Beauty and Her Beast

I pull my hood closer as I try my best to keep dry, I never expected that this morning could get any worse than normal but, as is my luck, the weather decided it could ruin my day. The rain is lashing down heavily and while that alone wouldn’t normally be an issue, the wind was so strong that it ripped my cheap umbrella to shreds in minutes. I am still ten minutes away from work and I hurry down the street hoping to get there before I’m completely soaked.

Since the rain is in my eyes, I am finding it hard to see and suddenly I collide with a wall so hard, that I bounce off and land on my ass in a puddle.

‘Nooo! I don’t need this.’

As tears threaten to pool in my eyes, I look up to try to see what I bumped into and am met by a person, not a wall. He is standing at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change and I realise that if he hadn’t been there to block me, I would have walked out in front of the traffic. Before I have the chance to apologise his surprised look turns into a scowl and he glares at me.

I had been admiring his features but now he just reminds me of my stepfather, and I shiver in revulsion at the thought.

“Don’t you watch where you are going?”

I gape at the venom in his voice and sit there getting wetter and colder the more this exchange is dragged out.

“It’s raining!”

Is all I manage to say, and he scoffs at me before glancing at his watch. Since he doesn’t seem to be intending to help me up, I pick myself off the ground and stand at the cross walk waiting for the light.

“So, people like you don’t know what manners are.”

My anger boils at his comment and as the light changes, I throw my reply back at him before leaving him behind.

“Funny, I was going to say the same about you.”

Using my fury to push me, I make it to work within five minutes and I am still fuming, as I put my wet coat on the heater to try and dry it. I lean against it to try and warm myself for a few minutes before my shift is due to begin.

“Wow girl you are drenched!”

I turn and lock eyes with Anya my work colleague and I guess friend, but I only see her here, so I stick to the former. She is pretty with blonde hair cut into a short bob style and pale blue eyes. She wears little makeup but uses just enough to enhance her already beautiful features.

She is slim but not muscular, she told me once that she has a great metabolism and chooses not to exercise as it is too much effort. She is about my height, standing at around 5.7 and likes to stay current with the fashions that are popular.

“Mmm”

“Uh oh, what happened? I haven’t seen you this mad since that day someone groped you and you poured coffee in his lap.”

I laugh remembering that, but my mood is still sour.

“I bumped into a guy at the cross walk and fell on my ass, the guy didn’t even ask if I was okay, he just shouted at me for colliding with him and left me sitting there.”

“Ah one of those, well you are here now so you can forget him. Oh, your makeup is running.”

I pale and grab my makeup from my backpack before rushing to the small washroom we have in the back room. As I look in the mirror, I can see that my carefully arranged makeup is so smudged that I look like a panda. I hastily scrub everything off and glance at my reflection only once before I begin reapplying everything.

Every day I wear a thick layer of foundation over my skin to hide my scars, I don’t like pity and anytime I forget to apply this correctly the people I meet always have the same expression. It makes me feel like a victim, so I conceal it, and no one knows any different.

I have six, three-centimeter lines that are scattered along the left side of my face. The top one is above my eyebrow and the rest follow the contour of my cheek down to my chin. Then there is a seventh, a longer one, that starts below my right ear lobe then runs along my jaw about halfway before pointing down and continuing along my throat.

It was reported to police as a home invasion, but the truth is my stepdad is a violent drunk and he attacked me with a broken bottle. My mum was also hurt badly that day and I tried to intervene which is why he was able to do so much damage.

He reported it to the cops himself once he sobered up and realised how badly we were bleeding, saying he fought the intruder off once he returned home from the bar after meeting friends.

Since then, I just tried to stay away from him and a month after I turned eighteen, I finally moved out. This job earns me enough to pay my rent and eat healthily while having a little left over for clothes.

But living with him and his constant attacks for so many years took a tole and means I now despise the touch of others. I refuse to date, as I don’t need the complications that comes with that and I choose my wardrobe specifically to push people away.

I hide my body shape behind baggy clothing and always dress in dark colours or black. My hair I dye a mix of purple and blue and I wear thick eyeliner and black eyeshadow to hide the bags below my eyes and complete my look with black lipstick.

