Addicted

Chapter 8

Marina Vettle

It had been two days since I saw Giovanni last. I asked Chris if he knew anything, and he told me he had been busy with work. I would have texted him, but I really didn't know how to use this phone, as I was used to my old phone.

I knew it sounded ridiculous, but the last phone I had was a blackberry. And I bought it when I was thirteen, with my own money. My parents thought buying me that kind of stuff was a waste of money, when they could have vacations with it. Their words, not mine.

They also said that nothing would happen to someone like me. That no one - not even rapists - again their words not mine, would be interested in me.

Getting inside of the shop, I saw Mike already baking. "Hello, Mike." I smiled, putting my belongings on the hanger.

"Hi, honey." He smiled. "What's wrong? Are you ok?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I just haven't been able to sleep very well these past days."

It was true, I hadn't been able to sleep at all. Since I visited Mrs Wilson last time, I had been having flashbacks about my times in the hospital, when my parents wouldn't visit me. Or even pick me up.

What if I was that bad of a daughter?

Was I that hard to love?

I shook those thoughts away, and got to work. I cleaned my hands, and started putting everything that Mike had finished on the trays, and put everything on display. Liz came a few minutes later, and started helping as well.

"How have you been?" She asked.

"Meh, it could be worse." I shrugged. "By the way, when are you leaving?" I asked her.

"Next week." She responded. "By the way, I love you. You are the absolute best, and I don't know how to repay you." She hugged me.

She asked me a few days ago if I could do her a favor, and I accepted it. She was going to visit her family in another state, and needed the time, so I agreed to take her hours for the next two weeks.

But I was not dumb. I was not doing it for free. She offered me whatever she got paid those weeks. And obviously, I got it. I didn't have many important things to do.

I opened the shop, and the first one to come in was, as it had been for the past weeks, Giovanni. He smiled at me. He still had fainted bruises on his face.

"Hey, Tesoro." He sat in front of me. "I'm really sorry that I couldn't come yesterday. And even more sorry that I didn't warn you." He apologized.

"It's ok," I smiled, putting him, his usual. "What happened?" I asked, while thinking what else to put him to eat. I end up putting him a chocolate croissant.

"Just work." He rolled his eyes. "It has been stressful lately." He grabbed the cup. "Thanks, darling." He winked at me, almost making me faint. "By the way, we need to have a talk," He said.

Oh, dear. I hadn't done anything wrong. That I knew.

My eyes went wide as he said that. "It's nothing wrong, Tesoro." He chuckled. "It's about the date you promised you would go with me, so you could repay me." He smirked.

"Oh, right." I sighed. "You scared me." I giggled. "Um, well, I'm covering for the next two weeks for Liz, but after that, I will be free on my free day." I smiled.

"And you are not going to have a break in two weeks?" He frowned. I shrugged. "I don't like that. You need to rest. You work too hard, Marina." I thought it was the first time he said my name.