Wildly Driven

Chapter 69

"That will be twelve bucks." I smiled at the teenage boy who had ordered a few eateries for him. He wanted it to be parceled and I had agreed to his requests.

As he handed over the money, I smiled at him once more before I bid him farewell. Though I was internally dying every second, externally, I had put on a bright smile and claimed that everything was going very well for me.

I had been doomed and I couldn't believe that I was living a life of complete lies tangled to make sure that I was dangling in it like a puppet. After knowing it from my Dad's mouth, everything seemed clear.

My talks which were already less with Dad, had turned to nothing now and I hardly spoke to him. I didn't even go to him to ask if he was taking his medicines on time. 

I had believed that my parents loved each other too much to even have a fight.

Now, I understood why my Dad had abandoned me the whole time. I reminded him of her and the guilt he carried along with it. He had avoided me to erase his past and I had been the lamb to be fed well only to be scarified by the end of the day.

"Hey, you okay?" Monica asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. She had taken her time off of her shopping spree for a day to make sure that she also took care of the shop here. I had insisted her to not cancel her dates for my sake as I would be fully capable of taking care of the shop for them. "I know it's too much work around here."

"Nothing like that." I said and got up the counter. "I'm just having a terrible headache." I really did have one, especially after the knowledge I had got yesterday. "I'll just have a strong coffee to get rid of it."

Monica nodded and I went in the kitchen to brew one for me, but Mira had bet me to it. Mira was back in the kitchen with her magic wand, making coffee and cupcakes.

"Here, darling." Mira said, even before I had asked her for a cup. She placed the cup in my hands and smiled sweetly. Monica came back to the kitchen and leaned on the door, folding her hands as she blocked my way out.

I looked at her and her mother alternatively as suspicion slowly grew in me. "What's happening?" I asked, as I held on to the cup of coffee. "What are you guys planning?"

"What makes you think we are planning after all?" Monica rolled her eyes at me. I looked at Mira for confirmation for which she only shrugged back. "Why are you assuming the worst? Have you done anything wrong lately?"

"Maybe." I said to Monica to which she only smiled back. I didn't wait for her to tell me what the mother daughter were conspiring against me, but went ahead to give the ordered customer his cupcakes and lattes. When I came back to sip on my coffee, Mira came and sat next to me, which she had never done before. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

"Mon, she looks pale today." Mira said, running her fingers on top of my head in a motherly gesture. "Maybe you can tell her tomorrow."

"Tell me what?" I turned to Monica for more details. "You guys are firing me?"

Kapoor's café was the only thing that looked normal in my life. Everything else seemed like an already designed trap waiting for me to take one misstep so that it could consume me whole. For all I cared, I wanted this job, not only for a distraction, but also to keep my mind sane. It was the first real companionship that I had got without any adulteration in it. I didn't wish to lose it too.

"No, silly." Mira said with a smile of her own. "You are not going to be fired, even if Monica tells otherwise."

"Why will I be telling otherwise?" Monica asked more to her mother than anyone else. "She can take care of the whole café single-handedly, we wouldn't want to lose that."