9 Chapter#8 Broken ties and new ties

Everything is so warm around me, I would give anything to keep sleeping curled up in my blankets, it is relaxing to be surrounded by that warmth and comfort, although I completely hate the fact that they slip under my body, it is frustrating. From then on everything perfect, but as always there is something that has to bother me in the morning. My bladder is wanting to explode and I can't take that pain in my lower abdomen any longer. Swearing curses and muttering nonsense, I get up from the comfort of the bed and go straight to the bathroom to get rid of the morning discomfort. With only my underwear on I walk to the mirror and I take the toothbrush and start carving my mouth sleepily. I get under the shower and open the sink to all that it gives with cold water to wake up. I would be lying if I didn't say that I jumped tremendously and I almost yelped when I felt the water fall down my back, too cold for my body just out of the blankets.

I cover my body with a towel and start to dry my hair with a smaller one, leaving it half damp so that it can dry only naturally. There is the part that I detest the most in my mornings, finding something comfortable both inside and outside, it is frustrating to feel uncomfortable the whole day, a lot. I dress in simple and covered panties, not to say big, they look more boxer than anything else but they are super like that. I put on a bra of those that women use in the gym and while I gather my hair with a pair of clips. I take my black pants frayed at the ends and a simple black turtleneck coat. I put my boots on my feet and make sure they are tight.

I leave my room without making noise and go to the kitchen, it is still early, it is already Tuesday and luckily I do not bring classes today, let's say that the day is on the right track for that part. I make my morning tea and make some of the coffee that Tom drinks every morning. I make a couple of buttered toasts and eat them next to tea. While I give a last review to the menu and ingredients that were given to me a few days ago for Starbucks, although now that I detail it, this does not look like Starbucks anywhere, but hey, it doesn't matter I just have to stand out, today is the day so everything came from pearls.

With my hair drier, I let it go completely and I look at myself in the mirror, honestly, I look like Mufasa, my hair has no shape, I have dark circles, and my bad face cannot be missing. I straighten my earrings and my nose piercing, it's completely healed so I'm calm. I take my backpack with my cell phone and grab my headphones as I walk to the apartment door quietly. I go down the stairs because I don't have the patience to wait for the elevator and I start the day listening to a bit of Dubstep that I had recently downloaded, it was already 7:30 so I had to hurry a bit since I had to be at 8:00 where I would apply for the job. I put out my hand to take a taxi, when I got up I leave the address to the driver and I just have to wait to get there.

I leave a tip when I get out of the car and walk determined but I must accept that also with a little fear of the place. I look up where the poster was supposed to be and I go blank not seeing it there, for a moment I think I was in the wrong place but when I recognized a familiar face I quickly expel that thought.

-Good Morning. -Speak low- I hope I'm not late.

"Not at all, we'll open in a few minutes, come in."

-Thank you. -I agreed entering quickly putting myself in front of what seemed to be the saleswoman.

-Can I ask you a question?

- Sure, what doubt do you bring ?. -He arranged papers while I decided whether to ask or not.

"Uh, because the sign isn't out anymore? Isn't this a Starbucks?"

–No, we actually bought this place recently so that's why we were looking for workers. It was a Starbucks but when we bought it we decided to turn it into a common coffee shop. That's why they took the poster today, we are looking at some designs for the new one but there is nothing that suits us yet.

"May I ask what the place would be called?" -wheel my fingers

"For now we agreed that it would be called Wings."

- Do you have advertising?

-No not yet, we have not been able to concentrate on it but we will solve it. -the woman smiles a little, finishing arranging everything.

Giving the smile back I go and sit very at one of the empty tables to wait for the others to arrive. I think you can take the opportunity to practice my studies a bit by proposing to do the poster and advertising, I could take it as a training. A few minutes later a boy on skates enters and behind a pretty pretty girl. Honestly, if she is the one I must "compete against" in a certain way, I think I'm finished. She is very pretty, she has beautiful black hair and she is slim, she looks like a model, and her face is super cute and fine. She is the opposite of me, by God I feel like my self-esteem is plummeting, but no! You have to be strong, it doesn't matter I will get the job yes or yes, even if you stop calling me Ingrid Woods.

