Dari's Delights

3

I woke up screaming as a nightmare from being abducted as a child faded from my mind. It was the reason my disorder was discovered as the kidnappers broke my arm, and I never noticed. My fathers were overbearing with my protection after that, while my mother never treated me any differently. Normalcy is what she always gave me in every way she could, but not even she could stop them from sheltering me as they did. New York was my first win against them, and I won't let them take it away from me. I called my father Darius and told him of my plan to stay here after graduation and about opening up my own coffee house. I was pleasantly surprised that he was okay with it all, only demanding me to call twice a week. With that, I got ready for the day ahead. I went with a soft pink baby doll dress. I grabbed the cleaned dress shirt I borrowed from Ares before heading to work.

My morning was peaceful as I prepared everything for the day. I decided to return Ares shirt first thing as Paris and Conner would be working all day and I would be going home. I prepared his same coffee order as the last two days but switched the food before saying goodbye to my waitstaff. I headed across the street to the office building and was let in once I said I had Ares coffee order. I skipped the reception desk, just opting to show myself to the elevator. The reception desk had a new face behind it today as I said I was here with coffee for Ares. The man gave a lingering stare to my chest as he stood up to show me the way. On the short walk to his office, the man placed his hand low on my back before he started to drop it lower. I was quick to step away from him while saying, "Keep your hands to yourself."

Luckily, we had made it to the assistant desk area, causing him to keep his distance until he saw the desk was empty. At this point, I was fed up as I thought screw the pleasantries of knocking. As the man came close to me again, I opened the office door wide before saying, "Stay away from me." I went into the room without hesitation before apologizing for being rude. I set the coffee and boxes of food down on the coffee table that was placed on the way to the bathroom, where I hung up the shirt. On my way out, I was stopped by Ares asking, "What is this for?". "Oh! Right, thanks for letting me borrow your shirt yesterday and so you don't, um, kill whoever you sent by after I closed yesterday. I brought the three coffees you keep ordering, but I changed the food for breakfast. So the iced coffee has spicy southern style quiche. Then, the medium roast has crepes with strawberries and milk chocolate cream filling. Finally, the dark roast has some scones. Everything is labeled by coffee type. Have a good day!" I explained before rushing out of the office and back to my apartment.

I was bored at home pretty fast as I found myself online looking for something to do. I decided to get some sleep before going out to a club tonight. I let my hair flow freely, and I wore a white baby doll dress with my sneakers. I went to the club I found online it was similar to some my father owns where the main floor is for anyone but has members only sections too. I danced in the mass of sweaty bodies for some time before I went to the bar. I ordered a water but stopped the bartender before he got a glass. "Sorry, no, I meant I want a sealed water bottle," I said with a sheepish smile. He grabbed a bottle, passing it to me, and I gave it a hard squeeze to ensure it was sealed, fully passing him a twenty before leaving the bar side. I drank the whole bottle before passing it to a server headed for the bar along with a tip. I made my way back into the dance floor and started to dance once more. The entire time, I could feel eyes on me from everywhere around the room. I went to the bar once more, but the guys around me kept trying to buy me alcohol not listening to me saying no. The bartender from earlier saw me and grabbed a bottle of water, bringing it over to me. "Thank you," I said as I passed him another twenty before drinking the whole bottle once more before going back out to the dance floor. I danced some more just enjoying myself. I slowly worked my way to the edge of the dance floor before heading over to one of the bouncers in the club, asking where the bathroom was. I slipped down the hallway and into the restroom.

Heading back out from the bathroom, I was not as lucky as one of the men who tried to buy me a drink stopped me with a tight grip on my arm. I kneed him quickly before getting back into view of the bouncers. Going to the nearest one, I told him about the guy who grabbed me. He asked me to stay put before going after the man. I took that time to check for bruising, and luckily, there wasn't anything too bad, in my opinion. I was escorted to the office on the second floor to talk to the club manager about what happened. I gave a quick recount of what happened before I was back on the dance floor. It was about half an hour later when I went to the bar for the last time to get a drink, deciding to call it quits for the night. The same bartender waited on me but saw the handprint on my bicep. He expressed concern asking if I was ok. I told him what happened before asking if they had any unopened bottles of juice. "I don't have any single serve bottles, but I can open a new jug we use for mixer," the bartender offered. "Do you have any take out cups with lids?" I asked. "We don't have take out cups, but I can get a cup with a lid for you. Would that work?" He questioned. "Yes, thank you!" I said back before he walked away. He came back a few minutes later with a sippy cup and an unopened bottle of cranberry juice. "Will this work?" He questioned. "Yeah, that's okay." I answered. I watched as he washed the sippy cup in front of me before opening the juice and filling the cup. He put the lid on before passing it to me. He watched as I accepted the cup without a care as I drank from the seemingly child item. He waited on a few other people but stayed near me the entire time I sat there drinking from the sippy cup. We had talked about random things for the fifteen minutes I sat there. I finished off the cup, passing it back to him, leaving him an extra generous tip.

It was a nice night out, so I decided to walk to the coffee house and start work a bit early. I know most people would find it odd to go out to a club and then start work for the day, but baking takes time and can't be rushed. So if I want a good time dancing in a crowd I have to do it at the start of my day and the end of everyone else's. I had finished all my regular items and decided to make a multilayered caramel cake. I had just finished putting the final touches on it as I heard the bell out front go off.

I had forgotten to lock the door once more. I walked out front to see a large man and got a sense of déjà vu. "I'm sorry, sir, but we don't open for another thirty minutes," I stated, placing the caramel cake on display. "Please, I owe Ares a coffee from here. Just this once," the man pleaded. It seemed wrong for him to plead for some reason. "Do you work across the street with him?" I questioned, not quite answering. "Yes," he answered. "If I give you coffee, are you going to pour it on me?" I questioned. "No," he remarked with a look of disbelief before some sort of realization came across his face. "Are you going to try to feel me up if I come near you?" I questioned. He looked offended at that statement as he responded, "No. Did someone try to touch you without permission?" I glanced down at the now very visible handprint bruise on my arm for just a moment before he continued. "I apologize if I overstepped that is not my business, and I have no right to ask that." He stated apologetically. "I don't mind. The male receptionist on Ares floor yesterday tried to feel me up even after I told him to keep his hands to himself. So to get away from him, I barged into Ares office. I left him with food and three coffees. I had just locked up a couple of nights ago when someone tried to come here. They said Ares was going to kill him. So, I gave Ares coffee and food and told him not to kill that man." I rambled.

I cut myself off and took a breath, walking away from the counter towards where the whole coffee beans were stored picking out two different beans. I ground them both before I used them to prepare three different cups of coffee. I labeled each cup and packaged up three pieces of caramel cake. "Here you go. Next time please come during my business hours." I said, passing him the cup carrier and bag of food. "How much do I owe you?" He asked. "Ares paid enough last time he was here for coffee for me not to worry about it." I chuckled to myself. "Really? Thank you. I'm Ace, by the way, and you're Dari?" he questioned. "You can say that. Nice to meet you, Ace. Have a good day." I said before he left.