Meeting him again

I drove straight to the restaurant where I work part time.

Yeah. I know I should get some rest but I didn’t want to get any slight opportunity that will cause me in remembering my past.

I sigh as my car halted in front of the Yummy, Yummy restaurant where I worked. I opened the door and stepped down.

I made my way into the restaurant.

"Gather around, everyone!"

I heard a loud voice which I recognize to be Drake’s own. He is the manager of the restaurant I worked for.

I sneaked in,rying to escape Drakes predatory eyes and blended with the others.. gathering around the counter.

"Phew! So lucky he didn’t noticed me" I said.

"Ahem!"

Drake cleared his throat, his eyes narrowed at me and he eyed me..I guess I spoke too soon.

"Good to see you finally join us, Leilena!" He said.

I smiled, a smile which didn’t reach my eyes.

"Good morning, Drake"

He simply huffed and turned away from me, I mimicked his expression and laughed briefly at my silliness.

"So.. I got a call from the boss this morning!. For the first time, he will be visiting the restaurant" He paused and studied everyone.

Everyone is whispering among themselves, asking why he suddenly wants to visit.

The true is, I’ve never see the CEO of yummy yummy restaurant. .

"Silence!" Drake said and the whispering stopped, then he continued.

"I will like us to be in our best behaviours and server our customers well. The CEO is a no none sense man...Also," He paused.

His eyes landed on me, what does he wanna say now.

"... thank you all so much for your hard work last week, you guys did a great job and we made quite a lot. So, thank you for your hard work!"

We clapped happily, it's very rare for Drake to praise us.

"That's it for today, you can all go back to your respective duties!"

Everyone started finding their ways back to their post, I turned too.. but he stopped me.

"Except you, Leilena, you're coming with me to my office!" He walked towards his office.

I groaned. Drake is so gonna scold me for coming late again. I should’ve bothered coming. Nevertheless, I cursed and followed him.

*

*

"Drake?" I called.

"Come in" He said. I pushed the door open and stepped into his office.

He pushed his laptop aside and took off his glasses, he rest his hands on the table.

"You wanna see me?" I asked the most obvious question.

"Yes" there's a long pause. "Leilena, what's going on? You came late this week again” he said and I bite my lip.

He was right.

"I'm sorry, Drake, it's just I..."

"Is it because you've been working overtime lately?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, no"

He sighed.

"When you begged me to let you work just once in a week , I asked you if it's gonna affect your main job and you said no... so, what's going on now?"

I kept quiet. He's right, working during my off is taking a toll on me.. but it's the only way I can make more money and also not have the spare time to think and mourn my bad past.

He stared at me silently, not knowing what to do.

"I'm still keeping you here, because you attend to our customers well.. make sure you don't get a fourth strike, that will be.. goodbye to this job"

"I understand" I said.

He gestured me to leave, without wasting another minute there, I rushed out.

I breath in relief when I stepped out, my hand in my chest.. thankfully I wasn't fired.

***

I heard whisperings and saw my fellow waitresses and waiters rushing back to the counter.. where Drake just addressed us few minutes ago.

"Heyyy!" I grabbed a young girl arm and pulled her back. She’s also a waitress here.

"What's going on?" I asked her, gesturing to the others.

"Oh, The owner of Yummy Yummy restaurant is here….”

She said and I frowned.

"Huh? Is he that important that we all have to welcome him personally!” I groaned.

"Yeah, come on, let's go!" She said and pulled me along.

Immediately Drake saw me, he pulled me aside to stand beside him.. I gave him a confused look.

"Of all these waitresses, your behavior is the best.. you'll greet him with me" he said.

I simply nodded and quickly put on my very sweet, warm smile…… a smile that melt the heart.

I heard all the waitresses fawning over someone.

*He's so handsome!*

*Gosh, he even looks way more handsome in reality than on TV!*

“I'd do anything to kiss the ground he walks on!”

I frowned, only those few meters away from me to see the guest.. is he so handsome that these girls are giggling about?

They don't know handsome face can be deceiving.. just like how I was deceived by that cock!

Hmph! I shouldn't think about him.. this is the time to do my job well, Maybe the owner might decide to icrease my salary personally.

And then I saw him. My eyes widened and my mouth went agape when I saw his face.

Talk and strong, a fave that held roughness of a man, walk that displayed arrogance of wealth. Broad shoulders tampered in perfectly built abs, the black shirt is nothing but a piece of fabric that appeared as a pompous invitation for a magnificent show.

It’s Alberto Dél Rio. He was still looking all the same.

He never changed.

What is he doing here?! Why did he have to show his disgusting face at my work place?!

My heart is aching at the sight of him...as if my heart is breaking all over again!

Five years! Five good years!. I thought I had gotten rid of this pains and memories but they all rushed back.

I felt the tightness of my chest. I was at the peak of breaking down.

