Old Beginnings.

JASMINE'S POV

My feet were sore from all the walking around, waiting tables at work.

Big Shark's was a small diner located in the remote areas of Bromley in London. The diner's interior reflected the poor condition of the residents of Bromley. Old buildings lined up the cobbled streets, broken street lights and garbage littered everywhere. The diner has been our only source of income for over 5 years.

Sarah, my adoptive mum, lost her job 5 years back when we used to live back in Oxford. She worked as a fashion designer at the Blush Blossom clothing line until the company was bought by an insanely rich business tycoon who decided to venture in fashion.

The new owner fired the old staff and replaced them with his own staff. His statement as I read in London's Daily Nation newspaper was, 'The clothes designs are too old and drab'. Nothing more nothing less.

Bloody bastard!

Over 2000 employees lost their jobs simply because the new boss found their taste in clothes boring. How heartless was that!

Life got expensive, mum's savings weren't enough to sustain our former lifestyle , including funding my education .I was in Whitewood University majoring in architecture art course and business economics.

That was the end of my education studies ,I had to drop out and find a job. Since I never graduated ,I wasn't certified in getting a proper job.

Mum and I had no luck in securing jobs, with the little amount of savings we had left, we moved to Bromley. I finally got lucky and landed a waitress position at Big Shark's. Mum wasn't as fortunate. The little I got was enough to put food on the table and pay the bills. We were struggling that it got to a point we had to ration our meals, one meal a day was all we needed.

Mum's health was deteriorating, she was diagnosed with breast cancer one year back. I made it my life mission to look after her no matter the circumstances. She, after all ,took me in when I had no one .My own parents didn't want me. I've been in and out foster care since, until I was 14years when she took me in.

Sarah's husband, Ken, died 13 years back in a fatal road accident that killed him on impact. That's when Sarah adopted me, 2 years after she had lost the love of her life, the doctors said he didn't feel any pain but that didn't lessen any heart-ache.

She said I reminded her so much of him that's why she took me in.

Life hasn't been easy but we were grateful that we had each other in this lonely world. I had hope that someday, all our troubles would end, little did I know it was all just the beginning.