Mia resumed work as early as 7:00 a.m.

"Thank you" she told the customer who grabbed a bagel to go.

Larry's was not just a bar, it was a cafe during the day and a bar by night.

She started brewing coffee in the machine. The bar was filled with people trooping in and out.

She was pouring herself a cup of coffee and turned around to find Angelo smiling at her causing her heart to skip a beat.

"Hey" he said smiling.

"Hey" she replied.

"A cup of cappuccino please" he requested sitting on one of the bar stools.

"Sure" she nodded and spun around fast going to grab a coffee cup.

In less than a minute she arrived with the coffee with a serviette at its bottom and she handed it over to him.

"Thanks" he murmured bringing the cup to his lips.

"When does your shift end?" He asked putting the coffer on the table.

"Same time, late at night" she replied avoiding his gaze.

"I had hoped it was earlier so we could have time for a little chat" he murmured catching her hand on the counter, stroking it gently.

Mia glanced at his hands above hers which sent tingles down her spine.

She quickly pulled away taking in his new form. He had shaved, there was no hat and he was better dressed.

"Looks like you had a makeover last night, got through your depression?" She asked turning to face a customer to ask what she needed.

"Let's not talk about that please" he murmured shutting his eyes before reopening them.

"I believe I've seen you somewhere before" he stated sipping his coffee.

"You look familiar," he said staring at her with curious eyes and she finally turned to meet his gaze.

Someone suddenly rang the bell loud and the man glanced at the both of them before saying,

"Coffee, black. Make it snappy"

She ignored the man's rudeness whispering an excuse me to Angelo She turned to answer the customer.

"I guess I'll see you later" Angelo said dropping cash for his coffee on the table before leaving.

…

Mia's phone rang again and she raised it to her ear as she wiped the countertop.

"Hey mum" she greeted.

"Mia, how are you?" The woman on the other side of the phone asked.

"I'm good mum, how is the Martinez mansion?" She asked sarcastically.

"Mia, this has gone on for too long, Come back home"

"No can do mum" she replied whispering a thank you to the customer in front of her.

"There's a family meeting this evening, it's about the property" her mother informed.

"I'll pass, I don't want to get involved" she replied.

"You don't have to, just please be present?" Her mum pleaded and Mia sighed.

"Alright, I'll be there" she replied and her mum cheered on the other end before hanging up.

She was also curious and wanted to investigate who wanted her and her siblings dead.

Who wanted to wipe out the entire Martinez children? The person had to be close to them.

Her mind immediately thought of her father's best friend Walker, but Walker had relocated to England a year before her father's death.

Her mind was not at peace, she had to find out who was behind all this.

"It's dangerous to space out like that" she heard someone tease and turned to find Lisa waving at her.

"I was thinking" she sighed.

"Mhmm really hard" Lisa teased.

"Larry thinks you should take the day off, he said you've worked night shifts for two weeks" Lisa said taking the cap off Mia's head and plopping it onto her own.

"I also think he's right, take a break and who knows maybe get laid" Lisa stressed the word laid and did a little dance.

"I doubt I'll be able to do the latter and thanks Lisa" Mia said hugging her.

"No problem, shoo shoo" Lisa said and Mia smiled grabbed her phone and left the building.

The sun was blazing her car seats and she groaned before entering and starting the engine then remembered Angelo.

He had said he was coming to meet her for a chit-chat after her shift, not wanting to go back inside, she gave Lisa a quick call.

"I'm having a visitor later this evening, let him know I won't be available" she said and it went straight to voice mail. She could only hope Lisa would see it.

She turned her car in the other direction and drove over to Angelo's house. There was a possibility Lisa wouldn't check the message, no one really checked voicemails anymore.

She arrived at Angelo's house. Jumping out of the car, she rang the doorbell but there was no reply.

Perhaps he had gone, right to work?

She came down from the pavement heading to her car, she pulled out a sticky note and pen deciding to leave a note, she wrote:

"I'm sorry I'm not working my shift tonight,
But I'm sure we'll see some other time
To have that chat.

             -Mia.M

She pasted the paper on the door where she expected him to see it before returning to the car and driving home.

The Veracruz traffic seemed to be heavy during the day but the streets were dead quiet at night.

By the time she got home, it was already noon. She wished her nephew Junior was around, at least he kept her company from her boring life. But Junior was at a one-week camp.

She sighed confused about what to do with her day off, she had no friends and a shitty family she still had to meet tonight.

Deciding to do a little detective work, she pulled out a chalkboard, thinking of the people who would have wanted her father dead.

Perhaps it was Grandpa Pabby, but what would he want the property for, he was old and could barely stand.

She kept thinking of different suspects but it was a futile attempt. Tired, she lay on the couch sighing heavily thinking of how to catch the assassin but all that was on her mind was the family meeting.

Family meeting

Family meeting!

It was a bloody Martinez family meeting, everyone would be there, Aunts, uncles, distant cousins and people who weren't even part of the family but pretended to be.

She jumped off the couch rushing to the shower. A Martinez family meeting was like a meeting with the president. You had to dress not only elegantly but expensively, be on your best behaviour and act poised and respectable.

She searched her wardrobe for anything that would meet the criteria, anything that screamed Martinez and finally came across a pale blue shiny gown, It was perfect.

Quickly putting it on, she realized it clung to her torso making it hard for her to breathe.

She pulled out a pair of silver stiletto heels and sat to begin her hair and makeup which was her speciality after all she had gone to a fashion school.

After delicately applying make-up, she began styling her hair raising it here and there she adjusted her black shiny mane in a way that screamed luxury.

Adding a little braid by the side, she wrapped it around the bun pulling out a little amount of hair here and there, curling it and letting it bounce across her face before adding various hairpins and clips to hold it in place.

She stared at herself in the full-length mirror and couldn't help but feel like a teenager going to prom.

Leaving the house, she locked the doors before driving off towards the Martinez mansion. It wasn't a long drive, besides she knew the shortcuts to the great house she grew up in.

Not long after, she appeared in front of the steel-reinforced gates of the mansion. She rolled down the glass before saying her name.

"Miranda Martinez"

"Voice recognition confirmed, welcome back Miranda" the audio security replied and the gates opened.

Driving in she noticed all the cars parked most of them the latest models.

She knew this wasn't just a meeting between her mum and her children, it was the whole family coming to once again argue about the property she would skip this if she had a choice.

She opened the front door after driving down towards the house. The house was packed, you could see a Martinez everywhere.

Some people talking by the stairs, some at the dining table, and others by the door. Everywhere you turned there was a Martinez, she noticed some unfamiliar faces and forced herself to believe they were distant cousins she had probably never heard of.

The first person to acknowledge her presence was her brother Andrew and his fiancee Beverly. Beverly was dressed in a stunning black dress matching Andrew's suit. She held a champagne flute in her hand throwing smiles at everyone clearly enjoying being engaged to a Martinez.

"Miranda" Andrew called with arms open and she hugged her brother who placed a peck on both of her cheeks. She smiled turning to Beverly who gave her a long hard look.

Beverly never liked her, she always felt Mia had an ulterior motive because she couldn't understand why she would give up all this luxury to live like a popper.

"Hey Beverly" Mia greeted and Beverly put on her usual fake smile.

"I think mum is looking for you, she's supervising the caterers" Andrew informed before walking away with Beverly clutched to him like a leech.

Mia began walking to the kitchen and she couldn't help but overhear some people gossiping and muttering.

"Who is she?" She heard a person say.

"I mean she's dressed so poorly" another person laughed.

Their words barely affected her at least the dress she wore was bought with her hard earned money unlike the gold diggers who mocked her, their very presence disgusted her.