Your warmth is blue

CHAPTER EIGHT

"No you can not, we will not allow you to do that. NO."

was all Claribel could blurt out, she could not believe this, the only thing keeping her sane and giving her hope of going to college was about to be taken from her.

Earlier that day, Tokyo signed the deal with Mr.Biron and his colleagues just like his dad had wanted but there was a condition, they did not like the land Tokyo and Josh had picked for the construction of their new company but they wanted the land Cornhill's cafe was on.

It was a large land but the cafe was built on a quarter of the land, It was a 3-acre land and it was perfect for the guesthouse Mr Biron and his dad wanted to build, Tokyo wanted to refuse but his hands were tied to his father's lip.

He agreed to it and now here he was, his shoe making the argument his mouth failed to make as teary-eyed Claribel stood before him.

Claribel was pretube, she wanted to wake up this was just a bad dream.

Mr Cornhill had not just signed the contract. He had not given up the cafe, his wife had cancer and he desperately wanted money but he was saving up for it. He could not give the cafe up.

She tried her best to convince herself.

" Construction will begin next month, you have a full month to compensate your employees and say your last goodbyes, Mr Cornhill, It was nice doing business with you."

Josh said as he extended his hand to Mr. Cornhill who quickly tucked his hands in his pocket.

When Tokyo and Josh left Claribel turned to Mr. Cornhill, "why? " she uttered.

Mr Cornhill signalled with his hand for all the employees to come close and they did, slowly he said.

" You know how much I love this cafe, I built it in my youth and I had planned to use the remaining land to build a flower shop but things did not go my way, we do not always get what we want in life and that is the cruelty of life but it is also the beauty of life, It makes you cherish what you have when you still have it ." he paused, his eyes scanning their faces one by one.

With a heavy sigh he continued, "which is why I had to let go of this cafe and use the money for my wife's chemotherapy, she is all I have got, as you know we have only one son who is in the military, he has no idea of his mother's illness and I do not wish to inform him. It would break him just like it's breaking me."

Claribel leaned in and hugged Mr. Cornhill tight, he hugged back and let her go.

" I know I have failed you all but do not worry, I will give you all this month's salary and next month's salary, you do not have to continue coming here, you can leave today and I will always be grateful to you."

The others hugged Mr Cornhill, packed their stuff and left but Claribel and Chloe stayed till they were done with their shift, they said their final goodbyes to Mr.Cornhill and promised to visit whenever they had a chance.

The next morning they both went job-hunting, they went uphill, downhill, and searched everywhere but their efforts were futile.

After a week of joblessness, Chloe lay on her bed, beads of sweat forming on her face, her body moving rhythmically with each breath she took. The cold morning air passing through her window and into her room, her stomach growling with hunger.

She had paid for her rent and her bills with the money Mr Cornhill gave her but she had nothing to her name and she could not go on eating from Claribel and her dad's money, she had not a family or a friend to ask for help since she cut ties with her mother right after high school,  so she decided to give Josh a call and see if he had any job offers for Claribel and herself but mostly for herself, Claribel needed money for college but she needed it to survive.

She was angry at him about the cafe incident but they were friends, They'd meet up now and then to hook up but since the incident, she had not called him up and neither had he.

"Hello Josh "

"hi Chloe, what's up?"

She had no time to bicker around so she went straight to the point.

" Claribel and I are looking for a job, do you think you could help us get one since you are the reason why we are jobless after all."

He hesitated as if second-guessing his words but then he replied.

"Well, there is a very high-paying job I know of and they are looking for two young ladies but I can't tell you over the phone. I will send you an address, meet me there with Claribel tomorrow."

" Thank you Josh", she said as she ended the call, sighing with great relief.

She had no idea what the job was but she hoped it would be good enough to take care of herself, now the only problem was how to convince Claribel to go with her, she would never go with her if she told her they were going to meet Josh, the only thing she could is to lie.

" Ah, lying is the best option," she said.