Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Rose POV

I woke up with a backache due to the luxurious bed I slept on and rubbed my eyes while trying to look at the alarm clock kept on my bedside table. I gasped when I saw the time, it’s already 9:00 am and my shift at the restaurant starts at 10. As my mind reminded me of this, I hurried towards my small bathroom to take a hot shower while my mind kept wandering around the darkest and deepest secrets of my life.

I am just 25 years old yet I have so much to hide and barely any to run. I don’t know why I felt that running was a better idea than facing the situation. I don’t regret anything but with passing time I’m not sure anymore.

My resolve to stay hidden is crumbling but I can’t change anything nor can I go back in time from where it all started. It’s just so hard to keep secrets hidden when a little exploring is all it takes to know all of it.

I hold the key of the doors that lead to my secrets but I’m afraid someone might just sneak in and find all of them lying out like a map of a hidden territory. They are buried deep down inside me and I am so scared about their revelation that I don’t talk about them to even myself. After all, that’s happened, it’s better to keep them buried than to dig them out.

With my thoughts still clawing my mind, my shower comes to an end and comes a tiring day considering my job and the amount of work that comes with it.

…*….*……

I enter the lavish restaurant or should I say my new workplace. Well, both, and what matters the most is the payment they are offering, it’s good enough to pay all my expenses and maybe I could also save some money. If I got enough from this job then I won’t have to work in that bar.

I walk towards the changing room while looking at the elegant glory of the hotel. The hotel has a huge glass chandelier hanging down the ceiling in the middle of the dining hall. The hotel is based on a fusion of modern and vintage theme with darker colors as the theme. The hotel itself screams luxury with personalized services, the best chefs, and staff with a great background.

I enter the changing room made for the staff and change into my new waitress dress and walk out of the room a few minutes later. As I walk out my mind begins to wander and lands on the topic of friends. to I am not planning to make any new friends or you can say any friend since I never had one after I started my little run.

‘You are saying it like before you had a bunch of friends and now you are like this’.

‘Welcome back and thank you to remind me of my reality’.

‘My pleasure’.

I scoffed at that and continued my train of thought. I never had friends because I thought a friend is someone with whom you can share everything and vice versa. You don’t become friends with someone because of the money they have or any ulterior motive. You understand each other and stand by each other’s side through thick and thin. To some people, it sounds kind of too much and imaginative, but it’s my definition of friends. I never found any friends because they all had their own reasons and now, I have my secrets to hide. I think I will give friendship a try again when I am done running.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts; I didn’t notice a hand waving in front of me and then someone tapped on my shoulder. I instantly came back to my senses and saw a man standing in front of me with a poker face. I recognized him as the manager from yesterday who gave me this job. He was stern and cold that much I knew already from yesterday’s encounter but seeing him now as my boss is annoying me. “Daydreaming isn’t your job Miss Rose, or you forgot for what you are hired for?”

I gave him one of those looks that said I know very well and then continued in a sickly-sweet voice. “I remember very well, sir. I was just returning to work, and would you please not mind calling me Miss Jones. I don’t prefer Rose when it comes to my workplace”.

His next words infuriated me to no end. “Just to remind you MISS JONES, you haven’t started working yet so you are not asked to return, more specifically start working is what I meant. If you have any problem with that then I can fire you at this instant gladly.”

I contemplated my situation and replied in a calm tone “Sorry sir, I will start working now and you don’t need to fire me for this”.

I was fuming in anger due to his words but I knew better than to cross him. I need this job so I need to bear with him. I don’t know how this day is going to unfold but I already have this feeling that it’s not my lucky day and I should be really careful.

‘I don’t remember any day being your lucky day.’

‘Oh, come on, I have had my fair share of luck. You just shut up and let me focus on my work.’

‘Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night fair share lady.’

‘Ughh, not again’.

I just stop talking to myself and continue walking towards the staff area to know how everything works here.

The room for staff was nothing like I expected, it was more like a hotel room on display. My eyes scanned the room and noticed two black bean bags in one of the corners while a black L-shaped couch and a glass table is placed on the other side of the room.

The room is based on a black and white theme just like our dresses. I walk straight to the bean bags and sat on one. I kept admiring the room with my head full of thoughts when someone suddenly tapped on my shoulder. I jolted due to the sudden touch and turned around to find a guy staring at me with a questioning gaze. He is a cute redhead with light green eyes, light freckles around his nose, and pale skin. He is also quite muscular with a model-like body. ‘I take my words back; he is not cute. He is handsome.’

He is wearing a chef’s uniform indicating he is a chef here. He waved his hand in front of me after some time and my cheeks heat up from embarrassment while he just smiles a bit and says “Hey!” enthusiastically.

I was dumbstruck while he scanned me again from head to toe and began again with a boyish grin on his face. “Hey, I guess you are new here. Well, I am Luke and I am a chef here especially for desserts. And you are?”

I was astonished to see him talking to me since I don’t remember when I had a decent conversation with someone apart from work. Putting aside my thoughts I replied to him with a small smile of my own “I am Rosalyn but you can call me Rose. And yeah, I’m new here, a waitress to be precise about my job.”

Since it was early hours, there was no rush and we barely had any work to get back to. So, I and Luke decided to talk and get to know each other. He seemed to be a decent person and though I didn’t expect a friend in all this chaos I was willing to give it a try. My plan of a friend after I am done with this mess taking a back seat after meeting Luke since the guy was an absolute gem.

I got to know a lot of things about Luke and I was stunned when he told me his dad is a famous businessman and he is working here because he loves cooking and baking desserts. He is also really funny and sweet and I knew we will always get along.