Meraki

Chapter 1

                                  Miracle's POV

"Can I have another smoothie before we go?" The blonde-haired nine-year-old asks me for what seems like the hundredth time today.

"Mum will get mad if you don't eat well at dinner, let's go before they eat before us." I sigh.

"They won't." She giggles. Ignoring her never-ending giggles, I hold her hand;
"Are you sure you don't need an extra hand tonight?" I ask.

"Nah, just take Alice and go, it's getting late already. Say hi to your parents." My boss, Lily grins at me.

So here's the thing, Lily's a very close family friend. In fact, her grandma is my grandma's best friend and so, her mother is a close friend to my mother thus I know her. Even though she's in her late twenties, she's running this diner; with her amazing cooking and beverages, she made for herself a name around the town. Simply said, I have a part-time here and the worst thing is, I can't eat all the food here or Lily will kill me in my sleep...

As we walk to our home, Alice turns to grin at me again.

"What?"

"Aren't you gonna tell me about him?"

"Who?"

"Him!" Who's she talking about?

She walks in front of me, facing me she flays her arms around as she continues what's she saying: "The black-haired hazel-eyed guy who said 'hi' to you at the beginning of your shift!"

Oh...
"Just a guy who shared a class with me last semester."

"Just a guy? You're hopeless, Miracle..."

"Am I? And why do you say so?" I fold my arms.

"You don't have a boyfriend much less a friend yet he talked to you!"

"So? He's just a guy." She stares at my face before frowning;
"I'm telling mum!" She yells before running inside the house, alarming our neighbour's dog which starts barking while I grumble. Just what is she so mad about?
As I close the door behind me, Bubbles, our white retriever barks, licking my face as soon as I crouch down to her height.

"Welcome home, darlings." Mum greets us from the kitchen, in the meantime, a delicious mixture of cheese, chicken and vegetables invades my sense of smell.

"What's for dinner?" We yell in unison, our stomachs grumbling.

"Pizza," she chuckles.

"Miracle wouldn't let me have a smoothie before coming home!" Alice grumbles, not anticipating mum's reaction this time.

"That's good or you'd have had to face my wrath." She smiles at no one in particular, but chills descend my spine and probably anyone else's... While Alice gulps, I divert the conversation as I ask mum:
"When's dad coming back?"

"In a couple of minutes, care to help set the table?" She asks, but I'm pretty sure she has everything in order and we need to do nothing except washing our hands...
she's so sweet, but she really needs to let us help more...

"I'm back!"

Alice throws her hands in the air before jumping at dad, engulfing him in a bear hug while Bubbles happily barks.
"Finally! We are starving, daddy!"

"I'm sorry, my Queen of hearts." He kisses her forehead before mine as well as mum.

"Come on, all of you wash your hands before we eat." Mum claps her hands together.

She chuckles as we devour the meal in mere minutes; nothing was better than mum's pizza. The base was the perfect combination of light inside and crunchy on the bottom. The toppings are also fresh and very fragrant. The cheese on the margarita pizza was warm-almost hot, melting on the top; as I take a bite, it extends with me, not leaving the slice. The supreme pizza's fresh vegetables give the slight crunch sound every time I chew as their taste slam into me. The chicken lovers pizza's well seasoned-grilled chicken and vegetables gave a unique taste as they collide with the chicken barbecue sauce on the top. As we ask for more, mum starts asking about our day.