Episode 1: Return of the Bully

Her phone rang incessantly in her bag, buried deep inside the store room of the restaurant under twenty other bags of the employees who worked at Chum-chum Cafe. The store room was dark and the phone was on silent, so no one picked up that call.

Lisa would, though, 15 minutes later after her shift was over, but then it would be too late.

The night was hot and the weekend crowd so thick it made her skin itch. She tucked a strand behind her ear and smiled at the next customer, "What can I get for you today?"

I just want to get out of here, she thought and smiled even wider, waiting for the twelve year old boy to place his order. He pointed at one of the cold coffees and one of the hot ones. Lisa clicked the bill and gave it to him before he moved away and the next customer filled in the space.

A tap on her shoulder.

Lisa turned around, her light brown eyes widening in surprise, "Miley, what happened?" she whispered quietly glancing at the waiting customer.

Miley leaned closer and whispered back,"The boss wants you in his office."

Lisa's smile dropped, but she stepped away from the counter silently and let Miley take her place.

Miley fished out her head cap from her pocket and put it on, "Sorry ma'am, what can I get for you?"

"Yes, right, I would like the Mocha with...."

Lisa slumped her hand on her head and pulled the cap and stuffed it in her uniform pocket as she walked towards the boss's office behind the Main kitchen. "No, please, God, not today..." she closed her eyes tight for a second and prayed before opening the Main Kitchen back door which directly led to the office.

Before she could fully open it, a voice spoke, "Lisa? Did the boss call you today?"

Lisa turned around slowly, to look at a tall boy, almost the same age as her, but more attractive than normal boys. But what was his name? Lisa never bothered to remind herself of his name because she was always too busy staring it him.

That's exactly what she was doing now. She nodded slightly.

"Don't go inside," the boy pleaded. Lisa shook her head, "I don't want to get fired, this is the only well-paying job I have."

The boy tried harder to convince her, "But you don't have to sacrifice yoursel-"

"ARE YOU COMING INSIDE OR WHAT?!" a hard throaty voice boomed from inside. Lisa flinched. "I have to...go," she said sadly and entered the dreaded room.

As the door swung close, she registered the smell of the room. It was a strangely familiar one.....alcohol. The boss was slumped on the chair, his head tipped back and legs widely spread, his hands hanging limp on either side of the chair. At the sound of Lisa's slowly footsteps coming nearer, he slowly lifted his head up and looked up from his eyelashes groggily... at her.

"You've kept me waiting, Leeesa," he sputtered and Lisa just stared from the opposite end of his desk table. He groaned and threw the glass bottle in his hands at the white walls.

"Clean it," the boss ordered.

Lisa nodded and searched the back of the room's door where a dustpan was kept. She sighed and crouched down to clean it. "Please, God, get me out of here. Someone save me."

She was almost done cleaning when the boss shouted another order, "Crouch down a little more," with a slight chuckle in his slurred alcohol thick voice.

Lisa bit her lip as she froze, not knowing what to do. "No....I can't. I can't do this," she thought as the boy's unfinished words ran through her head. What had he been about to say? Why sacrifice herself?

She stretched her legs and got up after placing the dust pan on the floor. "My shift is over," she said out of self-survival instinct. She regretted it the moment she said it. If she escaped this now, he'll call another one....there were exactly 15 lady workers in the cafe and 6 men. It was the boss who chose the employees, after all.

His slanted almost non existent eyes flared when he saw Lisa stand up, "What the hell are you doing, you witch! Crouch!"

Lisa's heart started to beat faster. This was the fifth time she had been in this position this year. She can't do this anymore....but the other girl employees....

"But I've finished cleaning up the glass," she said instead, looking for something to hit him with. Something large...something that might send him to hospital for a couple of weeks.

He yelled and took another bottle from the floor and crashed it on the floor, "Clean that!" He threw yet another bigger one, "And that!"

Lisa stepped back in fear, her fists turning white.

"You won't leave until you finish cleaning up everything!" the boss hollered, now standing up. She saw him clearly now. Half buttoned up shirt that was wet with the liquid and a gash on his lip...a fight in the bar? Whatever it was, she didn't care right now. The boy was right, why sacrifice her dignity just to earn a few bucks?

