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A Certain Romance
Chapter 5
Madam Kim/Le Disko
Kim.
Max calls her KimBitch. She had been keeping a close watch on me since I started work here because I almost burnt down this coffee shop. Yup. You want to know how?
The coffee maker was right beside the fuse box which at that point, was under repair, meaning the door for the fuse book was wide open with wires of various colours sticking out of it.
You know, colours like red, blue- Okay, I’m getting out of topic, again.
I was making a cup of coffee for myself when my clumsy hand accidentally knocked over the hot water dispenser and it spilt all over the open fuse box. Some sparks started going off and then, BOOM!
The box blew up with fire completely engulfing it and I jumped back in panic.
Me, being the coward that I am, ran for my bare life yelling ‘FIRE IN THE HOLE!’. Fiona put out the fire and Kim was standing at the doorway, tapping her ugly foot on the ground impatiently. Meanwhile, I was outside the building, waiting for the coffee shop to explode. Fiona came to get me later and told me she had told the Dragon Lady that she was the one who had left the fuse box wide open.
Bummer really. I felt really bitchy for doing that and getting Fiona into trouble.
Anyhow, I can’t stand the woman. Her slanted beady eyes, wrinkly old skin, and an ugly lipstick colour to match her face makes me shudder inwardly at every sight. Did I mention that she has ZERO fashion sense? I mean, pink and yellow? Jeesh…
Right. Who am I to talk about fashion sense? Look at me. Then again, look at Kayla.
I got up from the dirty floor with Michael’s help. He put his hands protectively on my shoulders as we listen to Kayla shrieking at me.
‘YOU IDIOT! THIS FREAKING SHIRT COSTS A FREAKING BOMB AND YOU SPILLED FREAKIN’ COFFEE ON MY FREAKIN’ EXPENSIVE FUCKING WHITE SHIRT AND YOU’RE JUST FREAKING STANDING THERE, YOU FREAKIN’ BITCH!’ she bellowed at me, her face was growing red and redder by the second. Jessica rushed over to her and tried to calm her down. ‘Stay out of this, Jess.’ she whispered in a low, dangerous voice.
‘I’m so so sorry- Kayla.’ My voice was squeaky as I grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe the stain off. I only made it worse. The black coffee spread to the other white areas of the shirt. I reached for another tissue, grabbing it and hurriedly swung my hand back to wipe the stain. That’s when the situation REALLY got worse. In the process, I had accidentally knocked over Jessica’s cup of Mocha Cappuccino and it spilt all over her designer denim mini skirt.
Kayla didn’t scream at me again, instead she kept silent, dead silent and her mouth formed a thin line. She closed her eyes, her mouth parted slightly as she whispered to herself, counting to from one to ten.
‘What is going on here?’ Kim asked as she came to the scene.
Kayla pointed at me, her hand shaking with rage. ‘Your STUPID employee spilled coffee on my DESIGNER white shirt and my skirt.’
Kim turned to me, her eyes menacingly wide. Talk about scary shit. ‘Maria-’ she started before I cut her off.
‘Please, Kim. It was an accident!’ I protested quickly.
‘An accident?’ she scoffed. Apparently, she still remembered my other accident. ‘You almost caught my café on fire or was I just hallucinating?’
I hung my head, still shaking it slightly to show my innocence in this situation. ‘You left the bloody fuse box open.’ I mumbled to myself.
‘What was that?’ she said sharply and I raised my head.
‘Nothing.’ I said. ‘Bitch.’ I said quietly but unfortunately for me, again, she heard me.
‘DAMN IT, MARIA. SHUT UP.’
‘Swearing huh? You think you’re so great?’ she snarled at me.
Oh get over it, you hag. You’re a bitch and even you know it. ‘This WILL be cut off from your paycheck! You WILL pay back this lady’s shirt- dear, how much does your shirt and skirt costs?’ her voice turned soft and kind as she addressed Kayla.
She smirked at me before answering. ‘500 dollars.’ she said smugly.
My eyes widened as my mouth fell open. Where in the world will I find 500 dollars? Definitely not from my piggy bank. Yes, I have a piggy bank. It’s pink and- sorry, off topic. AH.