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A few minutes later there were already a good number of people outside the premises waiting for the opening for service. Ingrid was fixing her clothes and hair a bit so that she wouldn't get in the way. What the clerk had told her for now was that they would take turns at the cashier to test both of them, it was not her turn yet so she looked closely at everything. I walk a bit looking at the place to somehow keep it in her memory. She went outside to get ideas to later present a possible promotional model to the owners of the place.

"Aish, I don't have all the time in the world to wait for a damn coffee, can't you hurry?" -someone a little annoyed by the delay of the place spoke.

- Calm down, remember that they are just opening so they must not have many personnel.

- Anyway, something key in all this is to be efficient. -complains again.

–Ok, calm down, that you had a shitty day because you lost a patient is not anyone's fault you know? I know it hurts and that it is difficult as always but you don't have to be like this. she-she looks her how she comforts him little by little.

Hearing the conversation, she decides that she might give Ingrid a good experience even if it's the first day, so she runs to the locker room and looks for the boy she had seen minutes ago with skates.

-Hi there. she-she spoke gasping for air from the race- excuse me, can you lend me your skates for a moment?

The boy looks at her a little strange but he gives in. -Ok, only if you promise that you will take care of them, okay? - He extends the same leaving him to leave.

She puts the skates on his feet and ties them tightly since they are slightly larger than her feet, she gets up a little, trying not to fall. One of his hidden talents was that he loves skates. Since she was little, she was called to her attention even though she had never learned, after the youth series Soy Luna aired she had just definitely fallen in love with them. From that moment she decided to learn yes or yes, she received scratches and blows but she managed to do the basics, at least she had partial control of what was necessary and was confident not to fall. She groped the floor slowly and flattened herself on the bench, she gathered momentum and maneuvered a bit to adjust to the accessories on her feet.

She made a ponytail in her hair and captured a cute smile with rosy cheeks from the cold rushing out with a cloth and a water dispenser, she quickly cleaned the tables and arranged the chairs so that she looked presentable. She gave a few small jumps in her place and opened the doors to everything they gave, with her cheeks flushed with shame she spoke as loudly as she could.

–Good morning, sorry for the delay of a few moments ago but as some of you know it is hardly a new place so we are short of staff, what was going on, those who want a fast service please make a line there. -I point to the left area of the doors- on the contrary, those who want to sit down and enjoy the music inside and others, form on the opposite side. Those in the row to my left, all they have to do is go directly to the cash register and wait to be attended, while those in the row to my right will go directly to the tables and I will attend them, thanks for listening. she-she retreats her again she with her nerves on the surface.

He quickly puts on his apron and takes a notebook with a pen and the menus, goes out again to the door and calls a certain number of people to fill the tables, while they enter he gives them a copy of the menu and offers them the seat they want, when the two people who were arguing outside arrive, he is in charge of giving the bitter person in the conversation a smile full of understanding and support, or so he tries to convey. Apparently she succeeded because at least the boy stopped frowning when he saw her.

She went from table to table picking up orders still on the skates doing her best. Meanwhile the girl in the box was also quite fast giving smiles and mischievous looks, she realized that many were going to the box so she decided to speed up a bit more. The differences were clear, she did not give as much visual presence as her partner was not so sweet, but still she had to do something in a certain way better. When she went to the kitchen, she realized that the food and drinks were well made but they made her want to close her eyes and not see them, they had no visual appeal.

