Coffee dependence

Chapter 9: Under the streetlight

'All this time I've been doing my best so that I could succeed and put my past self behind me.'

But sometimes it catches up and haunts her.

Rachel Valentine.. Her family is the owner of that high-end cosmetic brand Valentine. That's why she's acting like such a spoiled, entitled kid. As part of the upper class in the business world, she has resources to gather information about me. But still, that's way too personal, is that the rumors floating around our family?

Ah whatever! She splashed water on her face, 'I swear I'll never patronize any of their products!'

Calmed by the cold sensation, she stared at her reflection for the first time since last night. Eye bags, puffy face, and swollen eyes, this is the product of crying like a baby last night. Ah, she looks like a zombie.

Unbelievable... she should get her act together and not let anyone affect her life. Starting today, she's gonna work extra harder!

+++

Snip!

Unwanted parts of the branches fell as Athy cut it off from flowers that needed to be arranged in a bouquet. It's sunday and she's helping out Lily in her flower shop.

Her eyes squinted from the bright rays of sun, she hasn't been able to have a good sleep for the past few days. Eyebags became a permanent part of her face that she's been trying to hide in futile effort with a concealer. But one would only take a good look to notice the fatigue that is evident on her face.

"Athy, are you sure you don't need to rest? We can handle it," Lily asked her with eyes full of worry. The older girl had been shocked to see her with that face since this morning.

"I'm fine! It's not like I'm doing strenuous work," Athy smiled at her, hoping to ease her worries.

Truthfully, she really needs rest. But she's been having a hard time sleeping as of late due to anxiety. To keep her mind off of things, she decided it best to keep herself busy, be it studying, dancing, or arranging flowers.

The amount of coffee she drinks also increased. For the meantime, she has stopped coming to the cafe, not because she was afraid of that lunatic girl but because she doesn't want to be reminded of the incident.

So, she's been brewing coffee by herself while she studies in her own place, drinking it like water because it was just so convenient. It added to her restlessness but she couldn't stop, it was just so addicting. However, she indeed missed the coffee that Lucas brewed and contemplated a lot of times to go there, but she would often turn her back last minute.

"The flowers smell nice and it's beauty eases up my mood. But it would indeed be good to take a break." Athy who could no longer watch Lily fret over her gave in to her plea.

Partly because she felt bad telling her that insomnia was the reason for her sorry state when in fact, it is her lack of self control and deliberate coffee drinking that made her lose sleep.

And the guilt only added up when the girl gave her flowery tea known to alleviate insomnia.

+++

"You look horrid." The grey haired man had never been so blunt. And her girlfriend added to the sentiment as well. Recently, she felt like both of her friends always worried about her. But they were right, she indeed looked horrid and her condition only worsened as days passed by.

It was only meant to distract her but before she knew it she was self-destructing. After listening to her friends coaxing her to rest, she decided to comply, as she doesn't even have enough strength to think normally anymore.