CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1

IVY POV

My alarm clock rang for the fifth time that morning, causing my eyelids to flicker open.

Groaning internally, I stretched my hand to snooze it as usual before slumping back into my inviting bed, but my solitude didn't last for long.

My younger sister and only sibling, Elsa, barged into my room. Before I could rebuke her, she screamed with a shrill voice.

“Happy birthday”

I was pretty sure the whole neighborhood heard her voice because I had to protect my ear drums from the noise.

“Thank you” I replied with a smile.

“Today is your 21st birthday, let's make it different” she pouted as she made herself comfortable on my bed. I frowned at her action, but she was done caring.

Elsa knew I hated the fact she was sitting on my bed, but just like every other younger sibling who derives pleasure in annoying the older one, she went ahead.

Before I could say a word of complaint, she wriggled her brow at me then said

“What outfit do you intend to wear today?”

“Why?” I creased my brow to pass her a message that I wasn't interested in whatever she wanted to say, but she ignored me.

“I'll pick your outfit for today” She rose from my bed then walked towards my closet.

I allowed her to do whatever she had in mind while I scrolled through my phone. I had a lot of birthday wishes popping on my screen and I had to reply to each one of them.

I was still busy on my phone when Elsa threw some clothes on my bed. I raised my head up only to be greeted with some skimpy clothes which I had refused to wear since their purchase.

“Are you for real?” I asked.

“Of course. These clothes are sexy, they practically hug your body, thereby bringing your shape. Girl, all eyes will be on you today” she rapped while I gave her the weird look

"Are you done?” I asked when she stopped swirling around.

“Don't tell me you aren't wearing these. For crying out loud, today is your birthday, dare to be different”

I tried to counter her words, but she stormed away in anger. With a sigh, I picked up the clothes.

I didn't want to wear these clothes, but I had to, else Elsa wasn't going to speak to me.

Another thing I was grateful for was that I was going to change my clothes at work. With this in mind, I began to prepare for work while she prepared for school.

My name is Ivy Oregon. Today marked my 21st year on planet earth. It had been a long journey, but I'm grateful I survived.

I was blessed with a pretty face, brown eyes and blonde hair. I'm 5'6" inches tall and was referred to by people as an epitome of beauty with brains.

I'm a self-reliant girl who works two jobs to earn the livelihood of my family.

This wasn't the trend from the beginning, it was after my insensitive father left my mom, me, and my sister when his business went bankrupt.

He didn't just leave us; rather, he left a huge debt for us to clear and went to his former lover, with whom he had children before marrying my mother.

A few years later, we were greeted with the news of his suicide. Though my mother was yet to get over what he did, she graced his funeral to pay her last respect.

I was a bright student in my studies. Currently, I am pursuing a degree in electrical and computer engineering, my dream profession from childhood.

The reason I was heading to work that morning instead of school was because we were on holiday.

When I got to work, I checked in before heading to the locker room to change into my work clothes.

I never knew I had company until my friends, Sara, Paige and Beavis jumped on me wishing me a happy birthday.

“Thank you” I said when they disentangled

“Pretty as usual” Beavis smirked and I blushed hard.

They made fun of me for a while before we made our way back to the restaurant to resume work.

I work in Fervid Restaurant as a part-time waitress. I loved my job because it brought me in contact with a lot of people.

My second job was in a manufacturing company with the business name, Armand Aluminum.

Working under my boss at Armand was frustrating. He always wanted to be close to me, despite the cold shoulder I always gave him.

He was a flirt and a womanizer.

Those were the two qualities that made me detest him like a plague.

He thought he could ride on me because I was under him and also was yet to get a degree due to some family issues I was trying to solve.

I had just finished serving my fourth customer that morning when Paige beckoned on me and I went to answer her.

“Could you serve the couples on table 12? They've been waiting for over five minutes, yet everyone is too busy to notice” she said.

I wriggled my brow when I saw the couples on table 12. Everyone knew them as rude and saucy, so they always tried everything in their will power to avoid them.

When I turned to face Paige, she turned her face away almost immediately.

As much as I didn't want to serve those couples, I could not bring myself to disobey her.

With a sigh, I removed imaginary dust from my apron before I swiped a pen and jotter from my pockets.

After taking their orders, I returned to the counter to get them what they needed.

On my way back to their table, I missed a step, so I tripped over there by emptying the contents of my tray on one of our customers.

I didn't mind the bruise I sustained from the fall. Instead, I rose, then grabbed a napkin from the table.

I was about to dab his clothes dry when he grabbed my hands with his strong hand, then pushed me aside.

“I'm sorry” I said with pleading eyes, ignoring the stares I was getting from the customers and every other person present.

He didn't respond, instead, he rose then began to heed towards the exit.

I knew my boss was going to be mad at me, so I decided to try my best to get him back into the restaurant.

Before I could make it to where he was, he was about to get into his gray Cadillac.

“Sir, I'm sorry. It was an accident” I rapped with my head bowed.

“An accident that cost me my shirt and a scald” he said. His rich baritone re-echoed in my head.

I didn't know what came over me, but without thinking I said,

“I can replace your shirt if you want”

He turned sharply in my direction and looked me over. I felt so small and vulnerable under his gaze.

“Coming from someone who can't afford the buttons” he hissed.

“For real?” I squirmed in anger. One thing I hated was when someone looked down on me.

“Your paycheck per month can't buy my shirt. Get that into your thick skull”

“Don't you dare spew such words at me. Who the fuck do you think you are?” I yelled at him. My eyes were blazing red with anger.

“You're pained just because of a bit of truth”

“To hell with you. You think because you have money, you can talk down to people. Now listen to me” I took a deep breath before saying.

“You're nothing but a show-off trying to fit into the system of the rich” I hissed.

I didn't allow him to reply to my words before I stormed back into the restaurant.

I had to clear my head, so I went to the bathroom to calm myself down before I resumed work.

“What did you tell him?” Sara asked.

I never knew she had been standing beside the wash basin the whole time.

“Don't want to talk about the incident anymore” I said with a wave of hand.