"But it's not just a few bucks is it? It's your entire income, your support to live," a quiet but persistent voice said in her head.

She looked up at the dirty man. "No."

He was almost about to take his seat for a show but her words stopped him. "What did you say?"

She stepped closer to the desk table, her hands trembling, "I said no, you perv,"

He lunged for her, eyes bright with anger and lust. Lisa flinched closing her eyes as her hands went to the biggest bottle on the desk and flung it at his already bruised face.

He didn't even flinch. "Oh shit, it didn't work!" Lisa realized and ran to the back of the room. She knew the room very well, considering her experiences in here. And she also knew that the boss would follow her to the back of the room.

He was a bit slow and shaky but he reached her and grabbed her neck. It hurt, it hurt so much that Lisa bit her cheek. She reached for the heavy glass trophy the Cafe got last year for being the Most Customer Friendly and flung it at his face once more.

By now, a few of the employees had heard the ruckus and only now did the boy dare to open the door to the boss' office.

He and five other employees sucked in a breath at what they saw.

Lisa was standing at the back of the room, her hair had come undone and was hanging over her face. She was staring at the man, who was now on the floor looking almost dead.

"Lisa?" the boy yelled in confusion. He ran to her, "Are you okay?" She shook him off, "Leave me alone, you bastard," she muttered. Hurt flashed across his eyes as Lisa looked up at him. Her face had changed. It wasn't pretty anymore. It was dark and ridden with lines of anger.

Lisa stormed out of the office and went to the store room to grab her bag and exited the Cafe without changing her uniform.

"Lisa!" Miley called out, making a few customers' heads turn for a second. But Lisa didn't answer. Miley rushed towards the office and took in the scene.

"What happened, Nick?" her face in shock at the almost dead body of the Cafe owner. Nick shrugged, "I don't know."

Miley looked up at him, "Well then call the ambulance!"

...........

Lisa walked through the busy night city. The night wind making her hair even messier. She huffed as she reached the beach and found an empty bench.

There was no one around in this area of the beach so she dug her hands in her hair and pulled at it frantically. "AHHHHHH!!!" she yelled, drawing out her frustration and anger towards...not just the boss, her life, her fate, just

every thing.

Then she started crying, Memories flashed back of her school life. How strong she had been. She had everyone back then, even Miley. They would face anything together.

"How did I end up like this?" She asked particularly to no one. She heard the happy banter of a recently together couple in the distance and looked up regaining her sense as she wiped her eyes and dug her bag for her phone.

Her call log showed 6 missed calls from the same person. "What the hell..." she muttered to herself as she pressed the dial button next to her Landlord's name. Her face instantly came to Lisa's mind when she heard her face on the phone. A chubby lady with short hair and a pink face. She used to be the owner of a very successful clothing line until her daughter took over and turned it into an entire garment store.

That was probably what made her so cranky all the time.

"Ms Derrier? Why'd you call me? I was at work...are you at your house? I'll come there-"

"Don't even dare," she trilled. Lisa's heart skipped a beat.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"Pack your stuff and leave. Unless you can pay the rent for three months," Ms Derrier declared. Lisa choked on her words.

"B-but Ms Derrier, it says in the contract that I can pay every six months! Only three months have passed till now!" she fought back.

"Well, Lisa," Ms Derrier dragged, "It also says in the contract that I can implement any changes according to my needs. So pay up. Or leave."

Lisa shook her head, "No Ms Derrier, please listen-"

The static went mute on her phone and she knew that the Landlord had cut the call. Lisa dragged her bag and slung it over her shoulder as she walked on the path back to her ex-house.

What shall I do now?, she said to herself, Should I go back to my parent's house? No...that would be too much trouble.

Lisa had left her house after graduating from college so that she wouldn't have to burden her parents with taking care of a fourth child until she got a job. The three kids were more than enough to give two humans a headache every night.

It had been only been three months since she left and two weeks were left for her second level interview at BigHit, where will she stay till then? And what if she doesn't get the job?

