Chapter 5

The next day,

Zelda found herself pacing around the room, with her hands in twined around each other, she was late for her work, on her first day, and she couldn't just leave her daughters alone in the house, it would be dangerous, and she couldn't just go to work, it was purely work related- no kids involved.

"Mommy." Kayla jabbed her fingers together, quite looking bored, as she stared at the large screen TV, "Why don't you just hire a babysitter? That would be better."

And, that was the problem, she couldn't afford a babysitter, normally, they charged a whopping sum of 15 bucks per hour, and men, she couldn't let that get to her paycheck.

She sighed for a bit, before she released a sigh, "Can you guys stay home while mommy goes to work?" She was scared. Terrified that something bad would happen to her kids, she loved him, she couldn't afford anything happening to her sweet daughters.

"You can trust us Mommy." Layla said, walking towards her mother, before she throttled her hands forward, her voice turning soft. Zelda peered down to look at her, "Are you sure?" They both nodded, more like their chin moving upward a bit.

She finally relaxed, before she walked over to the door, leaving her daughters alone. Was it a bad idea or a really good one? She couldn't dare to look at their face, else she would just return to Brazil and live her quiet life of being a chef, and a single mother of two adorable kids. She casted them on the last long deep look, before she finally left the room.

~~

"Miss. Zelda?" Zelda heard a soft, calm voice, before she finally turned to look at her. She had been so lost entering the restaurant, everything reeked of money, the fine glass walls, the floors that seemed to be made of pure gold.

She was bewildered, before she clutched her handbag to herself. Was she going to work here as a chef? It seemed all surprising to her.

She heard the voice call out softly to her again. "Miss. Zelda?" Screeches of high heels were etched on the floor, and soon the figure was hovering around her.

"Hello." Zelda turned to look at her, sucking in a deep breath, was she nervous? Hell yes, she was definitely worried about her old fashioned English.

"You are Miss. Zelda, right?" The woman said elegantly, and Zelda took a minute to study her; dark brown lashes, light auburn hair that sweeps through her collarbone, and flashy nails.

Zelda nodded, quite exhausted and tired.

"Thank goodness, we have all been expecting you, please come along, I will introduce you to everyone." Zelda's hands were tugged between the woman's hands. 

She pushed the door that led to the door opened, Zelda marveled, she was met with the nice interior that lined up in the kitchen, the counters were much better than the ones back in Brazil, there was another door attached to the kitchen, even though she had no idea of what that meant. A few people dangled around in the kitchen, with an apron etched elegantly on their body.

"Everyone listen up." The woman clasped her hand gently, which seemed to work, before everyone was no focusing their attention on them.

"As you all know, I am Miss. Miranda, I am the content creator around here. So, this is Miss. Zelda, she's the new head chef from Brazil, so she will guide you guys on everything. Please be nice to her. I can tell she's really a good woman," 

Eyes struck to her, shallow and quite disgusting, some snickered which made Zelda bowed her head low, while some smiled, though it nearly reached their eyes.

"I will leave you all to work now, the CEO will be coming in today, so I expect you all to be in your best behavior," Miranda smiled, before she walked towards the door, banging shut gently.

Zelda was quiet, what was she supposed to say? She couldn't speak English, so she didn't want to embarrass herself. Coughing gently, she let out a low smile. "It's nice to be here, thank you all."

Some snickered, and she swore she heard someone say, "Why is she the head chef? She's just a low income chef in Brazil, her accent is so laid-off, just wait until the CEO comes. He might even fire her!"

Zelda breathed, trying to catch her breath, the discrimination, the word she faced every single day, she hated it. It was the worst, it scared the shit out of her.

She walked towards a side of the counter, trying to look at what a worker was cooking. She peered down into the simmering pot of soup, attempting to say something, but the latter shifted away as if she was filthy.

A Blond from the other said gazed at her deathly, before frowning deeply, her voice coming out dark. "Seriously, I don't know why we even got an head chef, the last who died from suicide was already enough."

The word was supposed to scare her; but it frightened her deeply, her hair rose up, and she shivered, before forcing out a smile. She didn't expect this of New York, she had thought that it was a city of love, but how wrong was she. People died to survive here. People tried to fit in here, something she found wrong.

"The CEO is coming." Miranda walked towards the room, and everyone bobbed their eyelids towards the door.

Zelda jabbed her fingers together, taking in a deep breath, with a fierce push, the door dangled open, and a figure walked in. They all bowed.

Zelda took her time to gaze at him, her eyes widened slowly- but quite gently.

He was right here. She gasped in horror.

The man whom she spilled coffee all over was HIM.

The man who turned out to be her next door neighbor was still him, he was right there in the kitchen, and the worst part of it all, he was the CEO, her boss!