"I made you breakfast, so please eat then they go shower." Sophia uttered, looking around the kitchen.

"What are you searching for?" 

"My keys, I don’t remember where I put them." 

"They must be in your bag. I'm the one who unlocked yesterday," I stated, before sitting down to eat the pancakes she prepared.

Sophia disappeared in her bedroom, while I munched on the delicious breakfast. Pancakes have always been my favorite. "They are so fluffy and yummy," I said to no-one in particular.

"As long as they will lift up your spirit," she said, holding her bag and phone.

I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time, and just as I thought, it's too early to be leaving for school! "Where are you going?" I asked with knitted brows.

"I told you that I'm having breakfast with my sister last night," She said with a shake of her head and grinned when I didn't respond, trying to remember when that conversation took place.

"Of course! You weren't listening because you were thinking about Chef Jake." Sophia laughed.

Yesterday’s confrontation with Chef Jake left me tongue tied. I usually fire back with responses, but he made me speechless! 

I kept thinking about our first encounter and how different our interaction was then. What happened to that Amara? The confident and fun girl who didn't have any issues giving harmless flirty banter.

And then Alex's face flashed in my mind and my mood soured completely.

"I'm sorry." I apologized, feeling bad for not paying attention to her. 

"No need." She waved her hand in the air dismissively.

The truth was Jake wasn’t the only thing on my mind, April and Alex’s birthday was coming up and this would be the first time I wouldn’t spend it with him. I couldn’t even sleep well last night; disturbed by nightmares. 

I was a twelve year old again in my dream, coming home to find my mother crying over an empty closet. 

There was a different ending to it this time around, instead of my father leaving with his bags, it was Alex with Sam clinging to his arm. I woke up with a start, and my heart was racing. There was no going back to sleep; all I could see each time I closed my eyes was Alex with Sam.

"Finish your food and get ready so you’re not late." Soph’s bossy voice took me out of my thoughts.

“Yes mum!” I shouted after her.

By the time I was done, there was hardly any time left to get myself ready.. Making sure I had everything with me, I exited my bedroom and walked towards the kitchen to grab food and snacks for the day and rushed to catch the leaving bus. My shouts for it to stop went unheard.

Wonderful.

It was cold today, and of course it looked like it was about to rain. I pulled my jacket closer and picked up my pace, hoping to still make it to school on time..

My usual 10 minute bus ride turned into a 30 minute walk. But I smiled in victory with the campus coming into view, however, my happiness was short lived as the heavens showered me with rain before I reached the shelter provided by the campus. 

I walked to the nearest bathroom and tried to rinse the water from my hair. Thankfully I had a jacket on top and this prevented my upper body from getting trenched. But my trousers weren’t so lucky and completely soaked. I hoped one of my classmates had spare trousers, otherwise I was bound to get sick.

As I reached the classroom, the door was about to be closed. I ran to make it in time, but the universe was not on my side this morning, because of all people to be in charge of class, it had to be him. 

Chef Jake stood at the door as students piled into the classroom. 

Today was definitely not my day, the universe was conspiring against me.

"Look what the cat dragged in." He mocked, opening the door for me.

"I'm sorry for running late Chef. I missed the bus," I explained.

He let me pass through, and didn't comment on my tardiness. While I was grateful, I was also angry at the universe that he was here to begin with. I should pay attention to  my class schedule more carefully.

"You look like a drenched cat," he stated, loud enough for the class to hear, making me turn around to face him. There was a frown on his face, but I didn’t miss the amusement in his eyes.

What’s with him and cat references?

I was about to reply to his statement, when someone spoke. "I can borrow her a pair of trousers, Chef," voiced Charles, the boy from yesterday.

"Okay, but be back in five minutes," said Chef Jake, turning away..

Charles asked me to follow him to his car. Unfortunately, his pair drowned me, but it’ll have to do. After changing, I went back to class. Sophia was silently laughing at me and I glared at her, but that made her laugh louder, catching Chef Jacob’s attention.

"Want to share the joke, Miss Evans?" 

