The theme song for this chapter is The Story of Us by Taylor Swift :) Enjoy! xo
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Position: Desk Receptionist/Administrative Assistant
Job-Type: Part-Time
Location: Coastal Dental Clinic Services
1256 Canon Drive
Beverley Hills, California
Nope. I can't stand talking to customers on the phone and I hate the smell of a dentist's office.
Position: Communications Assistant
Job-Type: Part-Time
Location: TeleJournal News Ltd.
55 Walnut Street
Pasadena, California
Its way too far from campus, meaning that I'll have to commute more than an hour everyday on the bus just to get there. It's not like I have anyone who could drive me. Not anymore, anyways.
Position: Pizza Hut Delivery Driver
Job-Type: Full-Time
Location: Pizza Hut
137 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, California
I can't drive for my life, I'm horrible at directions, and I can't work full-time. Next.
Position: Janitorial Assistant
Job-Type: Part-Time
Location: UCLA Medical Laboratory Center
27 Steinwood Plaza
Los Angeles, California
Hell no. It may be just around the corner, but my first job in the city is not going to be cleaning up potential fatal chemicals, no matter how desperate I am for a job.
I close the top of my new laptop in frustration and take another sip of my morning coffee. I rest the back of my head on the warm comfy sofa at my usual spot in the large Starbucks shop and close my eyes in defeat.
I give up. I've spent three days looking for a decent job in this big city and have come up empty handed. The only jobs available at the mall were in retail, which I would be terrible at. I hate shopping and I am terrible at making customers happy. Though Allie and El managed to find one; El at Free People and Allie at Macy's; all I managed to find was a belated birthday present for Niall, which I quietly slipped under his door this morning. It's hopeless.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so picky with finding a job. I mean, it's not like I have much of a choice. I need to find a job, and fast. It's just that, I thought that moving to LA would bring along so many opportunities with it, including jobs. In reality, it's really the exact same as it is in Toronto, just warmer and closer to the ocean. This isn't exactly how I pictured living here would be like.
"Hey, are you okay?" I hear someone say and my eyes meet the familiar hazel ones.
"Hey, Zayn. What are you doing here?" I question as he takes a seat on the couch next to me.
"Um, I work here, remember?" he laughs lightly. It's a nice sound.
"Oh yeah I know, I just meant, why are you working so early? I mean don't you have classes soon?" Regular classes are supposed to start in an hour and it's a Monday morning.
"Nah, my classes start at noon on Mondays so I thought I would pick up an extra shift before then."
"Oh, that's good." At least some people can find a decent job. I take another swig of caffeine and sigh.
"So what you doing?" he questions, looking at my closed MacBook.
"Well, I was looking through job ads."
"Any luck?"
"Nope. All the decent jobs seemed to have disappeared."
"Why don't you work here?" he suggests. I sit up in my seat.
"Seriously? A-Are you hiring?"
"Now we are. Come on." He pulls me up from the couch and leads me to the counter where he introduces me to an older grey-haired man.
"Hey Steve, can my friend Bree work here? She's looking for a job." He states simply.
"Yeah sure! You start today at four, little miss! Zayn will train you when you come in later on." The man named Steve, who appears to be the one in charge, says. What?! Who knew getting a job would be this easy?
"U-Uh thanks." I gape. "Is that it?" I ask Zayn and he shrugs.
"Oh right, have you ever had a criminal record?" Steve asks. I shake my head and he nods.
"Great! You got the job. Welcome to the team!" he shakes my hand firmly before disappearing into the back. I stand there quite shocked.
"Well, there you go, you got yourself a new job. See you later co-worker!" he winks before stepping behind the counter.
"Y-Yeah see you." I say before heading out of my new workplace and making my way back to campus for class.
Classes go by pretty fast and I make sure to finish all the schoolwork in class so that I don't have to worry about them after work. Before I know it, it is already fourth period and I am seated at my usual seat in the psychology classroom. I can feel my palms start to clam up in anticipation for a certain student's arrival.
What's gonna happen? I haven't talked to him since that night in the laundry room and I don't really know what state of mind he's gonna be in today. Will he ignore me? Will he act like nothing happened? Will things go back to the way they were? I have no idea, but I hope it's the last option. I really would like it if things went back to the way they were. Though I don't think I'm really ready to be in a relationship, I guess I should at least give it a try, like everyone is telling me to do. My thoughts freeze when he walks into the room.