As soon as I turned eighteen, I began to include piercings and tattoos. Putting art on my skin helps me handle my demons, I focus on the dull pain while Anton works and afterwards, as I admire the image he has created, my heart is soothed for a time.

So far, I have fourteen piercings in my face and ears alone. My tongue, my lower lip, my nose, my left eyebrow, and five in each of my ears. I also have my nipples and belly button pierced.

As for tattoos I have a large set of wings on my back and a dragon on my right arm that wraps around from my shoulder to my wrist. Eventually I plan to cover all of my scars with art, except for my face, but there are many and tattoos are expensive.

I keep all of my skin covered at work with long sleeved tops, under my uniform, as I am a waitress in a cafe and some of the customers are elderly. They are lovely and accept me for all my oddities but if they ever saw my scars, I wouldn’t be able to face them again.

“There’s our Angel, goodness you are soaked through. What happened sweetie?”

“Oh, hi there Mrs. B, I just got caught out by the rain today. It’s okay, I will dry off soon enough it’s just a little water.”

“You are shivering little one, best you make sure that you wrap up warm when you get home later. Nothing worse than getting a head cold at this time of year.”

“I will do that, thank you. Would you like anything extra today? Or just your usual?”

“Ahh coffee and pancakes is the only way to start the day. You know that.”

“Hahaha okay, here is your coffee and two orders of maple syrup pancakes are on their way.”

“Thank you, Angel.”

I wander through the tables collecting orders from other tables and other regulars. Many comment on my state of dishevelment and all with such concern for my health that I find heartwarming.

I work quickly and without mistakes and my attention to detail is what makes my boss happy to allow me to keep my image instead of insisting on looking like everyone else and strangely enough, the cafe has become more popular in the three years I have worked here.

Some younger teens have also started to use this as a place to stop for a snack on the way to classes at the local college and it’s rare that anyone causes any trouble.

Two gentlemen are sitting near the back, so I make my way over to see if they wish to order anything.

“Good morning gentlemen, what can I get you today?”

“Black coffee no sugar for me please sweetie and a latte for my associate.”

“Coffee, black no sugar and a latte, anything to eat sir? I can recommend the tea cakes they were freshly baked in our kitchen this morning.”

“No, thank you.”

“Alright then, here is your coffee and I will be right back with the latte.”

The two gentlemen in expensive suits are new today, I haven’t seen them here before and they continue their conversation as I walk away. I made as little eye contact as possible while I spoke due to my nervousness around unknown males. Yet I still noticed that the second guy seemed vaguely familiar although he barely looked my way, so I didn’t spare him another glance either.

The one who spoke seemed nice, as I appraise him from where I stand near the latte machine, I see that he has brown hair and hazel eyes, he is also clean shaven to compliment the crisp suit he is wearing.

I prepare the latte in my signature way with a wing decoration in the foam and bring it over to them. Their conversation halts once more as I lean over and place the drink in front of the second man.

“There you go. If there is anything else, you need whilst you are here, please just let me know.”

“Thanks sweetie.”

I nod politely despite not liking the endearment and walk away to serve more customers. The two men stay for another hour before they both stand to leave. The entire time, my neck felt like it was crawling with spiders, as I could sense someone watching me while I worked but I ignored it. As they approach the counter the nice one smiles at me and I return it with a small one of my own.

“Thank you for your service sweetie, I will certainly consider coming again.”

“Thank you for visiting today, see you next time.”

He settles his bill and as I hand him his receipt, he grips my hand, I respond as if I have been burned and tug my hand back. Anya notices and quickly walks over to relieve me from the till.

“Sorry, excuse me.”

I apologise and quickly walk away to the back room to calm down, the last thing I need today is to have a panic attack in the middle of my shift. I am standing near the open window in the bathroom with the door closed when Anya knocks.

“Angel? Are you okay hun?”

“Yeah, I’m alright, thanks for that.”

“No problem, they asked me if you were alright, I said it was your turn in the kitchen and they left.”

“Thanks again.”

“Sure. But there is something you need to see.”