A workaholic bird

From my sleep, I can hear the gentle sound of a song I am used to. I try to ignore the sound, but then it keeps getting louder. I want to shut it off, but then again, I know I am not supposed to. My body feels a slight discomfort, and I know why this is happening. I slept on the chair all night working on the assignments. I do not feel good. My mouth feels slightly dry, even if I drank a lot of water before working last night. I must have really overworked my body last night. If there is one thing father always scolds me for, it’s ignoring my health. That’s why I never tell him whenever I fall sick. I just usually keep the details to myself until I get better. But today, why do I feel so weak more than unusual.

I open my eyes gently, looking towards the ringing alarm clock buzzing. It’s exactly 7 o’clock. I immediately jump off the chair. I am going to be late for my morning shift at Shirley’s. I cannot believe it is 7. Why did I set the alarm for 7? I must have been so crazy. Was I sleep working?

I do not see the pile of clothes lying on the floor because immediately I start to walk towards the bathroom, I find myself falling on them. I intend to be fast today to get to work on time, but then I am kind of weak. I want to move much faster, but I can’t.

I quickly put up the Colgate toothpaste on my toothbrush, moving the handle of my brush with instant motion. With the pace at which I move my toothbrush, I may injure my mouth's gum, but I do not care. I just want to be fast so I can get to work early. I really should stick to my schedule list and go on dates only on holidays. I do not bother checking the temperature of the water. At this point, I do not care if it burns my skin. I just want to be on my way to Shirley’s as the water touches my skin. I can see the wild mist resting calmly on the face of my bathroom mirror. I move slowly towards my mirror screen, cleaning the mist with my fingers before using my right hand to touch my face. My reflection on the mirror shows my body is burning red. I do not care. I just normally say the words I tell myself every morning in front of the mirror. I always do it. Even though some people may find it pointless, it’s something I always do. Mother taught me to do it. She says it should be a part of life. In as much as father tries to make me forget about mother by not doing things she once taught me. I do find myself doing these things day by day. It’s essential to my life. Like most people can’t do without food, I cannot do with my daily affirmations.

“You are blessed.

You are amazing.

You are special.

Good things will happen to you.

The best things in life will happen to you.

You are loved.

You are going to have a full-filled day.

Your day is going to be amazing.

You will accomplish great things in life.

I love you, Jamie. I love you so much.”

As I say these words to my reflection. Even though my reflection doesn’t say anything back to me. The lips of my reflection move. I smile towards the mirror, watching my reflection do the same thing.

On a normal day, I would walk over to Shirley’s. But I am extremely late, and so I decide to take Flash. Flash is the name of my bicycle. I call my bicycle flash because it makes my day a little faster when I am late. Getting Flash for my seventeenth birthday was one of the best things I did for myself. I used all the money I had saved up since my sixteenth birthday. I felt so proud of myself, being able to buy Flash without having to disturb my father.

I balance my tiny body on Flash, peddling fast with the little strength I have. Flash must know I am in so much hurry today because I am immediately at Shirley’s.

Immediately I come down, I park Flash up by the side corner of Shirley’s and immediately dash towards the shop.

When I make it past the back door, I sight Mr. Williams. On the counter, dressed in an apron. From what I see, Sofia is not yet at work. I am not surprised because she never comes to work early, but it would have been nice to find her here today. I do not like that Mr. Williams himself opens up his shop. I try to take a few steps. But then I feel a bit light-headed. My body feels faint. I brace up myself.

“You can do this, Jamie,” I say calmly.

“Oh, there you are, Jamie. Are you okay?”

“Mr. Williams. I am so sorry I came late today. I am really sorry. This will never happen again,” I keep talking. Trying to apologize to Mr. Williams. Who doesn’t seem to be upset?

“It’s fine, Jamie. Since you started working here. You have never been late to work. This is a first. So I knew immediately that something must be wrong. Are you okay, Jamie boy? You don’t look so good. Do you want to take a day off?”

