I took a deep breath. Fresh flowers, dusty old books, it was my favorite way to start my day. I glanced at the pile of unpaid bills at the register and sighed. We couldn’t keep living like this, the bookstore wasn’t doing as well as it used to and the bills kept coming.

‘I need to take up more shifts’ I said to myself as I tidied up the bookstore when I heard dad’s faint coughs in the background

‘Are you good dad?’

‘Yes Ava, I’m fine’

‘We need to get to the hospital you’ve been coughing a lot lately’

‘I’m fine, it’s probably just a common cold, I’ll take hot tea and rest and it’ll be over soon.’

‘Okay dad’ but I knew it wasn’t okay. I couldn’t really complain because honestly, we couldn’t even afford a doctor’s appointment.

I loved the bookstore so much, my whole childhood was built inside there and it was my parent’s livelihood especially after my mum passed so I tried my best to run it as much as I could. I checked the inventory and noticed something, the monthly anonymous buyer had made yet another huge purchase. Every month, for the past three years, this anonymous buyer had gotten seven copies each of the same three books; ‘seven secrets, where love hides’ and ‘Love without bounds’ Three classics I personally love but rarely sold because of how expensive they were. This monthly purchase alone helped with more than half of our expenses and basically kept this bookstore afloat. I’ve always wondered who this person was and why they were making such a huge purchase over and over again without ever picking it up but I didn’t let it bother me because it was for the best…right?

I snapped out of my thinking when my phone rang, it was Samantha

‘Hey babes, are you there yet?’

‘Hi Samantha, good morning to you too’

‘Whatever girl, are you there yet’

‘Am I where?’

‘At the café DUHH! You promised to meet me there at 10 and we’d hang out till it’s time to go for Sage and sterling’s meeting by twelve.

‘Oh...’

‘Don’t tell me you forgot’

‘I’m sorry, I’ll meet you there in 10 minutes’

‘Better hurry’

‘Yes ma’am

I hung up. I totally forgot about the meeting we had at Sage and Sterling catering, the catering company we both work for as servers, and I also forgot about our hangout session. I hurriedly left the bookstore and met up with Samantha.

‘Hey…I’m late, I know and I’m really sorry’, I aid while I rushed into the café with a little piece offering gift box’

‘It’s okay, it’s not like I’m surprised or anything. Mm what’s in the box?’

‘Well, it’s a little peace offering…wait what do you mean by that?’

‘By what’

‘You said it’s not like you’re surprised’

‘Yeah, I mean lately you’ve been so busy and so unavailable for me’

‘Omg, I’m sorry if I’ve been doing that. You know how it’s been with the bills and my dad’s health and….’

‘…. it’s okay, I understand and I don’t blame you. Now give me my peace offering before I change my mind’

I smiled and handed her the box filled with chocolates and different treats she liked. I was really lucky to have a friend that understood and stood by me. After a while, we headed out to Sage and Sterling catering for the meeting.

‘Good morning staff’

‘Good morning, madam’, we all said in unison to the manager.

‘I hope you’re all ready for Friday’s Job and I have some good news to announce. There’s a Job coming up for a high-profile company, Miller.co but it’ll be different this time. It won’t be put out as an offer for you to choose but instead, we would be selecting the best to work during that event, good luck getting picked and we’ll see you on Friday.

‘OMGG!!!’, Samantha squealed in excitement.

‘We’re going to be catering for THE Miller.co, maybe I’ll get to see Mr. Adrien Miller in Person’

‘How do you know you’ll get picked huh?’, I teased.

‘Girl, we are the best here. The manager would be blind if she doesn’t pick us.

We both laughed and left the company building. I also wanted to get picked but because I knew this event was going to have a good pay and the money could help get some medicine for my father.’

After Friday’s event, we went back to office and were summoned for the picking. All the girls were excited and praying to be picked and I just felt butterflies in my stomach, not the good kind.

‘Good day staff’

‘Good day Madam’

‘Okay, so through a lot of observations, we’ve picked the staff that would serve at Miller.co’s gala.

Samantha excitedly leaned to me, ‘I really hope they pick us, then I get to see Mr. Adrien in person’.

‘Well let’s listen and see’

‘The selected staff for the gala are Ms. Audrey, Ms. Silvia, Mr. Robert, Ms. Samantha, Ms. Ava……’

I let out a sigh of relief, Samantha and I were picked which meant I could get my dad’s medicine, and she got to see her ‘crush’.

‘Those of you who were selected should wait behind for a brief discussion and the rest of you are free to leave till the next meeting will be held’, the manager said.

After a few minutes, it was the twenty of us selected staff that were left.

‘You all have been selected for this Job and that means you’re apparently one of the best here’, she said while examining us like a bunch of animals.

‘The Millers are one of the wealthiest most prestigious families in this state and all around the country. I expect you all to be on your best behavior and not disgrace me. To ensure that wouldn’t happen, you all would go on a week intensive training on etiquette, manners, and everything you need to know about serving the high class, starting Monday. Any mess ups and you’re out, good luck and see you all on Monday’.

My chest tightened, this wasn’t my first time serving such high profile, guests. We had been to Beverly hills a couple times serving wealthy families, but we had never had to go under training to serve them. I kept on thinking, ‘What if I mess up during the training? I’ll obviously be disqualified. I really need this job and I’ll try my best’.