Ora's POV
I sat in the passenger seat and Mr. James started the engine. I feel awkward that my teacher is taking me home. I don't care about the type of place that I'm living in. It's what I can afford. I clutch onto my satchel that is on my lap. We do not drive away yet but I can feel his gaze on me.
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"Please, put on your seatbelt," he says softly.
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"Oh, sorry," I say as I put the seatbelt on, and then we drove away from school.
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"Where do you live?" He asked.
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"94 Orchard Street," I said as I looked ahead.
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"I can see why you are all to yourself." He stated and I looked at him. He doesn't take his eyes off the road.
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Just looking at him from this angle, he looks handsome. I take in his features and then they linger on his lips but then he looks at me and his magnetic blue eyes hold my gaze. His lips curl on one side. "You can always talk to me," he said and I looked away. I didn't realize that we came to a stop at the traffic light.
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"There is nothing to talk about. Just because I live in a lower-class neighborhood doesn't mean that anything is going on," I said. I see out of my peripheral vision that he looks ahead at the road again and he starts to drive.
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"Sometimes, there is a whole lot more going on internally. Sometimes, it can be what goes on behind closed doors. An abusive family, struggles that happen, an absent parent," he said, it doesn't seem like he will drop the topic. I clutch my satchel tighter.
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He is right about many things, for me, it is internal. I do not have absent parents but I have no one. I will not be telling anyone about that. Perhaps if they search the internet, they will be able to see who I am...or was. The sky turns gray, perhaps it will be a light rain that is coming.
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I try to distract my mind from the internal battles but his scent...is delicious. What fragrance does he use? That would be something that I will never ask. All I can do is breathe it all in, just for it to be exhaled out again.
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"Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Profumo." He states.
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"What?" I asked, snapping out of my moment, and looking at him.
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"That is the fragrance that I am wearing." He said with a smile, not taking his eyes off the road.
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"Oh, okay." it's like he read my mind.
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"I could see out of the corner of my eye that you breathed in my scent, it's quite potent, isn't it?" he smiled, looking at me for a brief moment before he focused on the road again.
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"It is," I said.
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"Perhaps you can get one for your father for Christmas," he said as we pulled up in front of my apartment. I do not have a father that I can buy gifts and that is sad.
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I unbuckle the seatbelt and I fumbled with the door handle, eager to get out. He stirred something in me...something that I didn't want to be stirred. That was my parents. I opened the door. "Thank you. I said.
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"What." He stopped me and he got out of the car. He opened up the back door and I heard him fumbling and then the door closed. He got back inside the car.
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He hands me Treasures at the Castle of Good Hope, I take it from him. "Isn't this supposed to be in the library?" I asked.
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"I took it so that you can study from it. I plan to test you and the others tomorrow who failed the first test, no one else showed up today that failed, they are the students that asked for my help in the first place," he said.
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"I can get into trouble for having this book," I said, looking up at him.
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"I will protect you. No one will know about it except for me," he replied.
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I licked my bottom lip, "Thank you, Mr. James." I said and I got out of the car.
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I walked up the path towards the front door. I can feel his eyes burn into me, he doesn't drive away yet. I got inside the building and I can hear the other people talking in their apartment, a baby crying and the volume of the television that is on full blast. Welcome to my life. I close the door behind me and I press my back against it, holding onto my satchel and the book that he gave to me.
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I take in a deep breath, closing my eyes. I finally hear him drive away. He has a fancy car but it doesn't cause any reaction from me like the other guys at school to admire it. Opening my eyes, I walk up the stairs to my apartment. The wooden floor creaks as I walk. I'm happy that he didn't follow me inside because I didn't want him to know that I am all by myself with no one.
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Not even my friends know. I just lie and tell them that my parents are out on business. That was my life before. I do not have it in me to explain the same situation about them to anyone. It is easier for me this way.
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I walked inside my apartment, shutting the door behind me. I have a tiny kitchen and a little table inside of it. I have a mini lounge with one sofa. I enter my bedroom and I place my things on my bed.
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I have to get ready for my shift. What is amazing about the coffee shop is that on the other side of it is a restaurant. When it gets busy in the evenings, Carlos, the owner, always asks me to help out.
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I am always happy to help out because that means extra cash for me. Anything that helps to pay the bills, I will be happy to do more at work for it. No one knows that I work there, that is how private I am about myself and I haven’t run into anyone there that I know.
I got to the Red Cafe and started to work. I was always polite to the customers but inside I was nervous. I made sure not to get any orders wrong. I wanted Carlos to see that I was capable of doing anything. I got tips that were high when I worked in the restaurant. Most of them are people that have the money but don't want to go to a fancy restaurant.
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"This is for table nineteen," Mona said as she handed a tray to me. Two plates of pasta. "My shift is over so please take over," she said as she untied her apron. "The man wants to propose to his girlfriend. He handed the ring over to me when she went to the restroom. It is supposed to go in the dessert. So keep it safe." She said as she handed it over to me.
