The Unfortunate Task of Dating

Chapter Sixteen

Fast forward to Ava's 20th birthday.

That is right ladies and gentlemen, today is my birthday and guess what? I get to go to work! That is right, my day is going to be filled with me standing at a cash register serving customers until I knock off at 5 o'clock. In all honesty though, it is not really that bad. I actually don't mind it and when you think about it, really all this means is I am getting paid on my birthday which I am going to change and say is me getting paid for having my birthday because I am truly a blessing to this world.

I throw my uniform on and make my way to work. The day starts off not too bad, it's not too busy which is a nice change. Everything is going well until I hear an announcement over the speakers.

Good afternoon customers. Today is a special day as it is Ava's birthday today. She is working at register one so if you happen to see her, feel free to say happy birthday!

The customers I am currently serving wish me a happy birthday and my cheeks flame red. They repeat that message all day so I have continuous people coming up to me wishing me a happy birthday. But it doesn't end there. I'm just about to go on my break when I hear happy birthday in the distance. I look to the right and see one of the ladies from the café is walking down holding a cupcake with a candle on it. I know my whole face must be on fire but it is actually quite nice that they have gone to so much trouble just to make me feel special on my birthday. It ends on a high note and I leave feeling happy. I really am lucky to work where I do because they really do treat their employees with the utter most respect.

I get home and I can see Mason's car in the driveway. I let myself in and let everyone know that I'm just going to go and change.

When I come back down, I'm ushered into the living room and pushed to sit down on the couch. Mum and Mason sit beside me and I can see they are both holding a present. Mum gives me a card first and I already know who it is from just because of the handwriting.

"I know you probably don't want this one but I always pass them on to you," she says with a sad smile on her face.

I open it and skim the words, not really caring for what it says. I read the last two words - Love Dad. Scrunching it up, I throw it onto the floor.

"So, who's do I get first?" I question excitedly, not letting him bring my mood down.

Mason hands me his present and I'm so excited to open it. Inside there is a necklace with a red rose as it's pendant.

"That bloody red rose," I laugh before I give him a quick kiss, "thank you, I love it."
I hand it to him to clasp around my neck and I make sure it is sitting centre.

I turn to mum and she hands me her present. It is a big square and I try to shake it to get a sense of what it is. I have no clue so decide my best option is to probably just open it. I know, you've got a genius on your hands here. Opening it up I realise that it is a massive scrap book. I open the first page and there is me all ready for my first date. As I flip through each page I realise that it is filled with all the photos she took before my dates and then it gets to Shay and Jessie's wedding and there is the one of Mason and I kissing with the words SUCCESS! The last few pages after that are filled with photos of Jessie, Shay, mum, Mason, myself and of course Alyssa.

"Oh mum, this is so perfect," I say as I turn to give her a hug.

"I told you it was necessary for me to take a photo every time," she laughs into my ear.

I go back through it again and laugh at the titles she has given each page. To give you a little bit of insight, there is one called THE SWEAT MACHINE which was good old Samuel, MUMMA'S BOY for Charlie, CRADDLE ROBBER for Tommy and THE MAN'S MAN which is actually referring to Samuel and the fact that he is into guys.