A Christmas Wish

CHAPTER 9: FIRST DAY OF WORK.

I woke this morning feeling truly at peace for the first time since Michael had given me his news. After a quick breakfast of last nights leftovers, I grabbed some laundry as I was heading to the laundrette with those curtains later anyway and left to start my shift in the kitchens. I enjoyed my early morning stroll through the pack grounds. It was peaceful, serene even. I reached the pack house and entered through the back door. After stashing my laundry in the small area, I had sat in with Mrs Bury yesterday. I joined the omegas already in the kitchen, ready to get to work. Mrs Bury gave me a warm smile and greeted me fondly. Some of the oegas seemed to find my prescence in a uniform amusing, though others seemed shocked by it. I decided to ignore all their reactions and just concentrate on whatever task I was set.

The day passed mostly without incident until about half an hour before my shift was due to end. A pretty young omega whose name I hadn't yet caught tipped an entire pot of sauce over me and the floor that I was almost done mopping. "Oh no! How clumsy of me. I am soooo sorry!" she said, her tone not seeming totally genuine. I wasn't the type to make a fuss over an accident, but this didn't seem that accidental. "LOUISA!" Mrs Bury's voice boomed from behind her. "What the hell happened here?" she asked, looking in dismay at the red pool of sauce spreading over the white and grey marbled floor. "I'm so sorry. The floor was wet from the new girl mopping, and I lost my footing," the girl said, her eyes opening wide and her tone so helpless and innocent. "That's not what happened at all," I said, my own eyes narrowing in annoyance. Mrs Bury sighed, "Let's just get this mess cleaned uo please ladies. And, I do mean both of you, Louisa," she told us. Louisa looked annoyed, flipping her waist length dyed blonde hair back as she pouted. "It wasn't my fault. Why should I have to clean it up? make the new girl do it!" Mrs bury stared her down firmly. "You will do as you are told. You spilt the sauce, which I will now have to remake. You will help to clean it up. One more word out of you, and you can clean it up by yourself," she said.

Louisa scowled at me the entire time that we were cleaning up her mess. I had no idea why she seemed to have such a problem with me. I decided to let it go this time, but if she tried anything again, then I would have to confront her about it. Once the floor was once again clean, I headed to the rest area to grab my laundry and headed out. I reached the back door but stopped when I heard my name and giggling outside. "Dawn may be the Alpha's sister, but in that kitchen she is just another b***h who needs to learn her place. I run that kitchen, not Mrs Bury," I heard Louisa's unmistakable, whiny voice. "She is still a member of the Alpha family. Aren't you worried about repercussions?" I heard another voice ask. Louisa laughed loudly. "Who do you think told me to make things hard for her? David wants her to suffer a little, he told me so himself last night in bed," she giggled. My stomach dropped. I knew that David wasn't overly fond of me, he had never hidden that fact, but it hurt to know that he was going out of his way to make my life miserable.

I waited there until their voices grew fainter and then emerged into the bright sunlight of the crisp december afternoon. I grabbed the curtains from the ballroom and made my way to the big laundrette that serviced the entire pack. I smiled at Veronica, the elderly she wolf who had worked in the pack laundrette for as long as I could remember. She looked over at me and then disappeared into the back. I shrugged and began to load the curtains into a few of the huge industrial sized washing machines. I was putting my laundry into another when I felt something hard in the pocket of my jeans. I slipped my hand into the pocket and pulled out the glass snowflake that had once been suspended inside the bauble. Feeling the cool glass in my hand, my heart ached all over again. I sank down onto one of the wooden benches, lost in my own misery for a moment.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump. I span around to see Veronica standing there holding out a t-shirt and leggings. I was confused. "So that you can clean that before it stains," she said kindly, pointing at the uniform that I was still wearing. I thanked her and quickly changed, throwing my uniform into the machine with the rest of my laundry. I put the snowflake away in my bag and tried not to think about it. If only it was that easy. I asked Veronica if she minded me calling back to deal with the laundry later. She smiled and waved me on my way. I headed back to the ballroom to get some more cleaning done. Hopefully, I would be far too busy to think about Michael.

I was surprised to find the door already open when I arrived at the ballroom. Cautiously, I went inside, unsure what to expect. Had david sent his little tart down here to mess with me some more? I looked around the hall but couldn't see anyone. I tried sniffing for the scent of anyone here, but that was useless. It was still far too musty in here. Had I left the door open when I had collected the curtains, I wondered. I thought that I had closed it, but I couldn't have. I shook my head and put my bag down on the stage. A loud bang behind me made me jump out of my skin. Turning, I laughed as I saw Charlie drop the cleaning products that he was carrying as my presence made him jump as much as I had. He looked up at me and pursed his lips. "It's not funny," he said. That just made me laugh harder. "Oh yes, it is," I replied. He was next to me in no time. "I will give you a reason to laugh," he said, tickling me mercilessly. I was begging him to stop when a voice cut through my laughter like a knife. "So this is you working on the ballroom, is it?" David asked sarcastically.