AT THE COFFEE SHOP, Fatima was busy serving customers with their orders. More and more people are coming in for lunch so she got extra busy with work. As she was serving a table, the telephone started ringing. She finished serving the table before going behind the counter and answering the call. “Hello?” she asked as she put her hair in a bun.
“Hey, how’s it going there?” Grian’s voice was heard on the other side of the phone. Fatima raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you perhaps the owner?” she joked with a sassy tone and he chuckled.
“No, but I’m his secretary,” he answered and she laughed.
“I’m busy serving and preparing their orders, just call again later,” she explained as she looked at the people eating.
“Is that how you talk to your boss?” She laughed before ending the call. Both she and Grian are awfully getting playful with each other.
A few hours later, the coffee shop wasn’t so busy anymore so she took some food and sat down in one of the chairs to eat. She sighed heavily before drinking water and wiping her sweat. She calmed herself down before picking up the spoon and fork before starting to eat.
She took her time eating and by the time she was about to finish, people came into the coffee shop. She drank some water and stood up from her seat and went behind the counter. She fixed her composure before she looked up to greet the customers. “Welcome to the- c-coffee.. shop?” she said, greeted with a little bit of shock in her voice as she recognized the person.
The woman eyed her before sitting down and her friends followed behind her but eyed Fatima first before sitting down. Their eyes didn’t leave her as they sat down. Fatima cleared her throat before going to the table and handing them a menu. Each of them took their own menus and she was about to leave when the first person to come in stopped her.
“You look a bit familiar,” she uttered and Fatima turned around and smiled.
“I get that a lot,” she said with the sweetest smile and the woman furrowed her eyebrows before smiling as well.
Once they were done scanning the menu, Fatima approached them again to get their order. After she took their orders, she asked, “Anything else?” The four of them looked at her and smiled. “Is the owner around?”
“Owner?” she asked and they nodded.
“Christopher Denver? You know, the CEO,” the woman answered and Fatima’s mouth agape before her other friend butted in. “He’s also a doctor,” the friend uttered playfully and Fatima laughed nervously.
“Ah, right. He hasn’t visited today,” she answered and they all pouted.
“Okay, that’s all,” the girl said before letting her go and prepare their food.
After she’s done with preparing the food and drinks, she brings them to the table. “Why did it take so long?” the girl asked with raised eyebrows as she looked at her with squinted eyes.
“I’m the only one working today so I do hope all of you understand,” she said in a polite way and placed the food down on their table. She smiled before taking the tray and menus back. She went behind the counter and sighed heavily. (They don’t recognize me,) she thought to herself with relief.
A couple more minutes passed and some other people came in and she took their orders and served them. By the time she was done, the woman and her friends were done eating and they walked up to the counter. She smiled and the woman handed her card and she scanned it. “I told you she looks like her..” one of her friends whispered and looked at Fatima with squinted eyes.
She smiled after giving the card back and said, “Thank you for coming,” she said before they left the coffee shop. She took a deep breath before drinking water.
The phone started ringing and she stared at it before answering. “Hey?” she asked while drinking water.
“How is it there?” Grian, of course, was the one who called through the telephone. “Good but it’s hard-working here alone,” she explained and he nodded.
“Ahh, right. We need more employees since you’re the only one working full time while the other two are part-time,” he said while she heard notes being written down on the other side of the phone.
“Alright, we’ll deal with that tomorrow. I got to go now, busy with work since Christopher isn’t here,” he said and she nodded. They said their farewells before she ended the call.
AT THE SCHOOL, during lunchtime of the students, Philippe was eating in the cafeteria alone. He bought some cheap lunch so he’ll have energy later at noon. As he was eating, he saw three people standing in front of his table. He looked up and saw his classmate and his friends. He looked up for a couple of seconds before looking at his food again and eating.
“Come with us,” his classmate commanded but he ignored him. He continued eating and his classmate became irritated. He grabbed the tray of food Christopher was eating and threw it to the side, making it fall to the ground. Philippe stood up from frustration and they looked at one another’s eyes.
“Oh? Are you going to fight back now?” His classmate scoffed before smirking after asking him the question.
He clenched his jaw as the other students watched them. “Pay for my lunch,” he demanded and the boy leaned forward and pushed Phil’s head using his pointing finger. “Pay for it,” he repeated and the boy smirked.
“Why? Does your mom lack money? Oh, wait...” the boy trailed off.
“You don’t have one,” he added with a smirk. Philippe’s fist clenched as he attacked with his fist and hit his classmate. He flipped the table over to get closer to his classmate. He grabbed his collar while he stared with daggers in his eyes. “Did that trigger you?” His classmate continued to antagonize him.
Phil let go of him before punching him again, making him fall to the ground. The other students did nothing but watch. “At least I don’t rely on daddy’s money, unlike you,” Philippe fired back before turning around. He was grabbed by his classmate and they get into a fistfight.
“Philippe! Hen- Henry? What the hell!” They both heard Nikki shout as they both have their grasp on each other’s collars. They breathed heavily before looking at her.
“You idiots, you’re going to get in trouble,” she said before pushing Henry away from Philippe and the two didn’t protest about what she did.
She glared at both of them before approaching Philippe and checking his face and fists. She sighed before turning her head and glaring at Henry, Philippe’s classmate. “I’m hurt too, aren’t you going to check me?” Henry asked with a smile before wiping the blood away from his lips.
“No.” She coldly turned her head back to Philippe before grabbing his hand and dragging him away. Henry crossed his arms while looking at the two walk away from the cafeteria.
A couple of minutes later, she dragged him to her classroom and made him sit down on her desk. He’s silently watching her as his eyebrows are furrowed, still angry at his classmate. She rolled her eyes before opening her backpack. “Roll up your sleeves,” she requested but he doesn’t move an inch.
She raised an eyebrow before grabbing his arm and rolling it up for him. She pressed down on the bruise and his face twisted. “Hey!” he complained and she glared at him.
“Look at your face, now you look ugly,” she insulted and he pouted before holding his cheeks. His face is red and his lips are bleeding.
She grabbed alcohol and cotton pads in her bag before forcefully dabbing them on his lips. He pulled away with widened eyes. “Are you purposefully doing that?” he asked and scoffed.
“Stop moving,” she said before dabbing it on his lips more gently. He stared at her face before gulping. Nikki looks pretty up close. His heart started beating faster the more he stared at her and she stared at his lips. “A-are you mad?” he asked slowly and looked up to his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before she pushed the cotton with alcohol on his lips even more before putting it on the table. “Ouch!”
“Why did you fight with him, anyway?” she asked and he shrugged.
“You don’t usually snap,” she added before sighing.
“I’ve had enough of him. He keeps saying shit to me and is physically tormenting me,” he explained.
“I’m hungry, let’s go eat outside the school campus,” she suggested and put everything back in her bag. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. “I don’t have money anymore, I’ll eat when I get home,” he said before standing up, towering over her. She looked up at him with squinted eyes. “You’re so stubborn.” He looked at her with his jaw clenched as he tried ignoring his heart. He looked around the room and noticed her classmates staring at them. He cleared his throat before walking outside the classroom.