Damien ✔️

Doubts

Mia had been working for a couple hours when Lorelei approached her and asked if she was comfortable working cash with her since it was so busy.

As it was approaching 4, the evening rush was flowing in and Mia had to spend her time inside and out of the kitchen to compensate for low staff.

Although her new position made her extremely uncomfortable, she tried to suck it up since she didn't want to disappoint anyone.

"Hello what can I get you today?" She asked quietly.

"Sorry, could you speak up?"

Mia looked up and her small figure seemed to shrink even more at the annoyed face of the girl in front of her.

The black-haired teen was chewing her gum obnoxiously loud and glared at Mia when she didn't repeat herself in a louder volume.

She rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her hip before giving her order.

"Get me a small, iced coffee and a double chocolate fudge brownie."

Mia nodded and made an effort to speak more confidently when she told the impatient teen her total.

"That'll be $6.58"

A handful of quarters and coins were dumped on the counter and Mia's hands shook with anxiety as she counted them.

"Your order will be ready in..."

The girl had left to join her group of friends, the lot of them laughing and giggling while glancing back at a quivering Mia.

Mia clenched her hands into fists and welcomed the pain of her fingernails digging into the soft skin of her palms.

Blinking slowly, she forced a smile on her face to welcome the next customer, determined to break out of her shell and be more confident in herself this time around.

Finally, the crowd began to dwindle down and Mia was freed from her torture at the front counter.

After only a moment of being in the backroom, she heard a familiar voice. "Hey Mia, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after our shift."

Mia let out a breath when she heard the familiar voice and her mood instantly improved at the proposal.

She never had a girlfriend before, and Lorelei was always really nice to her.

She smiled to herself and wiped under her eyes again before responding.

"Ya, that sounds great Lori, just give me a second to clean up in here."

"Great! Meet me at the front when you're ready."

When the footsteps quieted until they were no longer audible, Mia closed the fridge and rested herself against it.

The silence that surrounded her was the perfect trap. Seemingly comforting, yet it allowed her mind to wander and think when she wanted to do anything but that at the moment.

Immediately, she busied herself with cleaning up the back room. It was messier than usual due to the nature of the day's events.

Mia finished up an hour later, huffing as she turned off the tap after washing her last bowl.

Her ringtone sounded and she shuffled over to take the call.

"Hello?" She spoke absently, not paying attention to the ID.

"Hey, pretty girl"

Mia almost hummed in delight at the sound of his voice. The endearing nickname wasn't helping her case.