AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m overcome with a feeling of despondency. This was my fresh start. I may have escaped Cora’s with part of myself still intact, but the wounds are still fresh.
“You’re a sly one, Chloe Daniels, and to think I trusted you. I can’t believe what you have done to me.”
No matter how hard I try, I can’t erase Cora’s words. She might as well have scratched them onto my skin with a rusty knife. They rub against my clothing and itch me at night. No matter what I’m doing, they are always there, and now Gianni has removed the scab.
ChapterFour
Standing by the coffee machine, my eyes locked on its chrome finish while my mind toys with my imminent downfall. The shop opens to the public tomorrow. Lewis is like a man possessed. He keeps referring to tomorrow as ‘The Grand Opening,’ and I wish he wouldn’t. Piero is the only one who appears calm.
I’m more concerned with the fact I seem to have lost this job before I’ve even begun. I’d told Frank what I’d overheard. He congratulated me on pissing off management before the shop even opened. I scolded him, but inside, I know he is right. How on earth have I landed on the wrong side of Gianni in a matter of days?
“Maybe he has an issue with people in general, not just you,” Frank commented.
“Only Faith escaped his wrath,” I explained.
“He’s obviously some jerk-off manager who is a complete control freak. He’s pissed his brother did the interviews, so he told him what a shit job he did to antagonize him. You have nothing to worry about. I think this had more to do with the two of them than you.”
I wasn’t sure whether Frank was trying to put me at ease, but he may have a point. Even so, the shadow of something follows me, something I can’t seem to shake. It’s like I’ve been here before.
I could handle Cora’s razor tongue, but everything worsened after I met Richard. I felt like I already knew him. Richard this, Richard that. Richard hates fat on his bacon. Richard loves watchingFrozen Planet. Richard, Richard, Richard. Yawn, yawn, yawn.
But then I met him.
He’d met her after work.
I’d been in the back of the shop.
“Hey, Chloe, there’s someone here I want you to meet,” Cora hollers from the front of the shop. I prop the sweeping brush against the wall, wondering which of her fan club I’ll meet today and how much of a sickeningly nice performance she’ll put on for them.
“Chloe, this is my husband, Richard,” she announces as I pull my apron over my head, obscuring my vision momentarily.
I’d built up a picture of him—scrawny, glasses, and dark, lank hair. He comes into view as I lower my apron, and my world stops.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Faith sings as she arrives next to me, pulling me back to the present. One hand is fastened to her hip as she follows my gaze.
“Oh, nothing really, just looking at the machine.” I give her a weak smile before returning my gaze to my reflection in the polished chrome.
“And there was me thinking you were checking yourself out in that thing.” She laughs, swapping one hand for the other as she shifts her weight between her feet. “I don’t blame you.” She whistles. “If I were as beautiful as you, I’d be permanently admiring myself.” She gives me a mischievous wink. I blush.
I’ve been beautiful from a young age and reaped the benefits of natural beauty, but I’ve also suffered the consequences. There is an ugly side to everything.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” I ask, eager to change the topic.
“I see little point in being nervous. Nerves won’t get us anywhere. You got to think positive about these situations, embrace them for what they are,” Faith replies My eyes narrow as she leans into me. “That’s what I keep telling myself, but I sure as hell ain’t listening. Truth be told, I got an entire bag of nerves sitting right here.” Faith jabs her round stomach, her light mood a complete contrast to the nerves she just mentioned.
Despite the friendliness Faith exudes, I can’t shake the hostility of the conversation I’d overheard between Piero and Gianni. It’s as if I’m trying to decipher the lyrics of an annoying pop song that keeps playing every time I tune in the radio. I feel sorry for Piero, having to work with Gianni. It must be intolerable being under his scrutiny. And there is also Amita’s strange reaction to me. I’d not imagined her outburst or the fear in her eyes. All these incidents, along with Lewis’s brash approach and Casey’s couldn’t-care-less attitude, make me uncomfortable and wonder if I should be here at all.
But I am here, standing next to Faith, the only half-decent human in the whole place. I bat a smile in her direction.
“What do you make of everyone?”
“How do you mean?” Faith picks up a cloth from the side and rubs the chrome of the machine like it’s a magic lamp.
“Well.” I sigh, moving to the edge of the counter and wrapping my arms around my waist. “I don’t seem to gel with the rest of the team, and I’m not sure if it’s me or…”
Faith stops polishing, her body turning to face me as she draws in a deep breath. “Well, now that you mention it, I’m finding myself in a similar boat,” she says. I instantly relax. It isn’t just me who has strained feelings about the people we work with. Faith continues, “Casey is suffering from the teenage-student-life syndrome.”
“Student what?” I ask. Faith beams, the warmth of it coats my skin like the midday sun.