He looks even more beautiful than usual. He's wearing a denim-like button-up shirt on top of black skinny pants with grey converse, and his unruly brown curls are up in a sort of wave above his forehead. Not quite like the quiffs that seem to be a trend among other Californian boys, but in a messy pile on top of his head; like he had just taken a shower and pushed it up with his fingers. It looks good on him. His eyes turn in my direction and I avert my graze to my notebook.
Out if the corner of my eye, I can see that instead of walking over to his seat across the room, he is headed over here! My heart beat quickens as I realize that he's coming over here to talk to me. Well, I guess this it. This time is as good as any to tell him. To tell him I'm sorry for what I said and how I truly feel about him. Hopefully his response is a positive one. I get up out of my seat to stand as he nears closer to my desk.
"Hey Har-" I start before I notice his attention turn to the skank next to me.
"Heeey..."
"Valerie," she finishes for him, a wide smile spread on her make-up caked face. He leans in closer to her as he rests his palms on her desk as she sits there batting her fake eyelashes.
"Right, Valerie. That's a pretty name, Valerie." He gives her his flirty smile and she giggles like a little girl on crack. I feel a pit forming in my stomach, slowly sucking everything out of my body, including my injured heart. I slump back down in my seat and try to cover up my stupid move by pretending to grab something out of my bag. Of course he wasn't coming over her to talk to me! He came to flirty with the girl next to me! Very mature, Harry.
"So, what you doing after class, babe?" he asks coolly. My mind goes back to when he used to call me that. Of course he called me that. He probably calls every damn girl that!
"Me? Oh um, nothing that I can think of at the moment," she says in a high-pitched and girly tone. The sound of it already gives me an immediate headache. Good luck, Harry.
"Well, now you do." He winks at her and she lets out another fit of giggles. He begins to turn and go back to his seat but says something else before he does. This time, it's not directed at the airheaded bimbo.
"Oh hey, Bree. How was your weekend?" he says in a triumphant mocking tone. I can see the bimbo give me a dirty look from the corner of my vision. I refuse to look at him.
"It was fine," I mumble, as I pretend to read something out of my textbook. I can tell his eyes are on me, but I ignore the heated feelings inside of me.
"That's good. Well, see you after class, Valerie." With that, he finally walks back over to his side of the class room and sits at his assigned seat.
I can't think straight for the rest of class. Whatever Ms. Tilbert was teaching today, I didn't absorb a single bit of it. My mind was filled with a whirl of emotions. Anger, betrayal, sadness, loss, and I will admit, a lot of jealousy. The skanky girl beside me kept giving me death glares throughout the entire class, and I could tell she shared the same feeling of jealousy towards me. Harry really is a complete playboy asshole. I guess I know what his state of mind is now; revenge.
After what seems like eternity, the class finally ends, and I make a beeline for the exit. I don't want to spend another second more than I have to, in there with Harry and his airhead. Moreover, I don't wanna be late for my first day working at Starbucks. I can't thank Zayn enough for getting me the job. At least there are still some good guys out there.
"Hey, you're early," Zayn says as he greets me with one of his genuine smiles.
"Didn't wanna be late on my first day."
"That's a good attitude. Okay, well welcome to the barista team! Here's your apron. That's really the only uniform we have. " He hands me a black pinafore with the Starbucks logo on it. "Okay, so once you got that on, we'll start your training! You can put it on in the staff room at the back," he instructs and I follow closely.
After a pretty lengthy explanation of the job, he thinks I am ready to start; I, on the other hand, am not so sure. Who knew that working at Starbucks required so much steps and memorization? You'd think I'd find it to be a breeze since I've practically spent half of my life at Starbucks, but that is not the case. It's even harder than memorizing mathematical formulas for advanced functions math class!
My first order wasn't that bad. Then again, the customer had only ordered a muffin, so I only had to reach into the display case and get it. I anxiously anticipate a more complicated drink order, when Zayn hands me a sheet of paper.
"Here, I made you an extra little cheat sheet to help you remember what to do if you ever need help with the order. But still don't hesitate to ask me if you need help." I look at the very visually appealing piece of paper in my hand. There's even little amazingly detailed picture drawings to aid the information. Can he be any more of a good friend? He's honestly so thoughtful.
"You made this just for me? Oh my god, it's amazing. Thank you," I look at him and his cheeks redden slightly.
