Second chance

What is that sound? Church bells. No wait. It’s more like a jingle. Christmas. Or a chime, like wind chimes blowing in the wind.

And silence. That’s better. And it was short-lived as it just starts again. Then it hits me. It’s my alarm clock that is blaring. It feels like I have only slept a few minutes.

I open my eyes and regret it instantly. The morning sun is pouring in through the window. I need to put up those curtains today.

I sit up and sigh. My room looks like a storage unit. It is in utter chaos. There are boxes everywhere. Some are open with their content spilling out. And the others are sealed but waiting for me to get to them. It’s the joy of moving into a new house.

I get up and remind myself to embrace the change. Change is good. Change is needed.

I make some coffee after eventually locating a cup and start getting ready for my first day at my new job. Everything is new. New house. New job. New town. New life.

I need this to work.

I walk into the small diner. It is a cute little place. It has a vintage feel to it. The tables have red and white checkered tablecloths. The uniform of all the staff is baby yellow, with red aprons. The women wear knee-length sixty-styled dresses with a red apron that only goes around the waist, white ankle socks, and all-white canvas shoes. The men wear khaki pants with a yellow button-up and the same red apron as the women. It’s like time has stopped.

The owner, Charles, looks up from behind the counter and greets me with a smile. He walks around and hugs me.

“Hello, Emilia. I am so happy to have you here. These old legs no longer want to walk up and down. We have needed the extra hands for a while now.”

I smile as I look into his caring eyes. “I’m happy to be here. I still can’t believe I found a job so easily. Thank you again, Charles.”

“Just Charlie to you, dear.” I feel welcome here.

He introduces me to some of the other staff. They all seem happy to have me here. They are all friendly and helpful.

The small-town charm is something I am going to have to get use to. I have always lived in a city. You are nothing but number there. Here they know everyone by name.

Today I am just an extra. I have never worked in a diner, coffee bar, café, or restaurant. I have never actually worked. I told Charlie this. He just smiled and said that we all have a first job at some point and that he’s happy to allow me to work here. I am so thankful to that man.

Vera, one of the older women that works at the diner, has taken me under her wing for the day. She knows everything.

Vera started washing dishes here as a teen after school and on the weekends. She started helping full-time in the kitchen after high school. Now Vera runs the place. She calls herself a self-appointed supervisor.

“How are you holding up Sweetie? The coffee machine getting the best of you?”

That’s putting it lightly. This contraption is from the Stone Age. “I think this thing has a mind of its own.”

She laughs and leans closer. “The Coffee Master, as Charlie calls it, is as old as this place. Charlie says new coffee machines make the coffee taste like plastic.” We laugh, and she helps me make the last cup of coffee for the day.

When I leave the diner I cannot help but feel grateful. Charlie insisted that I sit down and eat something before I take my leave. I’m not sure where my plates are; never mind the pots and pans, so a blessing indeed.

I walk up the three steps that lead to my front door and sigh, home. It is different than the penthouse, but it’s mine for now. It’s home.

I take some boxes off the couch and sit down. I take off my shoes and start laughing.

I wonder what the people that was a part of my life would say now. I have no red bottom heels, brand name clothes, manicure, ego, nothing. They won’t even look at me twice. Will they even recognize me?

You see, I come from wealth. Never in my life have I ever needed or wanted anything. I had it all. That recently changed.

My father is a highly successful entrepreneur. My mother has never worked. She’s always busy tho. She has tea parties to host and shopping trips to go on. Mani and Pedi appointments, hair appointments, and the clothing designer is always busy with a new outfit for some fancy upcoming event that she has to go to.

I am an only child. My mother has groomed me into the perfect lady. I could go to any event and be able to talk to anyone. I belonged in that high-end world as if I was crafted for it, because I was. I had no say in the matter.

I met Noah at one of these events a few days after my sixteenth birthday. He was breathtaking. He had a smile that could light up the whole room.

My father knew his father from their college days. They often traveled together.

Noah just started at his father’s law firm. I was captivated by him. He didn’t seem to mind. Noah looked at me like I was the first girl he saw. It felt like I was floating when he looked at me.

Summer came, and our families decided to go on a breakaway together. I fell head over heels in love with him. He asked me out on the last day of the trip. I was on cloud nine.

I give a sad smile thinking back to how it felt to be young and in love.

Happy. I was happy. I saw my future, the kind of future that little girls dream about. He was perfect.

I feel a tear slowly roll over my cheek. If only I knew back then what I know now.