Chapter 6 Finding A Job

"Will you, please, just let me speak to the manager?" Desperation clawed its way into my quivering voice.

"I'm sorry miss. You're not dressed the part." The security guard in his neatly ironed uniform eyed my clothes as though they some flea-infested trash he couldn't risk letting into the six star restaurant.

"But I'm not here to dine. I saw a vacancy ad and I want to apply for the position. Please, just let me in. Please."

I couldn't risk leaving here without a job. As my foul luck would have it, I'd lost my second job, leaving me with just one job and the pay wasn't enough to cover feeding, talk more of other utility bills. Plus, my rent was due soon and my landlady, Mrs. Gregory, wouldn't hesitate to throw my things out if I delayed.

She wasn't mean. She was just a junkie who always needed money for her 'drugs'. She would sometimes help me look after Haven, when she wasn't stoned.

Haven had been sick for the past week and my boss from my second job had thought it best to fire me because of my 'incompetence'. I'd spent money treating my daughter. It was right to say I was financially in the red.

"Miss, you better leave here before I call the cops on you." He warned strictly.

I took few steps back in slight fear at his threat. My heart despairing. Tears welling to the surface. Haven was home all by herself. I couldn't possibly have her walking the miles I've been walking the past two days searching for a job.

Her legs would hurt plus she just got better. She needed to rest. I worried how she was faring at the moment. The landlady was in no state to look after her and I had no phone to call.

It's been awhile since I had one. I couldn't afford to have one, even.

"Please." I tried one last time, tears falling. "I have a daughter who needs me to provide for her, p-please."

A brow quirked. "You have a daughter?"

I nodded, blinking back tears. "Y-yes."

"How old are you?"

I didn't want to answer that but right now, he was the one obstacle stopping me from seeing the manager. "Twenty two."

"And your daughter?" He probed further.

I held on to patience. I needed him. "Five."

His eyes widened a bit. "You gave birth at seventeen?!"

"Please, will you help me or not?" I asked, ready to give up.

He looked thoughtful and a little glimmer of hope was felt within. "Fine. I'll let you see her but Miss Powell hated shabby dressed workers."

My heart sunk but I had to try. "I'll do better, please."

He opened the door. "Go in. Walk straight down, you'll find a detour by your right, take it. Her office is there. You'll see 'Manager' boldly written on a gold plaque."

"Thank you."

I walked in. Eyes of customers dining rounded on me. The sudden weight of shame overwhelmed me, I hurried my steps and soon found the detour. It was more like a small passage.

I took it and knocked on the door that had the manager sign on it.

"Come in." A young, yet brisk tone invited.

Swallowing nerves, I carefully opened the door, hesitated a bit before stepping in.

A pair of cool turquoise green eyes assessed me. The dark red painted lips upturned a corner in absolute disapproval.

She noted the paper ad being currently rumbled by my nerve-driven hands. "What position?"

"I'm good with waitressing or assisting in the kitchen, I'm quite a good cook."

What she did next surprised me. She burst into laughter. Not the hearty kind. More like a mocking laugh that almost brought me to tears, my knees wobbled.

She stopped as abruptly as she'd started. Her face wearing a stern look. "Don't be silly. You came in here dressed...like some forgotten trash and expect a job?! Did you look at yourself before deciding to come work in such an exclusive restaurant?! Do you think the owner of this restaurant will let me keep my job after finding out I employed a stray from the street to work here?! This is the best restaurant in the country! We do not employ riff-raffs! Now get out!"

Her insults were really hitting hard, I couldn't even find it in me to beg for a chance. My pride had been bruised in the past but this mean manager who was probably not older than me by a lot had succeeded in breaking it.

"If...if you didn't want to give me the job, you didn't have to be so mean. Life happens to everyone." I managed to utter through a barely-controlled shaky tone.

Before she could get out another humiliating word, I stumbled out of her office as my vision blurred and ran out of the place like one who was drunk.

The security guy called but I wasn't listening. I just wanted to get out of there. To just...thump!

I sniffled, ready to mumble an apology to whoever I'd ran into. But I was surprised when I was shoved...hard.

I lost my balance, partly because I was weak and I'd barely eaten since the previous day, and partly because I wasn't prepared for that push, and fell on my butt.

"Are you blind?! Has poverty made it difficult for you to watch where you're going?"

I knew the voice without even looking. Still, I raised my head to look, not at her but the person beside her. Zac.

He looked like he wanted to come help me up but decided against it. I averted my gaze and stood, wiping dirt off my old, over-washed jeans.

As usual, they were paparazzi around but being kept at distance by his bodyguards. Not wanting more drama that'll end up on the news, I made to leave.

Zoey dragged me back, her dolled up face in a sneer. "No apology?"

"Let her be, Zoey." Zac spoke but his tone was neutral. Like he wasn't supporting me or his girlfriend either.

"How can you ask me to let her go after she'd stepped on me?" She pouted.

He heaved a sigh and drew her close lovingly. "Just let her go. She isn't worth the stain on our reputation, okay?"

His words pinched hard on the wound already inflicted by that manager.

After that day at the ice cream parlor, I'd sworn to never have anything to do with anyone from my highschool, not even Zac.

Especially Zac. This new Zac.

Old Zac was nicer and sweet. This one was just... something else. Maybe he'd bought food for me and Haven because he felt he owned it to me for defending him back then.

Zoey giggled when he placed a kiss on her forehead. "You do know how to get to me, Zac. I love you."

I walked away from there, hiding my face so the paparazzi wouldn't have me as part of their gossip news.

Just out of befuddlement as I couldn't still understand why Zac was dating Zoey, I cast a glance over my shoulder and caught Zac's eyes on me. I looked away and fiddled my fingers, remembering my predicament and my daughter at home.

The paper ad was no longer with me. So was the hope of getting a job.