Iris Penelope Williams POV
It all started with the foggy pouring rain.
I rolled my eyes couple of times at the sky as it could summon the grey clouds away. But it didn't work after all. Let me tell you something about raining, not about that first spring rain which makes you want to run down the muddy paths screaming, ignoring the fact how you got your brand new cloths all covered in mud, nor about that icy rain which pours down right after the winter which makes you stand in a bus stop like a wet hen.
It's about a typical summer rain but yet like every other rain which makes everything become more tedious than ever, more struggle to catch the bus at the last minute,more mopping, more muddy foot steps, more visitors and more wet umbrellas.
That's it. I'm just another waitress in the French corner. I left a small sigh out after moping the floor for the third time of the day.
I always loved to get lost in my dramatic thoughts whenever I'm working through out the day. It makes me feel safe and sound. But if this bloody gloominess is going to hang around for a while, i don't know whether I'll be able to keep my sanity or not.
I've been working in the French corner restaurant for two years. After 2 years of college i had to make a choice to drop out or make a living. being 20 and homeless isnt easy.
"Iris can you hurry up? Mr. Stonewood is here" Melissa rushed away with a panicked voice. Breaking away from my bubble of thoughts i started mopping the entrance with all the strength i have.
The marble floor was already slippery. This wouldn't be a this much hectic if our grumpy manager was a little be less penny pinching. But he refused to buy a hoover saying rubbish.
I could hear his voice over loud thuds talking to the chef de cuisine. He must be getting really near now. And the entrance is still wet.
"Oh boy,oh boy ..."i wiped some sweat dripping through my cheeks. Why do i have to sweat like in a hot summer day when the rain is already pouring down?Now he's almost near. I tried my best to wipe the soap water although i was dead knackered . And took mop and the bucket in my hand and hid behind the marble pillars of the caff.
"I want to reduce the kitchen wastage. I can't feed my whole income to that cleaning service,can I?Are we clear?" He stated wandering his eagle eyes all around the area.
Michael, the chef sighed without even trying to answer him. It was not not needed anyway.
blimey ,please don't let him see..i prayed silently.
"And one more thing... "He stopped at the edge of the step looking back at Michael before stepping into his Ford.
And then one of the most unfortunate things i had to witness in my life happened. Mr. Grumpy aka Stonewood missed the step.
.
.
.
And landed on his back on the wet floor......only if this was not a rainy day....only if the floor was not wet ......things could have gone different...
Thudd!
I was already numb and dumbstruck in horror with my mouth half open.
Seeing Mr Stonewood getting his arse over tit didn't make me paralyzed after all. It was his ungodly hair which made my mouth fall open.
The hair..... Oh i mean the wig according to this sudden realization was gloriously fallen down,and was soaked in shambles.
However after coming back to his senses Michael ran towards the mourning manager.
"Sir are you fine ?"
"Do i look fine? bloody bollocks" Mr. grumpy screamed in a whining voice.
Although i was gutted i found courage to walk down to them.The others co workers were starting to gather around. I slowly collected his wet wig from the ground and went near him.this might be my last chance to bodge this.
He must be really embarrassed now. Because it seems like mr. Stonewood wanted to hide his bold head from the whole world.
Few of the coworkers had already made him stand on his two legs.
God have mercy...
"Ssir.... Your wig" i handed the wet wig to the grumpy.
Grumpy just grabbed the wig out of my hands while narrowing his eyes at me with full of loathing.
"Who the hell moped the floor without drying it?" He thundered.
I licked my dry lips.
"Who the hell moped the floor without drying it???"
"I...i was moping it when you arrived sir" i somehow blurted out.
"I don't need this kind of bloody carelessness ,innit? Today you got me on the ground and tomorrow you'll get the Queen, oh good lord! ."
Now the co workers and few people were watching the scene. I felt my heart beat turns into a much slower phase. I was starting to feel small than ever and my breaking point seemed near as my eyes started to feel glassy.
"I'm really sorry sir ,i was working on it when you arrived. I've been working here for two years ..innit?and have never been careless. it's not the reason why you slipped sir, You missed the step." I uttered with a small shaking voice.
"Don't even try to give your reasoning. You're fired"
"What...? Sir but please i need this job..i i beg y..."
But Mr. Stonewood didn't wait a second to listen to my pleadings.
Everybody rushed away back to their own work sending sorrowful glances. I sat on the steps to collect my strained strength and thoughts.
