Beneath the quilt, Ava Taylor trembled fiercely. Her heart was in a state of frenzy as water streamed down from the corner of her eyes and disappeared into her hair. “Cole…” She muttered to herself. However, her eyes were still shut tightly as she persists to shiver uncontrollably. “How could you do this to me?” Her voice was frail, “You said you love me, Cole” As she said all these words to herself, all she could do was to shudder. It seemed she was mumbling to someone in her trance. Outside the room, a slender figure suddenly jiggled the door handle to Ava's room, then barged in. “Hey you, bitch!” Charlotte Taylor shrieked, walking wholly into the cozy room.
Ava's eyelashes twitched, Charlotte's deep voice seemed to have cut off her dream. She gradually fluttered her eyes open but remained in a daze under the comforter, clutching the fabric in her hand. However, Charlotte had lost her temper, she had expected Ava to have obediently uncovered the quilt over her head when she had heard her voice. Charlotte exploded with rage as she withdrew the cover at once, revealing the sober Ava. “You're becoming more and more redundant in this house, Ava. How could you still be slumbering here like a sleeping log? Don't you know what the time is, aren't you going to prepare breakfast?” Charlotte barked, combing her red hair with her fingers. Ava had propped herself up with the support of her hand, she lowered her head in silence. Of course, it was not her uptime yet, she still had almost an hour before her alarm clock would chime. But whenever her sister comes back from college, she tends to make her life more miserable than it already was. Charlotte had never treated her as a sibling, she even loathed her more than their parents. She found pleasure in displeasing Ava. Not only that, several months ago, when she had discovered that Ava was now seeing a man, a man who was expressing much love to her to the length that it was visible in the household. Ava was seen to be always smiling sheepishly to herself, she would perpetually lock herself in her room, conversing with the man over the phone.
This goaded Charlotte, it disheartened her to see Ava pleased and all that. Fortunately for her, she attended the same college with this man, which effortlessly made her snatch him from her little sister. Furthermore, Charlotte did everything in her power to make their parents usurp Ava's phone. But before that, Charlotte had made sure the man call Ava and broke up with her right on the phone call. Ever since then, Ava had been left devastated. She had originally thought that man was the man of her dreams. A week after their break-up, she was coming back from work that night when she had seen Charlotte with her ex-boyfriend. A thin layer of mist flashed across her eyes as she stood there in a daze, watching her sister flirt with her ex-boyfriend-Cole. Her heart fell off her chest and broke down into a million pieces as the tears in her eyes finally fell.
Charlotte, who had been entangled with Cole for a long time, sensed a figure watching them, she slowly pulled out of the passionate kiss then turned back to face her little sister. A satisfied smirk embedded at the corner of her lips upon discerning the water gathered in Ava's eyes. Yes, this is what she has always wanted. She thought in her mind. In her eyes, Ava didn't deserve such a cute and handsome man as Cole. Her eyeballs were so big, she was too skinny with her lengthy blond hair like a witch. On top of it all, Ava was just a common barista, who works all her life in a coffee shop. Moreover, she was not even in a college, and Cole's parents were both prominent in the society for they were among the elites. On the verge, as soon as Cole saw Ava standing in that spot, he felt a stab of pity in his heart. He thought in his mind that Ava didn't warrant such ill-treatment. Ava was always meek and mild. Thinking back to how soft and adoring Ava used to be, he suddenly had an impulse to reach out and pull her into his arms. He discarded his ass which was planted to the bonnet of his car, standing straight then called out her name softly, “Ava” Hearing her name from his mouth, Ava uprooted her feet from that spot then hurried into the house, the tears were now spilling out of her eyes uncontrollably.
“You'll have to tend to my dirty laundry this morning before you go anywhere, I've brought them from school. Moreover, I'm famished, so you've got to hurry” Charlotte said imperiously. Ava's head was still lowered, she was a bit tired from the previous day's work. There were many customers in the shop yesterday, it was just as if their shop was the only coffee shop in town. And she was the only attendant, nobody else to assist her with the massive orders. This prompted her to arrive late from work last night, causing her mom to nag a lot, she had even accused her of being a prostitute lately. “Do you understand?” Charlotte scowled, moved herself closer then poked Ava's head. “Yes, Charlotte” Ava answered, sluggishly. Charlotte shot Ava a last dreadful glare, then left her room thereafter.
Ava got out of bed and went downstairs to prepare breakfast. She was a bit glad Charlotte had woken her up at this time, she would have enough time to finish up everything, then proceed to prepare for work.
Several minutes later, Ava was almost done with breakfast. She was grilling the meat and shrimp on the grilling machine when Charlotte came into the kitchen, grinning sheepishly to her phone camera. She was on a video call with Cole. “I miss you, Cole” She pouts while planting her ass on a stool in the kitchen. She had earphones plugged into her ears, but just to see Ava's reaction, she deliberately unplugged the earphones. Cole on the other end of the phone had a glossy smile on his lips as he replied, “I miss you too, babe. Will you be back at your hostel in the evening? I really can't wait to see you” A lopsided smile emanated on Charlotte's lips as she sneaked a glance at Ava, who had already halted her actions upon hearing Cole's name. “Come on, Cole, don't be ridiculous. You were at my place throughout yesterday, weren't you?” Charlotte chuckled as she continued to steal glances at Ava from time to time. Ava's eyes gradually filled with tears. She briskly gets done in the kitchen then went out, raising her head up, preventing the tears from dropping. She had promised herself not to ever cry over her ex-boyfriend again.
Half an hour later, Ava was dressed up for work. She was clad in a creamy sweatshirt and a baddie jean skirt, with a white sneaker encased in her feet. Her golden hair was parked in a high ponytail. Furthermore, her big round eyes enhanced her beautiful white face, she was a pretty lady. One would definitely doubt the fact that she was just a barista. She arrived in the dining room where all the whole members were seated, Dylan Taylor, Emma Taylor, and Charlotte Taylor. “Good morning, Dad. Good morning, Mum” Ava greeted her parents, but they only hummed in response, without raising their heads to even peek at her. She walked over to the table then scooted a chair backward, “I want to believe you're done with the laundry” Charlotte said with a mouthful of salad, Ava just nodded as she sat down. “And what do you think you're doing here?” Emma Taylor interrogated, directing the question to Ava. Ava pondered her response for a millisecond then finally answered, “To eat, Mum” Emma's eyebrows pressed into a tight frown as she gazed at Ava, who was sitting opposite her at the dining table. “So because you prepared the dishes, then you can't serve it, right?” Emma raised her voice, there was a trace of scowl emitted on her face. Instead of responding, Ava stared at her Mum's face in silence. It wasn't her fault that she couldn't serve the dishes. After she was done preparing breakfast, she left the kitchen immediately to do Charlotte's laundry. And as soon as she wrapped up with that, she quickly went back to her room to prepare for work.
“I'm sorry Mum, I was occupied with Charlotte's laundry that I forgot to come to serve the meal” Ava defended, looking down at her empty table. “So what Ava? Are you trying to say that Charlotte should be indebted to you for doing her laundry?” Emma asked in a quiet voice, lowering her cutlery in the process. Ava looked at Emma's face and quickly shook her head, “That was not what…” Before she could finish her words, “Get out!” Emma cried out hysterically. Ava flinched in fear then quickly got on her feet, “Go meet those men you've been giving your body lately, they'll find some coin to give you” Hearing her Mum spurt these horrible words to her, Ava felt a sense of bitterness arose in her heart as her eyes become moist with tears.