2 9-5
Standing outside nearby the brightly covered garbage bins with the logo, "Ate To Eight," was Ely Calvillo. A man in his early thirties who had never kept a full-time job due to his unflattering attitude.
In the past, Ely was a child actor with a bright personality many people who had watched, "Back To Auntie's Garden" will recall memories of nostalgia when his small face would act with such enthusiasm and emotion.
A bright boy with straight russet-brown hair, which only came up to his eyebrows, and looked fuller in person.
The show started when Ely was five, still growing in his adult teeth. Many viewers who were mothers fell in love with his babyish talk because of the missing tooth in the front of his mouth. The show continued till Ely was sixteen with his features more set in and a calming gaze within his eyes.
It was only when he reached his young adult years did he receive backlash for his apathetic personality and stoned face. However, it was only when his manager at the time commented that the stress of working at such a young age resulted in this and that it was the industry's fault for failing Ely.
Surprisingly, people resonated with this exclaiming how Ely was their childhood but he, on the other hand, had no childhood.
Thus, winning back the hearts of foolish people.
Ely made his official statement at the age of nineteen when he left the world with his short goodbye, "The season, "The Seashore's Daughter," will be the last acting gig I do. I am stepping down from this position."
His manager quickly added onto Ely's part after it was released; emphasizing how this devastated Ely as much as it did for the fans, his gratefulness, and the sincerest farewell to his supporters. Which saved his reputation.
For the majority of his twenties Ely's mother, Wei Calvillo. A people pleaser at heart and always changed her look to fit with the new trends. Currently, she had dyed her hair a light shade of pink and wore more boyish clothes to post about. She was attached to the compliments and those filled with envy.
Wei decided to send her son to travel to various places in a last-minute effort to not be shunned by others or the paparazzi. Her [Divinity] was Qi after all, she was supposed to be the best at grounding others and making them feel like their burdens were lifted when she was in the room.
If people found out that she couldn't do that for her own son she'd be bashed for it. So sending her son miles away was a way to keep the peering eyes off of her.
No one could nitpick when her son was displayed to be 'enjoying' his youth.
When Ely returned at twenty-nine he didn't lose the nasty attitude or his temperate problem, but the Cavillo Family hid it well by closing off any requests to hold an interview with him.
It was only when a photo of Ely pouring hot tea on a customer after they repeatedly complained about how they were being ignored by him went viral.
It was later found out that this person would be charged with stalking Ely and evidence showed they had tracked what times he clocked in.
But everyone focused the spotlight on Ely. No one understood how he could drastically change from how he was on screen to the man he was now. How the countless vacations didn't make him more humble or pleased.
At first, many had thought it was him practicing for a noir character in a drama but his stepping down from acting shut down those thoughts.
His fans quoted his manager's claims in defense, yet no one really had an answer to the questions about his new character.
Though, this wasn't enough to make a majority hate Ely—the sole reason why Ely still managed to find employment when he returned from overseas. Companies would make their needed quota for the month or the year they needed before they laid him off.
He would have worked various jobs throughout the months, including a baker, a coach, a bartender, and even a babysitter at one point.
Ely's parents pushed him into the workforce to keep up face not because they went broke like many speculated. His father, Liu Calvillo had his eyes set on having a family business after his son's acting career went to shambles.
The family barely saw him as he went out to make connections and meet with other CEOs to learn about the business, boasting about how his son stays true to the community.
The door to the side of Ely furiously swung open by his boss, "Ely! It isn't break yet, get back in here dammit!"
With the last cigarette from the pack, he took one last inhale before letting out a sigh and putting his apron back on.
This year he was working at a cat cafe and was in charge of tidying the cafe and routinely serving seconds to customers.
The customers in the cafe were mainly women who came from the advertisements of taking a free picture with Ely if they spent over fifty dollars or adopted a cat. It didn't surprise Ely when all the phones came out to get snapshots of his face.
It was all pointless to him in the cafe the only thing that Ely would focus on was an orange cat that was abnormally heavy, the store cat, Mr. Fattie.
He took cans of food to start feeding the cats to let the women be met with his back turned to them. Fattie quickly sprung from one of the younger women's lap and purred at Ely's ankles, pushing its abdomen onto him.
Once the cats were fed, Ely took one last look at the clock, he had woken up at 5:30 AM and his shift ended at 2 PM. Then it would be his colleague, Wangyue's turn to clock in.
He was a university student at a place where people who didn't have a [Divinity] studied the psychology of those who did. When Ely first heard this he thought how useless of money and time would it be to pursue that career.
One hour was left.
Ely would have to replenish the sold-out refreshments and pastries. He stated heading to the backroom, grabbing everything he needed, and neatly putting some in the display glass. After he went around refilling everyone's drinks, posed for pictures then thanked those who were leaving.
At 2:10 Wangyue came into work with an encouraging smile.
"Ah," he paused to take in a deep breath and look out into the store's layout. Cat toys were scattered across the floor, tables were pulled next to the open glass for a view of the outside, and the ceiling fan barely turned on the days you needed it. "Ely isn't-"
Without giving Wangyue a chance to enter a deep monologue, Ely slid his cap on, shoved the apron into Wangyue's hands, took his keys, and nodded at him as he left.
Ely wore hoodies even on the hottest of days to avoid interactions with others, he wanted to return quickly to his apartment free of labor and a bed that awaited him.
The lights were rarely on in his home, he found the sunlight much cheaper. His parents lived in a penthouse-like home—while their son lived in a studio apartment.
Nothing extra was found in Ely's home. It was one of everything for things like cooking, eating, utensils, and blanket.
Typically, many will prepare their new place for others to visit or stay at. Ely made it for himself, down to the kind of mattress he slept on.
He used to buy things for others but nowadays he felt no need to continue that bad habit.
'They won't be buried with me, so what's the use?'
He took a cold shower in the candle-lit bathroom, then slid into his bedtime pants without a shirt since he usually slept shirtless nowadays. Crashing onto his bed as he went to do his routine thinking and then resting.
Ely's mother called every Friday night to ask for updates, while his father randomly set up dinner dates for Ely to meet daughters from rich families.
In his father's mind, he believes this will lead the family to sustain wealth if they feed into hypergamy. What he didn't understand was Ely lacked romantic desires or social awareness. He spoke what came to mind even if this tore the pride of esteemed daughters.
However, Ely knew that it was starting to get too much.
'Mom wouldn't call me so much if I had a wife, and father can satisfy his greed if her family's rich.'
Ely had many different women to choose from, if he married someone big they could have everything he needed at home and could lay anywhere in the house, maybe even swim!
Ely entertained these thoughts while he lay on his bed, scratching at his leg.
Until a deciding factor crossed his mind, 'What if her family demands us to have a child?'
