December 13th
5:34 PM
New York
– – – – – – – – – –

“So, you’re telling me you’ve got yourself a boyfriend, sweetheart? Come on, it ain’t fair to lie to me about it. Let me take you out tonight, show you a good time, what do you say?”

Audrey gripped the notepad in her hands until her knuckles blanched, teeth sinking into her lip as she stilled at the unwelcome touch of a calloused hand on her knee. “I just want to do my job, sir. So if you could just–”

She felt his fingers trail a path up her thigh. “Just what, darling?”

“Audrey, phone for you!”

Oh, thank God. Audrey left without an excuse and scurried behind the kitchen doors. She politely greeted the chefs and other waitresses bustling around before rushing to the back of the kitchen. Penelope stood with the red, wired phone in her hand as she impatiently tapped her foot, her menacing curls falling over her scrunched brows. “This lady said something about wanting to talk to you. I’m not sure what it’s for, but she sounded impatient. I should have cussed her out.”

Audrey rolled her eyes dismissively at her best friend, but amusement tickled her throat and sweet chuckles danced around the kitchen. “Thank you for not doing anything rash, Penny. I can take it from here.”

Her eyes shone bright, almost a heavy shade of umber when she handed the phone to Audrey and patted down her yellow uniform. “I’ll take table eight for ya!” she called back. “That bastard ain’t gon’ mess with me!”

“No one messes with Penelope!” Someone shouted, causing an uproar of laughter from the rest of the employees.

Audrey brought the phone to her ear and huddled close to the receiver to block out the talking in the kitchen. “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Audrey Rahal?” the voice of a woman inquired. She immediately straightened her spine at full alert and an unsettling wave of apprehensiveness crashed down on her, muddling her thoughts.

“Yes, that’s me. Who’s speaking?”

“This is Doris Lancaster, I’m Leah’s teacher. I’m guessing you couldn’t recognize my voice over the phone,” she sniggered on the other end.

“I’m calling because your daughter’s been waiting for someone to pick her up from school. I’ve waited with her for the past two hours, she told me her father would be here to get her but he hasn’t yet. I couldn’t just leave her outside. So she gave me this number saying I could call you.”

Audrey’s heart tore in two and no other sound reached her ears except Doris’. To think she could have been so naïve as to believe Gunner would do something selfless just this once. Especially for their daughter. Not only was she embarrassed that Leah’s school teacher was pinpointing the things was failing at, but she was also losing patience with her boyfriend.

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Lancaster. I’ll be there to pick Leah up soon. If it’s convenient for you, you can tell her to wait for me out on the playground. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“I don’t think I can do that–”

“Please,” Audrey pleaded, her eyes already swelling with tears. “I feel horrible for this, I’m so, so sorry, ma’am. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Doris hummed softly on the other end and in a soft tone, said, “not to worry, my dear. Leah’s a pleasant girl. She helped me reorganize the entire classroom while we waited. What an angel!”

Audrey clenched the phone and let a strenuous breath out. “Thank you, Mrs. Lancaster. I’ll be there.”

“And one more thing, Ms. Rahal.”

“Yes?” she swallowed.

“Leah’s home life, I’ve been seeing a few signs that perhaps there are things that aren’t working as smoothly between you and her father as parents. She’s…” Doris searched for the right words, “projecting. She’s quick to anger and I’ve had private discussions with her about how to better handle her emotions to avoid tantrums. But I know it’s not because she’s a mean girl. I just think she’s bottling up a lot inside. It’s not healthy, and I encourage you to come in sometime and talk to me about how we can get Leah back on track.”

Audrey was smouldered by shame. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you once again.”

She quickly hung up and dashed past the chefs into the staff room. Everyone watched her hurry by, surprised. Penny had been scrolling through her cell phone when she barged in and started gathering her belongings as she muttered incoherent words to herself. It was an ordinary place that consisted of nothing but an old couch, a simple round table and a coffee machine on the counter. But it was one of the safest places in this world for Audrey because, for a few hours, she didn’t have to be at home, a place flanked by problems.

Audrey rushed to her small duffel and opened it, taking out the casual clothes she put on this morning. She slipped on her jeans under her uniform before tugging the dress over her head. She knew she couldn’t keep pulling this act and get off free, but she wasn’t left with any other choice because, after all, her daughter had to come first.

“Everything okay with you, Rey? What’s going on?” Penny put the phone down on the round table and her eyes followed her friend all over the room. “If that lady said something you don’t like, I can–”

“That won’t be necessary,” Audrey slid on her coat and slung the small duffel bag over her shoulder. “I’ve gotta pick Leah up from school. Gunner didn’t show.”

Penny smiled. Not the showy, waitress kind. It was a simple, closed-lipped smile that was enough to tell Audrey what they were both thinking. “You’ve gotta leave him, Rey. He ain’t good for you or your little girl.”

