Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Isabella's pov;

On the way to Mr Martinez's house to get back my phone, I lied that I left my phone in Sophia's place to my mom when she asked me about the phone's whereabouts.

I rang the bell and waited for him to open the door.

The door was unfolded. It's Mr Martinez.

"Good morning, Mr Martinez."

He waved his hand towards the inside of the house, telling me to enter the house and he left. His bed hair kinda looked cute though. I think he just woke up a few minutes ago.

"Um..."

Before I completed what I wanted to say, he said, "Wait here. I'll get your phone."

He left upstairs after saying that.

I looked around the place. The curtains were shut down, looking kind of a haunted place without the lights.

Mr Martinez came down with the phone in his hand saying, "You said you'll be at eight."

I received it and said, "Yeah, I just remembered that I have work to do. So meet ya later. Bye!"

"Wait."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Can I come with you?"

"What? You... Wanna come with me? Where?"

"I don't have anything to do today."

"Okay. But you gotta bring your wallet. I'm not gonna pay anything for you."

He gave me a smirk and said, "Okay."

"What are you waiting for? Go and change your clothes and come."

"What's wrong with this one?"

"What's wrong? It looks so expensive. Do you want people to stare at you? Wear something cheap so that you won't be an outcast."

"I don't have clothes as you described."

"Okay, we'll buy clothes on the way. Come on."

In the streets, people who were passing stared at us. What are they looking at? When I turned to see Mr Martinez. He was wearing a mask.

"Why are you wearing the mask?"

"I never left the house without the mask."

I moved closer to him and removed the mask from his face while saying, "You are going to, today."

He covered his face using his hands and continued walking.

"Your hands are going to hurt soon if you continue that."

We came to the bus terminal and sat on the stand.

"Why are we here?"

"To take the bus of course." Said while checking the time for the arrival of the bus to the terminal.

"Let's go by cab."

"I don't have money for the cab. It costs a lot."

The bus arrived. I got into the bus and got seated and reserved a seat for him while shouting, "Quick! Come here."

He walked among the crowd and came to me and sat beside me.

"Is this how it'll be?"

"Hahaha. Yeah, And about today, first let's go to the bazaar and take clothes for you and we're going to a cafe since I got to meet my friend there regarding a job and we're going to have lunch in my favourite place and hit the street for some time and Finally, we're going to the party which I got invited by my friend, Sophia. Sophia and I go to the same school. So stay alert when you're with her. Ah! Thinking about that, we gotta create a fake identity for you. No. We can't do that since she has already seen you in the lecture. What are we going to do now? Do you have any idea?"

"It's fine. After looking around, I'll go to my house. You can go to the party."

"Aw! Thank you so much for helping me out here, Mr Martinez."

"What if I get noticed by someone?"

"Don't worry about that, no one knows you here except... Me."

"Are you offending me?"

"Haha. No. I'm not. I mean... Since you wear a mask every time, it's hard for people to recognize you without the mask, right?"

"Yes."

"See? That's what I was talking about. Now, enjoy the ride."

We reached the bazaar and ended up in a clothes shop. Among the crowd, I found a shirt and asked him, "Do ya like it?"

He looked uncomfortable.

I moved closer to him and asked, "What happened? You don't look good."

He shook his head and stood still. I think it's because of the crowd.

"Go stand over there and wait for me. I'll get the clothes for you, Mr Martinez."

He vacated the shop.

I took a set of clothes and came out of the crowd after bargaining for so long with the owner of the shop.

Mr Martinez looked like a lost prince. I walked over to him and handed over the clothes saying, "You can get into these clothes. I know it's not expensive like the clothes you wear but I hope you like it."

I waited for Mr Martinez while he was changing clothes.

My phone rang. Sophia's name was on the display.

Why is Sophia calling me now?

I answered the call.

"DI club, 8 p.m."

"What?"

"The party. Don't forget to come. If you plan to ditch me, I'll tell my brother that we're still friends."

"Why are you speaking so fast?"

"Don't forget to come. That's it."

"Is someone beside you? Is it your brother?"

"You're coming otherwise I'll do what I said."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Yeah, so come without fail. I'll be waiting for you in the parking lot."

"Okay but why parking lot?"

She ended the call before answering my question. What's with this girl? Why is she acting so weird?

"Shall we go?" He asked me.

"Huh? Yeah."

When did he come?

We came to the cafe.

"Do you want to have something? This place sells great Latte. Shall I order it for you?"

"I don't drink."

"Oh, then what do ya like?", asked while I was checking the menu card.

"I don't need anything."

"Are you upset?"

"What?"

"You look kinda down since I came to your house. Is something wrong? You can talk to me. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Nothing's wrong." He took the menu card from me and continued, "Does Latte taste that good in this cafe?"

"Yeah, it does taste really good. Want me to order that?"

He gave a nod while looking at the menu card.

