Chapter 4 Four.
"Aeryn, what are you doing?" I felt the warmth of Sue's hand on my shoulder and quickly shoved the crumpled paper into the back pocket of my jeans. Whirling around on my heels, I smiled at Sue, a look of innocence on my face.
"Huh, oh nothing. I was just serving tables," I spoke, gesturing to the tables around my vicinity.
At this, the confused look on Sue's face only seemed to deepen, and she gestured behind me with a finger. "You mean the empty table?" She spoke, pointing to the table where the old man once sat. Her tone was cautious, as though she was talking to a mental patient, and I faltered in my response.
My eyes flitted to the table and back to Sue in a vigorous cycle before I sighed deeply in defeat. "Was there something you needed?" I asked, in a bid to change the subject.
Thankfully, Sue took the bait and, with one last look of confusion, she smiled at me before pointing at her watch. "It's 10:30 am, meaning you have a lecture in half an hour." She explained, a smirk on her face as she knew I had forgotten yet again.
I yanked Sue's arm toward mine to confirm the time, and indeed she spoke the truth. With a hurried 'thanks,' I took off towards the backroom, taking off my apron as I did so. Upon reaching the backroom, however, all thoughts of University were out the window.
I watched with wide eyes at the scene playing in front of me. Sour Steve holding a rather willing Esme on his lap, his tongue probing the contents of her mouth and his sleazy hands nestled on her rear.
I should have left as soon as I had processed the sight, but a gasp had left my lips before I could comprehend anything, and both participants looked at me, anger in their eyes and saliva on their faces.
"You?! What are you doing here?!" Steve spluttered out, standing up abruptly. He had seemingly forgotten the woman who had been sat on his lap, and she let out a yelp at the sudden movement before composing herself with a cough and straightening the ruffles on her apron.
My cheeks heated up at the question as though I had been trespassing on his lawn. Rather, they were sitting in the small backroom that doubled as a staff room. I mean, the very sofa they had been 'canoodling' on was the sofa I sat on to eat my food during breaks. I almost retched at the thought, but upon seeing the look on Steve's face, I pointed weakly at the lockers on the left side of the room.
"I'm finished. Need coat and bag," I spilled in broken sentences, feeling the blood rush to my face.
At this, Steve's face seemed to redden even further as though he was angered that I had a reasonable explanation. I cautiously spared a glance at Esme, who stood twiddling her thumbs and looking down at the floor. Steve tutted heavily, dragging a hand through his oily blonde hair before motioning toward the lockers with a loud snap of his fingers.
"Get your things and get out." He let out, and I more than willingly complied, rushing to the lockers and fumbling at the lock. Only when I heard Steve tut again did I speed up, hoping to God that he wouldn't fire me. Debra would kill me if I were fired.
I pulled my belongings out, not even bothering to put the coat on before making a beeline toward the door, my eyes facing the dirty-tiled floor. When I exited the room, I breathed a sigh of relief. If he had let me go, he probably wouldn't fire me.
I walked towards the exit of the cafe, a smile on my face at the prospect of fresh air after spending too long in the heated atmosphere.
"Aeryn!" I halted, my hand touching the door handle. I was tempted to turn the handle and dance off into the street, but I knew it would affect my payment, so I remained still, listening to the sound of her shoes coming closer.
I turned slightly when Esme arrived in front of me and opened my mouth to speak, but I was abruptly pulled into a hug. I let out an 'oomph' at the sudden intrusion, my arms remaining limp at my side. I was about to question the sudden show of affection, but her sultry voice spoke in my ear before I could.
"This is nice, isn't it, Aeryn? I hope you have fun at University. Oh, by the way, if you tell anyone about what you saw, I'll ruin you. I think you've seen the particular influence I have over Stevey, right?" She cooed, her tone sweet as though she were lulling me to sleep, and I gaped slightly when I processed what she said.
Stevey?
She moved back abruptly, a sickly sweet smile on her face, and I nodded, implying that I understood. Her smile widened at this and she flicked her brown hair behind her shoulder.
"Good," she let out simply before trotting off, but suddenly she turned back again and I eyed her warily. She looked at me over her shoulder, a smile on her face. "I hope you like cake, Aeryn," she said with a wink before skipping off toward the backroom, back to her forty-year-old lover. I retched at the thought before turning the handle and rushing out into the street.
With the old man and now this, I had already established that today was not a normal day.