“I am fine, Mr. Williams.”

“But you honestly do not look so good.”

“I can work, Mr. Williams. My weekend was great. I did rest a lot.”

“If you say so. How I wish my niece were as much more active as you. When she comes to work today, I may just scold her.”

With Mr. Williams saying the word niece. I get a little bit confused. Who is his niece? It suddenly dawns on me. He is talking about Sofia. Sofia is related to him. I am perplexed. He seems to notice my face growing with amusement because he immediately speaks up to me.

“I know what you are thinking. Yes, Sofia is my niece. She is my younger sister’s child.”

“Who would have thought?”

“She told me not to tell you. So you wouldn’t kind of think I was giving her preferential treatment.”

Even if I know, that is what he is exactly doing. I try to relax the shocking appearance on my face.”

“It’s fine, Mr. Williams. I would change into my work attire now. Coming late will never happen again,” I say, still trying to apologize.

As I keep talking. Walking towards the changing room, my phone starts to ring out loud. I dip my hands into my pockets. Trying to press the silent button so that I can continue my talk with Mr. Williams. But then I stop walking when I hear Mr. Williams speak again.

“Jamie. I forgot to tell you. I am going to be taking a trip in the next few days. I am going to Paris with my wife for our tenth anniversary.”

The thought of Mr. Williams all loved up with his beautiful wife, Mrs. Williams, makes me smile. He seems to see me smiling because he immediately smiles too.

“Did you still go on a date with that fine young man?”

“Who?” I pretend to ask

“Charlie, of course. The dude who always comes here to bug you.”

“Oh, yes, I did. It was nice.”

“Just nice?” Mr. Williams says. I know he wants details on how my date went. But it feels weird that he is asking me. I do not think I want to talk about such things with my boss.

“It was great, Mr. Williams.”

“Okay fine. I wouldn’t ask you anymore,” he says, still smiling. I can still see the smile on his face. But then I put my hands into my pocket, bringing out my phone. When I look at my screen, it’s a call from one of my clients. I am supposed to meet him by 2 o’clock. That was when we agreed to meet. But why is he calling much earlier?

“Can you give me a minute Mr. Williams? I need to take a call.”

“That’s fine, Jamie. There are no customers in the shop yet.”

I walk to the dressing room to call back, and on the first ring. Aiden picks up.

“Hello, man. I have been trying to reach you. Is my work ready?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I know I told you I would need it at noon but change of plans. Can I come to get it from you? Where are you?

The thought of Aiden coming to my workplace makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, but then I do not have a choice. When he comes here, I will immediately meet him outside.

“Come meet me at Shirley’s cakes. When you get to the front of the cake shop, just call me. I will be out.”

“Okay,” he says, hanging up the call immediately.

Back at Shirley’s, I change up my clothes. Changing into my black and white stripe attire that we all wear here. It has Shirley cakes written on the apron.

I walk over to the cake show glass, holding a tray of freshly baked cakes from the oven. I arrange the freshly baked cakes on the show glass. They smell as good as usual. When I save up enough money, I will buy some for myself as a treat, but I am still saving up for many things for now. As I arrange the remaining cakes in the show glass, I sight Mr. Williams looking into the sales book. He looks so serious calculating the sales for last week. He normally does it every Monday morning. Just as I watch him do it, I hear the sound of the doorbell ring out. When I look towards the entrance door, I see it’s Sofia. From what I see, it seems like she is just coming from a party. Her attire immediately gives her away. I must commend her for her perfectly ruined white skirt and polka dot spaghetti singlet. She has her mascara all smeared on her face, with her hair roughly parked as she walks up towards the counter. She doesn’t say a word to Mr. Williams. Passing us both, like she knows Mr. Williams is going to scold her. Now that I know she is Mr. Williams’s nieces, I now understand why she gets away with many things.

The look on Mr. Williams's face doesn’t look so good, but at the same time, he is calm.

