Saviour ; Lewis Hamilton

one

The chilly breeze of Londons mid December night is seen on the windows of my cafe, making it look almost frosted.

I spent the last of my savings to open this cafe up, I've officially been open for a week now, business has been steady and I have to work full hours everyday to make enough to support me and my son.

I can't afford to hire anyone else until business picks up, luckily my friend Eloise doesn't mind working for an hour while I have a lunch break most days.

I've tried very hard to pay her for the hour but she has heavily insisted that there's no need, Eloise knows about my financial situation and she does come from a wealthy family so I suppose she probably doesn't care.

I get to work at 7am and i open from 9am to 4pm and then I pick up Luca- have some food with him and take him to work with me from 5pm until 7pm, i do some baking preparation for the next morning and usually leave around 8pm.

Im lucky the walk home is only around 20 minutes, sometimes Luca is so tired he claims he 'can't walk' i don't think i could carry Luca much longer than that.

Seeing as I've just closed, Luca sits at a table- doing some math homework.

I'm about to start cleaning the coffee machine when Luca speaks "Mama, I don't know the answer." He says sounding frustrated at a maths questions.

"Two seconds sweetie." I tell him as I come around the counter, I lean over his shoulder and look down- it's some simple additions/takeaways, he's done all of the additions but has only done a few of the subtractions.

"Which one?" I ask and he points to a question, 12 minus 5.

"Okay so you have twelve if you takeaway 2 that's 10, and then you still have 3 to takeaway which makes it 7." I try to explain to him, he still looks a little confused so I explain it in another way.

Suddenly the bell goes off, signaling someone has entered the cafe, I look up confused because I thought I had put the closed sig, but quickly realise I haven't.

The man looks around confused "Sorry- are you closed?" He asks looking back at the door quickly.

"Uh, yeah- but it's fine what can I get for you?" I ask and make my way back behind the counter.

"Thank you." He says and looks at the menu behind me, he sounded very relieved and I notice the sad vibe he gives off.

"Um, can I get a Latte with oat milk?" He asks trying to give me a smile but it looks like he struggles.

"Of course." I smile and he starts pulling out money from his wallet.

"It's on the house." I feel the need to say, something to brighten the rest of his day.

He looks defeated "Why?"

"Oh uh, you look like you need it- no offence." I laugh slightly as I start making his latte.

"Thank you." He looks at me solemnly, "Is this your cafe?" He asks curiously as he leans his elbows forward on the counter.

"Yeah, I just opened it actually."

"It looks great." He compliments me, I feel my face getting slightly flushed at this attractive man complimenting my cafe.

"Thank you-"

"Mama, I don't know how to do this one." Luca speaks up suddenly.

"I'll help in a minute!" I tell him and he leans his head down onto the table, I turn to the back to grab the oat milk, fuck it's empty.