All is Never Enough | ✓

Chapter 8

Nora Johannes

I placed the bowl of spaghetti pasta in front of the woman and then the steak in front of the man, smiling politely at them before repeating the same string of words. "Here are your dishes! Would you like anything else?" They smile and shake my head, and I nod and politely smile in return. "Enjoy your meal." After nodding in goodbye, I turned around and wiped my hands on my uniform since they felt clammy and gross from the hot plates and went back over to kitchen.

"How's everything going, sweetie?" I immediately knew it was one of the owners, Amelia, who I loved and adored immensely. Turning around to smile at her, I shrug and fiddle with the sewing at the end of my shirt.

"Same usual, honestly." She smiles again, please with my answer. "Thank you, again, for letting me bring Alma. I'm really trying to figure something out so she doesn't have to keep coming and bothering everyone..." I apologised, my eyes heavy with tiredness as Amelia waves it off and shakes her head.

One of the reasons I loved working here was not only because of how generous and kind the owners are, but also because everyone was treated equally and if you were doing something good they recognised it rather than ignored it to save money and avoid giving raises. Amelia, and her husband Marco, owned the Italian restaurant I was currently at and looked after me as much as they could. They welcomed Alma and I with open arms, gave me small raises whenever I did something significant, and made sure I was fed and taken care of.

I've never gotten any of that– so it was nice being taken care of even when they didn't realise it.

"Hun, I love you like my own and you and Alma are always going to be welcome in the restaurant and in my home. So shush, no more of that nonsense!" I laugh and nod, then go to grab the plate of lasagne that had just came out when Amelia gently grabs onto my elbow to regain my attention.

She turns slightly, her eyebrows furrowed in the direction of where Alma was. "I gotta ask, Nora, is that your boyfriend? He seems very fond of Alma. Every time I walked by their booth she was giggling and showing him her drawings. She's never really been that open." Amelia asks, looking straight towards where Alma was sat with Hero. Yes, Hero– after he heard about me having a job and having to bring Alma to it, he immediately drove us and then decided to stay for the whole four hours of my shift. It was about to end, and I felt so bad that he stayed for the entirety of it.

"Oh, no, definitely not..." My voice trailed off, eyes focussed on Hero who was doing his homework whilst Alma coloured in a pizza. "He's just a friend... I think. I'm not really sure." I explained, though realised it sounded like we might've been more as that clearly took Amelia by surprise. I shook my head speedily at her, a rosy blush on my cheeks. "No, no, not like that. As in he's, um, confusing me– wait, that doesn't help. I'm just gonna go serve this lasagne now." Mumbling my reply, Amelia laughs loudly before patting my back and nodding, sending me off.

"Oh, and your shift can end right after you send that off. I'll see you soon, Hun." Amelia says, smiling at me before turning to face a customer who had just walked. I felt slightly relieved at that comment, since I was beginning to grow even more tired and I hadn't even started on the maths homework yet.

I dropped the dish off in front of the old lady sitting by herself, rehearsing my lines with the same polite smile I always wore before telling her to enjoy the dish and then walking off in the direction of Alma and Hero. Alma was the first to notice me and greeted me with a grin and jumped into my arms, taking me by surprise as I hugged her tightly back then set her carefully on the couch chair.

I coughed lightly, sitting next to her as she quickly began drawing. "Thank you. For looking after her." I said, looking directly at Hero with all the courage I could muster up. He nods and leans against the booth, a content look on his face. "You really didn't have to. But... thank you for driving us, and picking her up. I really appreciate it." Making to sound as sincere as possible, he gives me a slight nod and crosses his arms over his chest.