OUT OF HIS SIGHT (1)

IVY'S POV

The loud sound of glass crashing to the floor echoed through the noisy diner. It instantly stopped everyone from talking and the room went completely quiet as all the customers turned to stare at me.

I didn't even realize I had dropped the drink until I felt the ice-cold soda splash onto my bare ankles and soak into my shoes.

"Ivy! Oh my gosh, don't move," Elena was beside me immediately holding a plastic tray and a broom. She gently grabbed my shoulder and guided me a step backward, away from the shiny glass pieces spreading across the floor. "Go sit behind the counter right now. Go on, I’ve got this."

I didn't even have the strength to argue so I did as she asked. I walked over to the employee side of the counter and I sat on the tall stool that hid me from the curious stares of the customers. Then, I buried my face in my hands, pressing my palms against my eyes.

My head was pounding with a terrible ache from how hard I’d cried. I had been crying since last night after I left Ethan’s house and all the way through this morning. It all felt like a bad dream but I knew it wasn't. The cold look in Ethan’s eyes, the mean insults he threw at me, Clara, the restraining order his mother handed me, all of it was real.

"Hey," Elena’s soft voice broke through my thoughts.

She sat on the stool next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. She had finally finished cleaning up my mess and serving the table I was supposed to take care of.

"Ivy, please listen to me," Elena whispered. "I know you’re hurt, but you need to be careful. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Have you even eaten today?"

The mention of food made my stomach twist violently in protest. I had no appetite since last night but I nodded anyways so she wouldn’t force me to eat.

When I took my hands away from my face, I wasn’t surprised when total pity filled Elena’s eyes. I knew exactly what I looked like. My eyes were probably puffy and red from all the crying. My face was also pale since I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

"I still can’t believe he said all those things to you," she whispered, staring into the air. She looked very angry. "After everything you sacrificed for him? After giving him one year of your life? What a heartless monster. I’m just happy his mother paid you back double for everything you spent on him.”

“You think I should touch that money?” I asked, my voice sounding rough and broken.

Elena looked at me like I had just asked her if Beyoncé ever got married. “Of course! Are you crazy? You have so many bills to pay because of that bastard. You also need to go to college. Use that money!”

She was right. My landlord had called again this morning to remind me that my utility bills were way past due. I had spent every single dollar of my own savings last month to pay Ethan’s rent and buy that expensive wine for our anniversary. I had nothing left until my next paycheck.

Well, I had nothing except the thick stack of hundred-dollar bills that was still sitting in my purse.

But it was hard to even look at that money because it reminded me of all the mean words his mother said to me yesterday. She had called me a broke waitress who was nothing but a distraction to her son's life.

“What you should throw away instead of the money is that cheap ring on your finger,” Elena added, looking at my hand. “I don’t know why you’re still wearing it.”

I pulled my hand away from her view. I couldn’t tell her the truth of how that tiny, foolish part of me still hoped Ethan would change his mind and come back to me.

Before I could form any lie in response, the silver bell above the kitchen door rang and Michael poked his head out of the window. He looked unusually serious as he stared directly at me.

"Ivy. Mrs. Gable wants to see you in her office. Right now."

“Mrs. Gable? Why?"

He shrugged. “I don’t know. She just said she wants to see you right now." He spared a nervous glance at Elena before disappearing back into the kitchen. It was obvious Elena had rejected him again but I was too worried about Mrs. Gable to talk about it.

"That’s weird," Elena muttered, her eyebrows bunching together in deep worry. "Why does Mrs. Gable want to see you?”

She was right. This was very weird.

Mrs. Gable was my boss and she rarely invited workers to her office unless it was for three reasons: a promotion, a suspension, or getting fired. The only time I’d ever been in her office was five years ago, on the day she hired me. She wasn’t interested in me at first but after I told her how desperately I needed the job because my parents had died in a car crash, she hired me out of pity.

“I guess I better find out.” I wiped my face quickly with a paper napkin before walking up to her office.

Mrs. Gable was a stern and formidable looking woman in her late forty-somethings. She was always perfectly dressed in sharp business suits and her dark hair was cut into a neat, straight bob. She had sharp, piercing eyes that made it look like she wanted to see through you. But today, those eyes held a strange mixture of guilt and sadness as she looked at me.

"Sit down, Ivy," she said, pointing to the leather chair across from her desk.

I sat on the very edge of the seat, gripping my jeans tightly. "I'm really sorry about the glass I broke downstairs. It wasn’t intentional. I can pay for it from my next paycheck—"

"This isn't about the broken glass, Ivy. It’s something more…important," she interrupted firmly. She took off her glasses and let out a long, heavy sigh. "I’m just going to give it to you straight. I have to let you go. You're fired."