I walked to the barista and ordered two Lattes and returned to the table.

"Do you want anything other than Latte like garlic bread, biscuits, Mr Martinez?"

He shook his head.

"Okay."

The Latte which I ordered arrived.

I waited for him to drink first, and when he did, I asked him, "Do ya like it, Mr Martinez?"

He gave a little nod and continued drinking the Latte.

I got a call while drinking mine.

"I gotta take this call."

I stood from the place and walked out of the cafe.

On the call, I asked my friend, "Yeah, why aren't you here yet? I'm waiting for you at the cafe."

"About that, I got stuck in my job. I'm sorry. I can't make it today."

"I'm waiting in the cafe already."

"It's okay. I already talked with the cafe owner so just go ahead and talk to her."

"Will she give me the job?"

"She seemed pretty convinced when I talked with her so I think she'll offer you the job."

"Okay, thank you for the help by the way."

I ended the call with him and walked inside the cafe.

Mr Martinez was still drinking his Latte.

I walked over to him and said, "The friend that I mentioned ditched me so I have to talk to the owner by myself. Can you wait here?"

He gave a nod and continued drinking the Latte.

I made my way to the owner's office and knocked on the door and opened the door. The owner was a lady who was in her thirties.

"Come in." Said while removing her glasses and keeping them on the table.

I greeted the owner and took my seat.

"I'm Isabella Garcia, a senior high schooler in GJ school. I'm looking forward to this job. I'll do my best if you offer the job to me."

"How will you work here if you're attending school?"

"I can come here after school and work here mam."

"What about the weekend?"

"I'm fine with weekends too."

"Okay, you can take the job. Starting from Monday."

"Thank you for offering me the job, mam."

"Call me Beck."

"Okay, thank you, Beck."

I came out of the room with a bright smile on my face.

"I got the job!!! Come on, let's go."

I took the Latte which I forgot to drink And We two came out of the cafe.

"I can't believe I got the job." I let out a sigh and continued, "My heart feels so light after getting this job. Do you know how hard it is to get a job in that cafe? That cafe is one of the popular cafes in this street. Rich people do pay a visit now and then."

"I never did."

"Ah! Why are you being so sarcastic? I've heard rich people go there. Maybe your kind doesn't. Anyways, the reason why it's hard to get a job there is The people who work there are all related to one another. It's kinda like their family business so they won't hire people from outside. But... Since my friend is a part of their family and doesn't want to work with them, I got the job. Hahaha. More to that, the pay is good. They're giving three hundred dollars per month. Isn't it great?"

He gave a nod and continued walking beside me listening to what I was speaking.

"I feel so hungry. Let's go and eat."

We came to the food stalls.

"Mr Martinez, what do you like to eat?"

He was looking around at the food stalls like he was seeing them for the first time.

I tapped on his shoulder and asked, "What do ya like to eat?" While pointing at the menu displayed on the food stall.

He was looking at the menu for a long time. Why is he taking so long to order? That wasn't a tough job. Should I help him?

"Um... Mr Martinez, do ya want my help to order?"

"It's fine. I'll do it."

"Okay. Whatever you want."

After some time he ordered a cheeseburger and California burrito with beef, cheese, and potato fries in the burrito with sour cream and guacamole.

He's ordering food like a newbie.

I chuckled and continued eating my chicken cheese sandwich.

Seeing him finish eating his food I asked, "What do you want now?"

"I'm full."

"Really?? Those burgers made you full?"

He gave a nod while cleaning his hands with tissue paper.

While I was paying, Mr Martinez took his wallet and said, "Use this." His wallet was filled with a lot of cash which made me feel so low.

"Hey, I was just kidding back then. You don't have to pay. I have money for us. I can pay for the food."

He stuck the wallet back into his pocket and continued cleaning his hands and asked for more tissues.

When the shopkeeper tried to give the tissues, I stopped him saying, "We don't need tissues anymore."

"Why are you…"

I turned to Mr Martinez and said, "We don't need tissues anymore, right?" I whispered in his ears saying, "Look at the cost of tissues. He's selling it way higher than the food. And your hands are also clean. I don't think you need it."

"Yeah, my hands are clean." Mr Martinez said to the shopkeeper.

After paying, We were on the way to the store.

"Where do you like to visit, Mr Martinez? There are many shops in this street for buying things. There are…"

I got a call. It's Sophia. What does she want this time?

"I… I gotta take this call."

I walked away from him and answered her.

"Emergency!"

"What happened?"

"Come to my place."

"Wh-What happened? Why do you sound scared?"

The call ended.

I ran to Mr Martinez and said, "Something urgent came. I gotta go. C-Can you get to your house by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr Martinez. And sorry for leaving."

I took a cab and arrived at Sophia's house.

The front door was wide open. Why is the door opened like this? I walked into the house while shouting Sophia's name which echoed back to me like the house was deserted.