‘Alright, consider your paycheck 500 dollars less when you get It.’ she said firmly. ‘And- you will be suspended from work until further notice.’
Which is like, never?
‘Suspended?’ I repeated after her, still in shock.
‘Yes. Suspended.’ she replied haughtily.
With that, she raised her big fat snooty nose and walked out from the scene. I stood there, gaping after her. I had forgotten that Kayla was still there, her arms folded as she snickered at me evilly.
She took a few steps closer to me and stared me down. ‘I will ruin you, Maria. Mark my words, bitch, I will ruin you.’
She smiled sweetly at me, as if she just asked me to be her best friend, before walking away, but not before flipping her hair back at my face. As soon she was out of sight, my knees turned into jello and I was about to fall, if it wasn’t for Michael, supporting me.
My vision became blurred and I blinked. Before I knew it, a tear came rolling down my face. My lips trembled slightly as Michael turned me around and pulled me towards him. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back soothingly.
Just like what he did this morning.
But I just stood there, my arms felt limp. Then I closed my eyes and the truth really hit hard this time. I was suspended from work.
‘Suspended.’
What would my mother say? She would kill me- literally bite my head off. Yeah, she would. My mother is perfection. She does EVERYTHING right, so does Emily but Emily is just her stepdaughter so that doesn’t count.
I don’t understand, how can someone as perfect like my mother give birth to someone- as screwed up like me? I mean, I’m not exactly a genius like Emily is or as popular of a girl- like Emily is. I can barely manage a passing mark in school, I just got suspended, which basically means fired in KimBitch’s term and I can’t even remember lock the gate on my snake’s cage.
That is how screwed up I am.
Mom told me that I was a late bloomer. Fuck that stupid pep talk. Late bloomer, my ass.
I’m already sixteen, how can I be a late bloomer if I’m not freaking blooming? I mean Emily brings home straight A’s, wonderful reports, award for being student of the year and a badge that says, ‘Head Girl.’ And what do I bring home? Papers with red marks all over it and a card that says ‘detention’ and ‘extra class needed’.
Sometimes I think my mother prefers her stepdaughter than to her real daughter. Not one day, she wouldn’t yell at me. Sure, she says she only yells at me because she loves me. Every mother say that to their children.
I say the opposite.
‘I-.’ I sobbed, pulling away a little. I could feel Michael’s chin resting on my head. ‘What would mom say?’
‘Sshh.’ he said gently. ‘It’s okay.’
‘No, it’s not okay.’ I cried harder, pulling away from him. ‘My mom would kill me!’
‘It’s alright, dude.’ Ivan said and patted me on the back. ‘We’ll think of something.’
‘Yeah.’ Tom said and he stood next to me. ‘Don’t worry about it, Maria.’
I strained a smile for their sympathy. My eyes darted away from them and landed on Jessica, she had a small smile on her face as she walked over to me. She rubbed my arm and gave me a reassuring smile.
‘It’s okay- whatever my twin is planning, we’ll get back at her.’ Jessica said and Amelia nodded firmly, agreeing with her.
‘Thanks guys.’ I sniffed, wiping my nose with my sleeve. ‘Where’s Chris?’
Amelia’s eyes widened as she pointed over my shoulder. I turned around and saw Chris talking furiously with the manager. More like reasoning with her, I saw him making hand gestures and the Dragon Lady just shook her head.
‘You trippin’ lady!’ I heard Chris yelled as he jogged over to us. ‘She won’t do. Whateva, you should be glad that you’re not goin’ to work for her in a while.’
I chuckled and punched his shoulder softly. He pretended to be hurt and rubbed his shoulder, his face distorted in faux pain. He opened his arms wide for me to hug him and I hesitated before wrapping my arms around his neck. I pulled away and smiled brightly to all of my friends; they really care for me when I’m down.
I turned around and my eyes met with Michael’s. He was quiet- he had been quiet after Ivan and the rest started consoling me. There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t identify- but I could tell it was something good.
I wiped my nose with my sleeve for the second time. ‘I guess I better go home now.’ I said before Jessica offered me a ride home. Michael opposed the idea, telling her that he will bring me home but Jess insisted and grabbed hold of my wrist before he protested and pulled me to her car.
