FOR RICHER, FOR POOR

CHAPTER NINE

"Jesus girl where the hell have you been?" Nadia came rushing to me as I entered the apartment.

I guess I did blackout, I forgot to text Nadia and Olivia about Lorenzo bringing me home. I was tired and quite frankly disappointed that Lorenzo practically chased me out of his apartment. I walked past Nadia and went straight for my bed, falling face-first onto it.

"Kathleen, talk to me what's up?" Nadia asked persistently.

"Lorenzo took me to his place after I puked my guts out in the men's bathroom. I blackout while I was in his car and since he doesn't know my address he took me to his place." I explained.

Nadia squeaked, "Tell me everything. Is his game as hot as he is?" Nadia asked. "Make it quick because I have to go to work," she added.

"Wait what? Eww, no nothing happened. He was a gentleman. He made me breakfast, bought me some clothes for me to change in and for a moment I thought everything was going great, he received a call and he practically chased me out of his house." I explained sulking.

"Nadia you know a lot about men, why would he do that?" I whined.

"Girl, he's a 30-year-old man, he has responsibilities. How do you think he pays bills and maintains himself before he met you?" Nadia said trying to be positive.

I know she was doing it in good faith but it didn't do much to ease my mind. She hugged me. "You're lucky it's a weekend. I get a pass for being late to work. You made me late." She said kissing me on the cheek, "I'll leave but I'll call you later to check up on you. Make sure your phone is on then," Nadia said as she walked to the door.

"Finally," came Olivia's response, I guess she has a worse hangover compared to mine. We just laughed and Nadia tiptoed whispering a sorry as she left. I have to go to the café for some final touches in preparation for tomorrow. But I didn't want to leave my bed. I wish I could just stay in bed and sulk throughout the day. But I put all my savings into that café, also I didn't want to let Mr. and Mrs. Johnson down. I dragged myself out of bed had a change of clothes and went to the café. There wasn't much left to do. I was also kind of expecting Lorenzo to just walk through the door like he usually does. But he didn't and the day seemed to drag through. I hired four people who will be working there and another three for just tomorrow's event, I did some baking, and I was taught when I was younger by my mother.

The day finally came to an end, I went to test the stage before I locked up, imagining how it would seem when Lorenzo was up here playing his guitar. I bought him the guitar he was looking at the antique shop, I'll give it to him tomorrow as a thank you for the help. Tomorrow is going to be amazing, hopefully, people turn up. I decided to walk, I put my headphones on and started walking. Today the evening seemed a little chillier, hopefully, it doesn't rain till I reach home. I kept strolling, listening to music, when it started drizzling, I liked a little rain I didn't mind it, I kept walking not paying attention to the people around me. The drizzling then turned into heavy rain making people scatter in an attempt to find shelter, and so did I.

I entered a small bakery, it had a nice aroma of freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Wow, it was homey inside here. "Hello miss, welcome to Maar Bakery." Came the masculine voice, I turned my attention to look at him, I was met with a pair of gorgeous deep blue eyes. Not as blue as mine but blue either way. "Hi," I responded smiling. We both stood there looking at each other.

"Gordon would you take the lady's order?" an older version of the guy said to him from over the counter.

"Hello I'm Gordon," he said offering his hand, "Nice to meet you, Gordon. I'm Kathleen." I said taking his hand.

"Please have a seat, I'll bring you some coffee," Gordon said pointing towards a booth.

"Umm that's a nice offer but I'm good really. I just came here to escape the rain." I said smoothing out my damp clothes. "Is it okay with you if I just wait it out in here?" I asked politely.

"Sure, it is, but only if you let me keep you company," Gordon said offering a sweet smile.

I laughed and gestured for him to sit in front of me. "So, Gordon how long have you been here?" I asked him in an attempt to make conversation to pass the time.

"Not long. I just came back two weeks ago." He answered.

"Back from where?" I asked curiously.

"Afghanistan. I'm a soldier. Or at least I was." He said.

"Was?" I asked confused.

