Chapter 3. Tired of Crying Until Her Eyes Were Swollen

The sun appeared to publish its light; Eve began to wake up. Eve stretched the muscles of her body that felt sore and stiff all over.

Eve tried to wake up her sister, Adeline. "Al, wake up! Al, we have to go now!"

They walked to the city centre, where they walked to a park and found a toilet to freshen up and change clothes.

Before looking for work, Eve asked Adeline to wait in a park near a row of office centres and shops.

Eve bought her breakfast and a drink of water and gave her a few dollars to keep watch. Eve asked her to wait until she came after getting a job.

Only then would Eve figure out how to find a place to live. She should sell her favourite watch this time; it was the only precious thing she had left.

It was noon, but Eve hadn't found a job yet and needed clarification. She was sweating from looking for a job all morning, and her legs started hurting from exhaustion.

Finally, on the corner, Eve saw a cafe. She walked there to buy a piece of bread and hot chocolate to feed her hungry stomach.

"Hey! You!" someone shouted. A man around 25-26 years old, I don't know. She was pointing at me.

Eve began to frown, "Me?" she asked, pointing at herself.

"Yes, you! Who else? Why are you coming so late? Look at the people waiting! Lunchtime is always crowded, but thank goodness you came! Put this on and go backwards!" said the handsome man.

Eve paused, "But I'm...not..." Holding the apron, he gave her in confusion.

"You need a job, don't you? Hurry back, I don't have time to explain it to you! If you can handle it, then you're hired, OK? Your working hours are 9 am to 5 pm and you'll get 50 dollars a day, no weekends off. You can take off on weekdays. How about it?"

"Yes, but..." Eve was still hesitant because she hadn't applied here, but perhaps the person had mistaken her for someone else.

"There's no buts! Don't you want to?" he shouted with quite a high intonation.

Eve finally shouted, "I want to! I want!"

And so she worked that day, but a little longer this time. She was asked to work overtime until 6 pm as more and more customers arrived.

Eve worked so energetically that day that she didn't even notice that her legs were in much pain. She even forgot about her sadness for a moment.

"This is your wage today. She was given an extra 80 dollars today because she worked overtime for 3 hours," said the owner and manager of the Cafe when he called her.

Eve burst into tears, sobbing in her chair. She had only felt 80 dollars, even after working almost all day. It turns out that making money is not easy, and she felt it this time.

"Why are you crying? Is it not enough?"

Eve shook her head. The first time, she received this little money, but it's worth it now with tears still in her eyes.

"What does that mean?" The Boss needed clarification.

"No! I meant to say thank you. I'll come again tomorrow!" Eve said, diverting their conversation.

"Okay. By the way, did you bring your ID? I didn't get a chance to ask for it earlier."

Eve reached into the small bag and handed over her ID.

"Evelyn Adams? Not Selin Pattinson? So who are you, Selin?" the Boss frowned.

Eve shook her head, "I don't know you, Sir. Please don't fire me, I need this job." Eve pleaded.

"But..." suddenly the mobile phone rang. "Wait a minute, I'll be back."

Not long after, the Boss returned. "Whether it's a coincidence or luck, I just got news that...Miss Selin resigned from applying for this job. So, if you're willing, you can keep working here," with a warm smile.

"So congratulations on working at Cafe Mentari! I'm Damian, the owner of this little Cafe!" he extended his hand.

"I'm Eve, Evelyn. Thank you. I will definitely work very hard." Eve extended her hand back.

"Well, Eve, I believe you and I've seen your work too! Oh, yes, where do you live? Wait, your ID says it's in the Wellington area? Wow! Are you sure your house is there? I don't think you need this job if you live there, do you?" she said as if scrutinizing Eve's appearance.

"I just lost both my parents, Sir. And, we were kicked out of our house by our Uncle, that's why I need this job. I still have a younger sister to look after." Eve looked down sadly as her tears began to flow.

"Oh, sorry Eve. I didn't know. Sorry for the loss of your parents." Damian felt sorry for her.

"Thank you, Sir." Eve said, still choked up.

"OK, if there's anything I can help you with, just tell me. Where do you live now?" Eve hesitated but said with her head down, "I don't know yet, Sir. We don't have enough money to rent an apartment."

"So, where did you sleep yesterday?" he said, slightly surprised.

Eve looked at her Boss and said quietly, "In the tunnel near Pittsburgh Street, sir!" while keeping her head down.

"What? In the tunnel? No! No! You're young girls; it's dangerous to sleep there. Tell you what, I have a pavilion next to this Cafe. It's a little small but was originally a warehouse for the Cafe's raw materials. How about you and your sister staying there? You can clean it up for a while, but it's better than being on the street, right?

Eve raised her head, her eyes filled with tears again, "Thank you, Sir, thank you. I will."

"Alright, I'll hand the key to you. You want to pick up your sister? Oh, yes, where is your sister now?" the Boss asked again.

"She's just down the road sir, near the park." Eve said happily.

Mr Damian kindly offered to help him clean up the warehouse later so they could get to bed quickly tonight. And meet Adeline, Eve's sister.

But to his surprise, when he reached the park, there was a crowd of people where he had asked his sister to stay. Her heart started to feel bad now.

"Adeline!!!"

"Eve, we need to get your sister to the hospital! Immediately!" said the Boss, Damian.

"But..." Eve hesitated as she didn't have any funds at the moment.

"Don't think about anything else, I'll take care of the cost! What's important is that your sister gets treated right away! Hurry up, Eve! We don't have much time! Let me carry your sister! My car is over there!" Damian said again.

And here they were in a big hospital, accompanied by Damian. The Doctor was treating Adeline in the emergency department, and Eve was walking back and forth in front of Adeline's treatment.

After waiting for several hours, a doctor emerged from Adeline's treatment.

"Adeline's family?"

"I'm her sister, Doc! What's wrong with my sister?" Eve was nervous.

"Sorry, we have to tell you. We suspect liver cancer! But we'll do a series of tests to confirm it." said the Doctor.

"WHAT? Liver cancer?"