Michael who watched the whole scene gave me a sympathetic look but said nothing.It was not like they could do anything anyways. Mr.Stonewood could fire anyone for no reason and this time he actually had one.
I sighed wiping my the warm wet drops away from my cheeks. I knew that Michael couldn't do anything which could not lead his job at risk too .
It was over. i have been working here for two years and I am quite attached to this place. Every brick of it is familiar to me but What am i supposed to do now. I wiped the last drop of tears and got up.
Before getting noticed by anyone i crawled back to the worker's rest room and grabbed my things I was not in a mood to say goodbye to anyone.
I sighed again. As this is the beginning of the month there's no point of hoping for a pay check.
I slowly slid through the back door and got into the streets. However the head chef, Michael always treated me well.We were the only people who stayed in that place for more than one year. Mr.Stonewood always had a reason to fire someone.
The rain was pouring down through the streets of London.
Wish if i could blame the rain, for making me go from an orphan to a jobless.
I took the umbrella Melissa gave me which was left at the restaurant for ages. The owner never showed up. Thanks to him i don't have to go home all wet and get sick. That's the last thing on my mind. I was already poor,poor enough not having money to buy an umbrella. I drifted through the pouring rain getting lost in my own world.
Who the hell said that rain is so romantic?
Duh bollocks..
When you are poor rain is just another distress.
I could hear my footsteps chirping through the watering lane as i felt a shower of water gliding down my cheeks. I was just angry at myself.
why cannot the water works wait till i get home. Why am i this sissy?
I crossed the road lost in my own thoughts. Yepp shouldn't have done that either...
Durrpp...
A flashy Audi stopped right before hitting me making my eyes go wide. collecting my thoughts I found my self leaning against the Audi all wet. my arms felt like their bruised. I hissed with pain.
Is this the punishment for making grumpy fall? But even Michael saw that it wasn't my fault. The rain had already made me soaked.
I tried to get up. A guy got down holding an umbrella from the passenger side and rushed to me.
I couldn't see the gentleman clearly but when he offered me his hand i scoffed . I finally found my strength and got up without taking the offer.True that he tried to offer help but i was not in a good state of mind to process the incidents happened so far. i was angry ,frustrated and embarrassed.
May be that got him mad. Despite his handsome features a cloud of annoyance was running through his face.Of course he was handsome...if i met him in a different situation I would have fancied him.
But i was quite mad . Through out the whole day i dealt with enough shit.
I found my umbrella crippled under the car. Now there is no use of it as i was already wet and it was anyways broken.
"Bloody hell ..doesn't your driver really dont know how to drive a car without killing some innocent people around?" I blurted.
"Hey calm down lady. you alright?
It's not our fault that you forgot to double check the road before crossing it."
I nearly cringed to what he said. It was true i was stupid,stupid enough to loose my job and kill my self in the same day.
I sobbed once or twice. I was glad that the rain hasn't stopped so he can't see my tears.
"So what? does it make you feel alright? If the breaks didn't work properly i could have died on the spot. I know that people like you... Don't know the value of a human life...plonkers "
i muttered the last part loud enough him to hear it.
That is when he looked really pissed and for my bad luck he understood it in another way.
"Oh really?... and i know about women like you too. Trying to get in to someone's pocket in every advantage you get. If you want money then I'll give you enough...Just let it go" That made me pout like a fish without water,he got over the car with long strides and opened the door. And got a check book.
While i was glued to the exact spot i was standing in, he came towards me sheltering both of us under his umbrella. He pushed the paper into my hand which seemed to be a check it self.
"Is 1000 pounds enough for you?" he asked in a hurry . It made my pupils wide after hearing the amount. Gosh this guy must be bloody rich.
After all the things i have faced through out the day, i was beyond mad for some reason.And my face was red like a tomato already.
"What the bloody hell.. do you think that's what my life worth? Are you this cheap?
I wanted to slap him. I wanted to slap him soo hard .
Will i get arrested for hitting a rich handsome douche bag?
He looked puzzled. But then his eyes got darker.
"So are you saying that this is not enough for you? Gees ...What kind of a girl are you"
Then he grabbed the check book again from his pocket.
I didn't wait till he write me another check. The sudden rage inside me was giving me a lump in my throat.
So i hit him with my umbrella...em.. more like pushed him..whatever.
Right into his hard chest. and it was hard as a rock
But i don't know whether it was hard enough to shatter his cold heart tho.
