Chapter One

I stare at the clock on the wall, counting down the minutes until I can leave this room.

"Cassie are you listening to me?"

I shift my eyes from the clock to the man sitting across from me. His blonde hair is kept short and neat like it is every Sunday. His blue eyes tell me that he knows I was not paying attention to him.

"I'm sorry Dr. Simmons, I guess I'm not in the sharing mood today."

Dr. Simmons writes on his yellow note pad then looks back up at me, "we've been over this Cassie. It really does help to talk about how you're feeling and what you've been through."

"Maybe next time Dr. Simmons. I have to go or I'll be late for work."

I grab my purse off the floor and walk out of the door. I wave and smile politely at Dr. Simmons' assistant and make my way out to my car.

I slip into the driver seat and lean my head against the steering wheel. I inhale deeply and just sit there in the silence of my car. I fight back the tears that are threatening to fall and start my car.

I pull out of the parking lot and make my way over to the Star Light Cafe.

The drive is short, only ten minutes from Dr. Simmons' office. I park behind the cafe and go in through the back door that is meant for employes only. I grab one of the aprons that is hanging up and throw it on over my work shirt. I quickly put my long, wavy blonde hair up in a pony tail and clock in.

"Hey are you Cassie?"

I turn at the sound of my name to see a guy around my age standing there in the Star Light Cafe uniform. He seems to be a good six inches taller than me, five foot ten at least. Bright green eyes, shaggy, light brown hair and a smile that could melt any girl on the spot.

"Uhh yeah. You are?"

He holds his hand out to me, "I'm Adam. Mr. Anderson said you would be the one training me."

Speak of the devil. Me. Anderson walks in with a smile on his face, "ahh perfect you two have met," he turns to face me, "Cassie I would like you to train our new employe. Considering the circumstances I would understand if you're not up for it and I'll find someone else to do it."

"No, I can do it." I assure my boss.

"Alright. If its get to be too much just let me know." he says.

I nod and he walks away. I glance over at Adam to see him giving me a questioning look. I ignore it and plaster on a fake smile, "right, lets get started."

I lead Adam out to the front and explain all the basics to him and show him how to work the espresso machine. Once I am sure he has the hang of it for the most part I take my spot at the cash register.

"Hey there Cassie, glad to see you back."

I smile at Kevin, one of our regulars. His black hair is slicked back into a short pony tail, his goatee is trimmed and neat like always and his brown eyes are shining brightly.

"I'm glad to be back. Do you want your usual?"

"Yes ma'am." he says with a friendly smile while he hands over a ten dollar bill.

I smile at him and hand him back his change, "I'll get that right now for you."

I fix up Kevin's drink and check on Adam. Surprisingly enough Adam caught on quickly and doesn't seem to be having any problems.

I hand Kevin his drink, "have a nice day Kevin."

"You too Cassie."

I focus on the customers that are streaming in and out of the coffee shop. It's not long before I lose myself in work and clear my mind of everything except pleasing the customer.

Before I know it I'm handing over a drink to the last customer and it's time for closing. Adam and I clean up silently and quickly. We both hang up our aprons and walk out to the back parking lol.

"Do you work tomorrow?" he questions before I can get into my car.

"Yeah I do."

"Coll. Me too. I'll see you tomorrow then."

I nod and get into my car. Adam waves at me and I politely wave back then pull out of the parking lot.

"I'm home!" I call out.

My aunt Amber comes around the corner and I have to fight myself not to look away from her. Her long blonde hair is curled, her blue eyes are shining bright and the heels she is wearing adds two inches to her five foot three height.

She's an exact replica of my mom. I hurts so much to look at her. Uncle Malcolm walks up behind my aunt and towers over her at six feet even. His buzz cut brown hair matches his brown eyes.

"How was work?" aunt Amber asks me.

"It was good. I'm glad to be back."

"Are you hungry? We saved you some pizza." Uncle Malcolm explains.

I smile at both of them, "I'm not really hungry. Just tired. I'm gonna head to bed."

Neither of them say anything as I walk to my room. I'm glad they don't. It has been a long day and I just want to crawl into my bed and sleep. That's exactly what I do.