One month to forever

Episode 2

Lucy's P.O.V.

“Ouch!!!”, I say, rubbing my forehead. My head literally feels like someone is hitting it with a hammer. And why is it so bright outside? I stand up from my bed to get my phone from the wooden bed side table.

“What the hell!!!! It's 8am!!!?”

How did that happen? How did I oversleep without hearing my alarm? I'm extremely late for work, how am I going to explain myself to the people Mrs. Rose left me in charge of?

I quickly sprinted to the bathroom and took off my night wear, hopping in the shower for a quick bath.

I'm already running far behind schedule, there's no time for a serious dressing. I throw on a light purple tank top, a pair of grey sweatpants, and I put on my black crocs. I'm just going to keep my hair in a messy bun today. I take a seat in front of the vanity to apply my red lipstick.

“That should do”

I am smacking my lips to make sure the lipstick blends evenly.

I rush to the living room to grab my purse from the centre table before leaving through the front door.

The people on the sidewalk probably think I'm crazy because of the way I'm speed walking like someone being chased. But I don't care, I just need to get to work. I'm already 20 minutes away, I just have 2 dollars in my purse, that should be enough to get me a cab.

I arrived at ‘Rosie’s Café’ where I work, and there is already a long queue of angry customers. As if today couldn't get any worse. I walk to the reception table just to find out that Gabe is the only person present at work today, and obviously he can't manage everything at the same time.

“Where is Emma and Selena?” I ask him.

“I don't know where they are. I came and no one was around so I had to manage everything myself” Gabe rubbed a hand over his face and shot me an exhausted look. I didn't need him to say it, he was irritated. I can't even blame him.

I go to the kitchen to start preparing the orders. I'm struggling to prepare a sandwich and pancakes at the same time. But fortunately for us, we were able to handle a great deal of customers in less than 30 minutes. However, there are still

more orders to prepare so I get back to work.

I'm struggling to open the kitchen door with my leg as my both hands are occupied with two about four different orders on two trays. As I approach table 17 to serve them their pancakes with sausages and scrambled eggs, the young man seated on the table offers me a cute smile.

“Thank you” he says as I slowly drop the tray on the table.

“My pleasure”, I reply while trying to leave quickly and get back to the kitchen.

Normally, I wouldn't have paid the customers more attention. But it was hard to ignore three luxury SUVs parked outside a small café like ours. But as I walk back, I can feel his gaze, and it makes me uncomfortable to an extent. I am walking briskly to the kitchen to avoid his gaze because why the hell is he still staring at me like I'm a lottery he just won?

“Wow, today is really going to be a busy day”, Gabe sighs from the reception table. I look at him and nod in exhaustion.

The bell above the café door chimed.

Every conversation seemed to die at once.

Two men stepped inside, dressed in tailored black suits that probably cost more than my monthly rent. One of the men points at the table by the corner closest to the door, for the other one to sit. His friend looks disgusted by the environment and hesitates before joining his friend to sit at the table.

“O. M. G.!!! Is that really him?” Gabe exclaims.

“What? Who?” I ask, looking lost. Who is he talking about?

Gabe stared at me as though I'd just admitted I didn't know who the president was.

"Andrew Kingsley. The Andrew Kingsley. There's no way you don't know him,” he says.

“Who is he?” I ask, looking confused yet again.

“Girlll. Do you live under a rock? Andrew Kingsley is literally the youngest billionaire in New York. He's the owner of ‘the franchise’. The famous brand. Don't tell me you still don't know who he is”.

Well I don't, but I'll just pretend like I do so Gabe doesn't think I'm old and boring.

“Oh yeah I know him. Wow it's really an honour for him to be here today” I lied. I'm walking over to the so-called famous people's table to take their orders before the arrogant looking one decides to leave out of impatience.

“Good morning gentlemen. Welcome to Rosie's café, what can I get you?”

I say giving them my best customer service smile. Up close, they were even more intimidating. And annoyingly handsome. Of course they were handsome. The universe clearly enjoyed giving terrible personalities beautiful faces.

The one with the piercing blue eyes looked like he hadn't smiled a day in his life. The other seemed far more approachable.

Great. Rich and attractive. My two least favorite combinations.

“Thank you, we'll just take black coffee please”, the nicer looking one says.

“Andrew, would you like something else”, the nice one asks. Andrew waves his hand dismissively as he's faced down, typing something on his phone.

How rude.

He didn't even bother to respond to my greetings.

Well I guess he thinks I'm too cheap to notice. Speaking of cheap, that reminds me. What would a billionaire be looking for in an eatery as little as Rosie's café? Aren't they supposed to be in some expensive high class restaurant, with butlers and expensive glass cups? I'd rather have my normal class customers who are polite and cheerful, than have these two arrogant brats. Well at least one of them seems a bit polite.

