ROSALIE

"Rosalie, the boss is here." Russell says, smiling at me as he makes a gesture to go attend to him while handing me a piece of paper. I just smile back and shrug the fear he radiated off of me.

I look in the paper he handed over to me while I walk out and see Table 7 boldly written on it. I smile and walk towards the table, liking how unmoved I am by Russell's fear.

As I approach the table, I could see the man's profile. He wore a black Armani suit and had on a pair of reading glasses.

"Good afternoon, Sir." I say, the moment I get to the table

"Good afternoon, Ms.?" he responds to me, smilling slightly.

"The name is Rosalie Williams, Sir." I say in reponse to him.

"I am the head waitress here and I will be working for you today." I add.

"Interesting." He gives me a once over as he speaks.

"What will you have, Sir? " I inquire.

"Just sit, will you? And please drop all the formalities. Call me Victor." He winks at me in surprise. I shrug and let out a small laugh before sitting down. What is it with me and laughing recently?

"Okay. Then you have to call me Rosalie." I say in response.

"Alright." He says and gestures for me to sit. It is a wonder Russell is scared of this man because he clearly seems harmless, maybe I feel that way because he is being casual with me.

"So, what do you want to eat?" I ask since I have taken my seat as he suggested.

"That will be after I get to know you. It is not everyday one gets to meet someone as beautiful as you." Hmmmm. I smirk in my head at what he just said. Way to go, he does not even make an effort to conceal his flirting.

"Haha. Thank you." I laugh, appreciating his compliment.

"Are you a recent staff ?" He asks me.

"No, I am not. Actually, I have been working here for years now. I started as a waitress before I got promoted to the position of head waitress after Nina left." I say.

"Oh. I see. I just took over ownership from my dad." Victor says with a solemn expression. The actual owner of the place just passed, such a lovely old man.

"I offer my condolences. He is in a better place." I say.

"Thank you." He replies. We talk for quite some time while customers come in and out of the restaurant. He decides on what to eat and I arrange for it to be available for his consumption. He insists I stay back as he eats, talking as he does it.

Once he is done, I pack up and get back to him, guiding him through by giving a mini tour on the facility. As a result of the renovation that happened few moths back, he needs to be taken round to see the new changes.

"Oh, sorry. I need to go pick up my daughter from school." I say after we tour the restaurant. School hour is almost over and I do not want her waiting on me.

"Daughter?" He asks in surprise. "Are you married ?" He adds, his eyes scanning my hand, no doubt in search of a wedding ring.

"No." I answer, feeling uncomfortable.

"The father is not in the picture." I add immediately. That is my excuse for saying I don't know who he is.

How do I say that? 'Oh, Hey. I don't know the father of my child.'  I guess this is not something you say to someone you are just meeting for the first time. It seems he senses my discomfort because he changes the topic.

"Is it okay by you for us to exchange contacts?" I cock an eyebrow upward and give it a thought. There is really no need holding on to the number because he could as well get it from the employee's directory and he asked me instead of doing that.

"Yeah, sure." I say and munch in my digits on his phone when he hands it to me.

"Expect my call." He calls behind me as I make my way to the locker room to put on my clothes, about heading to pick up Amelia.

"Seems the boss has an eye on you. " Ava says, winking with a goofy smile on her face. When did she come in?

"We both know that is not true and I don't want a relationship." I shake my head in amusement, replying her statement. He did flirt, yeah but I don't think it is anything serious.

"I know what I saw, are you just plain blind or have you chosen to ignore his advances? You are not ready to date? Until when will you keep being this way?" She mirrors a worried expression as concern masks her face.

"Nothing will happen, Ava. Nothing." I give her a sweet smile to correct her assumptions before she gets those wheels  in her head turning.

"Why did he collect your contact, then? " She aks, giving me her 'very serious ' look.

"Geez, Ava. Were you snooping on us?" I ask in amazement.

"Nope. I just happened to pass by at that moment." We both know that is not true but I let it slide.

"I am off to pick Amelia. Take care." I say.

"You know..." I do not allow her complete her statement because I am already out of the restaurant. Phew! That was worse than an interrogation session with the police, not like I have had any though, just from the movies I have watched.

I drive to pick up my darling daughter, stopping by a supermarket to get her some chocolates.

"Mommy! " I hear her say as she practically runs like a tornado to where I parked my vehicle and hugs me by my legs.

"Hey, angel. How was your day at school?" I ask her, squatting to her level.

"It was fine, mommy." she says with her small voice. I see some children have both of their parents with them, I honestly hope Amelia does not start asking questions about her father anytime soon because I really don't know how to explain it to her. She is too little to understand the complex nature of loosing one's memory.

NIKOLAS

Clad in my suit which had already been drenched as a result of the rain, I walk and didn't have with me an umbrella on purpose because I wanted to feel the water soak through my clothes and touch my skin. I make my way to her grave and drop the already destroyed flowers which I had gotten from the garden I created in my house after her demise.

Petunias. They were her favorite.

Amethyst Celestine Galanis
The inscription on the gravestone reads. It feels just like yesterday that she died. I fall on my knees as tears flow down my face continuosly, swallowed by the rain.

It has been five years! Five painful years since she left me. The process of recuperation was very slow but I am better now just that on days like this, the whole feeling comes back like a swarm of bees, stinging and tearing at my heart.

Sometimes I wonder how our lives would have been now if she had not passed away. Will we have kids? How many would they have been?

I remember how shaken I was when Maya brought out all her art pieces, revealing that she was the famous Suzie Mills. It brought me back to the memory in my office the day we signed our agreement and the other parts of our lives that followed suit. She further told me about how some of her disappearing escapades were simply to deliver her art works to the studio for publishing and sales. I never got to know that part about her and I take full responsibility for that and continue to blame myself every single day.

I miss every single thing about her; her laugh, her freight for heights that she tries so hard to mask, her love for food that she knew naught how to prepare.

Fuck, I miss cooking for her and observing how her face lights up when she tastes my cooking.

I miss how she purrs when I go down on her to eat her up and when I finally get inside of her, the sweet moans that come off her lips. I miss her and I can't even bring her back.

Why did she have to leave? For tonight, I will be vulnerable and stay away from everyone. It tires me to pretend everything is fine when deep down I know how hard it is. Even if I tell myself I am better, the truth is I am not and I do not think I ever will be.

I honestly wish there is a manual for how to grieve and heal. Nobody told me it would not be easy to get over this sort of huge loss.

When the rain goes down a little, I take my leave, prepared for a night of drinking and mourning.