“I can’t,” she argued weakly and trudged to the door. “Leah needs her dad and…I need him too, Penny. You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to have people to take care of. Your life’s so easy with Marcus. It’s not the same as mine.”

The severity of her tone only resonated with her once she witnessed a crack in her friend’s lighthearted pretense. Audrey didn’t enjoy being the type of person to compare people’s hardships, citing that everybody struggled in their own way, but she was boiling with frustration at how unfair her situation was when there were people like Penny who didn’t have to worry about feeding a child or being there for an addicted boyfriend or working full-time just to be able to barely afford rent.

“I’m sorry,” she quickly added. “That was inconsiderate of me. I’m not in a good place right now. It was wrong of me to say that.”

Although it would seem like Penny’s life was a walk in the park, her friend had come from an unstable home right from the get-go. She lost her father at the age of three and her mother at the age of fourteen. She was passed from one foster home to the next before someone took her in; even then her childhood hadn’t been the easiest–unlike Audrey who had everything money could buy, Penny was on the other side of the spectrum. She remembered the night they spoke like it was yesterday; it was hot and humid and they were the last two to lock up. One bottle of vodka later and they were sobbing in each other’s arms in the back of her old car.

There was a force between them, magnetic, that drew them to each other. Though nothing about them was similar, they were bonded by their hardships.

Audrey wasn’t like the people here; she wasn’t void and dark, she could still love, she could still go home to her family if she willed it. But she couldn’t. Because it would mean leaving behind her daughter and the man she loved, even though loving him had been the cause of all her problems. However, the thought crossed Audrey’s mind more than once in the past year, and she had always been so close to packing her suitcase and leaving her daughter and boyfriend behind.

Unfortunately, starting over was a privilege she couldn’t bank on.

Penny shrugged, her shoulders slouching forward. “I kinda deserved it for butting in. I get it, Rey. This is hard for you.”

“I’ll see you around. I’m sorry again.” Audrey opened the door but was stopped by a middle-aged woman donning the same uniform. Her gaze pierced the young girl’s, the faint wrinkles around her eyes wrinkling further as her eyes glared.

“Leaving again, Audrey?” Scorn stained her voice. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Please,” she pleaded. “My daughter’s still at school–“

“Save your excuses, I’ve heard them all before.”

She feared her boss, Agatha. The crude lady who never so much as smiled in anyone’s direction. She was dark at the heart. Audrey made sure she steered clear of her whenever she could. But this encounter was unavoidable.

“Ms. Rahal, you’re fired.”

Audrey stumbled back as if her words had physical force. “Agatha, I’m… what do you mean?”

“This is the third time this week you’re leaving early and I’ve had enough of it. You can drop off your uniform tomorrow. Your cheque will come in the mail in a week’s time.” Agatha’s thin lips poised into a disparaging smile. “I’m sure I can find somebody who’s more serious about this job than you are.”

Audrey didn’t think she could hate someone anymore, but at that moment, the intensity of her hatred for that woman jumped to wanting to see her dead. “Well, I suggest you be on your way, Ms. Rahal. Can’t keep your daughter waiting, now can you? I wish you the best.”

“I need this job. I need the money, Agatha. It’s the only way I can take care of my daughter.”

“You should have thought of that before you decided not to take it seriously,” she fired back. “Your employment has been terminated. End of discussion, Miss Rahal. Get your things and go.”

“But…” she realized she didn’t have the strength to say another word. With one final glance at Penny, whose head hung low, she left the staff room and drifted–almost ghost-like–past her co-workers. Well, they’re former co-workers now. 

Audrey kept her head down.

“There’s the sweetheart! Why don’t you come over here and show us some lovin’, baby? We’ll have a good time together!”

The same man who had touched her earlier whistled low and a roar of laughter erupted from his group of friends.

Ashamed and flustered, she jogged out before he could do more than let his lustful gaze linger. And she walked as fast as her feet would let her, watching her breaths rise in visible clouds, immune to the cold because the desolation was too much to fathom, she did her best to restrain the sobs that built up in her chest.

As she walked, she unzipped the pocket of her bag and dug through it for her cell phone. She unlocked it, quickly finding her boyfriend’s number, but unsure of why she dialled it. Did she want to scream at him? Did she want to cry to him? Did she want to tell him that she really didn’t want to return to that place they called home? She couldn’t say.

Hey, it’s Gunner. I can’t talk right now. Leave me a message. 

She didn’t expect a different outcome. Audrey hung up the phone and put it back in her bag.

Once she arrived at the bus stop, fresh tears had already begun pouring down her face. The winds grew heavy and the sun sunk lower into the sky with every waking second.

Her daughter too was waiting and cold and afraid and alone, much like Audrey was feeling. Maybe they were more alike than either of them thought.