Chapter 17: A Text From Milan

At Crimson Leaf Cafe.

Once Abigail arrived at the cafe, she strolled behind the counter area to put her bag in the employee locker. After washing her hands, she returned to the counter to assist Lana.

The dinner session at the cafe was completely different during breakfast and lunch; now, the place was packed with patrons, and nearly all seats were taken.

The seats on the first floor were all taken, and on the second floor, only a couple of seats were empty. People enjoy their evening conversations with friends. Many customers also bought coffee and food to take away, and the queue at the cashier rarely stopped.

It was only slow when it was almost eight, but nearly all the tables on the first floor were packed.

A couple of hours later, the dinner session was nearly over. The queue was no longer, and most incoming customers only ordered beverages. After taking care of the last order, Lana and Abby took a few minutes to rest in Lana’s small office.

"Wow, Abigail! You are damned good and faster than me. I’d have thought you were a long-experienced barista," Lana offered Abigail a cold soda and expressed her happiness.

"Alright. Stop flattering me. I don’t think I was that good," Abigail chuckles as she sits opposite Lana’s couch.

"You know what, Abby? I rarely have this luxury time to rest since Kian took his long leave. If he doesn’t show up tomorrow, I will fire him! With you here, I could manage this café without him." Her eyes twitched in a mix of annoyance and delight.

Abigail was surprised to hear that, but she said nothing. She could only smile and try to enjoy her cold soda.

"I hope you don’t mind if it’s only the two of us working here, Abigail?"

"No, I don’t mind. I think both of us are enough to handle this café. But having extra hands wouldn’t be so bad, don’t you think? In case one of us is under the weather."

"Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, girl," Lana said, raising her beer and smiling. "I promise you, I will find extra hands ASAP!"

"No need to rush, Lana. I’m okay if it’s just the two of us for a few months. It doesn’t matter to me," Abigail responded. She was happy hearing Lana’s words. The lack of a barista means overtime earnings for her. She needs so much money to pay her grandma’s medical fees.

"Alright... I will not rush. Let’s wait for Kian first."

They both sat in silence, enjoying their drinks. But not long after, Lana remembered something.

"I forgot to ask you..." Lana said, placing her empty can of beer on the table. "Have you found a place to rent?"

Abigail took a deep breath, starting to worry that her apartment hunting was futile because the price she submitted was impossible to get.

She was looking for rent at $400 per month, while the rent in the area two miles from here was around $1,000. Her only hope now is to find a shared apartment.

"Not yet. I hope the landlord contacts me soon. I am temporarily staying at an Airbnb."

Renting a tiny Airbnb for $150 for only three days, Abigail feels the owner robbed her.

"I hope you find your place to live soon."

"Thank you, Lana," Abigail said, smiling. "How about you? Where do you live?"

"Me? I live here, on the café’s rooftop. If only I had two rooms, I would ask you to stay with me," Lana sincerely offered. However, Abigail politely declined her offer with a smile.

"Boss Lana, you are so kind. But I can’t accept it even if you have a spare room. I would appreciate it, but I’d rather not stay under the same roof as my boss." She grinned.

Lana couldn’t help but laugh at Abigail’s refusal. "Yeah, if you stay here, you might work for me for twenty-four hours, girl. Hahaha. Kidding!"

Abigail was reminded of her experience sharing an apartment with Ryland, which made her hesitant to accept Lana’s offer.

...

Later,

When the light above the door lit up, Lana immediately stood up.

"Let’s go. There are customers outside..."

Abigail followed Lana and helped with the orders as they got busy taking the last ones.

They closed the cafe after the last customer left. Abigail didn’t need to clean the cafe as other staff would handle it. She excused herself and walked back to her temporary apartment.

Her nap this afternoon was not enough to rest. Besides, she felt weak after ruining her eating schedule in the last two days.

Walking along the pedestrian path to her Airbnb, Abigail looked for a cheap place to eat.

Before long, she spotted a Burger Star, a vast restaurant franchise in this country specializing in delicious but affordable beef burgers.

She rushed there and placed her order for takeaway: a double beef burger without pickles and lettuce, her favorite.

After getting her food, Abigail continued walking toward her Airbnb. However, her cell phone vibrated before she arrived at the apartment building.

Worried it was Nurse Noora, she hurriedly took her phone from her bag. A relieved smile appeared when she saw it was from Anonymous.

Just before she wanted to put her cell phone away, the first line of the text stopped her.

"Miss Abigail, I’m sorry if I annoyed you..."

She immediately opened the text to read the rest of the message.freewёbnoνel-com

"Miss Abigail, I’m sorry if I annoyed you by calling you repeatedly and texting you like this from a new number. I only did that because Boss Ryland forced me to. But you don’t have to worry; this is the last time you will receive a text from me because Ryland fired me today. I will no longer contact you for work matters."

Abigail was taken aback. Before she could react to the text, another message came in.

"Goodbye, Miss Abigail. Whatever your problem with Boss Ryland, I hope it will be solved soon. Thanks for teaching me and your kind help during my work at Urbangrid Innovation. Milan."

Abigail sighed deeply, her eyes still fixed on her cell phone screen for a while, before continuing to walk.

On her way to her Airbnb, Abigail’s mind was preoccupied with Milan’s text. She wanted to ignore it, but Milan was the closest and friendliest person she knew in the company besides Ryland The Betrayer. How could she ignore such a kind person? Ryland’s betrayal is not Milan’s fault.

However, another question bothered her. ’Did Milan tell the truth? What really happened there? Why did Ryland fire Milan?’

After what happened between her and Ryland, she had vowed never to be involved with Urbandgrid Innovation again. But reading Milan’s text made her curious, and she wanted to know the truth.

"Should I call her?"