Chapter 1: Coffee shop
Listening to the rain fall onto Lake as little ripples form. The trees moved from side to side like it was a dance routine. Wind hit my skin causing me to take a deep breath. The sound of people laughing and chatting hit my ears and all i felt was pain.
Knowing I don't have a family or house to go back to bring tears to my eyes. Being a homeless nineteen year old can be tough. My parents passed away two years ago and now I'm left to defend myself.
I have my ups and downs living on the streets like the weird people that seem to come up to me but then I have lovely people that come and have a chat with me.
My life is far from special. If anything I don't see a point in living half of the time but I know my parents would want me to keep going and to not give up. I stay at this river throughout the day and then I try to find some shelter to sleep at night.
Leaves started to fly about like there were running from something. The air picked up and my long tangled blonde hair started to blow around like crazy. I stood up weakly and started to go towards the town. There are many places I can sleep in the town but in this weather it makes it a lot harder to find.
I woke up from a bright light hitting my face. The sun was beaming down on me acting like a personal alarm clock. I opened my eyes and saw busy work men rushing into the big building in front of me.
Kids were on there scooters rushing to school with there parents chasing them. I just smiled finding it amusing. Recently ove been trying to find a little job. At a bakery or cafe and I've had no luck apart from one place ten minutes away from here. They asked me if I can work for a hour to see if I'm good enough for the job.
Luckily they have there own uniform so I won't scare anyone away with my dirty clothes. I have a hairbrush although it is a bit damaged seeing as I've had it for over two years. Trying to tame my wild hair I looked into a shop window and saw my pale face with bright bags underneath them.
My short frame looked weak from the lack of food. As the streets calmed down a little bit I started my trip to the cafe. It was a tiny place that smelt amazing. It wasn't very busy and are desperate for workers. At first I would be a waiter and then I can move onto making some of the deserts. I won't get paid much but at least I can get some food and drink with it.
Getting closer to the tiny building I saw it was closed but there were workers inside so it gently knocked onto the glass. A old lady opened it, she looked about seventy five with a massive smile on her face. "Hi you must be willow" she said pulling me in for a hug. I just nodded as she pulled me to the back room of the cafe.
All the other workers were giving me a look of disgust. I just ignored them seeing as I was only working here for money. I got used to everything very quickly, all I had to do was write there order down and take it to the back so they can make there food and drinks.
As I was walking to a table at the back to take the families order a man with loads of muscle and long jet black hair tied up into a bun put his arm out to stop me walking. His eyes were Hazel brown and there were tattoos covering one hand and both of his arms. As he looked up I saw he had tattoos coming up his neck as well along with a beard.
He was very intimidating and looked angry. "I ordered a black coffee, I got this instead" he said with a deep raspy voice. I looked down and saw the drink. It was a tea, a very milky one. I took the drink out of his hand and muttered a quick 'sorry sir'.
I came back with the right drink and put it on the table opposite him. I didn't get a thank you just a head gesture. Looking around the cafe I mainly saw old people or groups of women having drinks together. Everyone here seems very friendly, well apart from the man I saw moments ago.
Once I finished of I said my goodbyes and left. I was only meant to do a hour but the boss gave me the job saying I was suitable for the role. I found a place to stay the rest of the night and tried to fall asleep listening to the chatter and laughter of people walking past.
I woke up suddenly by a loud noise, this time it wasn't the sun but it was a car honking. I got ready the best I could and made my way towards the cafe. As I walked in the bell chimed and I got greeted with the smell of coffee.
I got my work clothes on and waited for more people to start coming in. People started cueing up to get there drinks and a couple made there way to some of the tables. One table had a man and woman about thirty years old with a baby. I wrote down what they wanted and took it to the people who made the drinks.
It wasn't very busy so I was mainly cleaning up or sorting out ingredients making sure everything's in date. When lunch time came around that's when things got a lot more busy.
I went to tables after tables taking orders. I saw the man from yesterday this time with his laptop out typing away. He had the same order, black coffee and a croissant. I put the little brown paper bag that had the croissant in onto the table and then put the black coffee next to it.
As I was going to walk away the man put his hand out like he did yesterday. "I never got your name" his voice was a lot calmer then yesterday but still held authority. "Willow" I replied a bit confused why he would ask. He chuckled "like the plant" he whispered and I just nodded still very confused.
Once I nodded he moved his arm so I could walk away. I carried on like normal not concerned about the man sitting there with a smug look on his face.