He haven't seen me yet, he's busy shaking hands and waving at the girls fawning over him.. what a flirt! So unprofessional!

My hands balled beside me as I felt anger building up inside me.

I felt like going over there to punch his face until he's disfigured!

But I know I can't, I'm not ready to face him.. he's my past and I'm not ready to face my past.. maybe I should sneak away now that he hasn't seen me yet.

But…

"Come on, Leilena, let's go greet him!" Drake said.

Without giving me time to speak, he grabbed my arm and pulled me along with him.

"Mr O'Briens, welcome, sir!" Drake greeted him.

I bowed my head so he wouldn't see my face, I snatched my hand from Drake and took slow steps backwards.. I don't wanna see his face.

"You're..." He trailed off as if waiting for someone to complete his sentence.

Even his voice is annoying, I better leave here quickly.

I tried to leave but these girls wouldn't let me, they've blocked the way because they all want to get a glimpse of that devil. The Devil that ditched me.

I was disown all because of him.

I lost my baby all thanks to him.

"Excuse me" I tried to make way for myself, but these crazy girls have suddenly gone deaf.

"Leilena? Where are you going?" He asked and I froze.

I clenched my jaw and sucked in air.

"Mr Del Rio is here, where are you going?" He asked again.

I cleared my voice.

"I'm going to the restroom" I changed my voice and used a weird french accent.

Drake released a nervous laugh.

"Your restroom can wait, come greet Mr Del Rio first!" He said.

"I'm pressed, I really need the restroom now" I said, still in my fake accent.

I just wanna get away from here. But I heard him cleared his throat.

"Everyone is saying hello, but you can go to the restroom and say goodbye to this job!" He said.

Now that Mr Drake is involved, there's no way I can escape.. and beside, I have no cause to hide away from him.

If I run away, it'll only prove that I still love him and...

This is the only place I can make decent money, I can't lose this job because of some useless jerk!

I should show him that I'm living fine without him! I should show him that I survived even after he abandoned me!

"Just say hello" He mouthed at me.

I nodded, I took a deep breath, put on my warm smile and turned around.

"Hello, Mr Del Ruo, I'm Dr. Leilena Dickson" I said and reached out my hand for a handshake.

Albert just stood frozen, his mouth hung open and his eyes widened in shock.. It’s like he just saw a ghost

I scoffed. Why being surprised?

Was he expecting me to be dead. Oh! Yeah.

What should I expect from someone like him. I bet he wished for my death. Is like he can't believe what he's seeing.

I scoffed mentally, yeah, I'm still alive and breathing! I screamed in my head.

"Mr Del Rio?" Drake called but Albert doesn't seem like he's even listening to him, he took slow steps towards me and I took slow steps back in return.

"B-baby... " He trailed off.

“You….you’re alive” he said and I furrowed my brows.

Before I could realize what's going, he's pulled me into a very tight hug.. he pressed me to himself as if he wants to confirm if this is real.

"Mr Del Rio ?" Drake called at once.

Murmuring erupted as I looked at everyone, they're all having curiosity in their eyes.

This is embarrassing and annoying, I tried to pulled away but couldn't.

"Baby, I thought you were died. What am I even saying. They say you were died. I have been searching all over for you" he said.

His words just seem to increased my anger, bringing out all the pains I've been trying to bury in me all these years.

Not knowing where I got the strength from, I pushed him off me and turned to leave.. but he caught my wrist.

"Baby, don't go"

"Baby?!" I scoffed and snatched my hand from his grip.

The anger in me was too much, that I couldn't control my anger.. I did what I wanted to do when I first saw him come in.

I raised my fist and landed a punch on his face randomly, but I hissed quietly when I felt my hurt.

Everyone gasped at my action. Albert stepped closer.

"Baby... "

My hand landed on his cheek, cutting him off. Drake rushed to me and grabbed my hand.

"What are you doing, Leilena?" He queried me.

I ignored him and glared at Alberto.

"Baby, I'm sorry... "

I don't know, but hearing him call me baby just kept increasing my anger.. I broke free from Drake hold and landed another slap on his face.

Just then, I saw his best friend, Alan rushed towards us.. he held Albert and checked his face.

"Holy sh*t! What's going on?" He asked and turned to me. "Crap!" He exclaimed in shock.

Yeah.. crap! Bloody deceivers!

"Baby, listen.... "

"Shut up! Stop calling me that shitty name!" I yelled at him.

Everyone is looking at us in confusion,Drake cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Leilena, your behavior is out of our work conduct, I don't think you fit in here anymore.. you're fired!"

I snapped my head to face him, I can feel me gonna transfer my aggression now.

"There's no need to fire me, I quit!" I yelled and ran towards the exit door.

"Baby!" I heard Albert call me but I didn't turned back.

I just ran out!