Chapter 122 122

Chapter 122 122
Kimberly’s POV 

I did not know how long I had been driving, but my gas was running low, so I had to pull over on the side of the road. I looked around to see where I was and took my environment in. 

I was standing in a very familiar place in town, and I sighed a little bit in relief. But that did not take away the tightness I was feeling in my chest. I could not breathe properly, and it felt like my whole body was underwater. 

My hands were shaking as I left the handlebars and climbed off my bike. 

There was no way everything he just told me was the correct thing. Maybe, just maybe, something was up. I mean, something happened before we had that conversation. I could not stop the awkward feeling that crawled up my spine the other time before I spoke. 

Now I wished that I could rewind time back to when I was in the cafeteria. 

A bitter laughter spurt out of me. What would that have changed? If he actually had everything he just told me in his mind before now, then, I was only biding my time before he actually told me. 

The look he had on his face when he was telling me that could not leave my head. It was hard. It was very hard for me to stop myself from crying. The tears were just coming, but I could not make a sound. 

I sat down on the pavement and took in where I was. It suddenly felt like the leaves that the wind was carrying had a very significant impact on how I was feeling at the moment. It looked more fascinating than any other thing. 

I did not know how many minutes or hours I stayed like that before I decided to work. My bike would still be able to get me there. 

After I cleaned up and tried as much as possible to make myself look presentable, because there was no way in the seven heavens that I would be explaining anything to anyone at work. 

When I got there, I entered through the back door. The guys there were surprised to see me come in that early. And I heard a couple of greetings that I responded to by nodding my head. 

As soon as I entered the dressing room, I was met with Miranda, who stopped me and pulled me to the side. 

“Hello to you, Kimberl. It’s been a while.” She said and gave me a knowing look that made me feel somehow. 

“Yeah. Hi. I’m sorry I’m coming in just now. I…. I’ve been busy.” I told her. 

“Is everything okay?” She asked, genuinely concerned. 

“It is right now. I had a little health crisis before now, so I had to rest. But I should have reached out and told you about it. It really escaped my mind.” I said to her, and her eyes widened a fraction. 

“Are you sure you’re supposed to be here then? I mean, you could always take some more time off.” I shook my head as she said it. 

The last thing I needed right now was to take some time off. If I stayed alone, there was a possibility I would drive myself crazy. 

“I’m good,” I said to her as assuredly as I could. She looked at me funny for a while before she nodded her head and then stepped back, allowing me to go in. But I did not miss the look she was giving me. 

I walked into the dressing room and quickly located my locker. Thankfully, no one was around at the moment. They must all be out front. I changed hurriedly, and I did not bother to put anything into thinking. 

If I started to think right now, I would break down. And I don’t want that. At least not now. The point was to make sure that I deadened every emotion. But if I was being honest with myself, it’s not easy for me to. 

By the time I was done, my hands were wobbly and shaking. I grabbed them and held them tight together. Afterwards, I walked out. 

The dinner was busy as usual, but it was more serious this time around. I can’t imagine what was going on. 

Immediately, Jayla set her eyes on me; they widened, but she didn’t say anything. Something with Steph too. I thought to myself that it was because they were busy, but deep down, I knew that I deserved to be ignored. I did not respond to either of their texts before now. 

“Hi.” I greeted both of them when I got to the counter, but they only replied with a grunt and took the orders from there to their tables. 

It felt like I was stabbed in my chest. I felt like my heart was dropped on the floor and crumpled harder than the state it was in before now. 

“You’re in charge of the last two tables. Go ask them what they need. They just came in.” Steph’s cold voice reached me, and I jumped a little. She did not look at me, so I gathered myself and walked to the place where I was told to. 

I took down their orders and went back to the kitchen to place them. Everything was going fine, and I had dropped the food for the first table. I was about to drop the one for the second table when I felt someone suddenly put their feet out and make me fall with the food and plates clattering all over the place. 

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you.” The guy said. I groaned in pain a little bit and winced at how silent the whole place was. They must all be looking at me, and I willed myself not to stand up from the floor since I was face down. My whole body hurts. I can’t even imagine how I looked right now with food splatter on my body. 

“What you did was very wrong, sir.” Steph’s cold voice came out again, and my lips wobbled. I felt someone lift me and make me stand on my feet. 