“Jamie, I will be interviewing a new part-time worker at the shop today. When he comes, I will want you to access him too.”

“Okay, Mr. Williams.”

I feel a bit thankful that Mr. Williams is hiring another worker. I know I need the extra hand here.

The time is exactly past twelve now. Even if a customer is having a strawberry cake at the moment, I cannot help but take a seat at the counter and go through the assignment of Aiden one last time. I go through every page, making sure there are no errors. When I am done doing this, I finally send it to his flash drive. Most students like working with their emails in terms of getting their assignments. But I do not know why Aiden requests I put it in his flash drive. When I am done doing this, I scroll through my phone, going through my unread texts. I have twelve messages unread. I am searching for the name Charlie. But I do not see a text from him. I normally get an early morning text from Charlie every day. I know I have to see him. I need to talk to him. I want to tell him I would really want us to remain friends. As I contemplate calling him, my phone rings. I know immediately who is calling because I can see his car drive-in from the shop’s transparent door. I put on my apron and walk outside towards Aiden.

“Here is your flash,” I say, extending my hands towards Aiden.

“Not so fast, man. I need to go through it first. In case I do not see what I like.”

I do not like the tone of Aiden. Everyone knows I am the best in everything I do. I do my essays and assignments well; that is why I always get jobs on campus. If I wasn’t good at what I did, then how did he hear about me.

“It will just take a second, man,” he says. I do not like how he calls me “man,” but then I do not say anything. I watch him.

I nod towards Aiden, watching him bring out his laptop from his bag. He slips the flash drive into his computer. Going through it bit by bit. I am glad Mr. Williams is not in the shop at the moment, because I know he would disapprove of what I am doing. As Aiden goes through his laptop, he seems to start talking. Bringing in little conversations.

“You sure outdid yourself this time Jamie. This is amazing. I am sure I will get an A for this. Are you up for more assignments?”

On hearing Aiden say this, I am happy. Because more assignments mean more money. Even if I have many assignments I need to work on, I happily say yes to Aiden.

“I can handle them.”

“So, that’s good. I will come over tomorrow to hand them to you.”

The thought of Aiden coming over here to give me his assignment questions doesn’t stand well with me. And so I want to find a way to object.

“How about your email them to me, Aiden. I think it will be faster that way. And it’s more convenient. I work with all my clients this way.”

“Well, I am not other people. I am Aiden.” I can feel this slight discomfort in his voice.

“Okay. I will be here tomorrow then. Just call me before you come in.” I say, trying to change his mood. Aiden has been a good client of mine. And I wouldn’t want to upset him.

“Definitely, man. One more thing.”

These are the last words I hear. Because my body suddenly feels so faint. I feel so light-headed. I cannot seem to feel my body. But then I see the moving mouth of Aiden. Those are the last things I see. I am lightless. My body flowing on a piece of cloud.

The harsh scent of the familiar smell wakes me up. I am used to the smell that even before waking up, I know where I am. I randomly find myself like this most of the time. I am at the hospital, and I am not surprised.

“finally his up,” I hear the familiar voice of father.”

My eyes open slightly. Trying to adjust to the hospital’s bright light. As they become accustomed to the light, I can see clearly now. I see two men sitting close to me, while another is standing. This is supposed to be a hospital. I thought only family members were allowed to be with a patient. But once again, I forget he is a well-known prince and can walk his way into any place. Sitting by the side of my father is Charlie. Who seems to be asleep?

“Oh, Jamie, you had me worried. You have been passed out for three days.”

“Three days?” I say with a shocked face. I have never passed out this long. I think of my job at Shirley’s and all the essays I haven’t done yet. Father seems to know what I am thinking about because he immediately speaks back at me.

“You shouldn’t think of that boy.” With him saying this. I do not say another word. On a normal day, I would argue back at him. Telling him, I have bills to pay and needed to be out of here. But then, with prince Fredrick staring at me. I am speechless