While balancing school, Kathryn also juggled a part-time job over the weekends on the last two weeks of every month which was a counter girl at Cool Beans. She loved the coffee and pastries but hated the people she had the displeasure of working alongside.
They were all conceited, obnoxious and looked down on Kathryn just because she was rich. They assumed she had it easy with money a big factor in her life, but they didn't know the half of it. With her own transportation, Kathryn was able to wake up on her own time.
Which is what she did that morning.
Yawning the sleep out of her, she rolled out of bed and got ready for the day that was yet to come. Her uniform was folded and ready for Kathryn by the time she got out the shower. As slipped on her undergarments, she would remember how her mom would protest and tell Kathryn that all she ever needed was to just ask.
But Kathryn knew that her parents weren't going to be here forever. She needed to know how to take care of herself and working at the coffee shop was a good start. Pinning her name tag to her uniform, Kathryn threw her damp hair into a neat ponytail and slipped on the horrid cap that came with the uniform.
Daphne was leaving tomorrow night and Kathryn really wished that she could spend the day with her sister but duty calls. It was really nice of her boss to let her work twice every two weeks with a lesser paycheck than the other workers who showed up five times a day every week.
Kathryn took a deep breath and gave herself a quick pep talk before heading to work.
━━━━━━━━━
Once she arrived at work, she parked her car and headed into the 'employees only' restroom. The kitchen was bustling with workers as Kathryn grabbed her apron and manned her station. From the morning until the afternoon, she was on cleaning duty. Then in the afternoon she would work at the front counter.
Grabbing the bucket, she headed out back and hosed down the dirty mop water. Refilling the bucket with fresh water, she grabbed the bottle of pin soil and squeezed the soap in the water. She let the water and soap sit as she greeted her acquaintance.
She wouldn't call Raven Leonard a friend per se but she was a great person to talk to. Though today, Raven was in tears as she busted through the doors striding straight towards Kathryn.
Oh boy. She thought. Everyday was a different story with Raven
Kathryn masked her face as Raven approached her. "Aww Ray what's wrong?" Kathryn asked shifting to concerning associate mode.
Raven wiped the tears out of her eyes as she tried to make a coherent sentence. "R-r-ryan d-dumped m-me," she whined snot coming out of her nose.
Great.
"I'm sure he'll come around," she rehearsed. Every other time she was here, this was how the conversations usually ended. Kathryn would reassure Raven and by tomorrow, Raven would come to work all giddy and happy.
Make up sex did wondrous things to the human body.
"N-no its serious this time!" Raven cried out. "He f-found out that I-I was p-pregnant and d-dumped me!"
"Wait your pregnant? Raven you turned twenty two months ago--"
"Can you cut the crap? I've already heard this once from my mom, I don't want to here it from you either. I just need some support in times like these," Raven replied slowly calming down.
Apologizing, I rushed to get her a glass of water and guided her to a bar stool. She slowly drank, chocking back on the water as she hiccuped. I patted her back in reassurance, trying to soothe her nerves. This used to work for Daphne back when she was a young teenager going through her many phases.
"What are you going to do?"
Raven took a deep breath. "First things first, I'm keeping the baby. My mom is pushing me to get an abortion but I just don't believe in that kind of crap. I know that it'll be hard but I'll find a way."
With that Raven grabbed some gloves, slipped them on and headed over to the sink. Kathryn never thought that Raven was a strong girl. She was always emotional, the gossip-y type and was even childish at times. Though Raven was proving her wrong.
And Kathryn liked that.
She dipped the mop and squeezed out the water as she started mopping the already dirty floors.
By the time, Kathryn's spot at the register came, the coffee shop was in full swing. She untied her apron and hung it on the apron rack as she drummed her fingers on the front desk. Raven had also calmed down and looked a lot better than she was earlier this morning.
Kathryn tried to start up a light conversation but Raven just wasn't up to it.
"Why did the chicken cross the road?" She tried.
There was no answer from Raven's part.
"To twerk with Miley!" Kathryn laughed.
Still silence.
Kathryn sighed in defeat as she greeted the next customer. It was the type of customer's that she hated.
People her age.
They were rude, total assholes and didn't tip well. They were boys she had seen around school but made no effort to talk to. They were just a bunch of punks who thought that smoking cigarettes were fun. One of them she had in a math class but the rest of the teens she didn't know all too well.
"Good afternoon and welcome to Cool Beans. Can I take your order?"
"Four black coffees". A boy with a paper clip for an earring said.
Didn't that thing cause an infection?
Punching down the order, Kathryn ringed up a price and watched as the boys argued on who was paying for the coffee this time. It wasn't every day that she worked here where the teenagers were pretty cheap.
At the end, they all agreed on splitting the price into fours. After much debate and some help from Kathryn on the math part since it was somehow difficult to divide twenty by four, she finally had gotten them all settled.