He took the drinks one by one and began to make whipped cream to some, to other figures with cinnamon and cocoa powder, he put jelly beans where he thought they would look good with the liquid and cookies or crumbs where he thought it was necessary, also putting some acid touches with preserves or caramels previously broken to give a balance where there may be too much sugar. She put colored ribbons with light curls on the larger clear glasses. Meanwhile, she did something a little different to the cakes or sandwiches. To those who brought sandwich bread with a short pasta, he gave them shapes of stars and other figures, taking advantage of the surplus in decoration with small drawings with sauces and others, while he put cream and syrups with colored seeds for the cakes. and chocolate. After finishing such an action, she left at breakneck speed delivering the meals to the respective tables. She was bringing speed how it looked like she would fall off or something, but she calmly managed to deliver everything without spilling a drop. The last table she handed over was the "grumpy boy" as she decided to set him. It consisted of an iced strawberry mint tea while the accompanying one an iced coffee with milk. Before leaving she left some cookies with chocolate and mint chips for the tea boy and gave him one last smile to go to the kitchen again.

From there she was able to notice people gossiping and taking photos with the food in their hands, mouths and so on. She could see how they were uploaded to Instagram and other networks, making her feel happy with her work. She spent a little time looking at her "rival" and was glad to know that those in her line were also leaving with a smile on her face. She finished tapping into the missing ones while she collected bills and took them to the cashier to collect changes. Finally the day ended, the lunch hour was a bit busy since there were more people out at that time, everything went perfectly at least that time, at the end he returned the skates after cleaning them and fixed his clothes and hair a little . As she changed her clothes, the black haired girl who shared "the exam" with her entered.

"Congratulations, you have done an excellent job today." she-she spoke she starting to change her clothes.

Ingrid surprised that she spoke to him she smiled a little shy and he returned the compliment. –Thank you, you did super too, I just thought it would be wise to just take advantage of the situation.

They spent a while congratulating each other and commented on the things they saw positive about the other and advised each other, in the end one of them would only pass or take the job so they would not lose anything. They both left laughing and sat at the tables waiting for the manager.

-Well ladies, I'm glad to see you so happy, I hope and keep those faces. I was watching all his performance during the day and I will say that I was surprised in a good way. Both have a lot of potential. -He sits in front of them- I was watching you and the clients through the security cameras, and for that reason, we decided that the two of you will keep the position, each one will occupy the shift and the area that you worked today, ¿ we're?

Both girls smirked and high-fived congratulations.

–Ingrid please come to my office.

She nods walking behind the shop assistant biting her lip at her nervousness.

–As I said before, I was watching them through the security camera and I could see how you arranged the orders in the kitchen, I must thank you because if you had not done that we might not have good eyesight today, so thank you.

- Madam, would you let me help you with the publicity of the place? You see, I study graphic design and doing this would give me good grades in school.

–Sounds promising, if I let you do this and I give you a letter expressing my point of view of your work, would you do it for free for us?

-Yes, there is no problem with it, likewise I would like you to give me the opportunity to make the logo of the premises, if it is not annoying of course ...

–It's done Ingrid, work on it and between the remainder of the week you will show me your ideas so we will assess what best fits, okay?

-Yes, thank you very much. she-she stands up with a grateful smile and she leaves the premises with great ideas and hopes.

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She was happy, completely happy, the day was going great, it was like eating honey with cookies, she couldn't wait to start the drawings and create the opportunities. She walked with her hands in her pants pockets, staring at the sky while she listened to some music and looked at the time. It was already 3:00 pm, God, the date, it can't be!

I shot out and managed to catch the bus before it left, I take a shaky breath inside the vehicle and pray that it is still there. Arriving at the park where I was summoned, I look to see if I could find someone. At the moment I receive a notification to the cell phone. When I open it, it is a message telling me to turn around, I obey and there is a boy in front of me, I think it was cute? ... or something like that. He is blond with brown eyes, he had the well-known crow's feet or wrinkles in the corners of his eyes, apparently he laughed very often, if you looked at him well he was not more than 1.70m tall and he was quite thin but he defended himself, no I could avoid it and directed my eyes to his hands, unfortunately he had them hidden in his pockets but that did not stop the deep scan I subjected him to.

-Hi, I'm Marcos, I'm the one who raids your locker every day. -He gives a weird smile, but I don't pay attention to that.

"It would be stupid to tell you my name so I have no way of introducing myself."

"Yes, well said, well ... do you want to have a coffee with me?"