"And before I knew it, he had bought the lodge," Marie explained excitedly, and I listened intently. She was indulging in another one of her family stories, this time about the time she traveled to Canada. She had told it often before, but honestly, I didn't mind. I lived family life vicariously through such stories and, many a time, I had dreams about accompanying her on these exciting family trips.
I moved closer to her on the bench and looked at the photos she was showing me of the lodge. We looked through pictures of her trips to Abu Dhabi, Chad, Paris, and I smiled sadly to myself. I had never once sat in an airplane, and I didn't even know what it was like to go to other places. I wasn't even allowed to sleep over at Marie's house despite my excessive pleading.
After some time, we got up to head to the next seminar. We walked in comfortable silence, and I eyed the group that was also in our course. It consisted of four rowdy boys and three girls. The girls were talking amongst themselves animatedly, eyeing something on one of the girls' phones, while the boys were pushing each other jokingly, and I stilled at the sight.
What would life be like if I had stayed with my biological parents and if I had a normal life? Would I have been part of such a group? Or would I still be stuck in the same place I was now?
"Earth to Aeryn! Come on, let's go. We want to get there early to get the best seats," Marie let out, waving a tanned hand in my face, and I nodded, showing her I was okay. We walked to the top of the stairs, her discussing the coursework that was due tomorrow, but the sound of my name being called distracted me.
I turned around on my heels, as did Marie, watching as one of the boys from the group jogged breezily towards us. I gripped tightly on Marie's hand, watching as she glared at his approaching figure. I rolled my eyes at her antisocial nature before turning to the boy, a nervous smile on my face.
He brushed his blonde hair back, a breathtaking smile on his face. His name was Drake, and he was also doing the same course I was. His green eyes looked over at Marie for a split second before settling on me.
"Aeryn, is it?" he let out, a deepness to his voice. His left hand was stuffed into his front jean pocket while his other hand was going through his hair. His lean body flexed at the movements.
I stilled at the sound of his voice. Sure, I had heard it, but never had he spoken to me or even called my name. I nodded softly at his words, cursing at the redness I could feel rushing to my cheeks.
He nodded in response before smiling politely. "Sorry to break it to you, but I think you've shit yourself." He said, and then the polite composure was gone. I watched as he broke into laughter, though I was still confused until I finally heard what he had said, and I stretched my neck around to look at the back of my jeans to see a smear of chocolate stain all over my backside. I whipped around, shaking my head vigorously at his accusation, but he was too far gone with his laughter to notice me now.
He hadn't noticed, but the students around the vicinity had. Some laughed along with him, most of them being guys, and I covered my face when I heard the click of a camera. I felt Marie's hand on my arm as she ushered me away and I followed her numbly, feeling the heated gazes of people boring into me.
She offered me her jacket and I more than happily obliged to take it, despite having called it a 'grandma jacket' just this morning. God, what I would do to go back to that time. I knew who it was who had done this, and I cursed her in my mind.
“I hope you like cake, Aeryn.”
I felt frustration and anger all at once. How was I so stupid as to not see the motives behind her hug? I couldn't see much now through the tears in my eyes, so I was thankful that Marie was taking the lead. I could still, however, see the disgusted faces of the three girls who I had been looking at before. Not long ago, I had been hoping they would notice me and, hopefully, befriend me. But now I wished I was invisible like before.
I could still hear the laughter in my head even when we were a respectable distance away, and I blinked rapidly to get rid of the tears, cursing when they streaked down my face. I looked at Marie to see a pitiful look on her face, and I wiped at the tears.
"It was chocolate cake, I swear." I rushed out. I don't know why I felt the need to justify myself to her, but I just did. I had to know that someone believed me. I couldn't tell if she believed me or not, though, as she stroked my arm in a sympathetic manner, ignoring my words.
"Hey, forget those idiots. There's always going to be people like that in life. You'll learn to get over it. You should just forget the seminar for today and go home. Get your mind off it." She spoke sweetly.
I wanted to argue that home was just as bad, but I didn't because I couldn't go into a class with Drake and his group. So I nodded. Marie explained that she didn't want to miss this seminar because it was a drop-in session for the coursework, so she bid me goodbye and walked toward the building.
I had accepted that she wouldn't understand. She didn't seem to understand the concept of social groups and humiliation. Many a time I had felt the need to expand our group more than just us two, but Marie had refused. She had said that the need to have friends was an 'immature desire' and that I would break out of it when I got older. But I couldn't shake it. I wanted to feel like I belonged.
Marie just didn't get that or, maybe, I was too embarrassed to explain it to her. So I had left it.
I sighed, turning on my heels and making the lonely and tearful journey home.