"I heard you Victor broke up with you," one of them called out as Kathryn organized the money in the cash register.
"Is that what he's telling people?" She questioned with a smirk.
The boy shrugged. "That's what I heard. But if I had a girl as sexy as you as my girlfriend, you probably would never leave my house."
Ew. Kathryn thought. Boys like him weren't even her type.
She had a thing for musicians.
Ignoring his response, she busied herself with organizing the miscellaneous things that littered the front desks until their coffees were ready. Setting the cups on a tray, she traveled to their booth and presented them with their drinks.
As Kathryn was about to leave, she could help but feel a pinch on her ass. She whipped her head around so quick that she almost snapped her neck. Glaring at the same boy she talked to earlier, she couldn't help but feel a certain pleasure of punching him.
"Did you just pinch my ass," she asked slowly hoping for this boy's sake that he didn't.
"Your welcome," he said with a smug look.
"Listen here asshole, I don't come here working my ass off just to get my ass pinched by a wannabe punk kid like you. So I suggest you apologize before things get ugly." Kathryn warned. An audience gathered around them but she didn't care.
Kathryn was out for blood.
"So what are you gonna do about it? Kidnap me and take me back to your country? Or are you even legal--"
The punch to his face shut it right up. The crowd ooed and awed as the boy clutched his bleeding nose. Kathryn didn't take seven years of boxing for nothing. Her coworkers pulled her aside as the boy's friend helped him up promising to sue.
"What the hell Kathryn!" Her boss, Charlie exploded as she landed in Charlie's office. Charlie was a chill boss who used to smoke tons of weed when she was younger. That was until she met her husband, Indigo and changed her ways for the better.
Though today, she looked livid.
"I was harassed Char," Kathryn defended. She didn't like making Charlie mad. Considering the fact that Charlie never got mad.
"Look Kathy. I like you a lot kid. But until I see some evidence about him pinching your cheeks, I'm going to have to let you go--"
"But Charlie!"
Charlie gave Kathryn a look. "No buts. Punching customers is bad for business. And I've worked really hard to built the reputation that I have now. So once this is all resolved, you can come back. But until then, your fired."
Charlie got up and left, ending the conversation.
━━━━━━━━━
Kathryn didn't like to cry in front of people.
But alone, she balled up like a baby. She crawled inside her car and cried her eyes out for twenty minutes straight. She didn't deserve to get fired for something she felt the need to do. It was all that asshole boy's fault that she was now jobless.
It would be hard for Kathryn to find a new job in the meantime but she had to pull herself together. Stating her car, Kathryn drove off not really knowing where she was going. Her shift didn't end for another five hours.
In the meantime, Kathryn aimlessly drove around to pass up the time, but didn't get far before her car suddenly it something in the rode that made her car feel one sided. Crying out bloody murder, she climbed out of the car and looked down to inspect the damage.
It was a flat tire alright but hopefully this problem could be fixed as soon as possible. Whipping out her phone, she tried calling her dad but noticed she didn't have any cell service and that her phone was at two percent. She cursed at the high heavens before kicking at her ruined tire.
It would be a long walk to the main streets but at least it was better than living in the middle of nowhere. Locking her door for good measure, Kathryn started walking to the main city on foot. As she started walking, a little rain drop smacked her forehead before rain came down hard.
"What the hell?" She yelled out to no one in particular. She couldn't believe that this was actually happening to her. She didn't do anything to deserve such a crappy day but wake up this morning. The rain soon soaked Kathryn right down to her underwear.
Kathryn noticed headlights up ahead and tried calling out for the driver but the person sped on, running over a puddle and soaking her to the core. She silently cried as she kept walking just hoping for a sign that this would all be over.
As she made it closer to the city, the rain lightened up a bit. Now at least Kathryn could see where she was going. She pulled out her phone and wasn't surprised to see that her phone had died and might have a bit of water damage to add to it.
Once Kathryn made it into the city, she walked straight to a payphone and dug into her pocket for some loose change. Slipping in a couple of coins, she dialed her dad's number and hoped that he picked up.
He did on the third ring.
"Dad I'm at Western Ave and I need you to pick me up!" Kathryn begged sobbing uncontrollably at the crappy day she had. It was times like these where she really needed her dad.
"Don't worry pumpkin I'll come as soon as I can." Kathryn hanged up after that, and looked around before walking straight into the nearest department store. She hadn't been to this part of city, but was surprised at the selection of stilettos this store had.
The urge to by a new pair of heels itched the back of Kathryn's head she she snatched a cute leopard print one. She headed to the cashier and ignored the look that the woman was giving her.
"Um can I help you?"
"Yes," Kathryn gritted out. "Maybe if you stop looking at me like I was a monster, you'd know that I would like to purchase these?" She said thrusting the heels at the woman's direction.
"Cash or debit," she muttered.
"Debit," Kathryn said smiling a little for the first time all day.