A/N: Here's an image of Mrs. Ayoade, and her husband, Richard Ayoade. (He's an actor, comedian, and HINT HINT, DIRECTOR. Who happened to *cough cough* Directallofthelastshadowpuppetsmusicvideos* COUGH COUGH* ;)

~~~

"Miss O'Malley."

"Good morning Mrs. Ayoade!" I smiled brightly at her.

She smiled warmly back.

She was a fairly tall woman, with a fair complexion and a humble look.

Her dress was as bright as her personality and I liked it.

"Are you ready for your first day?" she asked, a smile on her face.

I nodded eagerly.

"Right then! Right this way!" she cheered.

I followed her to the back of the store, behind the counter, and into the back of the shop, where there was a little sitting area, and another room with lockers and storage rooms and things like that.

"Alright, see this locker over here? You can put your things there! These little tables are areas for staff to take breaks and things like that, but you're more than welcome to sit in the front of the café where the customers sit. We have a little kitchen back this way, a little storage closet, there's a bathroom back here for staff."

As she showed me around, I fell more and more in love with the tiny café that was already feeling like home.

"This is for you!" She said, turning around and showing me a new apron for me to wear.

I smiled brightly at the lovely clothing item.

Despite it being an apron it was absolutely beautiful and even had some nice embroidery around the edges.

"Reach in the pocket!" She exclaimed, holding her hands to her cheeks.

I smiled at her and then reached into it, I felt a medium sized rectangle, and pulled it out, seeing my name beautifully brandished upon the name tag.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed, feeling its surface.

"This is awesome, thank you so much!" I smiled at her.

She smiled and let out a little laugh.

"It's nothing, really, dear! Now, put those on and lets get started!"

I did as she said and we got to work.

For the entirety of the day, she mainly trained me to do simple things, cleaning off tables, sweeping, getting people simple orders, preparing simple foods to serve, waiting on tables, etc.

It was really fun and interactive, and there wasn't a moment where I was bored.

I hadn't had this much fun in a while, and I instantly knew that I looked forward to coming into work the next day.

I was done around the time the sun set, and I was pretty happy with that.

I asked Mrs. Ayoade if the café stays open longer, and she told me that it does.

She has other staff that will come in both tomorrow morning, and other staff that works the evening shifts.

I thanked her for the day and put my apron and name tag away before grabbing my things and heading out the door.

I was surprised when, when I stepped out the door, I was met with the face of Matty.

He had on his leather jacket, black skinnies, white v neck and doc martens on, and he was smoking a cigarette.

"Matty!" I exclaimed.

"Love!"

I gave him a tight hug.

"How long have you been standing out here?" I asked him as we parted.

"Round fifteen minutes, I think." He said, taking a drag from his cig.

"Why didn't you come in?" I asked, softly punching his shoulder.

"I was having a smoke!"

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Or three."

I laughed.

He smiled and ruffled my hair, throwing an arm around me as we began to walk.

"So, where are we headed?" He asked.

"I was just going to go home... Did you have somewhere you wanted to go?" I asked, turning my head to glance at him with wide eyes.

"Well, not really." he said, scrunching up his nose. "Can I come round yours?"

"Of course! You know my mum would love to have you."

Matty halted our walking and raised his eyebrows at me.

"Matty!" I screamed, hitting his arm.

He giggled and shielded himself, jogging ahead of me a few feet.

"You said it, not me!"

~~~

"Mum, I'm home! Matty's over!"

"Matty?" My mum came rushing out of the kitchen.

"Mum!" Matty exclaimed, walking towards her as she happily hugged him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

I watched the whole exchange with wide eyes.

"Hello, mother, I am your daughter!" I laughed.

"Oh, hi sweetie." My mum laughed and walked towards me, wrapping me in her arms for a hug.

I shook my head and laughed.

"How was the first day at work?" she asked as Matty and I followed her into the kitchen.

"It was fantastic! I mostly did a lot of training but I already love it there!"

My mum smiled back at me.

"Where's dad?" I asked.

"In his study." she replied, rolling her eyes.

I nodded and laughed.

"Alright, I'm gonna go say hello to him."

As I walked out of the kitchen, I ruffled Matty's hair.

I ran my fingers along the wall as I walked down the hallway to my fathers study.

"Dad!" I knocked on the door.

There wasn't an answer at first.

I scrunched up my face.

I knocked louder.

"Dad!"

Finally there came a, "Come in!"

I pushed open the door and found my dad smiling up at me.

As I looked at him I was reminded of how much him and Nick looked alike.

It made me miss my brother.

"How was the first day of work, sweetie?" he asked.

I walked in and sat down in one of his chairs.

"It was awesome. I love it." I told him.

He smiled, "That's good!"

I nodded.

"Matty is over, by the way." I mentioned.

"Is he staying for dinner?" My dad asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know, but mum will probably ask."

Dad nodded.

"He's a good kid." my dad said.

I tilted my head at my dad.

He never expressed opinions about my friends before.

"He's going to go places."

I blinked a few times.

"H-He really is, Dad. I couldn't have asked for a better best friend."

He nodded.

"Uhm, hey dad?" I said, pulling at a string on the chair.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I, uh... I was thinking about moving out... soon." I bit my lip, nervously.

My dad paused and looked over at me.

"I already put a lot of thought into it, and uhm, one of Matty's mates, Adam, his girlfriend is moving up here, and she and I are interested in rooming together in a flat not too far away."

My dad thought for a moment.

"You have this all put together, don't you?" he asked.

I nodded.

"I have got to get on my feet, some time! I'm an adult now!" I said.

"That's true." he said. "I believe in you."

I blinked again for a moment.

"Cheers, dad." I smiled, walking over and giving him a light hug before leaving his office, closing the door behind me.

That went better than I expected.

"Sarah?!" I jumped.

"Yeah?" I asked, jogging down the hallway to the kitchen.

"Guess who is staying for dinner?" Matty asked as I walked in.

"Hmm, uhm, you?" I asked in a silly voice.

"You've got that right!" he said, poking my forehead.

I swatted at his hand as I took a seat next to him.

Could this day get any better?

Maybe if Alex were here.

~~~

A/N:

Hello, everyone! First and foremost, I BEG FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS FOR MY ABSCENCE. It was awful for me to be gone this long, and I really have no excuse for it. Unfortunately this is a trend in writers on this website. At some point we have all done it. But, for those of you who have stuck with me throughout it, cheers, cheers, CHEERS!

On another note, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all have a beautiful 2018. All of you deserve happiness and good health.

One more thing, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to iambuttman . This person DM'ed me a little while back and they said some lovely things to me about this book, and they even shared their own journey, and what this book meant to them. I was very, deeply touched by their messages, and I will never forget the kindness that have shown to me. I'd like to thank you for supporting me, and I will do the same  for you. <3

I will definitely not wait mega long before updating the next chapter.

Also- important new character coming, can you guess who it is? It's a lovely almond-eyed human whom we all know- or should know -of at this point xx

One last thing- I will most likely mention a few more of you from the comments  later on.

Some of you just really crack me up xx

Alright, I'll see you all in the new year! Let's make it a good one, shall we? :)

Cheers.

xx