He looked blank.
so i decided to give him a piece of thought. i didn't want him to have another wrong idea.
"Money minded low key bastards like you will never understand the value of someone else's life. did you just call me a gold digger.i don't need your bloody Money.you only had to man up and apologize. you son of b****"
I paused my speech just to check whether he's affected or not.
But i kind of died inside when i saw his amused green eyes. May be he's trying to make a bloody joke out of this to humiliate me.
Before he starts talking again i threw my umbrella back at him and ran away.
*****
It was almost getting dark when i reached my apartment. I loved the place although it was damp and gloomy. I was glad to find it because living in the slums was my biggest nightmare but as now I'm left without a job it seems like I'll have to over come my fear soon or later.
I was already shivering with the cold. I grabbed my towel and rubbed my hair.
I can't believe how my life changed within less than 3 hours.
And now here i am, without a job ,already shivering and sneezing into my towel.But not that I have calmed down i feel like it's all my fault.may be if i go tomorrow i can plead for my job.
And on the other hand my mind wandered towards the handsome tall guy that i hit shamelessly. True that he was arrogant as hell but i shouldn't have hit him anyway. And the check he offered me, never in my life i had that much money in my hands. But how can i accept that from him, after he labeled me with such a low identity. I already had 500 pounds saved in my bank account with the hope of finishing my degree somehow but i will have to find twice the amount and its not possible with a job.
I never owned a lots of money in my life. When i was ten my parents died from a car crash. After that i was sent to live with my uncle and his family. They,including Haily ,my cousin were never fond of me. They hated me but it was only shown through the indifference. My father was a lawyer .And after their death my uncle being the closest relative took me in. As he told my parents left nothing behind and our beautiful house was sold saying that money will be needed for my expenses. So until i turned 18 i was basically their slave, more like Hailey's slave. I had to clean her room, do her homework or whatever she says.She was a bully. Of course my uncle and aunt treated her like a princess showering her with everything she asked but nothing made her happier than bullying. The result was Hailey getting more spoiled.
The helpers never helped either. They knew I'm being treated with indifference so the avoided me most of the time.
Hailey was making my life miserable and her parents kept ignoring me as always.
Also i was enrolled in to the same school Hailey attended .So through out my whole school years i was mostly humiliated, bullied and cornered thanks to her.
I learned to keep my mouth shut and ignore most of the time because standing against them was meaningless. It's funny how i played Cinderella's part for almost 8 years but my prince never showed up.
And i lost the hope.
But when i turned 16 i secretly found a job in an ice cream shop and it gave me the opportunity to avoid Hailey and to save some money as my uncle and aunt never bothered about my whereabouts. I worked there till i turn 18 and found this small apartment. I had saved enough money for my own rescue plan by then. One day when Hailey was accusing me saying that i have used her foundation bottle which was a lie i decided that it was the time to say goodbye.I was 18 and legal anyways.
I won a scholarship to attend university which was the only best thing that happened to me through out my teenage years. Yes true that i studied hard as it was my only hope.
So for the first time i stood up for myself. Although my uncle reminded that how much i owe them for raising me and that i should be grateful.
But it's a half lie because i was never welcomed nor treated as family. I just didn't want to be in a place where i didn't belong.
But after that incident i was fired from the ice cream parlor for no reason. But i heard that my uncle came there once. So it's not hard to understand that he's the one who forced the manager to do so.
So i had to stop attending university before the ending of the first year. Studies are important too but no body can survive the hunger. I had to find my expenses True that my uncle won after all. I couldn't make it. But later on i found the French corner. But yet i couldn't save money enough to attend university again as they had canceled my scholarship due to my lack of attendance.
And once again I'm lost. Back to square one.
I have to find a job soon or else i won't be able to afford this apartment anymore. Another sigh escaped.
*****
Next morning i woke up early with high hopes to find a job. I got dressed quickly as i didn't have much choices rather than my only formal looking knee length skirt and white blouse. After putting my hair into a pony tail i looked re-presentable enough.
After looking for a job in few stores I sat down on a bench next to the very road that i got hit by a car. I brushed my bruised elbow. My stomach growled. That reminded me that i was starving since yesterday night.just a little longer..
I left a small sigh and got up to visit few more shops.
But when i stood up the world around me started to spin. I felt my vision get blurred. The only support i could find was the lamp post nearby.
All i could feel before giving away to the darkness was myself falling into two long muscular arms of a stranger.