xiv - the blast

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*Author's note at the end.

Isabelle

Enjoying my breakfast, I wondered how to get away from all this drama that's been happening in my life at the moment. The only way out is to leave this place but do I really want to leave? Then I remembered that I had to pay two months of rent in advance before I moved in. I was in no place to let that money go. A heavy sigh escaped me as I continued to weigh the pros and cons.

"Ella?" I heard Vernon's voice and looked at him. Luckily this time I heard him the first time. "Can we talk?" He asked after a brief silence. Three words I always dread hearing. These three words give birth to a million other sentences in my mind wondering what is it that they want to talk about? Especially you have so many secrets in the closet. "Talk about?" I asked. Vernon walked towards him to take his seat before speaking. "About an offer." He replied.

Furrowing my brows in confusion I asked, "What offer?"

"I would like to offer you a job at my company." He said. "Let me finish." Vernon interrupted knowing I was about to open my mouth for a question. "The job is being my assistant. You have to manage my schedule, appointments, documents all those small stuff. I want to be honest, mom asked me to look for a good pay job suitable for you as the bakery won't pay you much. Before you get all offended let me clear that it is just out of concern by my mother. She feels that you need more money for yourself and your child." His eyes momentarily moved to my belly and then back on my face. "Also the offer is not because my mother asked me to but I have been looking for an assistant for a long time but couldn't find anyone trustworthy enough." He said.

I stared at him for a moment. "Are you done speaking?" I asked when no other syllable left his mouth for a good minute. "Of course." He answered. "Seems like you love one-sided conversations," I commented. To my answer, his brows furrowed "That's not a one-sided conversation that's just all the answers to your questions that were bound to be asked. I just saved us the time." I shook my head at him and took a sip of my juice. "I would kindly like to decline the offer." was my only reply. Vernon looked into my eyes but didn't ask me for an explanation. Probably because the firmness of my decision was clearly visible in my eyes.

"Very well then," Vernon spoke as he stood up again and buttoned up his blazer. "See you around." was a way of him bidding goodbye and walked out of the house to carry on with his day. I was still looking at the way that Vernon walked away when I heard Gia ask "Why would you decline such an offer? Don't you need money?"

"I need my distance from him more than I need money."

***

"Enjoy your order," Gracie said to the customer as she handed him the paper bag that held his order. "Sure." The customer mumbled sarcastically and walked away. "The second asshole of the day," Gracie said after he was out of the shop. I chuckled at her and closed the jar of cookies that I was refilling. The bell above the door dinged and I looked up to welcome the customer but stopped as a grin replaced my lips when I saw Sean standing on the door. "Sean!" I exclaimed in happiness while walking towards his open arms. I laughed when he engulfed me, giving me a tight squeeze. "How are you?" He asked after we parted. "Doing good. How are you?" I asked while pulling him towards a vacant table. "Fantastic." He answered. "What will you have?" I asked. "Iced vanilla latte and strawberry cheesecake." He replied. I quickly gave the order and joined Sean so we can catch up.

I told him about Vernon and Victoria and everything that happened till morning. I needed someone to hear me and I was grateful to have Sean with me. "So you want to move back?" He asked with a calmness that I am desperately craving for. "I want to but I can't give up my money. I have to stay for two months." I answered. "I'll help you with the money but you can't go through that." He said. I smiled at him weakly and shook my head. "You know how I am Sean. I don't like seeking help. I'll figure things out myself. Besides, it's just two months. I think I can pull it off." I replied. That is if Vernon and Victoria stay out of my sight, I added in my mind. "You know you can call me anytime," Sean said. I smiled at him and enjoyed the moment of happiness that I had with Sean for the next hour before I had to bid him goodbye.

The sunset down the horizon and the blanket of darkness enveloped the sky. We thanked our last customers and started winding down for the day. Ellis and Susan left early and the only people in the cafe were me, Gracie, and Oliver, our master baker. As we were cleaning the tables the bell over the door rang. "Tyler!" Gracie exclaimed in awe which made me chuckle. Tyler greeted her and walked over to me. "Hello, there cherry!" He said with a wide grin. "Hi" I replied in an uninterested manner. "Why are you here?" I asked continuing my task. "Don't you want me here?" He asked. "It's your place, you can walk in and out anytime you like," I replied.

"I came here to walk you home," Tyler said which made me stop my work for a moment. "Walk me home?" my confused eyes looked up at him. "Yes, if you allow me to." The softness in his face as he asked for my permission made me smile but it also warmed up my heart, a feeling I wasn't allowed to feel. For a split moment I wanted to tell him, yes but I knew better than that. "I think I can walk myself. Thank you for the gesture though." I answered, looking away immediately, not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes. "At least walk me till my car," Tyler spoke after a moment of silence. I nodded with a smile, having no courage to hurt him more. Gracie exited the cafe along with me and Tyler me while Oliver wanted to finish some of the baking and was going to close the shop.

Gracie left in a cab while Tyler and I walked until his car was parked further down the street as there was no parking space near the cafe. At that moment, as I laughed at one of Tyler's lame jokes we heard a loud noise behind us that made my heart jump out of my chest. Tyler's arms instinctively wrapped around me and shielded me from whatever the sound was from. My ears were still buzzing because of the noise but my nose smelt it. The smell of burning smoke.

***

Hello guys,

I am back again. I know I have abandoned this story more times than I can remember but the reason I didn't update for so long was because I had lost the manuscript for this story and it demotivated me. However, I found my motivation again and started writing. Honestly, last year's writing was a struggle for me. As my story started gaining popularity I started feeling pressure to be this perfect writer who gives out a perfect story and for so long I was stuck in a dilemma.

I soon realized that I don't need to be perfect to have my story out there. My first story is not perfect still I had published it and I don't regret it. I just needed to tell myself to write, until and unless I don't write or make flaws I won't be perfect. It's like nobody's first is perfect. So here I am back with my imperfect first.

Thank you so much for sticking around. I would not be going anywhere until I complete this story.

Thank you and sending you love,
Aastha.

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