Chapter1
#Chapter1
TORI' POV
I was exhausted. I've been cleaning and serving for about 7 hours straight without a break. I needed a bonus so I could pay Clyde, my landlord. I needed to pay rent for two months since I skipped paying it last month. Then I had to pay the bills. I also needed money for grocery since I was running short. I also needed money for Dahlia's upkeep. I needed a lot of money and I know being a waitress could never pay well enough for all this. I had to find another job as soon as possible. For now, I just have to work extra hours so I could get a raise in my salary. Working at RICO'S was good. At least I was guaranteed of free breakfast and lunch. This helped me to save enough money. Thank goodness my baby Dahlia wasn't a materialistic child. She understood at a young age that things never came to lazy people. I was blessed with the sweetest child ever. A smile made its way to my lips as I thought of my baby who was fast asleep. She was the only family I had. She was my everything. All this hardwork was for her. I was determined to give her the best in life.
/"Tori sweetheart, could you do me another favour?/" I turned around and met Rico, the young owner of this restaurant. He was charming no doubt.
I smiled up at him. /"Sure thing, sir./"
He gave me an intense look. /"I've told you one million times to call me Rico. What's up with this sir bullshit?/"
Okay. Rico has been asking me out for some time now. He's a great guy but I'm totally not interested in dating. My number one interest is giving my daughter a good life. Rico told me to call him by his name but I know I can't since it'll raise a lot of suspicion on me by friends. My co-workers were the only friends I had since they were the only people I spent time with. I never had time to waste on friendship outside work.
/"I'm not calling you by your name, sir. What can I do for you?/" I asked. He needed to see my determination so that I could get a double raise.
He scoffed. /"Fine. When you're done with cleaning this room, go to H\&M and get the shoes I purchased. I already paid for it under my name./" He said sounding professional.
/"I sure will./" I replied and watched him walk away. He was such a good boss. I felt bad that I had to look for a new job since the money I got from this one wasn't enough.
I hurriedly mopped and got ready to go. I walked over to the makeshift bed I made for Dahlia and tapped her lightly. /"Sweetie./"
She yawned and rubbed her big baby blue eyes, smiling at me. /"Mommy is it time to leave already?/" She asked in that sweet and innocent four year old voice.
I smiled down at her. /"Nope, but we're going somewhere. When we come back, we can go home and I'll make you some mac 'n cheese./"
This seemed to get her attention as she quickly stood up and hugged me. Oh, my sweet baby. /"Thank you mommy./"
Together, we walked down the street to H\&M. Once I got there, filled in all the required information and got Rico's shoe. I noticed Dahlia looking at the ice cream shop across the street.
/"Do you want some ice cream sweetie?/" I asked her.
She shook her head sadly. /"No mommy, we need the money to give Clyde./"
My heart melted at her words. She understood our financial situation and was less demanding. I fake laughed. /"Who said so? We don't owe Clyde a penny. Come on, let's get you some ice cream./"
I got her favourite flavour of ice cream. Vanilla. I never had enough money for two cones. We slowly walked back to RICO'S and he gave me $50 for running his errand. Rico never minded that I brought Dahlia to work. As a matter of fact, he loved her. I thanked him a lot then packed my stuff and headed home.
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I looked at Dahlia's sleeping form and refused to let the tears run down again. I wasn't going to leave her like he did to me. He hurt me so bad and it was even worse since Dahlia looked a lot like him. He was history. He was a closed case. Dahlia and I are fine without him or anyone and we'd always be fine. I curse the day I met him.