Chapter 15 – Booted Out

Leal woke up late.

She doesn’t normally sleep in, especially on a work day. But the intoxication of the wine kept her awake, and maybe she also thought about Axel a lot. She couldn’t stop thinking about him and the absurdity of his offer. Besides the other offers that would usually make others give in, she was very much enticed by the information he had about werewolves.

The experience last time with the drunk werewolves surely scarred her. It had been an addition to her countless traumatic experiences. But that one... that one was just out of this world.

Sighing exasperatedly of another building up frustration, Leal lazily stood from her bed and took a shower, glancing at the clock. She has another 12-hour shift today, and if she’s lucky, she won’t catch another workmate’s shift or be picked on by known female individuals who started bugging her after Axel visited.

In less than an hour, she was already ready and on her way to the restaurant. Izzy was still sleeping, so she didn’t bother waking up. Izzy has been working her *ss off, and Leal thinks she deserves to sleep in for the day. So instead of waking her up, she just prepared the leftover breakfast for her on the kitchen island and left a sticky note—like she always does when she goes off to work earlier.

The day was going great for Leal.

It was only lunchtime and only half of her shift was over with, and all had been rainbows and bright times so far. Nothing has gone wrong, and her manager seemed to be in a good mood today. But of course, she shouldn’t have said that. Because once again, she jinxed it.

“Aw! Watch it!”

A female model shrieked when she bumped into Leal, who was serving several trays. The latter accidentally lost balance with the bump, and a few trays of soup fell on the former’s bodycon dress.

The accident produced murmurs from the people, most of whom are taking pictures and recording the incident.

Unsurprisingly, the model loved the attention they garnered and immediately pushed Leal.

“You clumsy waitress! Look at what you’ve done to my Chanel dress, ugh!”

“I-I’m sorry, Ma’am. It won’t happen again,” she silently apologized as she rushed to pick up the fallen bowls and plates.

“Ugh, what an awful employee!” She continued.

When Leal offered to wipe the stain on her dress with a tissue, she angrily shoved her away, making her fall on the floor, helpless.

Leal sharply inhaled, holding back herself. Sure, her dignity was stepped on, and the customer’s reaction was too dramatic, but as an employee, she should apologize because the customer is always right.

“You’re so dumb and clumsy! Where’s your manager?! I need to talk to him!”

“Leal! What’s happened here?!”

As if on cue, her manager rushed out of his office, frantically looking everywhere upon hearing yelling and the shattering of glass. When his eyes settled on the scene, his eyes widened.

“I-It was an accident, S-Sir...” Leal croaked out as he pulled her into their locker room away from the cameras and the fuming woman.

“That’s the fifth one from the last two weeks, Leal! What are you doing, really? Our restaurant’s been controversial because of these ‘accidents’!”

She kept her head hung low as she fiddled with her fingers. One index finger is even bleeding because a shard scratched it earlier. But she couldn’t prioritize that now, her work is at risk—again!

“I also don’t know why these keep on happening, Sir...”

Her manager frustratedly messed his hair. He rolled his eyes at her and pointed a finger at her. “J-Just...” He closed his eyes for a moment and pursed his lips.

“Just stay put! I’ll fix this. Then we’ll talk.”

Weakened, Leal leaned to the locker on her back, as her hands gripped the small stool for support. She hates attention. Now, she’s gonna see her face again in the news. She avoids the spotlight, that’s for sure. But right now, she doesn’t care. What she cares about is holding onto her job and grasping her normal life again. Her job is one of the only things that she holds onto to know that she hasn’t gone insane yet.

“Leal.”

Her head snapped up when she heard her manager’s voice. He had a stressed expression as he silently motioned for her to come with him. It was a grueling few minutes of them going to his office that she endured, until she sat down in the chair in front of his office. She noticed her co-workers’ pitiful expressions, and although she’s been ignoring those, she knows what they meant.

“Look.” He sighed. “Things aren’t going really great in the restaurant ever since you came. I think you’ve noticed that, too.”

She looked at him, pleading.

“I’m gonna get straight to the point here, Leal. I’m not superstitious, but it’s as clear as day that you bring bad luck to the restaurant. Hell, you’re a walking disaster!”

“Please, Sir. All I ask for is one chance. I won’t—”

“I think I’ve given you enough chances, Leal. But this just can’t go on. I’m sorry.”