“Thank you,” I said to them tiredly. It was Will and Jayla. They had their eyes pinned on the person they were talking to. I looked at the guy, and he looked horribly familiar. It was like I had seen him somewhere before, but I couldn’t seem to place my hand on where I had seen him. I thought long and hard, but nothing was coming to mind. 

“I did not do anything. It’s not my fault that your worker was not looking at where she was going. And you should be scolding her, not speaking to me in that manner.” He said. He sounded like he wanted to cause trouble from the start. 

“It’s okay. I was….”

“You will apologize right now.” Her eyes were pinned on him. And if I were the one she was looking at that way, I would shake in my boots. Her hands were folded, and her height was more to her advantage for her here. 

“What?! You need to be shitting me. Apologize? For what this dumbass did?!” The people around were listening intently now. I hated the wooing of attention that it was bringing, and I tried to talk again, but I was given a stink eye by her, so I shut my mouth. 

“Brianna would love this.” I heard one of them whisper something to the other guy, and then it suddenly clicked. They were the ones who held me down the day we had issues. 

“I saw you put your leg out intentionally when she was passing by. And if you want to lie about that, think twice. We have a camera that can attest to that.” She pointed at the camera she was talking about. 

“Piece of shit,” Jayla said from beside me. She looked like she wanted to hit him. I felt tears sting the back of my eyes. The way they stood up for me made me feel very emotional. Or maybe it was my fragile emotions right now. 

The guy looked nervous at first. But then, after the mention of the camera, she started to move uncomfortably in his seat. 

“Er…it was a very honest mistake.” He grumbled when he knew that he'd been caught. 

“So, you admit to it.” 

“Let’s get out of here, Brian.” He said to the other guy, but Steph stood in front of them, blocking their path. 

“The food you wasted. You will have to pay for it. Since you didn’t do it yourself.” The way her hands were folded and she was looking down at them, she looked like a collector. And it was quite scary too. 

He nodded his head quickly and paid the money, then rushed out with his friend. The diner went back to how it was before now, and everyone continued their food as if nothing happened. 

While I was left here like a sore thumb that stuck out. I felt. A push behind me. 

“Come on. You need to change up.” Jayla muttered behind me, and I looked down at what I was wearing; it was a total mess. I agreed internally and walked over to the changing room again. 

When I entered, I removed my clothes blindly and hurriedly. Not giving myself the time or the luxury to stay there thinking about anything. I didn’t know that she was still standing there until her voice cut through to me. 

“What’s going on with you?” She asked me suddenly. Her voice lashed like a whip, and I felt it deep in my soul. 

“What? Nothing.” I answered after a while, contrary to what I was feeling at the moment. 

“Think again before you lie to me.” 

I sighed and leaned back against the locker that was behind me, and I looked at her. 

“For real, I’m….” I stopped mid-sentence because I could not bring myself to finish the statement. I was not good. 

I was the opposite of good. Everything then came crashing down. From the beginning. What happened earlier and how it had stayed with me even though I made sure to freeze the whole thing and not replay it in my head. It still stayed there like a cancer that won’t go anywhere. 

His face flashed before my eyes as he spoke all of those horrible words to me. My heart started to thunder heavily in my chest. The walls of the room started to close in, and I willed his face to leave my mind, but it just would not. His words repeatedly played like he was still right in front of me. 

I heard my name being called somewhere in the room, but I could not stop myself from breathing very hard. It was quite impossible not to. I felt hands on me, but I was not here. 

“Holy shit. She’s having a panic attack. What do we do?!” 

The buttons on the front of my shirt were snapped open, and I felt cold air hit me. And that was the first thing I focused on. Then I started to calm down a little bit. My eyes located something or someone that I latched onto. It was Steph. She was standing in front of me, and she was talking. 

But I could not hear. But I focused on her lips, trying to read what she was saying. When I finally got it, the sound came at the same time. And I discovered I was doing what she said I should do. Breathing exercise. 

“You’re okay now.” She said. She sounded different from earlier. She was calmer and more relaxed with me. And I didn’t know why that got to me really bad. Because I started to cry. My body was shaking as tears rolled down from my eyes. 

“Hey… don’t cry now. We’ve got you.” Jayla said, and that made me cry harder. 

They allowed me to cry for what seemed like forever. But when I finally came to and stopped, I was asked to say what was wrong. 

Then I told them everything.