Olivia's hand appears to be about to give out because she's been working for eight hours and is now holding a large tray full of food and drinks in her other hand; she's exhausted, but she needs money and overtime pay, and as she looks around the restaurant, she's pleased with her boss's success because the restaurant where she worked for ten years has gradually grown and today will be a birthday celebration, followed by an anniversary celebration with one of their wealthy clients.
"Olivia! Come over here!" Her obnoxious manager called her from afar, who acts as the daughter of the restaurant's proprietor but she's not.
After serving a table, she promptly approached it, holding the empty tray.
"Yes, coming up..."
"You only need to wash the dishes in the kitchen because Abby isn't here today and I see you're not doing anything, so wash the dishes,"
Ruby, the restaurant manager, gives her orders. Her smile vanished, and she wanted to defend herself, but she restrained herself. She didn't want to make a fuss because she would be held accountable for being such a complainer, but that's not the case. She simply did as she was told and went to the kitchen, where she was astounded by the number of plates and glasses that needed to be washed. That's why Abby isn't here right now because the manager is a friend of hers, and she can have a day off anytime. She sighed thinking that and took a clean towel and wiped her sweaty face, evidence of her hard work, before beginning to wash the dishes.
She suddenly realised that if there was another job where she could be paid regularly, she would have left this restaurant for good because her coworkers are extremely toxic. After all, she's always being ordered, and she can't help but obey because that's probably all she can do. She may even lose her job if she continues to act and defend herself, one of the benefits of being universally despised. She looks in the mirror at herself, a pale face, a broken pair of eyeglasses, and no make-up. She has tangled bangs that hide her pretty face, but she doesn't think she's pretty, so she just sighed and looked in the mirror again.
Suddenly, her cellphone rang, which she had been using for five years; she couldn't even afford a new one because she is a frugal woman. Thomas is calling her, her long-term boyfriend whom she hopes to marry one day. She dashed into a corner so no one could see her because cellphones were prohibited during working hours. She cheerfully swiped the phone and answered Thomas' call.
"Love..." She said happily with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Love, When are you going home so we can have dinner together?" Thomas inquired.
"Uh...I'm not sure, love, but I'll ask my boss if I can leave early."
"Yes, that is a good idea...you'll buy dinner tonight and meet at your apartment. Okay?" Thomas said this and then hung up.
"sure. I love-"
She was about to say something, but Thomas abruptly hung up the phone. Even if her boyfriend is always in a hurry, she understands his job because an uber driver may also have a large number of customers waiting for him. She was about to return to what she was doing when he noticed Leila washing the dishes and she blinked twice. Leila has also been her friend for a long time, and this is what keeps her going when she has a lot of work to do, so she smiled and approached her.
"You don't have to do that, Leila." In a shy tone, she said.
"Olivia, I know you're tired; you can go home now and rest," Leila suggested, smiling warmly.
"Thank you very much, Lei. I'm so grateful to have you as a friend. To be honest, my hands are trembling from working 8 hours and then washing dishes." She responded with a sad expression.
"Don't worry... I've already informed the boss that I will finish off the dishes today."
"Thank you very much, Lei!"
Because he had worked all day, his entire body hurt when he walked out of the restaurant. She was in the waiting shed, sitting and waiting for her uber driver's boyfriend, but it still hadn't arrived after half an hour, so she walked and bought her boyfriend's favourite food. She smiled, knowing that she could make her boyfriend happy tonight. She immediately dialled his number and called, but no one answered. She pouted and waited for Thomas for another hour.
"Thomas?!" She's waving when she sees Thomas's car. The woman had just exited Thomas' car and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be right back," the woman whispered.
"Thomas?! I've been waiting for half and an hour here." She complained looking at him. When Thomas spotted her, his eyes widened and he spun left and right before grabbing her and helping her into the car, and driving away.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked, confused and looking at him with a grim face.
"Nothing is wrong with me. I'm extremely busy today, and I work a lot. I've been on the road all day! What exactly do you expect me to do? Being on time to pick you up? That is, of course, impossible. My schedule is completely booked." While driving and not looking at her, he said.
"Yeah, but you should have texted me or called me that you will be late so I will take a bus and not bother you to pick me up..." She replied with annoyance in her voice and thinking about the girl who he just dropped off.
She sighed and looked at Thomas who has a serious face now and doesn't want to look at her. She sees her reflection in the window of the car, she looks miserable. Tangled hair and a stressed face.
"I'm sorry love..." She apologised to make all things better because she doesn't want him to be distant from her.
"That's okay. We've been working all day. Did you buy my favourite food?" He asked her.
"Ah yes, we can eat this in my apartment. "
"Oh so sorry love. I will take that food because I want to visit my mom tonight and see that you look messy so I can't take you with me. I will drop you in your apartment okay then I will take the food. You need to rest..." He says this to her just to make her feel good, but she isn't; she feels bad about herself.
"Okay love." She replies with a low voice. She understood why he didn't want her to be in his mother's house because she knew she looked like a mendicant in her food-stained clothes.
"I understand..." She looked at him with a forced smile on her face.
Olivia couldn't help but wonder why Thomas was so cold around her. Is Thomas dating someone else? She shook her head, unable to think of anything.
They were fine in previous years, months, and days, but why is Thomas' treatment of her so hazy now? Is it because she won't be able to have intimate intercourse with him until they marry? She took a long breath and glanced at Thomas once more, biting her lower lip since she didn't want to think anything unpleasant that would jeopardise their relationship.