"Uh yeah, it can be really confusing at first, without help." He scratches the back of his neck, reminding a little of Harry. "Stop thinking about Harry! You've got a perfectly nice and cute guy right in front of you and all you can think about is that slime bag!" my conscience yells at me. She's right.
"Thanks, I really, really appreciate everything." I give him a warm gratified hug, which he accepts willingly.
"No problem. I'm gonna go grab some boxes in the back and stock up. Think you'll be okay manning the counter?"
"Uh, y-yeah I think so," I say hesitantly. He walks off into the back to grab the boxes containing the supplies to make the drinks and the food. I turn to face the counter and decide to read Zayn's 'working at Starbucks guide' until the next customer arrives. I am immersed fully in his vivid descriptions in both writing and pictures, when a customer comes up to the counter and places an order.
"I'll have two vanilla bean fraps," a familiar husky voice says. I look up from the counter and sure enough, there stands the boy I haven't seemed to remove from my mind. Beside him, is the clown-faced skank from psyche class.
"Bree?! W-Wha-You work here now?!" He exclaims in surprise. I grip the edge of the counter and ignore his question.
"What size will those be?" I say simply, pretending he is just another random customer and not Harry Styles.
"Did he give you the job?" he huffs and gestures to Zayn who walks in with the supply boxes in hand. Zayn immediately registers Harry's presence and walks over to me.
"Do you want me to take this one?" he asks me quietly.
"Buzz off, she can handle it," Harry snaps at him. His eyes are a dark shade of green as he stares Zayn down. 'Its okay' I turn and mouth to Zayn, and he goes back to stocking up, giving Harry a wary warning look before leaving us. Harry turns his gaze back to me.
"You didn't answer my question. Did he get you the job?" he asks in a more stern and affirmative tone.
"You didn't answer mine. What size?" I counter with an equally assertive tone. We stare each other down.
"You know, if you needed a job, you could've asked me. I would've gotten you a much better one than this garbage." Oh really? He would've gotten me a job after what I did? Fat chance!
"I doubt that. And I didn't exactly think you would be the best person to ask, considering you've never worked a day in your life." His eyes narrow at my remark.
"Well, you-"
"Are we gonna get our drinks, Harry?" the airhead asks in a nasally impatient tone.
"Can you wait?!" he snaps rudely at her before turning back to me. I can't help but mentally laugh.
"Yeah, Harry. Are you gonna tell me what size drinks you wanted? Because if not-"
"Actually, I'm gonna change my order," he cuts me off. Uh oh, this can't be good.
"For her, can I get a grande vanilla bean frap with a pump of raspberry syrup and a pump of peach syrup, plus, java chips and extra whip." By the time I'm done writing the order, the cup is filled with a bunch of scribbled codes that the founder of Starbucks won't even be able to understand.
"But Harry, I can't have whipped cream! It has too many calories," his lady friend wines. Figures that she'd be one to be worried about calories.
"Fine. Make that no whip and a non-fat frap." That exists?
"For me, I'll have a grande cinnamon dolce frap with two pumps hazelnut syrup, java chips and extra chocolate whip." Oh he's evil.
"Will that be all?" I grumble.
"Oh and I would like Oreo crumbs on top of the whipped cream." I glare at him before adding the extra topping and heading over to the blenders to prepare the drink order.
"Need help?" Zayn comes up from behind me and asks.
"Yes, please. What the hell is a non-fat frap?!"
"Don't worry, I'll do that one," he chuckles and takes one of the cups. "He's a big pain in the ass isn't he?" he whispers in my ear.
"Yes, he is." We both snicker quietly. I can see the scowl on Harry face, probably because my quiet interaction with Zayn.
"Here you go," I finally say as I hand them my very first and probably most complicated drink order.
"Ugh, I asked for no whip!" the bitch whines again. I would slap her if it didn't cost me my job. But I will admit that I added the whipped cream on purpose. Whoops.
"Scrape it off," I remark in a clipped tone and she glares at me with disgust. "That will be $8.25 in total." Harry hands me a twenty dollar bill.
"Keep the change," he tells me, with a hint of a smile on his face. Very faint, but still there.
He turns away from the counter and brings the girl with him. He holds her by the waist and my fist balls up at my side. Instead of sitting at the usual couch seat however, he leads her to a small table a short distance away from the counter. A spot where I can see them clearly. A spot where I can see all the flirting, footsies and exchanges that happen between them. Did I mention how big of a jerk Harry is?