Chapter 1
Allegra:
"Get up, Olivia!" I shouted from downstairs as I finished making breakfast.
It really was nothing fancy, just scrambled eggs and sausages.
"Will you stop with the bloody yelling already? I'm coming!" Olivia shouted with obvious frustration in her voice.
Shaking my head, I sighed and turned off the hob.
I don't know what I will do if Olivia doesn't speed up in the mornings, it is like she's always trying to be late- purposely late.
If only mother was still with us.
Our mother died nearly seven years ago. A car crash is what killed her. Or she might've killed herself, who knows?
I still remember when mum was here with us, she would always braid my hair before I went to school, and she would take me to see the flowers growing in the early month of March.
Everything was much easier when she was here, she was the most amazing mother Olivia and I could have asked for.
But she wasn't perfect.
I wasn't stupid, mum was unhappy with my father. She cheated on him once or multiple times with the same man, an American man.
Mum wasn't born in England like us. She was from America, Connecticut I believe. She lived her entire life there until she decided to go away to university.
University of Manchester.
That's where she met my father. A man named George who she claimed fell in love with, but in reality, mother never did fell in love with dad.
According to what I would hear when they argued with each other, mum and dad had a one-night stand.
She got pregnant a few weeks before going home for some holiday when her parents found out they kicked her out of the house and her only way of survival was to go back to my father.
That baby was me.
Despite everything, mum said she always loved me, even when I was in her womb. And she did make me feel loved- both of them did.
But mum never got over her lover in America. I don't think she ever fully loved my father, yet she had another child with him.
Whenever I think about her crash I think she was trying to escape her life from us, away from my father. But who knows? I will never get the answer that I want, I still got Olivia and dad.
I was only thirteen when mum died, and Olivia was nine. As the older and only sister, my responsibilities became a duty. My entire life has been directed toward her.
Dad became depressed after mum died and he only continued to be okay when he had liquor in his hands. He forgot about the Café and we almost lost the house, if it wasn't for me we would be sleeping somewhere in the park.
I had to take over the business we had, the business mum and dad started when they got married. A café or well, as she used to call it, a diner.
I thankfully learned how to manage it, I learned how to pay the bills and split the money so it would last longer. I also finished buying this house, a month ago.
"Are you staying home?" Olivia asked me as she dropped her bag on the floor and took a seat.
I shook my head and began serving her. "Not today, I have to go to the Diner and cover for Mike."
Mike was a server, he's a good friend of mine but he will not be able to be a work today because his grandma is having a gathering with his family.
"How do you expect me to go to school without you setting an example?" Olivia rolled her blue eyes and handed me a rubber band.
Sighing, I took the rubber band and stood up behind her. "You forget who pays for the food your eating?"
Olivia never gives me trouble, not at all. We love each other and will gladly do anything for us, but she is growing up so obviously, I expect some sort of rebellion on her part.
"What about uni' though?" She began eating. "When are you going to finish that?"
University, right.
"I don't know, and let me worry about that," I said as I finished braiding her blonde curly hair.
Truth is I'm doing online university in the meantime, I was going to the uni but the realization hit me and I knew I couldn't be away from the Diner too long.
"You'd be a great solicitor, ya know?"
I let out a sigh as I think about my long-life dream. A dream that seems to cease over time. Yeah, I could've been a great one, time is the only thing I don't have.
My sister needs a family.
"Come on, get going," I say and take her almost unfinished breakfast away and place it in the basin.
Olivia groaned and stood up. "I'll see you at the Café," she said and took her bag.
"No, go straight home and start with homework." I tell her before she leaves the house.
I quickly hurried and washed the plates that were left in the sink.
There is so much I need to get done today, like buying a few things the Café needs. I had it remodelled last year, it's actually really nice and it makes more people come in.
I suddenly jump when I hear the door being slammed open. Drying my hands, I walked over to the foyer and saw a drunk man trying to keep steady from falling.
"Dad," I sigh and take his weight on me for support.
I'm so glad that Olivia left for school already, she doesn't have to witness her drunk father again.
"I am starved!" Father slurred and almost made the both of us meet the floor.
I threw him on the couch and let out a breath before going into the kitchen and getting a glass of water.
"Here, take this." I say handing him a pill.
Dad stares into my eyes, they are just like Olivia's, deep blue. "I'm so very sorry, my dear."
"Just take the pill, dad." I say one more time as I forward the small capsule in my palm.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered and took the pill, swallowing it without water.
I could feel my jaw clench as he continued to apologize. Why does he always do that? Why can't he just change?
I am sick and tired of him apologizing to me and saying he wants to be different, to change. Well, why doesn't he? I've tried so hard.
That's what people need when they want to change, they need a reason. Olivia and I, his daughters.
Are we not enough?
I blink away tears and start heading towards the stairs, where I grab a few blankets because I know he is going to pass out on the couch.
"Did you eat?" I ask entering the main room.
I did not receive an answer because as expected, dad was already passed out. Sighing, I open the blankets and put them over him.
I look at the clock behind him and realized that I'm running late... Again.
What does it take to survive?
