Chapter Five

Chapter Five

When Charlie had first met Jeanine Smith, she had hated her on sight. The woman was blonde, posh and stiff—she needed a good shag to loosen her up a bit.

But it had been the way that she had glared at Charlie with disdain that really cemented the hatred, and that had been it. A hate-hate relationship from the get-go.

Upon reaching the cafe, Charlie waved at the regulars and walked towards the till, seeing her ex-co-workers' eyes widen at the sight of her.

"Charlie! Where the hell have you been? Jeanine was furious yesterday, threatening to fire your arse!"

The outburst had come from one of the waiters who had been setting out the sugar sachets. Abandoning his work, he came over to give her a hug, tugging at her braid as he usually did.

"Hello, Jerome. How are you doing?"

"Don't 'how are you doing?' me, you dog. Where did you disappear to yesterday?"

"Please tell me that you've finally found yourself a gorgeous man who dragged you off and refused to let you out of bed." This was from Jerome's girlfriend, Melanie, who had sidled up to them on seeing Charlie.

Charlie rolled her eyes at the ginger-haired pair and laughed. "If only it was so romantic. I was in hospital, if you must know."

Jerome's eyes grew wide and Mel let out a gasp, grabbing onto her shoulder and doing a quick once-over. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Long story short, I was knocked by a car and spent the whole of my working day unconscious. Also, Jeanine did fire me. She wasn't just threatening."

Jerome closed his eyes, anger flitting across his face. "That woman is a right-arse bitch!"

Mel looked at him in mild disapproval but ignored him. "What are you going to do, Charlie? You needed this job."

Charlie nodded. "I know, Mel. But you know that she hates me. She'd rather die than give me my job back."

"Just explain to her what happened!"

"Honestly, I'm slightly relieved. Maybe it's the push I needed to get out of this relaxed zone that I've fallen into!"

"Relaxed zo—Charlie, please! You need money to live. It's self-preservation, not complacency," Jerome growled out, his ire at Jeanine still present.

Jerome and Mel were varsity students, studying psychology and hotel management respectively. Like most students, they needed extra money and Coffee etc was known for giving students a break. It was more due to the owner than Jeanine herself, though. The couple had met in one of their joint classes and after Jerome puppy-dogging Mel for a year, she'd given in. Now they were as happy as could be.

"What, may I ask, is the problem?" a voice interrupted, sending a bolt of annoyance through Charlie.

Jerome rolled his eyes and she was sure that she'd heard him whisper a snide, "No, you may not ask."

Charlie pasted a smile onto her face before stepping around Jerome's tall frame to face Jeanine's glaring face.

"Hello Jeanine."

"Hello, Ms Adkins. I see that you have kindly graced us with your presence. Did you perhaps receive my message?"

She could actually feel Mel and Jerome rolling their eyes at Jeanine's formal use of words as if they were some five-star restaurant and she a high-ranking person of office. Ignoring her attempts of intimidation, she nodded.

"Yes, I did, in fact, receive it. I just came by to collect my wages for the month and I'll be on my way."

She saw Jeanine's forehead crease in confusion. "So you won't be coming back to work here then?"

Charlie looked at her, their faces now a mutual show of puzzlement. "But you said that I was not to return?"

Jeanine nodded. "Yes that was the first message which you obviously misinterpreted. This morning I left one on your house phone, telling you that Mr Williams had informed me of your predicament and had politely asked for you to be allowed to return to work. I kindly informed him that I was not as cold-hearted as you had made me out to be and that of course you could return. Accidents are not of our own doing, now are they?"

Charlie reared back in astonishment. Benedict has spoken to Jeanine? And Jeanine had agreed? Well, of course Jeanine had agreed. She must have taken one look at him and along with her dignity, probably tried to drop her pants as well. Pfh! If only she knew.

But back to the main point. Benedict had spoken to Jeanine?

"Benedict contacted you? When?"

Jeanine raised her eyebrows at the casual use of his Christian name and snidely remarked, "Mr Williams came by yesterday evening to explain the situation and I was shocked to hear that you had believed that you were fired. I was merely asking about your whereabouts."

Charlie almost laughed. This woman had no shame. She had clearly stated in her message the previous day that Charlie was never to show her face at the cafe as an employee again and that she was to come in during the week to retrieve her money. However, this was not the time to argue. She had a decision to make. Sure, by returning to work she would have her safety net again and wouldn't have to worry about money—plus, she could carry on looking for a new job in the evenings.

But then there was Mr Robert. He wouldn't mind her retracting her agreement, but it was more than that. Despite her worry at losing her job, she had been relieved. As she had told her friends, it had been a push for to wake up and do something with her life. Now, with this devil holding out the proverbial carrot to her, she was tempted to grab it.

Closing her eyes, she quickly ran through the possible scenarios. If she said yes, everything would return to normal; she wouldn't have to worry about cash and she'd be okay. She'd be safe. Safe was good.

