Chapter 2 Hot Coffee Showers

TULE SPRINGS

Ariana got home very late and tired because of the stress she faced during the day. She flung her bag on her bed and after eating a whole box of Pizza, she changed her dress and went straight to bed.

The next morning, as she was preparing her breakfast in the kitchen, her phone rang and she ran to pick it up immediately.

"Is this Ariana Lee?" The caller asked.

"Yes Sir." She replied.

"Ok then, I'm Paul, a waiter from the Kings Café, and I was asked to inform you that you can start work by today." The caller explained.

"Ok, thank you, sir. I will make sure to be there on time." She replied and immediately she ended the call, she stopped her cooking and went back to her room to get prepared for work.

On arriving at the café, the Chief Barista called her into her office to have a private chat with her.

"As you already know you are only a part-timer and once our staff is back you might be discarded..." The Barista was still talking when she was rudely interrupted by Ariana.

"I don't have a problem with that." She said,

"Oh Ok, but you have to be careful so as not to land us in trouble because the CEO of this company is way too hygienic and doesn't allow the acceptance of any staff without a thorough medical examination." She continued.

"I sure will be very careful, so how much am I going to be paid?" She asked.

"$600 a month, $140 per week, and $20 per day." The Barista explained.

"Wow, that's great compared to my former pay. So can I start working now?" She asked.

"Ah yeah, but you have to always put this on during working hours." She said, handing her a uniform which includes a brown colored mini skirt and top with two pairs of gloves.

"Do I need gloves?" She asked.

"It's very necessary because that's what the CEO ordered." The Barista explained.

"Oh, Ok.....ma." She said and quickly went into the female changing room to change her clothes even though she didn't like the idea of wearing a glove.

She was asked to serve a few people present at the café to test her working skill and she passed perfectly. The Barista was impressed by her performance and she commended her for it.

After a few hours of working, the Barista received a call from the CEO's office to bring some coffee for them. The Barista ordered two other staff members including Ariana to deliver the coffee.

They went to the top floor of the building where the meeting was taking place. They began to arrange the coffee in front of each staff member and as Ariana placed Kyle's coffee in front of him, he noticed that she wasn't wearing a hand glove.

"Where the hell is yo......." Kyle wasn't able to complete his statement because as he tried to move Ariana's hand away from his coffee, she mistakenly poured it on him.

Kyle screamed, scaring her and every other person in the room.

He quickly rushed to his office bathroom which was on the next floor since he detest using public restrooms and removed the shirt he was wearing. Lucas quickly provided him with spare clothes which were always available at his office.

After changing his clothes, he sat in his office and ordered everyone working at the Cafeteria to come to his office, and as soon as possible, they all came including Ariana.

"Where is that bitch who just tried to kill me?" He lashed at them.

Everyone turned to look at Ariana who was hiding at the back and was forced to come out to the front.

"So who sent you?" Kyle asked.

"Ummm.....I don't understand what you are saying, sir......I" Ariana stuttered.

"Oh, so you are trying to say that I don't know how to talk right?" Kyle asked angrily, interrupting her.

"No sir, that's not what I meant, I......" Ariana was still talking when Kyle rudely interrupted her.

"Oh, you mean I am a liar now right?" He asked.

Ariana was infuriated by Kyle's continuous rude interruption.

"Can you just shut up and let me make one good sentence?" Ariana fired at him before she realized she wasn't supposed to be rude to her boss.

"Ok then. You are FIRED." Kyle lashed at her.

"Wait...what? How can I be fired? This is just my first da....y." She'd already completed her statement before she realized that she would be putting the Barista in trouble.

"Oh really? Who's in charge here?" Kyle asked everyone there.

"Sir, I am the one." The Chief Barista replied.

"Where's her medical records and resumes?" He asked.

"Sir Ummm...I asked...." Ariana tried to defend the Barista but was rudely shut up by Kyle.

"I wasn't talking to you bitch." Kyle scolded.

"Sir, she's just a part-timer so we thought it wasn't necessary to go through such troubles since she'd be........" The Barista was still talking when Kyle rudely interrupted as usual.

"So, you now make the rules here right, no problem......You're also FIRED." Kyle scolded.

"Sir please I..." The Barista begged but it fell on deaf ears as Kyle asked the security to walk them out of his office. This act infuriated Ariana, making her bent on expressing her feelings since she was already fired.

"Who do you even think you are, huh? Do you think just sitting up here makes you on top of the world? Come to think of it, you made that coffee pour on you and now you are making us take the fall for your carelessness? Are you that selfish and stupid? To hell with you and your job, I am out of here." Ariana fired at him.

"How dare you talk t......." Kyle tried scolding her but Ariana already walked out on him. He felt humiliated since this was his first time getting scolded. He was so infuriated by Ariana's approach at him but what infuriated him the most was the fact that he couldn't lash back at her the way he wanted.

Ariana on the other hand though sad that she lost the job she just got because of her rude boss, she was happy she was able to talk back to him the way she wanted. She stopped by a restaurant down the lane to get something to eat. She sat at the table by the window and ordered Tamago burgers and a cup of iced Americano.

She whined about her frustrating life as she ate. She was almost done eating when her phone rang.

"Oh God, it's Hector. Video call by this time, I am sure Dylan must want to speak with me." She said before slowly picking up the call.

"Hey Hector, how are you doing?" She asked.

"Am fine and you?" Hector asked.

"Am good, what's up?" Ariana asked.

"Dylan wants to speak with you," Hector said, giving way for a ten-year-old Dylan to speak with his mom.

"Hola Mom." He said.

"Hey Dylan, how are you doing?" Ariana asked.

"Am fine and you?" Dylan asked.

"I'm good. How's school?" Ariana asked.

"Boring of course. Mom, when are you going to reconcile with Granny and come see me?" Dylan asked.

"Hmmm....Dylan, Mummy can't come right......." Ariana was trying to explain when her son interrupted her.

"Mom, if you don't come before my next birthday, I promise I will never see you again. I will tell Dad to take me very far and I would never call you again. And I would also tell everyone on my birthday that I don't have a mom." Dylan said and without waiting for his mom's response ended the call.

Ariana was heartbroken and hurt by his son's words. Even though she missed him, she wasn't ready to reconcile with her parents. Forget about being emotionally ready she wasn't even financially ready.

"Oh, God! How much can I even save up in just one and a half months before his next birthday? I'm not even employed as we speak and I might as well be homeless soon." She muttered to herself.

As she continued whining, a lady who had been overhearing her conversation all this while walked up to her.

"Hey, Gorgeous." The lady said.

"Hey! How can I help you?" Ariana asked politely

"You look stubborn, spoiled, and very young to be a mom." The lady said.

"And you look rich and old for you to still be without children," Ariana replied.

"Exactly what I'm talking about, stubborn and fierce." The lady said. "And you are also right, I have two lovely kids, though many people tell me that I look younger than my age portrays, maybe they were just hyping me." She continued.

"What do you want from me?" Ariana asked, this time more impatiently.

"Am Valeria and you?" Valeria asked, taking a seat in front of Ariana.

"I didn't say you could sit." Ariana queried.

"I have a job offer that could make you enough money in the next one month and also secure you a place to stay during that time," Valeria said.

"Were you eavesdropping on me?" Ariana asked as she was already getting angry.

"Come on, I just happen to be sitting behind you and you weren't at all secretive about your speech," Valeria explained.

Ariana remained mute not knowing what to say.

"Hey, I am only here to help. We can help each other, you know." Valeria continued.

"What kind of job offer are we talking about here?" Davina asked.