-Voucher.

We both walked to the cafeteria across the street and sat at the tables outside. I waited patiently for what he wanted to tell me; So I just linked my hands and waited

"Well, I think my intentions with you are quite evident, isn't it?"

-One could say, Yes. -I quickly cut-but I honestly don't know if I'm what you're looking for.

Well, I'm supposed to be the one who knows, right? she laughs.

-Yes, I think so ... well, I say it because I am null with respect to love relationships, I have never had one so I do not know how this works. -I haven't even kissed anyone.

–I understand, I can teach you if you want.

I frown my eyebrows and look at him confused, but curiosity moves me more, let's see, understand me, not every day a pretty decent or pretty boy tells you that he likes you, or that he is willing to share something with you so my curiosity can more than I.

I nod and yes, I laugh a little, not an ear-to-ear grin, but something is something. We had a little chat and I noticed a couple of things, smokes and drinks, something that does not appeal to me, but each one with their habits, right? He told me that for now he belonged to the soccer team and that he was two years ahead of me, exactly in economics. I told him a little about the things that I liked, about which I think were important. We finished eating and left the place, he accompanied me to the entrance of the building, there before going up the stairs he took me by the arm and without warning he took my face and kissed me.

It felt weird, I don't know ... it just didn't feel how I imagined it, I don't feel nervous or anything like that, I'm just worried trying to imitate what he does, but I don't feel anything, my curiosity is bigger than me . Still I try to concentrate more and we part a little agitated. Technically I left my first air kiss. He says goodbye with another kiss on my cheek and runs off. I enter the elevator touching my lips with a mixture of confusion and insecurities, but they are quickly overshadowed by the happiness of my achievement at work. I try to open the door with my keys but it does not yield, I go blank processing why it does not open and an argument takes me out of my thoughts.

–Thomas has to go, I'm not going to put up with another woman here apart from me and it's my last word. she snaps furiously.

–I already told you more than once that she does not affect anything here, it is not necessary for her to leave because she has not done anything wrong.

"I said no, and it's not no!" Make up your mind, her or me Tomás.

I knocked lightly on the door, there is silence before opening with a heated Tom.

In that moment, suppressing the tears that wanted to come out of my eyes, I tell myself that I must be strong, and that things like these and more painful will continue to come to me and I must pass over them. Therefore I say in a very low voice. –Don't worry, I'll go and pack my bags and leave.

I walk quickly to the room I occupy and begin to put my clothes in my backpack and in a bag that I had bought days ago. As I was doing this I feel the door being opened and I look over my shoulder at Tom to get to where I am.

–Stop that, you don't have to go. -She said taking out the things that I put in- don't pay attention to her, she's just jealous.

I put things aside and stopped her movements. "Please, don't drag this out, okay?" Someday I had to go, I can't be under your wing all my life. I finally got a job, so you don't have to worry.

-But you really don't have ...

I didn't let him finish. "Yes, I have, because of my presence here you have had problems with your girlfriend and that's not the idea." She wanted to speak but I silenced her again –Also, I have no need to have any discussion with her and excuse me for saying it this way, but I will not lower myself to her level for simple jealousy, I love you very much and you know it, these almost two months They have been the best with you, and I appreciate your help, but this is not being fair, nor do you deserve what is happening now, and neither do I. -I caress her hair-I'll keep writing and nagging for messages, you won't be able to escape from me so easily.

I moved from my spot and finished packing all my things by walking out of the room with him behind me. She was sitting on the couch with one leg crossed waiting for my departure. With a smile without a trace of annoyance or any negative emotion, I placed the copy of the keys she had on the table in front of her legs, keeping the key ring. I said one last goodbye to Tom and left the house.

"I promise you will see me soon." I said to him before taking the elevator, leaving in his hands a paper with the address of my work, so I could see him more often.

I left the building and started walking, now I had one more problem on the list, I have to find a place to sleep, I already have a job, but I'll just start with this trial week and I won't start collecting my payroll until next month, this gives disgust, I only have one option left for now, I hope to be received ...