Ashley
"You really need to calm down. " I whispered to Emily in the storage room who kept bawling her eyes out.
"I had no idea that Ingrid would do this to me." Emily sniffed, "Now I have nowhere else to go."
"It's not a big deal, Emily. You can just come live with me." I let out an unprovoked yawn.
"It's a big deal, Ash. My boyfriend is in love with her! " Her eyes began to water again, "And he broke up with me over the phone after admitting to it."
I sighed heavily. Ingrid was Emily's friend whom she met in school and whom she was temporarily living with after a fight with her parents over her hatred of furthering her education in chemistry in a college which Emily was not interested in. Ingrid apparently never requested or demanded payment from Emily.
And then Emily became a freeloader.
"I-I should have noticed the signs. The way she stared at him as if he was hot spicy chicken and the way she always wanted to put him into every little conversation." Emily spluttered out.
"Emil-"
"And you know what's worse? She didn't even show remorse when I saw a couple of calls and texts from him...on her phone. She simply barked at me to leave her house." Emily spoke again, her sobs louder.
"Hey-"
Emily interrupted, "She stole him from me. He was mine!"
"He wasn't stolen. He cheated on you and that's where your full anger should be directed at." I nearly yelled at her.
"I know. I just feel stupid." Emily spoke.
"I know how...it feels but don't let it pull you down. You can't go to the counter, thinking about that douchebag. He's not worth it." I scoffed, handing her a wet wipe.
"We were together for two years." Emily muttered absentmindedly.
"I know."
"You don't understand me. He seemed so perfect and faithful." Emily stuttered as her head fell on the table.
"No man is perfect, Emily." My brows lifted up in amazement. I knew it was her first relationship and she might need a lot of time realizing it, "He had no aota of respect for you to have cheated on you with Ingrid."
"B-But Ingrid is hot, Ash. You have seen her." Emily sighed, "She got the tit, ass, curves and the perfect job. She got everything."
"But there's no one as cute as you." I tapped Emily's nose playfully.
She laughed and impulsively I smiled, her laughter was infectious like a rare disease.
"What about Mason? Did you ever get the courage to say the three letter words?" Emily winked.
Clapping my hands, I spoke, "And this is the cue to get to work. It's almost 9am." I crossed a arm and pretended to check my watch.
"You are avoiding the question, Ash." Emily spoke in a sing-song like manner and I rose up on my feet with Emily following behind me, grabbing a apron and nudging me by the shoulders with a playful wink.
*******
"There's no pie left. " I uttered slowly to the red haired boy who stood few metres away from me, his head being the only thing my eyes had access to.
"Then make one." he replied like a bratty child, sticking his middle finger out.
"She's not in charge of that. Run along, boy." Emily spoke amidst gritted teeth.
"W-Whyyyyyyyyy?" He mouthed again.
"Would you like a doughnut?" I offered, pointing towards the brown hot pastry that glimmered.
"No. I want a pie. Make one."
"How many times does she have to tell you that we are out of it and there's nothing she can do about it, not yet." Emily's voice began to get louder.
"Don't be rude." I whispered.
"He's the rude one." Emily countered.
"Are you going to make me a pie?" The boy interrupted, his face countering anger.
"W-Well no." I promptly replied and began to adjust my apron.
I heard the boy mutter "asshole" before he left and a lump found it way into my throat.
Just because of a pecan pie.
I stopped Emily from running after him by holding her by the shoulders.
"We can't do that, Emily. We can't." I shook my head, making sure that she got the message but Emily was enraged, her eyes bloody red and she began to serve a piece of cheese cake on a white plate.
"That man and that lady seated over there." Emily whispered and I followed her eyes settling on a odd couple that sat close to the window dressed in casual outfits but that wasn't what caught my attention, "Why are they wearing a facemask? Are they infected with some sort of disease? They look weird, Ash."
"Maybe they're cold." I shrugged.
"The weather isn't cold and you know that." Emily whispered back.
"Why do you have so much interest in customers that clearly don't give a damn about us?" I mouthed, throwing her a wink.
"That's my nature." Emily spoke in a shrill voice before elegantly walking with a tray in her right hand.
I smiled at how strong she was. When I broke up with Richard, I had a hard time focusing on work and mixed up some orders, shouted on a few customers. I eventually got a pay cut and a week suspension after I threw a cake on a perverted customer who squeezed my bum.
I hummed quietly to myself and began to stare at the opposite store, a fried chicken restaurant. I had grown accustomed to the smell it delivered every single day but now I barely saw any customers walking into it anymore. Some said that the taste got different and weird while others said that the chicken taste was just subpar.
I remembered that I still had to visit Elena sometime. She always did the visiting, stopping over at the bakery almost every day wearing a huge smile on her face. That was definitely on my bucket list... if I ever accomplished it.
My thoughts were brought to a halt when I heard a shriek from Emily. My ass moved swiftly from the wooden chair that I sat on and I walked briskly towards the commotion.
Emily's face was bathed in cheese cake, bits of it shrinking into her light makeup and absorbing the moisture and beauty from it. Her lips were quivering and even when I touched her by the shoulder, she fought the urge not to cry.
"I asked you to stop talking and you refused. That's what you get for being stupid and not knowing who I am or what I am capable of." I heard the black haired woman speak. The one who wore a black face mask.
My forehead scrunched up with wrinkles and my hands balled into a tight fist. Resisting the urge to throw a punch into her face, I felt a flash of irritation and resentment grew inside me like a tumor. From her black simple frock, she seemed like a nice girl from the country side but now she looked like a spoilt brat.
"Why would you talk so loudly and spit on my food? " She continued to blabber on and on.
I noticed Emily trying to hold on to her dignity as she profusely muttered, "Sorry" a zillion times with tears staining her cheeks.
My eyes caught her partner who simply sat ,watching the entire drama unfold and then I unleashed my emotions on him.
"Can you please put your woman in check? She is disrespecting my co-worker." I spoke with gritted teeth.
Emily's eyes begged me to stop but nope, I was tired of entitled, ungrateful customers who loved treating us like shit just because we served them.
"Who the hell are you to call me disrespectful?" Her death glare tore through my heart.
My eyes tingled with fear when she suddenly struck her open palm against Emily's face, aiming for her cheek. She did it not once and not twice. I stared hysterically, noticing that there were no customers in the bakery apart from I, Emily, the bitchy lady and her... boyfriend I suppose.
Emily cradled her assaulted face with her hand and began to cry softly. My limbs were numb. I was unable to move or speak. What if I ended up grabbing her by the hair and ended up losing my job. I still had my due rent to pay and a new cell phone to buy and from the way she spoke, she seemed rich.
My knees suddenly gave way and my pride shattered onto the ground. I suddenly began to snuggle against her ankle, holding her tight.
Tears began to cloud my eyes as I submitted to humiliation.
"Please spare us. She must have lost her mind."
And then I bowed my head, my forehead kissing the marble floor. I heard her chuckle and then I felt her grab me by my ponytail. A whimper escaped from my lips as I tried to remain calm.
Then with my tear stricken face, I raised up my head, my eyes meeting with hers. I looked away and braced myself for an open-palmed slap across the face but it never came.
"If only you knew. I am the—"
She never got to complete her statement and I was shocked by the way her partner suddenly grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her hands out of my hair. I suddenly reached for a shaking Emily and we stood few centimeters away from them.
I watched him as he walked and then something brewed in me. He seemed so familiar. His blue eyes drew me in and his lips, I couldn't pinpoint where I had met him but his entire aura comforted me and reminded me of someone.
"She's not my woman." He gruffly replied without looking back, his gaze never leaving mine, "And never will be."