Chapter 1
It's 6:46 pm on a Tuesday. School activities should be over by now along with the workload of exhausted and underpaid teachers. On the other hand, the students excitedly head towards their homes. A warm dinner waits for them, ready to prepare for the next day. A set routine.
This phase of their lives feels like it'll last forever. Until senior year arrives and they're official adults. Responsibilities become heavier, for some, but for most it's only the beginning of what's to come. Though, they're unaware of it until it's shown on their faces. How fast life comes crashing and they stare back in the mirror unrecognizing the face they see.
To have an illusion is to make life tolerable. Some aren't blessed with it, unfortunately.
Avena Vitale reminisces of her time in high school as she wipes a glass clean. She was nowhere near popular. Her only friend was her twin brother, Andrea, but she liked being in a different environment. She liked learning new things and having a lot of space to move around. Unlike the studio apartment she lives in. Andrea, on the other hand, hated going and found it tedious. He nearly failed all his classes despite being incredibly intelligent. He just didn't care enough to do the work.
But none of it matters anyway.
She looks at the clock again, only ten minutes have passed since she last checked it.
While students eat the dinner their mother wholeheartedly prepared, she stands behind the bar, blocking out the ruckus. She sighs as she picks up another dirty glass to clean by hand. There's nothing she can relate to with other students anymore. She's nineteen-years-old already. Her graduation would've been two years ago if her mother hadn't died. Now she, like Andrea, is just a high school dropout scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get by.
The door rings, announcing the arrival of more customers. Usually, bars aren't so packed on a weekday, but this bar, Kianna's Cantina, is known to be a drone's nest. The staff came up with it a few years ago when a corporate park was built nearby. Employees, or drones, would flock to the bar every day at the same time without fail. Avena didn't understand why they all liked coming here until she saw for herself.
Corporate drones are some of the shadiest and horniest bunch you'd ever come across. She lost count on how many affairs were happening. Many within the same office. She's also lost count how many new kinks she's learned. Regrettably.
Despite disgusting her to no end, they're also a great source for daily gossip. Even Andrea's invested in Stephen from Marketing's failing marriage because he's a closeted gay man. She's met his loving wife a few times. His secret boyfriend? Enough to know that Ivan's sister is graduating with a masters degree in archeology. And that she's snagged an internship to go somewhere in South America. Ivan and Stephen are quite proud of Dania.
It feels wrong for her to eavesdrop. Her father-figure, Father Benito, taught her better than that. But even he should know it's not her fault that drones are unable to control their own volume.
Avena scans the area to look for any newcomers, but they're the same people as always. The seats at the counter are empty, which means she can just loiter and clean the same glass over and over. However, her boss, Kianna Baptiste, has sharp vision and quickly catches her act.
"You know I can see you not doing anything, right?" Avena hears her voice.
The former doesn't look away from the crowd. "What do you mean? I'm cleaning the glasses, no?"
"Mm hm, still tryin' to find out what happened with that adulterous couple?"
"Which one? There are many adulterous couples in here."
"You know which one I mean. The one you keep making faces at. They complained about you twice already."
Avena stops her fake cleaning to exasperate. "They left when his wife was about to find out. I cannot believe she is still so blind to it."
Kianna chuckles and playfully rolls her eyes. "You're completely deaf when Daniel talks to you, but you're all ears when it's about gossip."
"Because Daniel repeats everything when he is drunk. It's boring. At least I can look forward to verbally fight with those three."
The boss laughs again, knowing exactly what Avena meant. The one annoying and clingy drone took a liking to her for some reason. He took the liberty of occupying the bar every time he visits.
He's a tall and chubby man in his mid-thirties that likes to bathe in Axe body spray. He's not all that bad really. It's until he gets one too many drinks in. Then he gets needy and whines about the same thing. How his wife's not putting out, she nags him to clean up his mess, that he can't drink with his friends in peace. Among many other things.
Avena tolerated him until she found out he was also a father to a newborn. Now she's just irate and only uses him for tips.
"I know he's insufferable but he's your best customer. Isn't that what you want?"
"Yes, but I do not like it. I wish he will just give me the money then leave me alone."
Kianna starts to walk out the bar to greet the tables. She looks over her shoulder with a smirk. "Become a stripper then."
"That's worse!"
"Okay, then stop complaining about some harmless jerk and humor him as usual." She pats Avena's lower back. "Stand straight and smile wide, sweetie."
She loses sight of Kianna's jeweled up afro in the wave of drones. She looks at the clock again. It's barely getting to 8 pm. With a tired sigh Avena organizes her area, awaiting the arrival of the famed Daniel Perkins. Another annoying trait of his is that he's very animated with his hands when he drinks. Avena's area of the counter becomes the dirtiest after her shift, and she's forced to stay later than she'd like to clean it up.
At least time goes by fast when she works there. Unlike her second job at the French diner. She could be working four hours already but once she checks the clock it's only been ten minutes. It could be because of the older crowd that her shifts run slow. They can be bitchy to her at times, but it's a breeze compared to dealing with customers here.
