Heaven // Ryan Tedder

Chapter Seven; Dream

The next morning, Janelle awoke, her eyes wandering up to the ceiling, which she stared at for a moment. She wasn't at all ready to get out of bed, but today, she worked the lunch and dinner shifts, which she also wasn't ready for, but it was her job, and she wasn't going to risk being fired just because she wasn't ready to work.

She reluctantly pulled herself out of bed, making her way out to the kitchen as she stretched and yawned, feeling goosebumps on her arms as her skin attempted to get used to the slightly chilled air.

She stepped over to the window and turned off the air conditioner, before going over to the counter and turning on the Keurig. She grabbed a mug from the cabinet, putting it underneath the Keurig's spout, before pressing the button to make it brew.

As she waited for her cup of coffee, she pulled her phone out of the pocket of her shorts, looking at a new text she had gotten. It was from her younger brother, Matthew Jr, whom she called Matt for short. He was only a few years younger than Janelle, and he was off living in New York, pursuing a career as a lawyer.

Janelle had always been Jealous of him, getting to go to college to become a lawyer, when all she went to college for was photography, and ended up working as a waitress. He never treated her any differently than when they were children, though. He had always been kind to her, but then again, their parents raised all of three of them that way.

Their father was a somewhat strict, yet loving History teacher who taught at their school, and their mother was also a waitress, as they grew up. The three of them, Janelle, her older sister, Elenor, and her younger brother, Matt, were raised to be respectful, kind, and to have morals. Sadly, none of them had been taught about the difference between a good and bad romantic relationship, so all of them had always had problems in that field, although Elenor was now dating someone.

Janelle was close to Elenor, but definitely closer to Matt. The two of them texted almost daily, when she hadn't heard from Elenor in over a month. The last time they had talked was when Joshua cheated on her.

Janelle texted Matt back quickly, telling him about the past two days. She mentioned everything, except for the celebrity encounters. It was too embarrassing, plus, he might not believe her, considering that someone with her luck would never meet a celebrity.

When her coffee finished brewing, she put her phone back in her pocket, picking up the mug. She took a sip, accidentally burning her tongue.

"Shit.." she mumbled, wincing.

She set her mug down, sighing a little. She didn't have time to wait for it to cool. She might as well just go change before having coffee.

She made her way back to her bedroom, going over to her dresser and pulling out one of the drawers. She dug through it for a bit, before grabbing a pair of black jeans and a black and white striped T-shirt.

She quickly changed out of her pajamas, before putting the new, clean outfit on. Afterwards, she went to the bathroom, picking up her hairbrush and brushing through her long, dark brown hair, before doing her makeup, simply putting on some mascara and foundation.

When she went back out to the kitchen, her coffee was already ice cold, and it was time for her to be leaving for work.

Wonderful, she thought. This day's gonna be shitty without coffee.

Though she very much wanted to stay and heat up her coffee in the microwave, she went over to the door, putting her sneakers on before leaving the apartment building.

She decided to walk to work that day, considering that she felt she needed the exercise, and the restaurant wasn't very far from her apartment.

Her feet still ached, making her wish she could just wear the sneakers all day instead of put on those stupid high heels, which unfortunately went with the uniform.

The more she thought of it, that stupid job seemed to mean less and less to her. She knew it was her only source of income, and after only going to college for photography, there wasn't much else she could do that would pay enough. If she knew she wouldn't fail, she'd become a photographer, as it had been her dream for years. However, it was a dream that faded when she finally woke up, realising that she had to grow up. Now, She wishes she had gone to college for something else, maybe even to become a lawyer like her brother. But she was stuck here. Forever, if she didn't do something soon.

She only worried that it was too late.

When she made it to the restaurant, she went through the dining room, straight to the back, where all of the workers had their lockers. She opened up the door to her locker, reaching in and pulling out her uniform, which consisted of an apron, and a pair of black high heels.

She slipped off her sneakers and socks, before reluctantly putting on the high heels, which began to hurt her feet after only minutes.

After putting on her apron, she took a hair tie and pulled her hair up into its usual messy bun.

Just as she finished, her boss walked into the room.

"Getting to work?"

"Yes, sir." She nodded.

He nodded back. "Today you're on cleaning duty." He said.

"No waitressing?" Janelle Asked.

Finally, a day where she didn't have to walk back and forth, waiting tables with rude customers.

"Nope." He said. "Just mop the dining room."

She sighed in relief, before going over to the closet, pulling out a mop and bucket. Today would definitely be a lot easier than usual.

She filled the bucket with hot water and some soap, then went out to the dining room, beginning to mop the vinyl floors.

However, it seemed as if every time she cleaned an area, food ended up being dropped there once again. She tried not to let it annoy her, but she was tired of mopping the same spot over and over again. She didn't really have the energy, especially since she hadn't had her daily cup of coffee.

As she continued to mop, sighing to herself softly, one of her coworkers walked over to her, a cup of coffee in hand.

"Excuse me, Miss Montgomery?" The waiter asked. For some reason, this waiter always thought she was older than she actually was. Of course, he was teenager, so he probably thought she was old enough to be his mother or something.

She looked up at him, and he held out the coffee for her to take.

"Some guy dropped this off for you." He said. "He said to tell you that he hopes you're having a good day."

Janelle furrowed her eyebrows, propping the mop against the wall and taking the cup of coffee. On it, written in black marker, were the initials 'R.T.'

Janelle smiled to herself, before shaking it off, biting her lip.

Why on earth was Ryan bringing her coffee? It was nice, but here he was, a celebrity that shouldn't want to have anything to do with some broke waitress.

Nevertheless, it was a nice gesture, and, although she wondered why he did it, she was thankful for the caffeine to get her through the rest of her day.