He shooed her out after that. Despite her pleas and begging, he was persistent in shoving her out of the restaurant. When he shut the door of his office in her face, that was when she stopped herself from stooping any lower.

His words rang in her ear, haunting her. He called her a walking disaster. How accurate. Flashes of the times when unfortunate things happened to her flashed in her mind, testifying to her being a real walking disaster. Indeed, she brings bad luck everywhere.

Leal hesitantly took off her uniform. She couldn’t believe how bad things were getting for her. Did she unknowingly change paths from a bright, rainbows and unicorns one, to a dark one, full of crows and skulls? Now, she’s jobless again. It feels like the first day of her battle with life started right after graduation. That was also the trigger for bad things for her, but it slowly brightened up, until it started going downhill again. Is this a repeat of that time? But why? Her life was so perfect. She was so contented. Why did it have to be disturbed and messed up?

“Hey, girl! You’re home early,” greeted Izzy as soon as she entered their unit. She bit her shaking lips, looking up at her smiling friend. When Izzy saw her distressed state, a frown replaced her smile, and she rushed to her. “What happened?”

“I-I got fired...”

Tears welled up in her eyes again, threatening to spill as she remembered the tragedy of today. Izzy’s eyes widened as her furrowed brows clashed together.

“What?! Why?!”

“I messed up, Izzy. So bad...”

She sobbed, burying her tear-stained face in her neck. Izzy enveloped her in a tight hug, whispering sweet nothings in her ear in an attempt to comfort her. When the past events added to her heavy heart, she turned from softly sobbing to loudly wailing, pouring her suppressed emotions to her only friend.

After the emotional moment, Leal finally managed to get her sh*t together again and managed to eat dinner. They talked about random things, with Izzy making sure Leal forgets about her bad day for a moment. By the end of the meal, Leal was already smiling.

“I’ll wash the dishes, you go do your thing.” Leal nodded at Izzy, leaving her with the dishes as she sat on the living room’s couch. She opted to watch N*****x for the whole night, to distract her mind, but that plan was quickly thrown out the window when their landline phone rang. She rushed to it, thinking it was important, when she heard who wanted to connect to her.

“Ms. Missea and Ms. Horryn? Mr. Elcort would like to talk to Ms. Horryn. Do you want to connect to his line?”

Greeted the woman at the reception desk. Leal sighed. She doesn’t know if she could handle talking to one of the biggest factors of her bad luck right now. But for the sake of kindness, she answered yes.

A few moments later, she could hear a calm breathing routine from the other line. They both stayed silent, listening to each other’s breaths. It was pure silence until he broke the silence.

[Are you okay?] he asked, his voice sounding deeper on the call than in person.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

[I saw the news. I knew it was you. Again.]

Oh. So he saw her before, as the same waitress who bumped into the other famous female personalities.

“I got fired already. You don’t have to worry about seeing me in the news again,” she replied, as if it wasn’t a big deal. There was a short silence on the line until she heard his sigh.

[My offer still stands. You’re welcome in my company, Leal.]

Leal froze in her spot as her shoulders went rigid.

It’s still open?

She thought it was closed the moment she left his company yesterday. Surprisingly, she’s considering the offer. She’s jobless now, and she’s got nowhere to go. It was a big bait for someone materialistic, which isn’t her, but still a big one for someone non-materialistic, which is her. The information weighs heavier than the tripled salary or the other exclusive bonuses. She’s been dying to know and confirm a few things she’s read in the books. But she doesn’t know if everything is a facade, a front for another heartbreak. She’s scared.

Who wouldn’t be if they experienced the same thing she did with Axel back in college? They’d be as paranoid as her.

[You can come in anytime you want. I’m free.] He continued when he didn’t hear anything from her for a long time.

She stayed silent, contemplating.

“I have one question.” She finally spoke up.

[What is it?]

Should she ask him? She hesitated before asking. “Are you not doing this to fool me? To trap me? Because the last time I fell, I was ridiculed.”

There was a long pause.

[By whom?]

It seems like he doesn’t remember. She bit back a bitter chuckle.

“By you.”

Another long pause.

[I’m not fooling you, Leal.]

She trusts him by just a tiny bit, because he saved her that night. So hearing that assurance, it loosened the walls, tightening her heart. “Fine, I accept your offer. I’ll be your personal assistant.”