Chapter 3
605 Words
Why did he stare at me like that? Ashleigh thought as she was cleaning up the restaurant, getting ready to close and retire for the night. Her thoughts had been occupied by the male customer since she went to take their order.
Emily came up behind her and gave a slight tap to her shoulder.
“Mr. Fraser’s still inside. He said he has a guest in his office so we can close early. He’ll lock up when they’re done.”
“Okay. Then I’ll go get my stuff.”
As she turned to go, Emily stopped her.
“You said you were going to talk to the boss about getting your pay earlier than usual. Did you talk to him?”
“Not yet. He came in late today.”
“Why not talk to him now before going home?”
“But he has a guest with him right now and I don’t want to disturb them. I’ll just meet him tomorrow.”
“Well no problem then. Let me change and we can go.”
As Emily left, Ashleigh continued cleaning when a call from the counter phone came in. She noticed the call was from the boss’ office.
“Yes sir?”
“Can you bring up a bottle of wine from the cellar to my office? From the ones we recently brought in.”
“Yes sir. I’ll be there soon.”
Ashleigh headed to her boss’ office with the wine in her hand. Knocking on the door, she heard a ‘come in’ and went in. Entering, she saw the same man that had invaded her thoughts.
“Here’s the wine you asked for, Sir. Anything else?”
“No. Thank you. You guys can go home, I’ll lock up myself.”
“Goodnight Sir.”
Ashleigh rushed out of the room and went to meet Emily. As they went home, she received a call from her brother.
“Ed, what is it?”
She heard her brother crying over the phone. Her mind became frantic as she heard him.
“Edwin, what’s wrong? Is Mum alright? Talk to me and stop crying.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I went to the restroom and when I came back, she had a high fever and she was coughing out blood. The doctor is with her now. Ash, I’m scared.”
Ashleigh reined in her tears as she tried to calm her younger brother down.
“Take deep breaths Edwin. Mum will be fine.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m on my way. Go to the kids’ ward and wait for me. I’ll be there soon”
Ashleigh offered a rushed goodbye to Emily as she hurried to the hospital. Panic rose in her chest as she entered her mum’s ward and saw her mum sleeping. The nurse had given her something to reduce the pain. The nurse saw her and went to meet her.
“Dr. Roberts would like to see you in his office.”
She nodded her head softly as the nurse left. She went to the kids’ ward and met her brother sleeping on one of the beds. She smiled softly and headed to the doctor’s office.
“Miss Reid, nice to see you.”
“Good evening Dr. Roberts. I heard you wanted to see me.”
“I’m sure you heard what happened from your brother. I carried out a few tests and I wanted to share the results with you.”
“Go ahead, doctor.”
Clearing his throat, he continued, “Your mother’s condition has worsened.”
- Writer