"I'm sorry, sir, I just imagined a drenched cat," she replied, trying hard not to laugh again and this earned a few laughs from the class.

"Okay, settle down! We have already wasted enough time. In this lesson we’re going to learn about different kinds of cheese and dishes we can prepare," he said, commanding silence.

For two hours he listed and explained the different cheeses we would be dealing with for the next two months. We asked questions while looking at the material he sent via email. He also explained how to handle cheese in a kitchen while working with other proteins so we don't contaminate it. 

When class was dismissed, we packed up so we could go to our next class; kitchen duty. Every Friday, five of us helped the Le Cordon Bleu restaurant staff with preps for two hours and also got a feel for how a kitchen is run in a professional setting.

As Sophie and I walked past Chef Jake, he stopped us. "I didn't get a chance to ask yesterday, how much did you make from the bet yesterday?" 

"£31" I answered hesitantly.

"Next time you bet on me Miss Scott, you should up the stakes.” He winked with a cocky smirk.

        
       ~~~~~~~~~~🙂👨🏼‍🍳~~~~~~~~~~

Finally! The day was over.  All I wanted was to go home and sleep. The back to back classes drained me and left me exhausted. I could hardly keep my eyes open walking to the bus stop.

"Let's get you home so you can sleep, pussycat," Sophia wrapped an arm around my waist, keeping me upright. The brakes on the bus squealed as it came to a stop in front of us. 

"Pussycat?" I mumbled in question,  too tired to catch on to the teasing nickname.

"You are slow to catch up today. If I didn't know better I would think you were out all night. What's going on?" Soph asked once we were seated in the bus.

Resting my head against the window, I closed my eyes and took a breath before replying, “I didn't sleep well last night, and I still have to go home." 

Mum and I had plans to spend the weekend together, since she had time off. Which was not a common occurrence, especially a few weeks after Christmas and new year. 

"I almost forgot that you will be away this weekend," Soph commented.

"My offer still stands, you know." I yawned, adjusting my position to get comfortable..She doesn't have family in England, her entire family is back in Wales except for the sister who she met up with this morning. 

She also has a half sister who lives here in London. But from what she told me, they don't have a strong bond due to having different mothers and family feuds.

"I know, but I truly don't want to intrude," 

"You won't be intruding, mum's been insisting I bring you along," I explained hoping to change her mind.

"Let's make a deal; spend this weekend with your mum and the next time you visit I will come along. Sound good?" She asked.

"You have yourself a deal, Miss Evans." I held my hand out to shake hers.

She shook it, sealing our deal. It still didn't feel right leaving her alone for the entire weekend. When we reached our apartment building the security guard greeted us with  a small smile.

"A package arrived for Miss Evans; can you please come with me, miss?" He asked and Sophia followed him while I took the elevator up to our apartment.

I was finishing packing my overnight bag when Sophia came in talking on the phone. Whoever was on the other end made her angry. I have never heard her so angry and loud.

"Why? He disowned me mum, not the other way around!" She yelled. whimper.

I zipped my bag and went to the living room where her whimpers were coming from. I found her pacing the room, listening to whom I believed was her mother. Not wanting to eavesdrop on her private conversation I walked back to my bedroom.

Before I closed my door, I heard her respond, "Fine, mum. I will keep it, but I really can't understand how his mind works. He says one thing and then does something completely different." 

After some time, I didn't hear any sound coming from the living room. I walked out of my room ready to leave. The conversation made my unease to leave Sophia behind even worse . 

She was no longer in the living room. Going in search of her, I found her in her room, texting  frantically on her phone.

"Are you okay?" 

Without looking at me, she took a deep breath, still texting furiously, but replied, "Yes! My parents know how to get a rise out of me." She finally lifted her gaze. Her face was etched with stress, but she offered a small smile."It's getting late, you should be on your way.”

I shook my head. "I can't leave you alone, yo—"

"I will be fine. Take this and have a great weekend with your mum," she interrupted me and placed car keys in my hand.

"Whose are these? Was this the package the guard was talking about?" I asked bewildered.

