Wendy's Mirror

Chapter Twenty-Two

"I ASKED for an iced coffee. Does this look iced to you?" The customer before me yelled, slamming the disposable cup in her hand on the counter.

A few drops of coffee flew out and spilled on the marble counter, also staining my white shirt with a faint brown dot. Several customers had turned our way and some even had their phone cameras angled towards the direction where we stood.

I bowed my head, "I'm sorry."

I must have lost my mind.

Adrian gently pulled me back and stood in front of me, shielding me from the woman who seemed like she would hit me at any given moment. She looked so strong, I would be a fool to not cower in fear and be happy that someone was there to protect me but at the same time, my saviour turned out to be the guy I was weary about. The guy who was friends with my ex behind my back.

"I'm sorry, I was the one who got your order wrong," Adrian said calmly, "I'll get it changed."

He told lies so easily that it sounded like the truth. He lied about his education and pretended not to know about someone. What more did he have under his sleeve? Murder?

"But I saw her. She was the one who poured the drink," the lady said.

Her tone seemed to have gone a little lower on seeing Adrian. I mean, who wouldn't give in at the sight of his face? I should have known that there was a possibility that he belonged to Thomas's friend group when I saw him. They were all good-looking bastards whom I was unable to decipher their strange attitude towards me.

"I'll get your right order," Adrian repeated, "Please give me a minute."

He walked off into the backroom, dragging me along with him. As he closed the backroom door behind us, I yanked my hand out of his grip and looked away.

"Is something wrong? You've been out of it all day," Adrian said, drawing closer to me.

"I'm fine. You should attend to the lady before she fumes up again. I'll tend to the dishes."

I tried to walk towards the sink when he pulled me back to stand before him, "Is this about your ex again?"

I finally looked up into his eyes. His gaze on me had a dark shade of displeasure but it also seemed like he was genuinely concerned for me. Then again, why would I believe his eyes when every other thing about him was a lie?

I slowly took my wrist out of his grasp and stared up at him, "I'm fine and please stop grabbing my hand. My wrist hurts."

I headed over to the sink and picked the only cup. Glancing at the far end of my left, my eyes met that of Adrian for a quick second before I was back to reviewing the cup.

"Surprise! I already served the customer," I heard Clara's voice as she walked into the back room, "Thank God I didn't wait for you to come do it yourself. She would have probably hit me. You owe me one."

I turned to stare at her but she was solely focused on Adrian with a cute smile on her face.

"Thanks," Adrian replied and walked out of the back room.

"Clara," I called out as she was just about to follow suit, "Thank you for yesterday. I tried to talk to you all evening but we've been busy. It must have been so bothersome to listen to me rant, right? I'll get you a drink when we close and we can just relax together."

She was not someone I could understand but she was there for me when I needed someone, so the least I could do was to properly say thank you.

"Why?" Clara asked with a straight face, "Just because I listened to your pathetic love story doesn't make us automatically become besties. We're not friends, just coworkers. And if you don't mind, I'd like for it to remain that way."