7.

After three hours of working, Ayesha still found herself smiling. Into the industrial trawler, she sorted out the next batch of towels and sheets she had as part of her quota for the day. She had her headphones over her ears, listening to music while she worked.

Her mind travelled once in a while to the conversation she had with Dimitri earlier in the morning. In truth, it left her flustered as well as anxious. There was no doubt that she liked being around him. Three times they had met, and each time left her giddy and dosed with excitement. This time she wondered if he thought or felt the same about her. Worse, today when he asked to take her out for a drink.

A drink!

The simple invitation to go out for drinks brought about many facts. Ayesha barely knew anything about the man apart from his name. Wt did she know about his life, that she was allowing herself to sink deeper and deeper into a hole of unknown depth? She had never considered herself a hopeless romantic. All her former relationships never lasted long because she knew she would leave at some point.

With the promise of building a life, she was yearning for more, and maybe that was why her mind was running wild without thought. There was a strong possibility that Dimitri wasn’t attracted to her or interested in her the way she seemed to be with him. In every situation, he had only been kind and friendly.

She sighed, turning her head to the ceiling. It was settled. She needed to keep her head on her shoulders. The last thing she needed was a relationship when she was least ready for it, with someone she practically knew nothing about. She needed to get her priorities straight.

“Ayesha?” She pulled her headphones to rest them on her neck. Her colleagues were filling out the room. “Won’t you go for lunch?”

She checked her clock to note the time. “Right. I’ll join you guys outside in a second.”

Most employees preferred to have lunch in the cafeteria. They would sit around the tables and eat foods they brought from home or bought from the cafeteria. Others, like herself, preferred to eat outside on the row of benches behind the building. It was placed away from the trees and in the shade of two large umbrellas.

There, she had a good view of the street and enjoyed watching the city while she ate.

Ayesha grabbed her backpack from her locker and picked up her lunch from the fridge. Outside, she sat down on the bench with another coworker, Carol. In the few weeks of work, Carol was someone she had gotten used to quickly. She was outgoing, friendly, funny and extremely welcoming. It was easy to befriend her.

They usually had their lunch with others, but today they sat alone. While Ayesha ate her bowl of stir fry, Carol chewed on hamburgers and fries she bought, probably from the cafeteria.

“So, a few of my girls and I are going out to a party tomorrow. Are you interested? It’s after our shift, and it wouldn’t go too late into the night.”

“I’ll pass. After work, all I want to do, is rest in my pyjamas, probably with some food to pass the time.”

“Fair enough, but you know going out is a good way to learn a lot about the town. People talk, and you get to pick up bits of information here and there.”

“Like?”

“Like the best restaurants. The stores with the best sales prices and discounts. Best bars, although I highly doubt you are into that. You might even catch up on gossip about elites of the town.”

Ayesha raised a brow. “Elites?”

“Don’t sound so sceptical. Watford is home to various famous people, and several important people are natives. Our mayor has lived here since he was a kid and his oldest son is a famous businessman outside of the town. I bet you didn’t hear that his son is back in town.”

“I did.”

“That’s surprising.”

“I only know because Joseph actually worked the party his family threw for him last weekend. I think it was to celebrate his return.”

“Are you serious? Did he meet him? What was their house like? I have only ever seen the pictures on the internet.”

“You need a life,” Ayesha muttered, her mouth half full of food. “What’s with you and stalking celebrity figures.”

“It fills a void, alright? No judgement. Besides, it’s the hottest topic on the lips of everyone in town. Especially the girls.”

“He is a great catch then.”

“A superb catch. No one knows if he is single, but there is a rumour that he is. He used to date one of the former pageant queens when they both lived here, but that ended sometime back.”

“I am guessing you know why.”

“If that was a bet, you’d lose. No one knows." She took a bite of her burger. "He has been out of town for so long that it’s caused such an uproar when he returned. According to very unreliable sources, he came back more handsome than before.”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Ayesha countered. “Maybe you all just missed him so much it makes you think he looks better.”

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen him. All the pictures the magazines have used are old ones. He looks the same in all of them. But from memory, he was a pretty good-looking man. Dressed well, had great fashion sense and a killer smile.”

“When do you make your move?” Ayesha teased, wiggling her brows in derision.

“Please. A man like that will not look at me twice. You know how they are, dating within their social circle. No, he is to admire from afar and maybe fantasize about once in a while.”

Ayesha listened, looking away the moment Carol mentioned social circles.

When she lived at home, her mother ingrained it into her mind that she could only have relationships with men of their station. Ayesha argued that there were no princes around for her to marry. Her parents’ rebuttal was that there was a wide range of suitable men in their circle. She had to look at dukes and marquesses, men with titles, names, and land. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t a prince, but he could be close.

She was never allowed to play with the kids from the village or any of the worker's kids. Instead, her parents organized play dates and parties with the most privileged families on the invite list. Ayesha grew up a classist, believing that she was to marry someone of better social standing. 

But now she was as normal as the men and women that worked day and night to maintain a decent lifestyle. She ate outside on benches and lived in a small apartment in a town. Her dating repertoire didn’t hold anyone that held any social standing aside from being a citizen.

“Don’t give up hope. Many celebrities ended up dating simple people and marrying them too. One day will be your day.”

Carol laughed, raising her soda bottle in a toast before she took a swig. “I like that. Watford is a small town, maybe he will bring his clothes over one day, and I’ll get to do my faint-and-grab-em routine.”

Ayesha almost spat out the sip of the drink she had taken. She choked and swallowed it down, then promptly started laughing.

“I am glad you have hope that he is the kind of man to bring his laundry instead of sending his multitude of servants.”

“Wow, first you give me hope and then you try and take it, but I won’t give you the chance.” She bit into her burger some more. “Come on, tell me what Joseph said about the party.”

Ayesha shrugged. “He said a lot of things, but I can’t remember them. He was mostly working around the clock, you know. He served food, waited on the guests, and didn’t get off his feet until it was about time to close.”

“So, he was blindfolded?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say. And before you ask for pictures, he was not allowed to take any.”

“I know that.”

All Joseph had talked about when he came back was the grandeur of the entire event. He praised the guest for their chic dresses and mannered composure. The rest were related to how exhausted he was working through the night and didn’t really get to enjoy the place.

“Don’t you ever wonder what it’s like to live in a place like that? They bought the house, you know. No renting, no fear that someone else might take it from them. No bothering about being late paying the bills. They can have their whole family move in, and there might still be space in there.”

“There is a reason I don’t bother with the lives of famous people. It’s so I don’t end up depressed wondering what it would be like to live their life.”

She missed a lot of things about having wealth. That was the plain truth. Most nights, when she rolled in from work, bone tired or stressed, she missed not having a bath prepared for her. The maids would fill the tub with warm water and add their little fragranced soap and other ingredients before she went in. They’d massage her fingers or brush out her hair, and she’d just lie there.

It was a life she gave up, and she didn’t allow herself to think about things like the house, the space, the wealth, or the food. She chose to enjoy what little pleasures she allowed herself and remind herself that she, at least, had her freedom.

“We have to get back.” Ayesha sighed, packing up her plates and stuffing them in the bag. Their lunch break was over, and they had a lot of work to do before their shift was over. “Don’t fantasize too much about your dream man while you work. Keep yourself focused.”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to do the exact opposite.”