knew I hadn’t moved on. I did not need more reminders about how that wasn’t the case with him.
After idling for a while since everyone seemed to be too engrossed by the superstar’s presence, I decided to clean the dishes. Just to do something.
As I was about to leave, Tracy suddenly came into my line of vision and said, “Amanda can you please take this to table no.8?” Handing me the tray filled with food, she chirped thanks and scurried to wait at the other tables. I was too baffled and too shocked to protest.
Now I had to serve food at Dominic’s table? God really hated me.
[Amanda]
[Amanda]
[Amanda]Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself slapping him. Hard. The sound was not a pronounced one but my palm was stinging and his left cheek was red. My eyes widened as I realised what I had done. This was the first time I had raised my hand on anyone. Dominic looked shocked as well, his head still turned on the opposite side.He finally looked at me, his eyes were now blank slates. Not giving away a thing. I was about to apologise when I remembered why I had committed such an act. My anger surged back up. I glowered, “How dare you ask me t
[Amanda]My world came to a standstill and I was forcefully thrust five years back. The difference was that time I was not told about Dominic’s extramarital affair by the man himself and today he was outright telling me that he loved someone else. Without an ounce of regret or hesi
[Amanda]
[Amanda]I ended up staying at his place. Dominic had this smug look on his face when I had begrudgingly agreed and taken up his offer. I hadn’t taken into account that after leaving this place, I simply couldn’t walk into the cafe and resume my work. My co-workers and Cassey would grill me to no end and I doubt whether or not I will have the job. I mean, I doubt they will keep someone who created such chaos on the very second day of their duty. My mood takes a sour turn.Even though the bed was soft and the room was way better than my beat up one, sleep still evaded me. I stared blankly at the ceiling. The soft night lamp created a mesh of shadow and lig
[Amanda]In 27 years of my life, I had only once imagined my name in the newspapers but as Dominic’s wife, his lady love. When he had started out, we imagined ourselves in the shoes of big stars. He is passionate about what he does and that is what got him his big break. I remember being so elated that I had chugged down a whole bottle of red and getting a nasty hangover the next day.I was happy, so happy because the love of my life had achieved something that he had worked for. “It’s because you have been by my side, constantly”, he had said, kissing me passionately. We had spent a day or two tangled in the sheets before his work started, before it dragged down and destroyed our love, burnt it till there was nothing but charring memories.My imagination did come true but in a warped manner. This was the last thing I wanted in my life after our divorce. For so long, I
[Amanda]If he was taken aback at first, now he was openly gaping at me. I felt smug about it although I didn’t let it show on my face. I took a careful bite from my toast, leaving Dominic to process my answer. Of all the things he was expecting, he