A Pastor's Daughter's Diary

Break-up

Dear Jesus,

By 8:00am sharp, Mommy Sarah turned over the sign that read 'Now Open!' on the glass window pane of the restaurant.

We had hurriedly had a light breakfast, driven down to Sarafoods and prayed over the business.
Soon enough, customers started trickling in.

Since we were short on staff, I had to double as a waiter and a kitchen assistant.
I would shuffle between taking the orders and delivering the breakfast dishes.

I wore a purple checked apron that Mommy Sarah gave me over my dress. It made me look like a real restaurant staff.

The menu was not too complex.
For beverages, there was coffee latte, tea, creamed milk, orange fruit juice.
There was bread, scrambled eggs, fruited custard, caramelized syrup poured over jello, chicken burger, chicken soup. We also had Gingerbread cookies baked (Yeah! I saw Mommy Sarah make real life what I thought only existed in the folklore fairytale– the gingerbread man).

John largely helped his Mom in making sure the kitchen was not a mess. He was in charge of washing dishes, putting back used utensils to their rightful positions, sweeping, wiping cabinets and disposing off the waste bin.
And when he wasn't doing that, he would be taking records and counting money collected from the customers.

The rush was in the morning, from around eight to ten o' clock.
And by ten, I was damn exhausted.

We had a short break. The chicken soup was delicious.

From 12:00pm to around 3:00pm we got busy again. A steady influx of workers on their lunch break came to get something to bite.

I was in the kitchen collecting scraps of the dough Mommy Sarah had kneaded when the doorbell chimed again.
John was attending to other customers so I hurriedly cleaned my palms on my apron and went out to them.

Shocked to my bones, my legs screeched to a halt at who I saw.

It was Miss Beauty Queen and her boyfriend. Trisha Colerett and Maxwell Newrit.

I could have chosen the easy way out and turned away but I didn't have any choice. I threw up a quick prayer to you, took in a deep breath and willed my frozen feet to continue it's motion towards the window-side table they had settled into.

Trisha's full, black, virgin hair was packed into a big bun. She looked as beautiful as the diva goddess she is, with her bronze, smooth, flawless skin.
Max's face fluctuated between nervousness and resolve, like he had something to say and get over with.

"Good afternoon. May I take your orders?"

Trisha's face shot up from the menu she had been scanning. Her large, mascara-outlined, black eyes expanded almost twice its size when my face registered. Her glossy lips parted slightly in surprise.

"Radiance? What in the world are you doing here?"

Sigh, here comes the time of long explanations.

"Um... It's a long story. Anyways, what would you like to have?" I said smilingly.

Maxwell who had been grimly silent spoke up, "A bottle of water will do for me."

My mind couldn't comprehend that order.
A bottle of water? He could have gotten that in any normal street shack. Are they just here to get free shelter and AC?

"But baby... They've got grilled trout on the menu and I know you love that," Trisha said, placing her hand on his that was on the table. He recoiled and said nothing, staring at the table.

Trisha sighed. "I'll have coleslaw and with one bottle of water as well."
Hmm, maybe she's a vegetarian that's why she's got the perfect shape, I thought as I scribbled down her order on my notepad.