"Not all storms come to destroy your life, some come to clear a path".
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"It's gon' be a good day!"
"A good day~ "
"Today will be a good day" Luna sang, humming to the tune as her head bobbed, her black mane in a ponytail dancing with her.
("Who's gonna tell her that the title of the chapter is "A bad day" and it isn't meant as a figure of speech") the author sighed at the poor female lead.
Still singing behind the counter, her coworker dressed in the same work uniform, a blue work jean trouser, and matching blue T-shirt, leaned over her shoulder, whispering behind her.
"It'll be a bad day" and Luna turned sharply, her packed hair whipping his face as he let out a grumble before backing off.
"Heyyy!" Luna reprimanded "Don't jinx it Huan !".
"I'm all hyped up for today and no one's gonna ruin my day" she pumped her fist in the air as some highschool girls in matching school shoes approached the cashier counter with the skin Care face masks they wanted to pay for as they discussed among themselves.
"Ahh, I've got some wrinkles" the one in front palmed her face.
"It's the stress of final year, I can't sleep well" another added.
"Good thing we ditched school to get the facemasks, our beauty comes first before grades" and Luna almost snorted at the make up caked faced student.
The teens conversed as Luna scanned the items, packing it up for them as she handed it over to the closest student.
"That'll be 20 yuan" and the teenagers finally looked at the cashier and gasping in recognition.
"It's you!!" They shrieked while the cashier stared at them in confusion.
"It's the bitch that tried seducing ShenYi!"
"Excuse me?" Luna protested "I think you've got the wrong person".
"Stop denying it whore!" And Luna was face to face with a picture of her and ShenYi and it all came crashing on her, memories of the day she had been thrown onto him by the crowd racing through her mind.
The leader of the teenagers took back her expensive phone, seething at the older cashier
"You low class SCUM!"
And it all happened in a blur, the raging teens firing abuses at her, reaching over the counter to pull the poor cashier followed by girlish screams and yells.
Other shoppers curiously watching the spectacle as some took pictures and videos of the scene.
Huan inserting himself between the girls and managing to pull a disheveled Luna out and immediately dragging her to the safety of the staff room as he called security.
Locking the door and squatting in front of Luna who looked traumatized by the sudden attack as her blue T-shirt was slightly ripped, her once neat hair scattered and sticking about in a sour sight and her pale face bearing scratches definitely caused by the long nails of her attackers.
Huan sighed, brushing the hair out of her downcast eyes as he held her shaking hands.
"It's alright" he reassured
"Just stay here and change your shirt" he pointed to the rack of uniforms behind them
"I'll cover your shift and speak to manager Wang, OK? He pat her shoulder before getting up to give the shocked female some much needed privacy.
:'( :'(
When Huan came back to the staff room after hours fidgeting, Luna knew something wasn't right.
Her thoughts proved right when he handed her the brown envelope that contained her severance pay without looking her in the eyes.
"I'm fired right" she managed to murmur through the already formed lump in her throat.
"I'm sorry" Huan finally looked up. "I tried to convince him otherwise, but manager Wang said your current situation was bad for business, I could only manage to force him to at least give you your severance pay"
Silence.
Luna let her gaze wander on her worn out red vans before finally breaking it
"You jinxed it!"
:( :( :( :(
"I jinxed her"
ShenYi sighed in his brother's office as he viewed the now trending videos circulating the internet of some high school girls assaulting a cashier.
"Her life was at least peaceful before our encounter"
"I'll take care of it" ShenYue offered "my secretary is skilled at making my scandals non existent".
"Hmm, do that, wipe out every video, picture, article or comments about her" ShenYi relaxed into his chair opposite his brother's at the other end of the large mahogany desk filled with files as he shut his eyes.
"I wonder how she's holding up".
🧽🧽:-| :-| :-| 🍽🍽
"It's okay, it's fine" Luna murmured quietly as she mopped the floors of the almost empty restaurant.
She resumed her shift after getting fired at the convenience store only to find out she had been replaced by a new worker and in the blink of an eye, she went from waitress to cleaner.
At least, her rude employer, Mrs. Bao was kind enough to leave her a job quoting
"You're not even fit to be a trash bag, or to scrub the floors in my restaurant, a cleaner is the only space I could find befitting to your low class self, you should be grateful"
Her replacement walked past her, purposely kicking her black heels and spilling the cleaning water.
"It's fine" Luna consoled herself as Mrs. Bao stomped out of kitchen to berate the now new cleaner.
Back in the kitchen, Luna moved stacks of plates to and from the sink at a corner, rinsing another set of silverware, she sadly watched the chefs cooking at a separated part of the kitchen knowing she could do better, but, no restaurant would think of hiring her as an experienced chef since she never graduated college, except Mrs. Wong's , although preparing barbecue doesn't count.
Transferring the now perfectly cleaned and dried plates to the dish rack, her wishful gaze never left the cooks leading her to not notice the malicious new waitress and her ill intentioned heels sticking out to trip her.
Luna crashed down, broken silverware scattered around her like her broken dreams that imitated puzzle pieces waiting to be put back in place.
The broken glasses cutting into the skin of her palm and legs like reality did.
"You trash!" Mrs. Bao screeched, marching to Luna as she struggled off the floor with a hiss of pain she tried suppressing by biting on her tongue.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she apologized profusely
"Do you know how much those plates cost?!!!" She spat at the cleaner who had her head low, not daring to glance up.
And before Luna could comprehend what was happening, Mrs. Bao had picked a plate of leftover soup, soaking the low class employee with it.
All she heard were gasps, and then she felt the warm liquid trickling down her face, followed by snickers, laughs and whispers.
Mrs. Bao went on to continuously hit her face with a stirring spoon. "You scum! You're fired"
"And don't even think of me paying you for the week you've worked, take off my uniform and get lost"
Mrs. Bao charged out and Luna still had her head down in shame, pain and slight anger clouded by self disappointment as she clenched her fists, her fingers digging into her palms while her ex coworkers mocked her.