Lisa took out her phone again and dialed her mother's number. After three rings, Lisa's dad answered the call, "Lisa? How are you?"

"I lost my job," she admitted truthfully, "and I don't have a place to stay. Can I come home?"

"Lisa! What do you mean you lost your job? Weren't you on a two year rent contract? What-"

Lisa's mom snatched the phone from her husband when she heard the conversation, Lisa's little brother squirming in her left hand. "Lisa, dear, are you okay?"

Lisa sighed. What's the point? "No, mom. Can I come home?" she felt ashamed asking this, but there was no choice.

"Of course dear! This is your home no need to ask! I'll clear out a room for you...honey, can you hold him?" she whispered off the phone to Lisa's dad, "Come home okay? And we can figure every thing out."

"Thanks mom." Lisa said and her mom chuckled. Before she cut the phone she called again, "Mom?"

"Yes, Lisa?"

"I'm sorry," she said, a tear escaping her eyes involuntarily.

"Stop that, be careful when you take the bus, it's almost midnight."

And her mom cut the phone and turned towards her husband. He was rocking the baby boy to sleep and staring daggers at Ms Do. "How can you let her come home?" Mr Do asked.

"It's just for a few days, sweetheart. She is our daughter, who does she have other than us?"

Mr Do went silent and they all sat for late dinner, Mrs Do was slightly worried if her 24 year old daughter can come back safely on this night. She prayed silently, "Please guard my little angel."

Mothers prayers are always heard, or are they?

............

Lisa ripped the Notice from her room door and entered her room in the tall apartment. She loved that place. The wind was quite strong in the area so she would spend her few days off in the balcony drawing, sometimes writing lyrics for a song she never finished. Miley would come over on some days, when she is not with a guy and they would watch random films together.

She just hoped the next interview with BigHit went well. She had applied for the marketing department and with only one year experience she probably didn't stand a chance...but it was BigHit...and they never gave out jobs like this before. This was her opportunity.

It was 11:00 by the time she packed her stuff and rolled her suitcase out of the building and walked to the nearest bus station. She had money to pay for the bus...she wished she had money to pay for the three month rent too.

The station was empty and the road quiet as the night darkened. The white light above her flickered. "I wish I had had time to take a driving license, then I wouldn't have to wait this long." She checked the Transport app later The last bus to her hometown would come in 2 minutes. She sat on the bench and waited.

Lisa slightly jumped as her phone rang and picked up the call. "Miley?"

"Lisa!" her deep voice screamed, "The police is onto you."

"WHAT?" Lisa screamed back, tension filling her voice.

"The boss recovered consciousness for a few seconds and kept on repeating your name. One of the nurses reported it before I even knew. I'm going to beat the hell out of that nurse, but you better run, Lisa, according to the police, you're the one at fault here."

"But it was self defense!" she retorted back, her hand tugging at her ears. This is bad, very bad. No no no no no, she screamed inside her head, what is wrong with me?

"I don't know, Lisa, I think the police are on their way to your house to take you in," she informed, "Oh, and more thing, I think you're fired."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me," Lisa said sarcastically despite the situation. Of course she was fired, why was she going home then?

The police are going to find out that Lisa isn't at home. And that is the only address the Cafe company knows....Lisa tucked her hair into her hair, suddenly alert and her brains from high school kicking in, "Miley, don't tell them my parent's address, say you know me as just an employee. Okay?"

"Got it. But it won't take long for them to find out..."

"Tail them for as long as you can," Lisa ordered,"Until I figure something out. It's not my fault anyway."

Miley smiled through the phone, "We're back to high school, huh, Lisa?"

"The past always catches up," Lisa replied, adrenaline coursing through her brain. Miley said a hasty goodbye and cut the call. Lisa looked up from her phone to see a bus slowly moving away from the station.

Bus No. 456....where had she seen that number before? She slowly switched apps on her phone to the Transport one.

Bus No. 456 Destination: MM Next Stop: CC was what it had showed.

Now, the next stop place changed and Lisa realized that she had just missed the last bus back home.

"Fuck," was all she could say as she buried her head in her hands and heard police sirens slowly approaching, getting louder every second.