New Beginnings

Chapter 1

Pushing through the door of the cafe, I looked around and noticed it was going to be another slow night. Some people might be excited, but no people means no tips.

I walked to the back and set my bag on the breakroom table.

“Marie.”

I turned to see Elma, one of the waitresses that helped to open this cafe 20 years ago.

“Hi Elma! I will be right out.”

“Denny wants to see you first.”

“Oh Ok.”

I made my way to Denny’s office right off the kitchen.

“Hey Denny. Elma said you wanted to talk to me?” I said, tucking a strand of my dirty blonde hair behind my ear.

“Yeah Marie, come and have a seat. As you know, we have been really slow lately.”

“Don’t worry, Denny, business will pickup. It’s almost time for college kids to rush to visit for spring break.” The cafe was tucked away from the main strip in Miami.

“That’s the thing, Marie. I don’t have the ability to keep you on.” He slid an envelope toward me on the desk.

I looked up at him confused. “I am sorry Marie, but I have to let you go.”

I smiled back at Denny. I knew he didn’t have a choice. I took my last pay check and grabbed my bag and headed to the door.

Thank goodness this was only my part-time job. I still had my full-time job.

I decided instead of heading home I would head to see Luca Salvatore, my boyfriend of almost a year. He recently started working with his Dad, which I wasn’t pumped about, but it was inevitable.

His Dad owned one of the largest strip clubs in Miami and Luca was training to take over the family business.

I wasn’t worried about him being around stripers all day because my best friend worked with him and she always had my back.

She has since we were placed in a group home together. I wasn’t always in the system. My mom passed away from cancer when I was 11 and my Grandma took care of me till I was 16, when she had a heart attack and I lost her too.

I had never met my father, which was fine because I had two amazing women in my life.

Before my Grandma passed, she asked my Aunt to take care of me if anything happened to her.

My Aunt agreed but when my Grandma died she was only interested in how much money she was going to inherit.

My Grandmother had set up for me to inherit $150,000 when I turned 18 and then another $300,000 when I turned 21 and finally $500,000 when I was 25. Nobody knows about the money my Grandma left me and I planned to keep it that way.

My aunt was left some, but when she found out there was nothing she could do about my inheritance, she sold everything my Grandmother owned and left me a ward of the state.

When I turned 18 over a year ago and graduated, I got two jobs and had yet to touch the money my grandmother left me.

I know she wanted me to go to college but I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted. I decided to give myself till I turned 20, which wasn’t that far away.

It wasn’t a far walk to the bus stop. Once I was on the bus, it would only be a few minutes until I would be with Luca.

We had gone to school together and I was in love with him. He didn’t even know I existed in school since I was two years younger than him, but when Chantelle, my best friend, started working at his father’s strip club, he started showing interest in me.

Chantelle said it was because I was a virgin, which is probably the reason I have yet to have s*x with him, but I knew he loved me. He wouldn’t have stuck around for a year.

Stepping off the bus, I quickly made my way to the club.

“Hey Marty.” I gave the bouncer a quick hug.

“Hey Pretty girl. You here to see your lover boy?”

“You know it.”

“He is in his office upstairs.”

“Thanks.”

I bounced up the stairs two at a time. I reached for the door and noticed it wasn’t latched.

I pushed the door open and my heart stopped.

I felt like my entire world was crumbling around me.

In front of me was Luca, my boyfriend having s*x with my best friend as she was bent over his desk.

I wanted to scream and hit them both, but instead I turned and ran down the stairs.

I brushed past Marty and I could hear him yelling behind me, but I didn’t stop, I just kept going.

The bus had just pulled up and I wasted no time getting on the bus and made my way home.

Home to the apartment I shared with Chantelle. Anger filled me as I made my way up the stairs to our one-bedroom shack.

Chantelle was a year older than me and when she turned 18 she got this place. For a year I have lived out of a suitcase and slept on the couch, paying half of the rent. She kept saying we would find a two-bedroom apartment but here I was still on the couch.

Sitting down on the couch, I felt numb. How stupid could I be? I knew she had been messing around with somebody for the past 3 months. I should have known it was Luca. She would have bought any other man here.

It took me all of three minutes to realize I needed to get the hell out of here. I didn’t own much, so it didn’t take long for me to grab my suitcase that I had been using as a dresser and shoved any of my few personal belongings into the bag.

As I made my way to the door, I looked back and realized nobody would have even noticed I was gone.

Removing the key, I set it on the TV stand next to a picture of me and Chantelle. Anger overwhelmed me. Without thinking, I went into the kitchen and pulled down the coffee container that Chantelle hid her tips in from dancing.

I grabbed out half of the rent and anything I had paid for over the last 3 months.

Realizing I was still wearing my work uniform, I went into Chantelle’s dresser. I grabbed out a pair of her favorite jeans and a tank top.

I went back to the bathroom and gave myself a touch up. Looking at my reflections, I was drawn to the heart necklace I wore every day. A gift from Luca. I took it off and on my way to the door I dropped it next to my key to the apartment.

I grabbed my bag and suitcase and walked out of the apartment forever.

Pulling out my phone, I requested an Uber and I had a ride within 3 minutes. He drove me to a bakery where I spent 40 hours a week.

Making my way to the back with my suitcase in tow, I turned a lot of heads in the bakery.

“Hi Casey.”

My boss turned around and gave me a big hug.

“Hi Marie, what is wrong?”

I explained what I had seen and before the tears could fall Casey ushered me into her office.

She handed me a tissue and I just let the tears flow.

“What are you planning on doing?”

“I don’t know. I can’t stay around here. I can’t take the chance of running into Luca and you know how his family has connections everywhere.”

Casey took a deep breath and started to rub her temples. “His family scares me to be honest. But I think you should go and start over. But I would stay away from planes or renting a car. I don’t want them to find where you are going.”

“I don’t even know where to go. Do you really think his family would go that far?”

“Marie, there is a lot about that family that you don’t know and it’s safer for you if you don’t know.”

“I don’t think I have to worry about him trying to find me, but if I don’t use a plane or car, I guess my only option is the bus.”

“Or train?”

“Where do I go?”

Before she could answer, my phone started ringing. I glanced down at the caller ID and saw Luca’s name.