“Waitress! Give me two more glasses of beer on this table!” The customer with the husky voice whose breath reeked of alcohol called out.
“Coming!” Maggie answered as she wiped the counter with a dry cloth. It was only her first day and she’d worked in this restaurant like a dog, half of her shift time had not yet even passed. She hated this job so much, but at least it offered shelter for her and Emily, who she had to be checking up on every thirty minutes as her baby was left all alone in their room upstairs. This wasn’t a good thing to do, but Maggie had no choice.
She didn’t have to do all this; she could have just taken the easy way by remaining in the packhouse, but she doesn’t know where she gets this stubbornness of hers from. Now she’s regretting her actions, but she can’t go back on what she’s done. Alpha Walden would have already known she’s gone by now.
She’d returned from the kitchen and after serving the customers their beer, one of the two men began to stare at her backside lustfully as she turned around, before she knew what was happening, she felt a loud smack on her buttocks.
“Love the way it jiggles, pretty!” The customer who had slapped her chuckled to his partner, who laughed.
Maggie then turned to face them growling, her fists clenching her apron as she tried to control herself. All of her anger dissolved then when she caught sight of her boss giving her a warning glare from behind the counter where he stood.
Remembering the rule of customers always being right that she’d been briefed through before being handed a job here, she had to let it go. She hated to do it, but she’s the one who put herself in this position. Her boss, Chad had warned her severally never to retaliate no matter what customers did. As far as he was concerned, they could do whatever they wish so long as they paid good money.
She sighed as she returned to her other duties, ignoring the men who laughed and made lustful jokes about her body that made her feel uncomfortable. What made her feel worse was that not only did she drag herself into this mess, she also had to drag her poor daughter too, which reminds her…
“Um… Chad?”
“Yes, what is it?” Chad asked as he turned away from the glass cup he was cleaning to face her.
“I would like to take a bathroom break please.”
“This is the fifth time you’ll be asking for that today, Maggie.”
She put both her hands together, begging, “I know, I’m sorry. It will only be for a while, I promise.”
“Find a place to put that little shit of yours, or look for someone to take care of her. I won’t be tolerating this anymore!” He growled.
“I’m sorry, it will…” Before she could finish speaking, Chad hissed and walked into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.
At least he’d agreed, even though it wasn’t in the friendliest manner. She took off her apron and hung it on the rack, before taking the back door to go upstairs to her room. She opened the door to see her daughter sitting still beside the wall, looking out through the window. Maggie sighed, thankful that Emily had been a good girl today, even though she knew her daughter’s expression was far from happiness.
“Hello, my baby.”
“Mom! You’re back!” Emily jumped as she got up to meet her on the door.
Maggie smiled, embracing her, “I am dear, but only for a while.”
Her daughters face suddenly turned sour, “oh no, not again!!!”
“I am sorry baby, but mommy can’t stay here with you for long. She has to work hard so she can afford to buy you a lot of nice things.”
“You mean like my blanket? Are you going to buy it for me today?” Emily’s eyes shone as she awaited the answer.
Maggie had thought of using the money she got today to buy something for her daughter. She’d already gotten them some food from the restaurant’s chef she’d made friends with today, and a few tips from some nice customers she kept for their essentials. But with the way Chad had spoken to her today, she knew he wouldn’t permit her “bathroom breaks” after today. She would have to use Emily’s blanket money to find a babysitter for the day.
She looked down at her daughter, who was still staring at her with wide eyes, expecting something, Maggie then decided to shift her focus away from that.
“Look at what mummy brought you!” She gasped as she put Emily down to retrieve something from her pockets; a few wraps of leftover candy that some of the customers had left on the table.
“Yaaaaayyy!!! Mommy. It’s candy!”
“Yes dear, it’s candy that’s as sweet as you, my darling!”
“Thank you, mommy!!!”
**********
It was hard getting Emily’s hands off her so she could go back to work, but for the promise of bringing more candy, Emily sadly had to let her mother go again.
Maggie hated having to do this. She didn’t realize having a job that distanced her from her daughter would be so difficult, but right now, there was nothing else to do about that.
She returned to the back where she left her apron to put it back on, but then the noises she began hearing from the restaurant made her scared; she could hear the sound of someone being beaten up, and then the sound of her boss begging.
She’d been gone for barely an hour. What could have possibly happened within that time? It sounded like they this place was being robbed or something. She felt reluctant to go in there to see exactly what it was, maybe it would be better to go back and get her daughter, then run and leave through the back entrance, but she had no where else to go, and she hadn’t yet been paid for the work she did today.
Her situation made her desperate enough to try to see what was going on first, deciding to take a peek through the small keyhole of the door that separated the restaurant and the backside where she was.
After seeing what was going on, her heart jumped.