“Alex, I better not miss my meeting this morning, I have a lot to say to those workers of mine.” Andrew says, finally looking up from his phone to face me.

“What are you still standing here for? We need the orders to be ready in less than 5 minutes. Or we can leave if you don't want to work.” Andrew shot me a death glare.

“Oh my bad, I thought you were getting something else” I say, scrambling away to the kitchen.

Who does he think he is talking to with that rude tone? I don't blame him, it's because I'm not wearing some fancy dress and heels made of gold. That's why he thinks he can talk to me in such a manner. And who in the world takes black coffee, they probably ordered it to match their black hearts. I'm angrily mumbling to myself as I pour coffee into the two coffee cups on the table.

“They better tip me, because this is the fastest and most careful I've ever prepared an order”, I whisper under my breath as I add napkins to each of the cups. Just as I was opening the door to serve them, I saw Andrew rise to his feet, signaling for Alex to do the same.

“Wait!! Your coffee is ready”, I shout, rushing over to give them before they leave. I didn't even get a tray, I was holding two boiling hot cups. That will probably leave a scar on my hand because I wasn't holding the part with the napkin. Andrew and Alex are turning back as I race towards them. Just as I reached them, my shoe caught the edge of a loose floor mat. Time seemed to slow. The cups slipped from my fingers. A gasp escaped my lips as boiling coffee flew through the air, and the two cups of coffee emptied itself on my arm and on Andrew's blazer.

“What is wrong with you!!?” Andrew yells in anger as he holds the hem of his blazer, pointing at the part that got stained with coffee. I can't help but whimper in pain as the hot liquid burns my hand. Andrew's eyes briefly flickered to my reddening skin before his expression hardened again.

Alex rushed to my side, while Andrew just stood there.

“Someone get a towel quickly!!” says Alex as he uses the tissue in his hand to wipe off the liquid from my wrist area. Yes I am in pain, but I don't want to be here anymore, my cheeks flush in embarrassment. Everyone is now staring at the scene that I just caused.

“I'm fine, it's just a little spill”, I say standing up from the floor and taking my hand away from Alex.

“I'm so sorry for spilling coffee on you sir. Please forgive me”. My head is faced down as I apologise.

“You're lucky I'm in a rush. Otherwise I would have made you pay for this reckless behaviour of yours” Andrew says through gritted teeth.

“Andrew can't you see she almost got hurt? Worrying about your blazer being stained should be the last thing on your mind”, Alex snaps back at him.

I leave the premises before anyone will notice me any further.

I enter the kitchen full of anger. I can't even pinpoint what exactly is making me this mad. Whether it's because Emma and Selena aren't at work today, because if they were, there would have been enough people to handle the orders and none of this would have happened, whether it's because I'm still in the stage of grief and I'm about to lose my mind, if it's because of that rude man named Andrew, or whether it's because my hand is literally burning right now from the hot coffee.

I lean my back on the wall and my legs give up, making me slide down till I'm seated on the floor of the kitchen. My chest is already knotted and breathing becomes difficult. It feels like my lungs are narrowing.

I'm having an anxiety attack. By this time, my lungs are already shot close, I'm desperately gasping for air, trying to reach the counter to get some water. I'm already exhausted and my attempt to crawl instantly fails. Just as I am about to accept my fate and go visit my parents, Gabe enters the room.

“Quite a scene you caused back there. You succeeded in pursuing Andrew Kingsley from our store for life”, Gave says strolling in. “Oh my God are you okay?!!” He runs to kneel beside me. Obviously I'm not, I'm gasping for air. He quickly goes over to get the bottle of water on the counter.

He splashes water on my face and tries to put some in my mouth. "Look at me, Lucy. Breathe with me. In... and out."

I copied him, desperate and shaky. Gradually the crushing weight on my chest eased.

My air ways began to loosen up bit by bit, I could breathe normally again. I guess water really solved the problem. Gabe lets out a sigh of relief when he sees that I have been revived somewhat.

He then wraps his hands around me and pulls me up in an attempt to sit me up.

“Are you okay?” He asks, still looking scared. I nod in agreement.

“I think I had a mini panic attack” I say as I wipe the water from my cheeks.

“Mini?!!!” Gabe glares at me, eyes wide open. “Girl there was nothing mini about that. You almost sent me into one. I thought you were gone for a split second” Gabe says, looking relieved.

It's been a hell of a day. I get a mop and a broom to clean up the me

ss I created.

As I swept beneath the table where Andrew had sat, something caught my eye.

A black leather wallet.