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“Of course, sir.”
I knelt down to pick up the shards of glass from the floor, using a napkin, with my heart hammering against my chest. As soon as I was done, I stumbled over an apology, and Ander placed a hand on my elbow and tugged me aside. Once we were through the double doors of the kitchen, he withdrew his hand and folded his arms over his chest.
“We don’t make mistakes like this at La Mesa.”
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Ander. I—”
Ander held up a hand, and his dark eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to hear whatever excuses you’re going to give me. Don’t let it happen again.”
I swallowed. “Of course not, sir.”
“You won’t be getting paid for today, of course. The damages will need to be paid for,” Ander continued, his eyes moving over me. “You can’t coast by on your good looks, Rachael.”
“I—”
“You’re a part-time employee,” Ander interrupted, his eyes tightening further. “Which means you’re expendable. Don’t forget that. Clean yourself up.”
With one final withering look, he spun on his heels and hurried out of the kitchen. A lump rose in the back of my throat as I hurried past the kitchen and into the locker room. There, I pressed my head against the cool wall and clenched my hands into fists at my sides.
Being here wasn’t worth it.
For years, I’d been busting my ass, trying to make it big in LA, and so far, the closest I’d gotten was being stuck in a small town on the outskirts, close enough to reach but never to touch. Having been forced to take waitressing jobs here and there, I’d been a part-time employee at La Mesa for the last two years.
And I wasn’t any closer to walking out that door for good.
These things take time, Rachel. What did you expect?
Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them back. Slowly, I pushed myself off the wall and stared down at the front of my shirt. The red dots were already seeping through the cheap fabric. In a daze, I stumbled over to my locker and found a shirt in the back.
My fingers trembled as I removed the stained shirt and reached for the other one.
When I was done with the last button, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I fished it out and smiled at the name flashing across the screen. “Hi, Mrs. Gina.”
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to call me Mrs. Gina anymore. It’s just Gina. You’re not at the orphanage anymore, remember?”
My lips lifted into a half smile. “I know.”
“You don’t sound good.”
I cleared my throat. “Just having a rough day at work.”
“Doesn’t your boss know it’s your birthday?”
“I don’t think he’d care.”
Especially since he’d made it clear that he thought of me as nothing more than a blip on his radar. As far as Ander was concerned, I was a thorn in his side, and he went to great lengths to punish me for it. As much as I appreciated the director of the orphanage calling me every month to check in, it never failed to remind me of how far I’d fallen.
I was doing much better when I was in the orphanage, even as a scrawny kid with a big mouth and no family to take her in. Thankfully, I’d been lucky enough to end up in a place where the employees cared about the kids, and Mrs. Gina, in particular, as the director, set an example and made it a point to make everyone feel welcome and safe.
Especially me.
She’d even gone so far as to designate birthdays according to the day people arrived. Although I’d never understood the logic behind her reasoning, given that a quick search could easily reveal our actual birth dates, I’d never bothered to correct her. Not when it meant so much to her.
And over the years, it turned into something I cared about too.
I had no idea who my parents were or where I came from, but I did know that Mrs. Gina had my back.
Although it had been four years since I aged out of the system and was forced to leave to make room for other kids, the orphanage still held a special in my heart.