"Yes, I was discharged." He said sadness taking over his previously happy expression, "But enough about me, tell me about you Kathleen," he asked changing the topic.

I didn't want to pry so I ignored it, "well nothing is interesting about me," I said chuckling.

"Come on, I'm sure a pretty lady like you has a lot of interesting things happening," he said trying to get me to open up to him.

I sighed, "Currently the only interesting thing happening to me is the new café I'm about to open, tomorrow is the grand opening," I said.

"Which café is that?" he asked with piqued interest.

"Sunnyside Café," I answered.

"The café owned by Mr. and Mrs. Johnson?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, that's the one. They offered it to me so I closed down for a couple of weeks to make a few changes, so tomorrow I'll be reopening it." I explained, "You should come tomorrow it would be enjoyable. Hopefully." I added laughing softly. "Yes, I'll be there," he said smiling showing his white teeth.

We talked a lot, told me about a few of his stories from back at the barracks and I shared some of my funny stories. It was nice interacting with him. "As much as I would like to stick around and keep this interaction going I have to go," I said to him. "I'll be seeing you around, won't I?" he asked as I stood up, I looked at him and smiled, "Yes you will," I said. He offered to walk me to the door and I waved him goodbye. I spent a lot of time in there, it didn't seem like it rained that heavily. From the looks of it, it stopped raining a few hours ago. But it was worth sitting there and talking to him he was a nice guy, and I couldn't stop smiling.

My phone rang, it was Nadia, I picked up, "Hey Nadia, how are you?" I asked.

"You seem chirper, did you just talk to Lorenzo?" Nadia teased me.

"No, I haven't but I just met this guy, Gordon. Nadia, he seems amazing." I said excitedly.

"Jeez Kat, when I said you should spread your wings, I didn't mean this wide," Nadia said teasing me, "I thought you liked Lorenzo now there's a Gordon?" she inquired.

"Nadia, I do like Lorenzo but it's not like I'm married to him. And besides, I know very little about him." I answered defensively.

"Mm-hmm," came Nadia's response.

"If I knew you'd judge me I wouldn't have told you." I retorted.

"I'm not judging you girl, relax. So, tell me about Gordon," she said, I could hear the smirk in her voice.

I told her everything, and we talked till I reached home. I confirmed that she will be coming to the café tomorrow and will be bringing a few people from her job. I thanked her and wished her goodnight. I also confirmed with Liv, she said she'll come and bring some of her friends. I texted Lorenzo to ask if he'll be coming to perform tomorrow. He didn't respond, maybe he was asleep I'll call him tomorrow morning to confirm. I went to bed tomorrow will be a long day and hopefully a successful one.

I was running around confirming everything was in place, I wanted everything to be perfect. First impressions are long-lasting, today would determine if I'll make customers or if the business will fail. Failure isn't an option. I have my life riding on today's success. I kept calling Lorenzo but his phone was off, he isn't blowing me off, is he? He knows how important this is for me. I have no one to perform tonight. People have started arriving and I was panicking.

"Kat, what's happening to you? Some guy told me you are having a panic attack?" Nadia asked as she rushed to me. I tried to speak but I couldn't. "Relax Kathleen, take deep breaths, think about one thing at a time then count with me. One, Two…" Nadia said holding my hand trying to help me relax. "Now tell me, what's the problem?" she asked once I was a bit relaxed.

"Lorenzo's phone is off and I have no one to perform. This is going to be a disaster I don't know why I thought I could pull it off. I'm calling it off," I said hysterically.

"No, you don't have to do that. This is important for you and we'll find a way." Nadia said reassuringly.

She thought for a while, "What about you?" she blurted out.

"Me?" I asked confused. "Yes, you. I've heard you singing and you can pull this off." She said excitedly.

"I'm not sure about that," I said.

"You do want this to work out right?" Nadia asked, "Yes I do!" I said with certainty.

"Then you have to do this for you. I believe in you Kat," Nadia said softly.

"Okay. I'm going to do this." I said strongly.

Am I going to do this? I wondered unsure of myself.