Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Emily sprang up as the sun rays that came through her window touched her skin, she took her phone and checked the time. It was 9:23am.

"Damn! I'm going to be late for work. " She said that as she ran into the bathroom and brushed her teeth in a hurry, she looked into her eyes in the mirror.

'This is all Chris's fault. ' She thought, he made her work double shift, he's so annoying. She ran to the cabinet, grabbed her clothes and ran back to the bathroom. Soon she was done, and not wanting to wake her mother, she left quietly. Taking her bike from the yard, well placed on the wall, she pedalled cautiously to work.

Emily was a young girl of seventeen, she started working as a waitress in a restaurant owned by a man named Mr. Nicholas, three months after she graduated from high school.

"You're late!" Emily heard as she walked in through the back door, she turned in shock to see Chris coming out of the kitchen with a tray in his hands containing three glasses of orange juice.

Chris also worked as a waiter in the same restaurant as Emily, he liked poke nosing and always teased her. His father owned the restaurant (Nich's eatery). He was tall, muscular and light skinned.

"What do you expect when I couldn't get enough sleep after working double shifts to cover your girlfriend's absence?" Emily said.

She walked past him and went to the kitchen. Chris sighed and returned to the kitchen still holding the tray.

"Em, how many times do I have to remind you that I'm not in love with Elsa anymore? We broke up in dog's age. " Chris said, leaning on the wall with his left shoulder.

Emily who seemed Uninterested in what Chris was saying mumbled a "whatever. "

She moved to where her apron was and took it.

"You're lucky my dad has not yet arrived. You know how he hates late resumption. " He smirked and left. Emily wore her apron and followed almost Immediately.

After some hours Emily decided to take a break. She took a chair and sat down close to the refrigerator, opposite the main entrance.

'Wait, where the hell is mike? ' She thought, searching for him with her eyes.

Mike was the first son of Mr. Nicholas, Chris's elder brother. He's also tall and thewy (Guess it runs in the family.) but dark skinned just like his father.

Emily, who was still searching with her eyes, sighted a man, probably in his early forties and a young lady, who would also be in her mid thirties taking a seat and making themselves comfortable. She stood up quickly and went to attend to them.

"Good afternoon to you both. " She greeted as she stood in front of them.

"How would you know?" The man asked.

"What should I get you?" Emily asked, ignoring his question.

"Um, we'd like shawarma and... Just get us any drink. " The lady spoke and Emily nodded before leaving.

Shortly, Emily walked to the table with a tray containing the shawarma and two sodas. She gently dropped them on the table. "Enjoy. " Emily said and turned to leave.

"Wait!" The lady commanded, "What's this?" She asked pointing at the soda.

Emily opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the lady.

"Didn't I ask this stupid wench a question?" The lady asked, pointing at Emily and turning to look at the man she came in with.

As much as Emily would want to smash the tray on her head, she couldn't. 'Was this lady trying to intimidate me? ' Emily thought.

"It's champagne. " Emily said.

"Don't you know a soda when you see one?"

"And besides, you requested for any drink. " She finished.

"And this is the only thing you could think of?" She scoffed.

"What I'm I suppose to do with this?" She asked, turning to look at Emily with a serious look on her face.

"You can use it to wash that ugly face of yours, you know, it could actually reduce the ugliness because your face is really scaring the other customers. " Emily blurted out.

The lady was shocked, she couldn't believe her ears. Her ego had just been wounded.

"You're a psychotic animal!" The lady yelled.

Psychotic animal? Before Emily could think if she hadn't heard the lady correctly, she realized she was choking. The lady squeezed the life out of her neck and lifted her up that her feet were no longer on the ground. She opened her mouth to breathe because apparently, her nose wasn't performing its duties.

"Eve, you have to stop. " The man whose name happened to be Peter spoke calmly, taking a bit of the shawarma for the first time.

Mike came out of nowhere, grabbing the lady's arm and twisting it to the back, making her drop Emily and yelping in pain. Peter stood up with fury, his eyes darkened and his fangs elongated, Emily flinched in fear.

Mike quickly took his hands off the lady's arm and move a few steps backward.

Emily tried to take a closer look at the man to be sure of what she saw but then she saw nothing. The man was as normal as any other person.

"Is this how y'all treat customers here?" Peter asked, moving his gaze to Emily, who was still on the floor.

"And is this how you treat a waitress?" Emily asked, massaging her neck, she couldn't believe she was still talking after what just happened, her oesophagus hurt as hell. 'How can a lady be so strong? ' She thought.

"She could have killed her, and you sat there doing absolutely nothing about it. " Mike said.

"Well, you're lucky I'm in a good mood, just a word with your boss can get the both of you fired. Y'all know that right? " Peter said, "I was really having a good time with this beautiful lady whom you called ugly about an hour ago. " He finished.

Eve shot deadly looks at them before storming out the door, peter's lips curved into a smirk and then he left.

"Are you out of your mind? How many times have I told you about getting into a fight with customers? " Mike said immediately they left.

"It wasn't my fault, the lady was impolite. " Emily said defensively.

"You won't get lucky all the time, so find a way to control that temper of yours. " Mike said, eyeing her before walking away. She sighed in frustration and walked away.

* * * * * * * *

Mrs. Rebecca, Emily's mother has a beauty saloon. She was a woman of average height, light skinned with big brown eyes.

The door was pushed open, Rebecca turned and saw her best friend Victoria.

"Oh! What a perfect timing. " Rebecca said.

Victoria rolled her eyes already knowing what she meant.

"I'm not in the mood Rebecca. " Victoria said and sat on the couch.

"Please... There are too many customers and remember when I helped attend to your customers the other day, at your provision store? Now is the right time to return the favor. " Rebecca said and smiled to a customer that just came in before turning to look at Victoria.

"Okay, fine! I'll help. " She rolled her eyes again and stood up, motioning for a lady to come sit on a chair facing the large mirror so she could start making her hair.

"So how is Emily?" Victoria asked, breaking the long silence.

"She's good. Although, she has been asking me different questions lately. " Rebecca answered, her eyes fixated on the hair she was making.

Victoria's eyes widened "About?" Victoria asked.

"What else do you think? About her father. " Rebecca answered, looking at Victoria.

"Not again! So how did you manage to escape this one? " Victoria asked, looking at Rebecca questioningly.

"Trust me Vicky, I've been dealing with this kind of questions since Emily was ten years old. " Rebecca said, now looking at the hair she was making.

The saloon was quiet afterwards, Rebecca broke the silence. "What about Jake and Giselle?"

"I actually came here to clear my head, those two are pains in my ass. They will not stop fighting. " Victoria was frustrated.

"Till now?!" Rebecca asked surprised.

"You know what? Let's meet in our usual spot for lunch, my treat. " Rebecca said and Victoria nodded.

"I couldn't agree more, there a lot of things I want to talk to you about. " Victoria said.

"All done. " Rebecca said to the customer whose hair, she was making.

"It's lovely. Thank you. " She said, scrutinizing the hair through the large mirror in front of her. She took her purse and paid for the service before walking out of the saloon.