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Why do I get to handle this tonight? I hate to do these things. I just want to do simple things and that is to be a waitress. I placed the ring inside my satchel for safekeeping. I walked out of the kitchen and into the restaurant.
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Table nineteen...I walked towards the table. I love to see couples enjoying dinner and it has a romantic feel to it. I could only hope that I could have that one day. Perhaps I won't because I have a lot to work towards and what guy would date me when I have a tiny apartment?
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I could see the way that Mr. James was looking at my neighborhood when he dropped me off at my apartment. He isn't used to that kind of place. I never had someone visit me before or drop me off. I am too embarrassed. I froze in my tracks when I got to table nineteen.
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Mr. James was talking to a woman with blonde hair and that is when his magnetic blue eyes met mine and he stopped paying attention to her. At that moment, my heart skips a beat. Another waitress brushes past me and I snapped out of it and nerves took over again. "Good evening, I’m Ora and I will be your waitress for the rest of the evening," I said with a smile as I placed their plates down in front of them. I inhale his scent and it is a mixture of her scent too. "Is there anything else?" I asked.
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The blonde smiles at me, she is beautiful. Is she a model? Bright blue eyes and a gorgeous smile. Lips that are painted red. If only I could look that way. Perhaps if my parents were alive then I would've been prettier with my appearance.
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"That will be all for now," Mr. James said. I smiled at him before I walked back to the kitchen. I couldn't get there fast enough, hugging the black tray against my chest. Exhaling, I placed the tray on the counter. The chefs are busy and are in a hurry to get the orders done.
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When I went back out after a while as I gathered myself. I noticed that the blonde, his girlfriend, was walking out of the restaurant but he remained seated, all alone. I reached his table and the pasta was half-eaten on the plate. His eyes found mine and he smiled at me. "Can I get you anything else, Sir?" I asked.
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"No, just the bill," he replied.
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"Okay," I said as I placed the plates on the tray.
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"Sit down for a moment," he said.
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"I can't, I'm working" I protest, but it caught me off guard.
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"Just sit for a minute at least" He insisted.
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I placed the tray on the table and sat down. My hair was in a neat, low bun and the lock of hair that came loose, I moved behind my ear.
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I licked my lips, to moisten them from dryness. I clasped my hands in my lap. When I finally made eye contact with him. He was already looking at me, smiling. "I didn't know that you were working here. I hardly see you around here?" He said.
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Does he always eat here? "I work mostly in the coffee shop on the other side. I try to get as many shifts in as I can.” I stopped myself from saying more than that, but his brows are furrowed as he still held my gaze.
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"Is money the issue? Based on where you live, I guess your parents are struggling." He said. He always seems to be mentioning my parents.
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"We survive." I lied, closing up. I build my walls up in my defense. "If that is all, then I should get back to work," I said as I stood up from the chair, took the tray and I walked away as fast as I could. I placed the tray on the counter and I got the bill for Mr. James.
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As I walked back towards him, I felt like the air around me was stuffy. I don't want people to ask me questions about my personal life and he seems to ask a lot. I should avoid him because of that and because I am attracted to him. I hand the bill over to him and he takes it from me. Our fingers touched lightly, sending electricity through me and I pulled my hand back as quickly as I could. I looked ahead at the other guests, eating and talking while I waited.
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I looked anywhere but at him. "Thank you." He said and I took it from him.
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"Enjoy the rest of the evening, Sir," I said as I walked away in a hurry.
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I was relieved that I didn't have to serve him for the remainder of the evening. When I looked at the tip that he gave me. My eyes widened and my heart nearly jumped out of my throat. Two hundred dollars. No one has ever given me a tip like this before.
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I probably seem to be a broke girl to everyone else, I do not want any charity and I am okay with working for my money. I know that he gave me that tip because he sees me as such. I watched him get up from his seat and he looked around, hoping to see me, but then he walked away.
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I felt the air around me turn back to normal. I could breathe again, knowing that he left and won’t press for answers from me. I decided to take my mind off of things by serving my other customers.
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***
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I got home from a long evening, I placed my satchel on my bed and my keys on the bedside table. The Treasures at the Castle of Good Hope book grabs my attention on my bed. Would he have done that for someone else too? Why only me? I took the book and traced it on the cover with the tip of my finger.
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Tomorrow is a test that I have to prepare for and I cannot waste money by failing. I want to reach my dream to become a history professor one day. I have to pass the tests to make that happen and to have a better life than this.
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I placed the book on the bed and then I took out a scrapbook that I would keep in my satchel for when I was at work. I search in the satchel for a pen but I feel a little box inside of it. I took it out and my breath was caught. I forgot about Mr. James' ring that he was supposed to get back. Gosh! How on earth could I forget about this?
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I would have to give it back tomorrow. I am tempted to open it, I'm curious to see what it looks like. As much as I’m tempted to look at it, I placed it down on my bedside table. Sitting down on my bed with my legs crossed. I start to read the book for the test. I need to make sure that I pass this with flying colors.
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