As she got the engine of her luxurious red car started, I gave her the directions to my house and she started driving.
‘Thanks for driving me home, Jess.’ I said gratefully and she nodded. ‘I’m really sorry for what I did to your sister- It was an accident.’
‘Nah, she deserves it.’ she said nonchalantly. ‘I’ll try and reason with her when I get home.’
‘You should know that I’m an accident prone.’ I told her. ‘Ask Michael, he should know.’
‘Speaking of Michael,’ she said as she made a huge turn to the left. She stopped when the traffic light turned red and turned to me. ‘Do you have a thing for him?’
‘A thing for Michael?’
‘Yeah. I mean you always blush when you’re around him.’ she pointed out the obvious.
‘I- I don’t know.’ I said. She quirked an eye brow and I quickly corrected myself. ‘No- yeah, no- I don’t have a thing for Michael.’
The light turned green. She turned to the car to the right and I spotted my house. ‘Are you sure?’ she asks skeptically.
I didn’t want to answer her any further.
‘That’s my house over there.’ I pointed at the white house and she stopped in front of the sidewalk. ‘Well- I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I said, my hands reaching over to the handle of the door so I could get out of the car as soon as I could.
‘Wait.’ she reached over and locked the door. ‘You still hadn’t answered my question.’
‘Question?’ I said, pretending that I didn’t hear a question from her. ‘What question?’
‘Are you sure you don’t like him?’ she asked and her hand was still on my handle. I wasn’t going to get out of this fast.
‘Yeah I’m sure.’ I said. ‘Well I mean I do like him as a friend b-.’
‘I get it.’ she cut me off and unlocked the door. ‘Well, that’s too bad because he likes you.’
I laughed and replied sardonically. ‘I’m sure. See you.’ I stepped out of her car and closed the door before she could say anything else; I jogged to the front door and opened it quietly.
I poked my head inside to see if my mother was around. The coast was clear. I closed the door gently and crept towards the stairs.
Damn, I look like a thief in my own house.
My hand was almost touching the handrail when there was a slam in the kitchen.
I stopped and glanced at door to my kitchen. I walked to the door and hesitated for a second to turn the doorknob when the door opened itself. I found myself staring at a very angry looking woman.
My mother.
‘Hi mom.’ I said weakly. ‘What’s up?’
‘What’s up?’ she said in a precariously low voice. ‘What’s up? Is there anything you need to tell me, Maria?’
Shit.
She knew. I’m done for. Tell her the truth or lie my way out?
Truth or Lie? Truth or-
‘I just received a call from your manager.’ she said and I looked at the floor. ‘She told me you got suspended from work.’
‘Um…’
‘Tell me, Maria. How the hell did you managed to get yourself suspended from work?’ she asked me and I swallowed hard. My jaw tightened. I couldn’t tell her, I couldn’t tell her that I swore at KimBitch.
‘Tell me.’
‘Um…’ I was searching for a good excuse but nothing came up.
‘Maria!’ she yelled and my eyes drifted from the floor to her angry face. ‘How can you get suspended from work? You- you spilled coffee on a customer- you swore at your manager and you’re not going back to work until March!’
‘MARCH? I’m suspended for two whole months?!’
‘I don’t know what to do with you.’ she said angrily. ‘You didn’t do well in your studies last year, you got into a fight- Emily nearly fainted when she saw your bloody snake in her bathroom!’
I gulped again.
‘What is wrong, Maria?’ she asked, her face was growing pink. ‘Is there anything wrong with you?’
‘No.’ I said quietly.
‘Then WHY are you doing this? Do you want to get a scolding from me everyday?!’ she screamed, her hand hitting the wall. ‘You know from the past years, I got millions of complaints from your teachers.’
She paused to take a breather before continued again.
‘Do you know how much it costs to get you into a school like that? Huh? Do you know how much it costs to get you that snake, the cage and everything? And now we have to pay another school? Money doesn’t grow on trees, Maria!’
‘I know.’
‘Well then you better clean up your attitude because if you’re going to continue behaving this way, you’re not going to get anywhere. There, I’ve said it, you’re not going to get anywhere with this act of yours! We don’t have enough money to pay for college!’ she yelled angrily.
