The bad boy wants me!

“Jude! Jude! Jude!!! Where’s the cigarette and the money I kept on the table in our bedroom?” Yelled Cynthia Bella’s mom.“I don't know what you are talking about,” replied Jude Bella's dad. “What do you mean by I don't know what you are talking about?” Cynthia said, shouting at the top of her lungs. “Oh God, not again!” Bella said and signed in frustration as she turned to the left side of her bed to check the time. An old small timepiece was sitting on a table beside Bella’s bed, the timepiece displayed the time to be 5:25 AM.

“Why are they yelling at this time? When will I be at peace in this house? It was a Saturday morning when she got up to do the chores and get ready for work. Saturdays are the only days she has a shift in the morning, she goes to school Monday to Friday, and after school is over she goes straight to the coffee store where she works part-time and then she goes back home to cook and do her assignments/read. “Snap out of it Bella, you should have gotten used to your parent's behaviors by now”. She got up, arranged her room, and did all the house chores. She then went to her parent's room and knocked. “Mom? Dad? Are you in there?” she asked because the room was strangely quiet which was odd, her parents are known for being always loud, and everything about them is noise. She couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong there. She opened the door only to find her parents sleeping soundly like a baby with various types of hard drugs by their side. “Great! Just great, looks like they've gotten themselves high on this sh*t again!” she said in frustration “Out of all the parents in the world, what did I do wrong to be birthed by them? I feel like a mom taking care of her overgrown children right now” she said facepalming her face. She covered them with a duvet and went back to her room to collect a pen and a sheet of paper, and wrote “Mom, Dad, I'm off to work, I prepared some food. You can have some when you are hungry, it's in the kitchen”. “Okay that should be enough, time for work,” she said as she checked the watch on her hand. “Oh sh*t, I'm going to be late for work if I don't leave this instance!” As Bella was on her way to the store, she got a group video call from her friends. She smiled and picked up the call, “Hello my favorite cuties.” she said grinning, “Hey Bella how are you? Where are you heading to?” Ashley asked as she saw that Bella wasn't at home. “Isn't it quite obvious? She is going to her precious coffee store as usual.” Rose said sarcastically, “I’m starting to think the coffee store will be her future husband” She added and they all laughed. “Rose stop making fun of Bella, not everybody is idle like you.” Ashley said and they laughed again, “but seriously Bella, Rose is kinda right. You have to let loose for a while, you stress yourself too much.” Ashley said with a serious tone. “Of course, I’m always right,” Rose said, flipping her hair. “Oh shut up Rose, don’t be full of yourself,” Bella said rolling her eyes playfully. “And don’t worry Ashley I will try to reduce my workload and spend more time with you guys.” She added. “Now you are talking!” Ashley and Rose said in unison and they all laughed historically. They talked for a few more minutes before they said goodbye and ended the call. When she got to the store she saw her boss miss Patricia on a phone call, she went to the changing room and changed into her work uniform. When she came out, Patricia was done with her phone call. “Oh hey Bella, you almost came late today, is everything okay?” Patricia said, looking a bit concerned. “Thank you for asking Patricia but I'm fine I just had to put one or two things in order”. She replied with a small smile. “Are you sure Bella? You know you can talk to me right?” Patricia uttered giving Bella a supporting look. “Awn my boss loves me so much” she replied and they both laughed at Bella’s statement. Patricia is like the aunt Bella never had, when she is having a bad day, or when she is stressed, Patricia is always there to cheer her up. She always asks Bella about her day at school, something her parents haven’t asked her once. Bella always tells her everything except her past which only she knew about. New customers who come to their store would think that they are related. “But seriously, I'm ok Patricia. I'm just stressed that’s all,” Bella said, trying to sound convincing. “Oh God I hate lying to her, but I can't tell the truth at least not yet,” Bella thought. “OK…… if you say so”. Patricia said stressing the ‘OK’ while giving Bella a doubting look. “And before I forget, you will have to close the store for today because I just received a phone call and I have to leave early to attend to some issues. I will be leaving by 2 pm, hope you can manage on your own?” She asked. “Of course! I can, you don't have to worry”. Bella replied, “But if Mr will decide to show up today what should I tell him? Bella asked, smiling knowingly. “Bella!” Patricia shouted as they giggled together. “Just tell him I went home early” Patricia replied and Bella nodded as they went on with their daily routine. Patricia left by 2 pm and Bella continued on her own. Two female customers walked in, and they requested coffee. “Two Americanos please,” one of the girls said, “and please don't add too much milk,” she added. “Alright ma” Bella responded politely, a few minutes later she brought the two coffees to the customers’ table and served them politely. She couldn't help but overhear their conversation, she knew eavesdropping was bad but they were so loud that she couldn't stop herself from listening. “Gia, do you remember that car I told you about? The one I said my dad promised to buy for me on my birthday!” The girl that ordered two coffees asked the other girl sitting with her, whose name was Gia. “Yes, I remember, why?” Gia asked enthusiastically. “My dad bought it for me this morning as an early birthday gift!” She replied, squealing joyfully.“Really?!” Gia asked happily, “I’m so happy for you sweetheart, I know how much you have been yearning for it, you deserve it!’ Gia added genuinely happy for her friend. “But wait, why didn’t he wait till your birthday like he promised? Gia asked, “not that I’m complaining” she added and they both giggled. “That’s what I thought too but he said he had to go on a business trip urgently, he apologized and promised to make it up to me. That's why I called you out so that I could tell you while enjoying our favorite coffee. She replied, and they chatted happily for some time before they paid for their coffee and left. Bella was happy for the girl who got a car present and part of her also wished she was in her shoes, but she knew her parents would never buy anything for her not to talk of a car. “She is so fortunate to have a caring and responsible parents by her side, that is something I can only wish for,” she thought. She didn't know when tears started flowing down from her rosy cheeks. She quickly cleaned her face when a customer came into the store, she attended to the customer and every other customer that came in till it was closing time Bella was done with work for that day, and she was closing the store. Bella was exhausted and was thinking about the scene she would see at home as usual and that made her even more tired and downcasted. She could already see the scene of her parents smoking, drinking, and yelling at themselves after they might have gotten high on their usual dose of hard drugs. The scenes were replaying in her head over and over again, it is not a new or surprising thing for her, she grew up in it. There is not a day that her parents would be normal for once like other parents. How they manage to raise her till she can care for herself still baffles not only her but also the people who know or see them. She signed sadly, the thought of going back home to her parent made her upset because she wasn’t ready for that day's shenanigans exhibited by none other but her parents. “Ah f**k, I wish I wasn't going back to that house” she said to herself. She had just finished checking the door of the store to make sure it was properly locked when suddenly she felt someone’s hand covering her mouth and pulling her towards a strange-looking van with the other hand. “Hmm hmm hmmmmmm” she murmured. She tried to resist and scream but the hand covering her mouth and pulling her towards the strange van was so firm. When the kidnapper successfully pushed her into the van, she saw that they were two kidnappers and they were masked so she couldn’t see or recognize their faces. One of the kidnappers was sitting in the driver’s seat in the van, she could guess that he was the one driving while the other was sitting with her in the back seat still covering her mouth firmly. “L le tt mm go…!!” She tried to form a sentence but the kidnapper’s hand didn't allow her to communicate properly. when the kidnappers saw that she was persistent and refused to calm down despite all they did to shut her up, the kidnapper in the driver’s seat nodded to the one sitting with Bella at the back and he immediately brought out a handkerchief infused with chloroform and pressed it against her nose. She blacked out immediately and the kidnappers sped off.