The Princess Who Wasn't

Chapter Seven: Better Life?

Once the speech was over and Merilla had her instructions she left and walked around the town. She was allowed to leave her stuff in her old room at the church so she didn’t have to carry it around with her or store it anywhere while she was cleaning. The sun was still high in the sky so Merilla knew it was still many hours before it was time to start cleaning the Pizza Plaza, the first on her list of restaurants to deep clean.

Since she had so much time to kill before getting on with her duties, Merilla decided to go walk out to the overlook that was between the town and the beach where she was found. There were rocks below and to see the white of the foamy splashes against the shiny surfaces of the boulders was therapeutic. She used to watch them for hours wondering what would happen if she jumped. Now she just wanted to feel the breeze in her hair, against her skin, flowing through her finger tips.

She hadn’t touched the ocean since she was found near it, dried out, dehydrated, and half dead as a baby. If her parents had left her to die by it and she had survived she wasn’t about to give it a second chance to kill her. The thought of jumping was more therapeutic than suicidal. If she jumped that meant she could make her own choice, in a world where she has no freedoms other than those given to her, that was one no one could take away. She could always jump.

As the sun started to sink beyond the line of the ocean, Merilla realized just how long she had been standing at the edge of the cliff. She turned and started walking back towards the town and the strip of restaurants that was now her job. Once she reached the Pizza Plaza, Merilla double checked around the parking lot before going inside to make sure there was nobody around late since part of her agreement was that she don’t bother anyone and surely just the sight of her would be classified as a bother.

Slipping through the door Merilla turned on the lobby light and then walked to the back to turn on the kitchen light. Taking a deep breath and looking around Merilla absorbed just how dirty everything was. The utility sink was stacked full of pizza pans, pizza cutters, spatulas, and other assorted pans and utensils. The trash cans were over flowing and there was trash, dirt and food particles on the floor. She started to look at the mess and get over whelmed but then she decided to look at the warmer and while she knew she couldn’t touch the food until the restaurant was clean- at least she would have something to look forward to.

There was more food than she could possibly eat in one night. A large pizza box, a plastic container of chicken wings, and two boxes of what looks like bread sticks. Merilla was newly excited and quickly made a plan. First, she washed, dried, and put away all of the dirty dishes. That took the better part of two hours but Merilla was okay with that because it was the most tedious part and it was done. Second, she scrubbed down the make table, the counters, table tops, chairs, and sink. After the main floor and kitchen tops were washed, Merilla washed down the toilets and sinks in the men’s and women’s restrooms.

After she finished cleaning the restrooms she went outside for a moment to get out of the smell of cleaner and sanitizer. Walking around the parking lot she picked up the trash she had seen randomly laying around. She took it back inside with her since she hadn’t thought to bring a bag out with her. Remembering that the trash bags were overly filled she just laid the trash down on the floor beside one and went to get the broom from the back of the store.

She put the broom against the wall between the connector from the lobby to the kitchen and pulled the trash bags out of each trash in. She then put new bags in the trash bins and the swept all of the trash into a pile starting at the back of the kitchen and moving it out into the lobby floor, making sure to grab every piece of trash along her way. Once it was all piled Merilla grabbed a trash can from the kitchen and filled it with the trash once again pulling the bag since it was full and replacing it with a new one. Using both hands she grabbed up all of the trash bags and hauled them out to the dumpster.

Finally, the restaurant didn’t look like a disaster zone and all she had to do was mop. Her stomach was starting to cramp really bad as she had yet to eat for that day. Filling up the mop bucket with hot water and utility cleanser she mopped the kitchen floor, moving the trans bins as she went. After the kitchen was mopped thoroughly the water was cold and black to she wheeled the bucket through the front door and out past the parking lot. She dumped the dirty water into the grassy back area and then used the hose on the back of the building to clean out the mop bucket before taking it back inside and filling it up again.

Merilla then mopped the lobby area and repeated the steps of emptying and cleaning out the mop bucket before filling it up one more time and mopping over both the kitchen and lobby area for a second time, making sure the entire floor was very clean. Once again Merilla emptied and cleaned out the bucket but instead of going right back inside Merilla waited until the floor had some time to dry before wheeling the mop bucket back inside the restaurant. Taking one last look around Merilla was happy with her work and was sure that the Pizza Plaza workers would be too. She grabbed her food and went back to her little room in the church to shower and eat.