I bit back the tears that were about to fall.
‘I’m sorry, mom.’ I said in a strangled voice.
‘I am so disappointed with you.’ she said, her hands on her hips. ‘And I thought I raised you better than this.’
I hung my head, I didn’t want her to see me cry like she used to. She would always call me a cry baby.
‘There’s no point crying.’ she said and I narrowed my eyes at her.
‘What’s going on?’ I heard Emily ask as she came down from the stairs.
‘Maria got suspended from work.’ my mother said, shaking her head. She turned to me again and pointed at me with her finger like she did on New Years.
‘You are going to go back to work and apologize until she lets you work again! And when you go back to school, I want you to tell the girl politely that you can’t pay for her shirt and skirt and do whatever it takes for her to forgive you- end of discussion!’ she bellowed and turned on her heel, marching back to the kitchen before slamming the door in my face.
I bit my back the tears, my heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears and my stomach felt queasy and unsettled.
Emily wrapped her arms around me. ‘Its okay, you know-.’
‘No!’ I cried out loud and pushed her away. She stumbled back but managed to get her footing right.
‘It’s not okay! Mom obviously likes you better because you’re a bloody perfectionist- just like her!’ I closed my eyes as I screamed at my half-sister, even though I know that it’s not her fault. ‘Just fucking leave me alone!’
I ran to my room, slamming the door. I heard Roxy hiss noisily but I ignored her, I had no time for snakes right now. I tried to control my sobbing as I struggled to walk to my bed; my body shaking with repressed anguish.
I fell onto my bed with a thump and the waterworks started. I wept in silence into my pillow. I heard a knock on the door.
‘Go away!’ I screamed into my pillow.
‘Dinner’s ready, Maria.’ I heard my mother’s icy voice through the locked door. I glared at the door and wiped my eyes furiously, I knew better than to piss my mom off even more. I splashed some water from the sink to reduce the redness in my puffy eyes before I treaded downstairs to the dining room.
Dinner was quiet. The silverware clinked noisily on every contact with the crockery. My father didn’t say anything and I shot a glance at him, his face was red. Obviously, my mother told him about what happened. I looked down at my untouched food as I pushed the vegetables around the plate with my fork. My appetite went into hiding.
Emily cleared her throat as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Mom, did you hear? I passed my driving test!’
My eyes averted to her face just in time to see the glee on my mothers’ face. ‘Congratulations, honey!’
‘Well done, Emily.’ my dad grunted.
I looked up and saw Emily staring at me expectantly. Jeez, I know she’s a bloody perfectionist and all but must she really need to- I don’t know, make it so obvious?
‘Congrats, Em.’ I said in a bored tone. I pursed my lips and continued to play with my food until my mother said something that pissed me off even more.
‘At least I have some GOOD news today.’
I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw my fork on my plate and pushed my chair back forcefully. Mom, dad and Emily jumped at my actions. I stormed out of the dining room, slamming the door as hard as I could.
‘Maria Adler, get back in here right now!’ I heard my mother yell but I didn’t care; I just need to get out of the house. I grabbed my jacket from the coat rack and hastily slid my feet into my converse shoes. I took my set of house keys and rushed out of the house before I explode. Not literally, figuratively of course.
A strong gust of cold wind hit me face on and my hair started flying all over the place, leaving my hair all messy. I pushed some strands of hair out my face as I slammed the door shut behind me, I put on my hoodie to fight off the sudden cold weather and started walking away from the house on the sidewalk, taking deep breaths to calm my frenzied heart.
I stared at the trees, it was eerily shadowy and the wind was making the branches move in a disturbing way.
Cree-py.
I sniffed and pulled my hoodie closer. I looked away from the tree before my imagination starts to work its wonders. I caught sight of a 7 Eleven store, my favourite 24 hour-shop. Shops like these are so useful when you used up your entire night pad. Trust me, it is. I stood carefully, looking left and right to see if there were any cars around. When it was clear, I ran across the street to the shop and pushed the door open once I reached the entrance.
And I saw him.
No, not Oliver or Michael.
Duke.
My heart was ramming against my rib cage.
