Ground Breaker

2

My obnoxious alarm rang throughout the whole apartment. I groaned and tried to find my phone with my eyes shut.
I got out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. Since I had a bath and washed my hair late last night, I only needed to wash my face and brush my teeth. I decided to put on some light make up today, not really bothered to put on more.

I picked out some black skinny jeans and a red knitted jumper.
I looked at the time and I still had enough left to quickly make myself an omelette.
After I ate, I grabbed my bag and keys and went to my car. It's a beat up Honda Civic but it serves it purpose. The cafe is only a 10 minute drive from my apartment so it's pretty convenient for me.

I found a parking spot and walked up the the cafe. I was about to open the door when it swung open and a woman walked out. I stumbled backwards a little bit before I could fall, I felt hand steady me. Before I could turn around and thank the person who caught me, a deep voice said "watch it", and roughly let go of me. I yelled a, "thank you" he walked in. He had dark brown hair, looked about 6'0, maybe more. I noticed some tattoos poke out from his sleeves and up the back of his neck.

I let out a breath and once again tried to go in to the cafe. This time with success the door didn't fly open. I walked up the counter and Sarah was there.

"Hey babe! I'll get Maria for you now. Go take a seat there"

I thankfully smiled at her and walked to the table. The place was quite busy, most tables were full. There was Sarah and a tall blonde guy working there. Sarah was at the register and the blonde guy was walking around tables with a tray in his hands.

"Ah, you must be Alexandria"

I looked up and saw an older plump lady with a sweet smile. I shook her hand and smiled back

"Please, call me Lexie".

"Okay Lexie, how old are you?"

"I'm 18 miss, finished school this June."

"Call me Maria darling. Have you had a job before?"

"Yes, I worked in a small grocery shop that was near my house where I used to live. I liked it but it was in the country side, there was nothing much else to do there".

"Are you studying anywhere dear?"

"No, I want to take a year off before I make any choices".

"You seem like a very capable young lady, you of course have the job!"

I smiled and thanked her.

"The uniform is any black jeans you own and I'll give you the beige t shirt with our logo on it. Wear some black shoes too and I'll give you the black apron you need as well. Are you able to start tomorrow.?"

" Of course, yes!" She told me a bit more about the job and I filled out some papers and said I should start at 9 tomorrow. I thanked her again as she got up and said goodbye.

Sarah quickly ran over to me as Maria left and gave me an excited hug.

"I knew she was going to like you!"

"What's there not to like about me?" I joked and she laughed.

" So I was thinking, my shift ends at 17.00, you could send me your address and I could come over with some food and I could tell you everything you need to know."

"Sounds perfect Sarah, I was planning on painting my bedroom today, care to join?"

"Of course babe. I'll see you later"

I said goodbye and went back to my car with a smile on my face. Maria seemed lovely and I'll at least know someone at work I like too.
I texted Sarah my address for later. On the way home I stopped to buy some new paint for my bedroom. After an hour of trying to choose a colour, I settled on a grey tone with a lavender tint to it.

I got home, out of breath after walking up all those flights of stairs. I made some lunch and after, I prepared my bedroom to be painted. I put on some old grey shorts and an old over sized t-shirt I don't mind getting paint on.

After an hour of painting, I wasn't even half way done, I realised the walls would need two coats so that will take up even more time. I heard the doorbell ring and then I heard it open.

"Dude did you know you live a literal five minute walk away from me holy shit"

I laughed at my friend, " make yourself at home why don't you".

I took the bags of food from her hands and placed them in the kitchen.

"I hope you brought some clothes to get dirty Sarah."

She unzipped her coat and under she was wearing an already paint stained t shirt and she smiled proudly up at me.
"I actually managed to remember thank you very much", she said.

I gave her a roller to paint with and she got started.
" So, what do I need to know about to tomorrow?"

"Ah yes, so the actual job itself isn't bad, make some coffee and drinks, serve some cakes and that's about it. But it's the employees is what I should talk about"

"Okay spill the goss my dear", she laughed at my remark and continued

"Well so you met Maria, she is the loveliest lady on the planet. Then there is Kian, he's worked there for a couple of months, he's the tall blonde guy who was working today. He's pretty cute I won't lie."
I then saw Sarah visibly shutter before she said, " then there is the devils spawn Miranda, she is Maria's granddaughter and I have no idea how something so evil could be related to Maria. Miranda is probably the rudest person in this planet, she will talk shit about and to anyone. The only person she likes is Nathan. She is so pathetically in love with that asshole".

"Who's Nathan?"

"Nathan is the manager there, he's quiet but when he speaks he is a dick to everyone except Maria. He tall, dark, handsome and I bet he has a big dick." I laughed at her final statement.

"He's covered in tattoos and I-"
"Oh no", I cut her off before she could continue. She looked confused.

"Before I could even step foot in to the cafe I nearly fell over and someone caught me. I wanted to say thanks but all he said was watch it rudely and he pushed me to let go of me. I remember he had a ton of tattoos, there were some numbers on his fingers if I remember correctly".

Sarah started laughing and I asked her what's so funny

"I just wish I would have seen that, he despises everyone and he's going to be even more pissed if he find out you're working there now too".

I slumped down to the ground and she joined me.

"You'll be fine Lexie, if I can handle him, you can too"

She started standing up and placed her phone against the unpainted wall. She put a timer on her phone and she quickly said "let's take a pic quick!"
In a panic I quickly posed with her and heard the camera ago off a couple of times.

We looked through the pictures and chose the one we liked the most. She followed me on Instagram and posted the picture of the two of us messing around, bough covered in paint. I smiled at it.

We listened to some music, chatted some more. After we finished up painting, we went to the kitchen to have some food. We talked for a little bit longer until it got late and Sarah headed home. After Sarah left, I decided to take a shower to try and get the paint off my body. I was too tired to check if I got everything.

I crawled in to bed and went on my phone for a bit. I was scrolling through Instagram and got the notification that @nathangrey1214
Liked my photo. It was a picture I took on the beach two months ago of me in my red bikini by the sea. I clicked on the profile and it was Nathan, the managers profile. I was confused as to why he was looking through my profile and when I went back to the notification it was already gone, he unliked the post.