STUMBLE

Completely convinced that her mother hates her, one would think that was the worst of her problems but it sadly wasn't.

Work was getting torturous. Too much that she could barely bear it.

5 days had passed since then. And in those five days, nothing had changed.

Except for the women that Mr. Degavon brought to every date. 

Laleen felt like she would go crazy. How could she have thought that he couldn't be a playboy? Seven different women on seven different dates in seven consecutive days!

As she bowed in welcome to the 'playboy' of a man and his seventh date, she almost felt pity for the girl. After all, the poor girl was going to be replaced by the next day.

But that was until she met her eyes. The woman's green eyes glared at her as if she were no more than the dust on her shoes.

Laleen was familiar with that kind of look. As someone who was once royalty, it was a gaze common to them especially when looking down on peasants. She had never understood it. How did being privileged make you a better human being? 

Ignoring it completely, she plastered a smile on her face as she welcomed her in. Mr. Degavon had already taken his seat at the farthest corner next to the window.

Come to think of it, he had only ever sat there.

She couldn't help but wonder why he was going on these dates and meeting different women. He didn't seem a bit interested.

The green-eyed woman walked past her with square shoulders and her chin raised.

She didn't forget to roughly brush past her as she walked past her making Laleen stumble in her steps.

Laleen was quick to steady herself as she glared at the rude woman's back cursing her for all she was worth. She wasn't surprised at her behavior. All the girls that had accompanied him seemed to not like her. Even on the days she didn't mess up and greeted them properly.

But who could blame them? Laleen's beauty was like the sun radiating with a shiny gleam and blinding to the eyes.

It was enough to make any woman uncomfortable. Especially in the presence of the enigma known as Mr. Degavon.

A few minutes in and Laleen was beginning to think that the silence that seemed to stretch into infinity between the two of them was awkward and left her feeling uncomfortable. As usual, Mr. Degavon was busy with his phone, treating his date like she didn't exist. Basically, the green-eyed woman who was his date was failing miserably in gaining his attention.

It made matters worse when the green-eyed woman glared in her direction. How was it her fault that her date wasn't paying her any attention?! 

As she walked towards their table to serve them their coffee, she couldn't help muttering a prayer. The woman's glare seemed to intensify as she approached them. If looks could kill, Laleen was sure she'd have been dead ages ago.

She was almost at their table about to take another step when she stumbled.

The tray containing the cups of coffee fell from her hands as a shriek escaped her lips. 

But that wasn't the main issue. The next thing that happened was enough to make Laleen blush red and the green-eyed woman burn with jealousy.

Everything blurred as it happened in less than a second. Losing her balance, Laleen fell right into Mr. Degavon's lap. 

A strange sense of security enveloped her as she settled into the strength of his legs beneath her. But that was only for a second as reality dawned on her. Where the heck did she think she was sitting?!

She immediately tried to sit up in panic but before she could, cold water came pouring down on her.

Laleen blinked, the cold sensation of the water trickling from her hair to soak her clothes. When she raised her gaze, the green-eyed woman was glaring down at her with an empty bottle of water positioned right next to her head.

She had spilled water all over her.

"How dare you sit on his lap, you slut!" She screamed at Laleen her eyes blazing with anger and traces of jealousy. 

Laleen's entire body shivered. The windows of the cafe were wide open and it was winter season. It was cold.

Her brown eyes furrowed as she stared at the woman in front of her. She was incredibly flustered.

From the woman's view, Laleen seemed to be taunting her mockingly as she sat on the lap of the very man she had been trying so hard to gain his attention. 

She couldn't stand it. Pointing accusingly at the lowly waitress, she gritted out barely containing herself, "Get out!"

Laleen's movements were shaky yet abrupt as she immediately sprang up from Shane's lap.

Her teeth were chattering slightly due to the cold and she couldn't help wrapping her arms around herself.

Even her voice was shaky as she uttered apologetically while looking down, "I am so sorry".

She hoped that the woman wouldn't take it farther than this. She had already spilled cold water all over her in the icy weather. She sighed inwardly, hugging herself tighter. It was an honest mistake. She had tripped and fell.

Wait, why did she trip in the first place?

A look of confusion spread across her face as her eyes darted around the floor looking for the object that she had stumbled on but as expected, she found nothing.

Their cafe may not be an expensive establishment befitting the members of high society like the woman in front of her but they were clear to their rules and their workers were efficient. There was no way there would be any objects loitering around the floor especially to avoid accidents like this.

So why did she fall?

The green-eyed woman named Amelia, on the other hand, continued to burn in anger and jealousy. This lowly waitress should just disappear!

She was currently trembling due to the cold and her brown eyes were darting about looking for God knows what on the floor.

Her long brown hair had fallen to her waist as the band she used to tie it up into a bun had loosened when she fell.

It spread around her shoulders elegantly and only made the measly waitress look prettier than she already did in Amelia's eyes. It made her blood boil.

She had always been praised for her good looks and excellent manners since she was a child but here she was feeling intimidated by the ordinary waitress in front of her.

Laleen internally drew in a breath as she gave up on finding what exactly made her stumble. Now she only hoped the woman wouldn't cause a bigger scene. Yes, she had to quickly clean up the mess she had caused too. But there was no way she could just turn and walk away. 

Realizing this, she bowed deeper as she apologized again.

"I'll clean it up right away", she sincerely said with a shaky voice, her body still trembling as she made to excuse herself but Amelia's sharp voice was enough to make her freeze in her tracks. 

This waitress already irritated her too much with her appearance. How dare she be so... beautiful. Agreeing with herself that she was beautiful only made her even more jealous.

But not as much as the fact that this lowly waitress had sat on Mr. Degavon's lap.

The thought was enough to make her green with envy!

And so she stormed towards the waitress, her heels clinking loudly as she moved quickly.

But what happened next was so unexpected that even Laleen couldn't help gasping in shock.

Amelia was on her way towards Laleen intending to pull at her hair harshly just to punish her and maybe vent her frustration but what happened next was something she would never have imagined.

In the very same way as Laleen, Amelia stumbled on something, falling but not to the much-desired lap of Mr. Degavon. But rather, she fell face first on the floor.

And the obstacle responsible for her fall was none other than her very special date's leg.

Now, what exactly was going on?