I could feel my brain screaming at me. He was buying something, I couldn’t see what it was since I was standing at the door. He glanced at me and grinned his perfect smile, raising his hand to wave at me.
I smiled dreamily, waving back at him slowly.
Keep your cool.
I walked over to him slowly, smiling at the same time.
‘Hello,’ I greeted him breathily and he smiled again, this time the smile was small.
‘What are you doing here?’ I inquired curiously.
‘Buying cigarettes.’ he said, shaking the box that was full of death sticks (that’s what I call them). I licked my lip, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the fact that he smokes.
‘So you smoke?’
‘Yeah.’ He grinned slightly and raked his fingers in his hair. ‘It makes me feel good of myself.’
‘Really?’ I asked, curious that the death sticks make you feel good of yourself.
‘Well, that’s what I feel.’ he said and dropped the change into his back pocket. He turned to face me and took out a lighter from his pocket to light his cigarette. ‘You gonna buy something?’
‘Ohh, no.’ I shook my head.
He motioned for me to follow him. ‘Well, come hang with me tonight then. You can be my buddy.’
Buddy. Hmm… That’s a start.
I followed him out of the store and he sat down on the sidewalk outside the said store where the porch light was positioned right on above him. I sat down next to him and tapped my fingers on the sidewalk nervously. One of my many bad habits.
‘You’re Maria right?’ he asked suddenly while lighting his cigarette.
My face brightened and it showed, so he does know my name.
‘Yeah, I am.’
‘So what brings you out here on this chilly night?’ he asked, I could smell the killer smoke in the air.
I fanned the smoke away and hesitated to tell him. Should I tell him? I mean he is a friend of Kayla. Oh whatever, I want to be friends with Duke because you know what they say, from great buddies to lovers.
Awh yeah.
I told him the whole story about all my misfortunes today and he nodded understandingly. After I was done, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed it.
‘Life’s a bitch, right?’ he said to me and I nodded. His brown eyes are just so…so mesmerizing. Then we started talking about each other, I basically told him the story my whole life. ‘When’s your birthday?’
‘Valentine’s Day.’ I said proudly as I hugged my knees. His eyes widened with surprise.
‘That’s a really special day.’ he told me and I nodded. I kept my gaze on the empty street so I wouldn’t have to look at him, or specifically, his eyes. I could just get lost in the depth of his eyes. I didn’t notice how close he was to me. ‘And it’s just around the corner.’ he whispered.
I could smell the smoke from his breath again.
‘Did you know that you could get lung cancer if you smoke?’ I blurted out and slapped myself mentally. Of course he knows.
‘Yeah.’ he replied and stood up. I copied his actions and laid my back against the pole.
‘Then why are you doing it?’ I asked.
‘Because it makes me feel- relaxed.’ he said while doing hand gestures with his left hand.
Doesn’t he know that smoking actually makes your heart beat faster?
‘Why, you hate people who smoke?’ he asked me.
‘Kind of.’
OHMYGOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT?
He grinned and dropped his cigarette on the street, crushing it with the sole of his foot. ‘Alright.’
‘Why are you stopping?’ I asked him, looking at the mutilated cigarette on the sidewalk in confusion.
‘Because you don’t like it.’ he pointed out and I blushed. ‘So where’s your house?’
I pointed at my house and we walked there quietly.
As we reached the front door of the house, I stood in front of him like we’ve just finished a date.
God, was this even counted as a date? I was practically squealing inside. I stood there, awkwardly pushing a strand of my brown hair behind my ear. ‘Well, I’ll see you at school…’ I said nervously and I could feel my cheeks growing hot by the second.
He grinned, bent down slightly and kissed me on my forehead. He cupped my cheek and smiled at me warmly. ‘See you, Maria.’
I blinked in confusion as he walked away, his hands tucked back inside his pockets. My hands trembled as I slid the key into the keyhole, the front door unlocked with a faint click after I stood outside for a few minutes, contemplating on what had just happened and stepped inside the house I left about half an hour ago. I rested my back on the door and rested my head back, closing my eyes slowly.
I breathed in loudly.
And smiled blissfully.
Sorry for the late update. School Work and all. So hope you like it! BIG THANNKS TO LETICIA! XD