Chapter 2

• [Amanda]
• A week ago…
• “But Mr.Martin, I had never once taken a holiday for the past 2 years,” I pleaded, but my employer did not seem to budge. I threw my arms up in the air, frustrated, “C’mon. You can’t fire me just because I took two days off. That too, for a legible cause. I was sick!” He harrumphed as he continued to dust the shelves for the fourth time. 
• “Please, Mr.Martin. I...I need this job”, I begged because this was the only way for me to pay my bills and pay the rent even though I was behind by a few months, but I was paying alright. 
• “You and your excuses. Laura told me-” he began his complaints but I rudely interrupted, “Laura? That...that good for nothing woman who shows her face once in a blue moon and gets the paycheck anyway. Her? You know she is a lying bitch”. I was seething by the end of my monologue. I was not unaware nor ignorant about Mr. Martin’s favour to that woman. They were clearly fucking around, but that wasn’t my business. I was mad because he opted to listen to her lies and not my genuine reasons. 
• “You won’t say a word against her!” my employer turned and glowered at me. I tried to rein in my anger and gulped down the injustice that was being done towards me.
• “Mr. Martin please try to-”  I began but he snapped, “Out. Now”. 
• Oh now he had done it now. “Alright, I am leaving. Let's see who takes care of these books as well as I did. Also don’t think Laura is exclusively fucking you. She is sleeping around with others well. I hope this bookshop goes to the drain. I really do. You are an asshole”, and with that I turned on my heels and stormed out, leaving a gaping and furious bookshop owner. 
• ~~~
• Reality did not hit me like a brick wall as I stepped out. Oh no, it wouldn’t happen to me. That feeling of hopelessness had long since evaporated in me. Now I survived and found ways to survive . While I was ranting and being a petty human being to my ex-employer, I was processing ways to find a new job. 
• The dried leaves crunched under my worn-out sneakers clad feet. I pulled the ragged hoodie a little tighter, balling my fists a little deeper into the pockets. My mind veered back to the bookshop. I liked working there, not because my employer was a ray of sunshine, but I liked the smell of books, taking care of them and at times sneaking off during lunch hours to read a few pages of the new arrivals. I was hired because I was very well acquainted with books since I love them. 
• The customers were never disappointed and that kept Mr. Martin from getting rid of me. He was not fond of me at all because at times people thought that I was the owner and not him. I would still have that job if not for that Laura. I cursed her in thousands of expletives that I could recall.
• I was drawn out of my thoughts as I heard a low jingle. I looked up to see a quaint little cafe on my left. It looked so aesthetic. I couldn’t help but walk inside. It was tucked away from the hubbub of the streets. The bel jingled as I pushed open the glass door. Soft jazz music played in the background. My eyes scanned the place. It was fairly crowded. I took a corner seat and sat down. This wasn’t in my plans but I felt tired and weary all of sudden. I sighed. It was just Monday and the 1st of the month and here I was sitting in a cafe literally jobless. 
• “Good morning ma’am, what would you like to have?” a cheerful voice pulled me out of my reverie. A girl of not more than 23 smiled down at me. I mustered a smile and asked, “What do you suggest?”
• I guess she got this a lot so she promptly chirped, “Don’t mind my blabbering mouth but your face tells me you are in need of a large cup of latte and a bagel”. Her grin did not falter and I, too, realised that I hadn’t eaten my breakfast as I had rushed to work. 
• Before I ran my mouth and went with her suggestion I asked, “How much?”
• She smiled this time, “Pay for the latte only, which is $2.50 and the bagel is on the house”.  I nodded and once she got my approval with that, she waltzed away. I did mental math of the money that I would be left with after paying here. Do I need to tip them? It looked like an expensive cafe. I observed the customers, they all looked quite well-to-do unlike me. 
• I turned my gaze outside. As I watched the passersby, my thoughts went back to the days when I used to be carefree. Days when I didn’t need to worry about a month’s expenditure or the need to save up for later use. My thoughts took the forbidden turn, going back once again to my family who abandoned me….to him. Dominic Giovanni - the man whom I had foolishly married five years back. The one who left me deserted for another. 
• He must have even forgotten my existence now. Maybe I was just another blurred and forgotten face. My heart clenched at the thought. How he had become a superstar and was probably sweeping and charming ladies off their feet and here I was jobless, desolate and broken.