If she said no, then she'd work for Mr Robert for a few months, making almost twice as much money as she would here, which meant that even if she had no job by the time she was done with her work at the firm, she'd have enough money to last her a few months. She'd be able to take an active role in seeking a new job, one that actually suited her, and at the firm, she'd be doing something that she enjoyed; something that didn't involve her being on her feet for the whole day.

Scenario two sounded like more effort and worry, but it also sounded worth it.

Jeanine cleared her throat, waiting for her to respond. "Thank you, Jeanine, but you made it quite clear in your message that I was not to return as an employee and I have to say that I accept that without fighting it. If you could please give me my money, I will be out of your hair."

She heard Mel gasp behind her, but had no time to reassure the younger girl. She had to sort out her life and it began by taking a step up, into the unseen.

Jeanine glared at her with contempt. "Are you sure that is what you want, Ms Adkins? London is not a city to be in without a job."

She heard Jerome murmur in agreement behind her and wondered why they hadn't gone back to work yet.

"Yes, I'm quite sure, thank you Jeanine but I have already acquired another job and I think that my time working here is over."

A number of expressions flashed across Jeanine's face. First disbelief—probably at the fact that she'd gotten herself another job—then anger, because Charlie deigned to decline her royal offer, but at last, it settled into ill-concealed delight.

"You shall be sorely missed, Ms Adkins."

She couldn't hold it in any longer. She gave a derisive snort.

Jeanine looked at her sharply before turning away and saying, "I shall be with you in five minutes."

Charlie watched her walk towards her office and then turned back to the two people still standing behind her.

"Well then."

Mel raised an eyebrow. "Mr Williams? Who is this man that can get Jeanine to act like a human? And did I hear you saying Benedict? Because number one, you don't know anyone by that name that I know of and number two, Benedict Williams?"

For some reason, Charlie didn't wish to divulge the incident of the day before to anyone else. She trusted Mel but it was something that she wished to keep to herself. And Cleo of course, because best friends didn't count in such situations.

So she shook her head. "An acquaintance."

She neither denied nor confirmed Mel's question and breathed a sigh of relief when Jerome asked, "So what's this fancy job that's got you quitting on us?"

"Hey!" she cried out indignantly. "I didn't quit. Jeanine did fire me, you know. But yeah. It's not something so fancy. Just a bit of P.A'ing at Robert & Charles."

Jerome nodded. "Good pay, I suppose, and that's a good step up from here. I hope that it all works out for you, Charlie. Jeanine is right. You will be missed, even if it isn't by her."

Mel nodded her agreement, a faint sheen in her eyes giving away her sadness.

"I'll miss you guys too, you know. But I'm not dying. We can still hangout and go clubbing and have late movie nights like we used to. Just because I don't work here, doesn't mean that we can't be friends!"

Mel nodded and stepped forward to give her a hug. Charlie wrapped her arms tight around Mel's slight frame, giving her a tight squeeze before the girl stepped back.

"I can't believe that you're leaving us here to cope with the Ice Witch on our own. Without you to vent her anger on, she'll be turning on us!"

Charlie laughed and stepped forward to receive Jerome's hug. The other workers quickly gathered to say their goodbyes, a few snuffles indicating that yes, she would in fact be missed. Three years wasn't nothing.

She shooed them all back to work before she got them into trouble and smiled as they waved at her, nostalgia rolling in her stomach. Yes, she would miss the place too but it was time to move on.

# # #

The next morning was a rush that Charlie was not in the mood for. For some reason, the pills had worked better than ever and she'd dropped into such a deep sleep that only the blaring of the BBC news from the lounge managed to wake her up. She glared at her phone, blaming it on the red cross that she'd swiped at as soon as her alarm had rang, then growled. She barely had half an hour left to get ready.

Scrambling and flaying was how she left the flat that morning, showered and dressed decently despite the rush. Over the course of her time at home, she'd gathered a surprisingly large amount of formal wear, so dressing the part for her job was not an issue. Also, never an avid fan of makeup, she barely had anything to do after the shower besides applying a slash of eyeliner and a dash of lip stick. Her face had never known the touch of make-up but thrice in her life and all three times were only due to Cleo's mother's insistence.

Some girls, including Cleo herself, were quite horrified by this, but the truth was that Charlie just couldn't bring herself to bother. Her own parents had drilled it into her that it would only age her faster and whether that was true or not, by the time she'd been old enough to want to use it, she'd gotten lazy. It simply didn't interest her anymore.

Maybe when she had someone to impress, then it would. And then, seeing as he would have known her without make up, she wouldn't need to apply it every day to keep his attention. It would be a win for her either way.

She ate the toast that she'd grabbed from Angie's plate, not without a fair bit of swearing though, on the train. The tube to the part of the city where Cleo's dad's firm was, took fifteen minutes and she jumped off, feeling optimistic about the day. She was going to make it.

Straightening out her attire, she walked the two streets to the building, the click-clack of her boots muffled by the morning rush. Pausing in front of the doors, she smiled at the doorman who opened up the glass doors to reveal a plush reception area.

She was about to make her new beginning.