"Yup! My joke of a father, who disowned me not so long ago, bought me a car, so "his princess doesn't take public transport," she said, rolling her eyes. 

I didn't know much about Sophia's family situation, but I knew she came from a wealthy family. 

"Wait, what? Disowned you? Why?" I asked, sitting down.

"You really need sleep and lots of coffee, I'm not used to this meek and slow woman before my eyes" she said changing the subject.

"It's a story for another day." She sighed, with a far away look.

I opened my mouth to argue that I couldn’t leave her alone, but she read my mind, not giving me a chance to speak. "Please just take the keys and go see your mum. I will be fine, I promise." She pressed.

"Okay, but aren’t afraid I’ll scratch it?" 

"Why would I worry about that if you can drive, wait, you can drive, right?" she asked, now looking worried.

Wade, Alex’s elder brother, had been the one to teach me how to drive years ago when he was helping Alex prepare for his learner’s license test, and ended up teaching me, too. It seemed so long ago now, we were so happy then. We faced so many milestones together; he was the type of best friend any girl could ask for.

"Hey, are you alright? I lost you for a minute there," Sophia said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Just a bittersweet memory." I admitted with a smile. "Well, I should probably be on my way." 

"Drive safely and don't forget to text me when you arrive home." 

"Yes ma'am.  Where is it parked?"

“In the basement garage.” 

Opening the front door, I paused and looked back at her, still reluctant to leave her alone, but I knew she would just push for me to go. Knowing that we all dealt with our demons in different ways, I decided to go.

“Sophie, I know it’s none of my business, but I think your dad knows he made a mistake. Maybe this is his way of trying to apologize?  At least he’s trying, right?” 

She contemplates my words, chewing on her lip with her arms crossed, but she eventually nods and tells me to have a safe trip once more before I leave.

      ~~~~~~~~~~❤️😄~~~~~~~~~~

The sun streamed through my window, but I continued to lay there, unable to or willing to leave the comfort of my bed.

My room was exactly how I left it. On the nightstand was a picture, face down. Running my fingers on the smooth black wood, I lifted the frame and studied the happy smile on my face and then my eyes shifted to Alex’s happy grin, too. Last night my dreams were filled with memories of our time together before I woke up to the stark reality of how things turned out. 

My focus returned to the picture. It was taken almost five years ago at prom.

I had been planning on not attending, but Alex convinced me to go. That night changed our friendship, after years of being just best friends, we started seeing each other in a different light. He became the center of my life, someone to share my fears and aspirations with.

"Wakey wakey sleepyhead!" Mum cheerfully announced herself, when she opened my bedroom door.

"Hey mama!" 

She walked further in the room. My mom was beautiful, but these past years of hard work and stress had taken a toll on her. However, something was different about her today, she was glowing and looked happy—happier than I’ve seen her in a long time.

"What do you have there?" She asked, her eyes focused on the frame in my hands.

"It's nothing." I set the framed picture back in its place.

Mum sat next to me on the bed, and picked up the picture and ran her fingers over the photo.  "You were so adamant about not attending your prom dance, but he always knew what to say to get you to agree." .

"Don’t you think it’s time I got rid of everything that reminds me of him?" 

Holding my hand in hers, she shook her head. " Some memories remain with us even after deleting and burning pictures. Don’t rush to erase him from your life, and allow yourself to feel all those emotions so you can heal.”

“Thank you mum. I needed to hear that.”

"Enough about men, go freshen up so we can go. We have a long day ahead of us," Mum said, standing to leave my room.

After getting ready, I walked out of my room and heard mum giggling on the phone as I walked downstairs.

Mum was giggling?

"I will see you on Monday," she said quietly, but I could hear the smile on her face. "Stop it." She giggled yet again.

My mum and giggling haven't been in the same sentence for about thirteen years! The day was just getting started, but was already interesting. 

For years I have been trying to tell her to put herself out there and start dating, but she always dismissed me, telling me it was absurd.

But as another quiet laugh reached my ears, my heart warmed thinking of the possibility my sweet, hard working mum was finally getting a second chance at love.