She likes the bar without a doubt. She likes spending time with Kianna and sharing juicy tidbits they gathered throughout the night. Despite her many complaints she appreciates the job wholeheartedly.
Kianna understands her and Andrea's situation better than anyone. When she notices Avena's working too many hours, she forces her to go home. She also makes sure the other employees don't try to bully her out of the tips she received. It's made working two jobs less painful for Avena. Before she'll know it, she'll already be heading upstairs to see her brother after a tiresome shift.
She finally hears the ear-piercing sound of Daniel's voice. The haunting melody that reminds her why she can also hate this job.
"Aveeeeey! Save me a seat!" he announces from the entrance.
He arrives with three other coworkers she's seen once or twice. They scatter in the cantina looking for an empty table or one to join. Daniel trudges to the bar as if Avena's going to leave anytime soon. She can only wish so much.
Daniel plops himself on the spinning stool that he almost falls from. He laughs it off and settles himself on the counter. Avena takes a subtle whiff of him—no Axe body spray surrounding his body. He smells like soap. He actually showered before coming. His dark hair is combed a different way than the usual gel-slick hairstyle he always goes for. He switched his plaid button-up shirt to a white one...without any pit stains.
Her eyes almost pop out when she peeks the gold watch on his left hand. She clears her throat as she starts making his favorite drink: Corona Light with salt and lemon on the nozzle.
"You look nice today, Daniel. Do you have a special occasion with Miss Anna?"
She places the bottle in front of him. He scoffs before taking a long sip of it. "Nah. She's been moody again lately and our anniversary isn't for three months."
"Oh, then you just wanted to dress up nice for a change?"
He shrugs. "You could say that."
His eyes wander through the crowd. He focuses on one group of drones, then a table with regular people, and then towards the entrance. After a pause at the door he briefly checks his watch.
Avena narrows her eyes at him, like a falcon targeting a mouse from the sky. Daniel's unaware of her deadly stare. He's too distracted tapping his fingers, checking his watch, and the door.
Stupido, Avena thought.
After taking another sip of his beer, he freezes when he finally notices her staring him down. He presses his lips together, wide-eyed, and caught red handed. "What?" he said with nervous laughter.
Avena crosses her arms. "I know you await for someone."
Daniel jerks his head back. "No, I'm not."
She narrows her eyes even more. "You dare lie to me, Daniel? It's a woman, no? You don't have that awful smelling cologne for once. You are trying to impress someone."
"You're imagining things. I just stopped using that spray because I think my kid's having a reaction to it."
He stares back with his small brown eyes, unblinking. She furrows her eyebrows as if saying, 'I'm not surprised, just disappointed'. He relents the staring contest by hanging his head in shame.
"Fine, fine, you win."
Avena shakes her head. "Not even five minutes pass and you are wanting to start an affair. And you try to use your son as an excuse."
"I know, I know."
"You disgust me, Daniel."
He stands up straight, gaping his mouth open. "Alright, I get it, Jesus. You don't have to be so mean. I have my reasons, y'know."
"You do? And what are they?"
His voice creaks, looking for an empty answer. There's a heavy silence as she waits for him to come up with a good reason to potentially cheat on his dutiful wife. She doesn't blink, burning Daniel's crumpling image with her hazel eyes. Despite being twice her size, he turns smaller and smaller in his seat. He covers his eyes with his hand.
"Can you stop staring at me? It's making me uncomfortable."
"It will be more uncomfortable when your mistress is seating at my bar."
"It's 'sitting', Avey."
She barks at him. "That doesn't matter!"
"I'm sorry! Why are you even so upset about it anyway? It's not like you're close with Anna."
Avena takes a rag from beneath the counter. She smacks it close to Daniel's hands and starts to aggressively wipe where the bottle left water. "You are married with a baby. That should be most important to you. Not lusting after another woman that did not suffer through pregnancy or birth to make you a father."
He downs the bottle, then holds it up for Avena to switch it for a new one. She doesn't add lemon or salt to the next one out of spite. He looks between the clean nozzle and Avena before accepting it without complaint.
"I love my baby, don't get me wrong. I just didn't think my marriage would turn out this way. Anna used to be fun."
"You impregnated her. It's your fault she changed."
"Oh, don't gimme that crap! Look, just meet Sophia and you'll like her a lot. You'll get what I'm saying."
She was about to give an affirming 'no' when she realized the kind of argument she's having with him.
I don't care about this.
He's the only drone she's this invested with, which was something she didn't plan at all and also didn't want. If his mistress wants to sit there at the bar, she can. Avena can continue being detached from the whole situation. It's not the first time she'd witness an affair. Daniel's is just another one off the list.
"When she gets here, please don't mention anything about Anna. Please."
"Whatever, Daniel," she mutters.
"Or that I have a baby."
She freezes mid-wipe. Her whole body cracks like a stone statue. She has to remind herself not to punch a customer. No matter the audacity they all seem to carry.
I am part of this already. Who cares? I'll tell Miss Anna everything once she comes to teach him a lesson.
"Avey?"
She snaps out of it. "Yes, I'm fine. What time will she arrive?"
"She won't take long. She promised to come at this hour. Her office isn't too far."
"Wonderful."
