Amara slowly made her way towards the café, her body in pain from the last night's beatings. She couldn't rest despite being in pain since it will lead to another set of beatings.
She entered the café, her co-worker Mike looked at her with worry wondering where she got hurt again. It was the fifth time this month! It's not like he didn't ask about it, he did but she just brushed it off.
"Amara what happened?" he asked, she looked at him and shook her head. He walked towards her "Come with me" he said without waiting for her reply.
She reluctantly followed him. He took her to the staff's room and told her to sit on the chair. She obeyed him. He took out a first aid box from the cabinet. "You.....you don't have to. I'm good" she said trying to convince him.
"Yeah, I can see that" he said kneeling down in front of her and started cleaning her wounds. She winced from how much it hurts. He glanced at her "How did you get hurt?" he asked again.
She looked at him, what should she say to him? That her 'mother' treats her like this? No. She couldn't. "I-I....um" she didn't know what to say. After all this is the first time anyone has noticed or the first time someone asked her and actually helped her.
Seeing as she wasn't going to answer Mike spoke "It's fine you don't have to answer" She felt relieved. "Thank you" she said giving him a small smile as he finished dressing her wounds. He nodded.
The bell on the door ringed indicating a customer "Welcome" greeted Amara. The man looked at her with grimace. "How can someone like you work here?" he asked.
She was taken aback by the tone but not for long she was used to it afterall. She looked down at her clothes, it was worn out and dirty. But what could she do, she couldn't waste her money on a new set if clothes and she wasn't able to do the laundry often.
She could do nothing but to endure this afterall he was the customer "Sir my co-worker will serve you please wait"
"No why would I?" she looked him ridiculously. 'He was being unreasonable!' She thought and took in a deep breath. She couldn't say anything since didn't want to be fired.
"You are being unreasonable" she looked at Mike. "We don't tolerate this behavior here"
"What the hell. I just told what is true! Just look at her." Amara looked down, she should be used to this by now.
"Please leave, you're the customer doesn't mean we'll tolerate your nonsense. Leave" said Mike. She was surprised that he made the customer leave instead of agreeing with him. This was the first time someone stood up for her.
She remembers the time when she was in school, some of her classmates used to tease her about her clothes and hair and everyone used to agree with them so they started bullying her.
No one stopped them and they continued the bullying. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. "Th-Thank you" she said. "Of course" He nodded.
The shift was over and she exited the café. She was tired and hungry, she hadn't eaten since last night. Maybe she should buy something for herself. She searched her pockets for the money.
Taking out the money she saw that she had just enough for her to eat. She placed the money back in her pocket 'I could save this' she thought.
She didn't know that Mike saw this. He walked towards her "I'm just about to go have lunch, you wanna join me?" He asked. She was about to decline when her stomach growled. She turned red in embarrassment.
"Looks like you're hungry too, C'mon" he said leaving her no choice but to follow him. He took her to the nearby restaurant. It was a normal restaurant, not something fancy and she was glad about it. It looked like she could at least pay for her food.
They sat at the corner table. Mike handed her the menu. She thanked him and took a look at it. She was rethinking her decision to come and eat. But it wasn't her decision. "Mike I-" she started but was cut off when the waiter arrived.
"What would you like to have?" the waiter asked. "Burger, fries and coke for the two of us please" The waiter nodded and walked away.
Before she could ask anything he spoke "It's my treat" he said. "How can I let you pay for me?" she didn't like the idea. She had always learned to do things herself since she didn't have the option not to.
"It's really fine, it's my treat" he insisted. She nodded reluctantly. The waiter arrived with their food. "Let's eat" he said and she nodded. For the first time after so many years, she was eating with someone. It felt nice.
After they were done, he paid their bills and they exited the restaurant. "Thank you" she said. He just smiled. "Come I'll walk you home" he offered. At the word 'home' her smile faltered a bit. Of course she couldn't let him see her house but also she couldn't let her mother see him or anyone else with her.
"No I have another part time job in a few minutes, So I should go" She said declining his offer. He nodded and she walked to the opposite direction where the orphanage was. As she continued to walk she could feel the smile etched on her lips. She was genuinely smiling after such a long time.