“Ha! That one… What’s her name? The one from that poor family—her mother worked in the school cafeteria!” the second girl said loudly, making sure she was heard by the other diners nearby. People at the next table, eating lunch on business, shot irritated looks as the girls gossiped about their classmate.
“That’s definitely Mila! The bookworm…”
“Following in her mom’s footsteps,” Arina laughed and waved her hand, calling the waiter over.
“Are you ready to order?” the young man asked.
“Yes. But we want that girl over there to serve us.”
“Um…” The waiter raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“I’ll take your order,” Mila overheard their conversation, grabbed the tablet, and walked over to the table. “Good afternoon.”
“Mila-with-the-hole-in-her-tights? Is that you?” Arina brought up the old hurtful nickname from their school days.
“Nobody calls me that anymore, but if it makes you happy…” It was clear that Mila really disliked the way her guests—and former classmates—were acting.
“How did you even get hired here? This place isn’t cheap, it’s definitely not like our old school cafeteria…”
“But what’s the difference where you wash dishes, right?” added Liza, Arina’s friend. For some reason, both of them had hated Mila from the very first day she joined their class. She was so small, smaller than the rest. With light, wavy hair.
“Look, she curled her hair!”
“Yeah… And her eyelashes are all made up. Nobody has lashes that black and long!” the girls hissed jealously.
“And just look at her outfit! What’s with the backpack? Did you get it on sale?”
“Look, there’s a hole in her tights!” Diana pointed her finger. She was the boldest and meanest girl in class.
“Where?”
“Right here!” Since Diana was sitting right behind Mila, she grabbed the small scissors they’d been told to bring for crafts, and jabbed Mila in the leg. Mila jumped, not realizing at first what her classmate had done… A run started to spread quickly across her brand new tights and Mila almost burst into tears. She knew how hard her mom had worked to get her ready for fifth grade. The tights were bought so she could wear them more than once…
Her memories faded back to those school years. So many things had been ruined back then! So many times the girls secretly stole her carefully written homework, tore up her notebooks and made her the class joke. But the worst teasing really started when they found out Mila’s mom worked in the school cafeteria.
“People like her don’t belong with us!”
“She would never have gotten into our elite school if she didn’t have connections!”
“We need to get rid of her! Make her leave…”
The girls kept coming up with new, cruel ways to make Mila’s life miserable, and Mila endured. For her mom, for her own future.
She understood that a prestigious school and doing well in class were her chance to get an education and achieve something in life.
“So, did all your perfect grades help you?” Arina snapped Mila back into the present.
“Following in your mommy’s footsteps, are you, little mess? What did your mom do—pay someone off to get you this job? Or maybe you’re just working off her debts for free?”
“Ladies, I ask that you mind your manners.” Mila’s voice trembled. She could tolerate anything, except when it involved her beloved mother.
“Oh, listen to her now! And what if I do this?” Arina waved her hand and “accidentally” spilled a glass of water on herself. “Manager! Now! Your clumsy waitstaff can’t even serve properly! I’m filing a complaint!”
A man appeared at the table immediately.
“What happened?”
Arina didn’t have time to answer. Mila spoke first.
“I accidentally knocked over the water. I’ll bring another bottle right away and pay for these ladies’ bill. Are you ready to order?” she asked her former classmates, trying to keep her composure.
Their faces fell instantly.
“Are you sure you can handle it?”
“They’ll deduct it from my salary. I’ll work it off.”
“Really?” Arina eyed the menu suspiciously. The prices were outrageous. Mila stepped away to bring another bottle of expensive water.
“Well, in that case, we agree to stay. You’re dismissed!” Diana waved her hand as if shooing away the manager. He nodded and left, surprised, but his habit of keeping his emotions in check took over. He went back to work, and Mila headed off to ‘serve’ her classmates.
“Alright, little mess… If you’re paying, then we’ll take the most expensive things. Bring us crab soup, a bottle of wine, and canapés with black caviar.”
“And oysters for me.”
“And duck liver mousse!”
“And hurry up! Move it! Get going!”
“Hey! And tell the chef that if the food isn’t tasty, my boyfriend will shut this restaurant down!” Arina yelled after her.
“Arina… What boyfriend? Are you seeing someone?” Diana asked quietly, already starting to feel jealous.
“No. But let her think I have connections,” she said with a sly smile.
The girls came with empty wallets, hoping to catch someone rich at the fancy restaurant. They went ‘hunting’ every Friday at lunch. Bought some coffee and sat… for hours. Sometimes, they managed to attract an older sugar daddy. But rarely. Most men came to places like this for business or a quick bite. Few were interested in dealing with “plate-chasers” like Arina and her crew.
Mila drank a glass of water to calm herself. In her short but eventful time working in the restaurant business, she’d seen it all. But today made her nervous. Childhood trauma and the loss of her mother half a year ago… all of it was resurfacing and threatening to spill out as tears. But she couldn’t allow herself to show weakness. Not here.
“Order for table five. Please, as fast as possible,” she told the chef. “Those are my friends.”
“Understood, Mila Sergeyevna. We’ll give them the finest service. I can personally bring the dishes out to the guests.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Mila left and got back to her other tasks.
She didn’t want to go back out to see the guests, but she could watch everything happening in the dining room through the cameras.
The girls, meanwhile, were animatedly reminiscing about their school years and how they used to pick on their ‘friend.’
“Remember at graduation when she showed up in that dress that looked like it was made from a garbage bag?” Arina reminded them.
“Yeah. And with chopped-off hair!”
“By the way, why did she cut her hair? If anything, her hair was really beautiful,” one of the friends, Katya, said quietly.
“You still don’t get it? Diana stuck gum in her hair the day before graduation!”
“No way?!” The girls looked at their friend in surprise.
“It’s true. And why was she flirting with my boyfriend?!”
“If we’re honest, it was Venya who made the move on her…”
“Katya, whose side are you even on?!” Arina and Diana glared at their friend. “Venya said nasty things about her afterwards and came back to me!”
“Forget it, let’s drop it.” Katya waved her hand as her drinks arrived. Right after, the smiling head chef came out and set the crab soup on the table.
“I hope this is edible,” Arina muttered, feeling uneasy that the chef himself had come to their table. “And where is our waitress anyway? Why hasn’t she come to check on us?”©Stella Chiari
“Ivan is serving your table. He just brought your drinks…” the chef reminded her. “But I can call your friend if you’d like.”
“Milka? She’s not a friend at all. Just… Anyway, call her over.”
Arina took a spoonful of soup and made a face.
“What? I actually like it, to be honest,” Katya whispered.
“Oh, really? Tastes like cheap fish stew!” Diana said loudly, once again drawing attention from the neighboring table. The men there were discussing an important deal and had hoped for a classy restaurant atmosphere.
“Excuse me, could you move us further from these women?” one businessman asked the waiter.
“Of course, right away.”
Diana and Arina exchanged glances.
“Well, look at that… Delicate souls, aren’t they? Fine, get lost then!” Arina muttered, watching the men leave. The hunt didn’t work out, so now it was time to take it out on Mila.
“Ah! Look! There’s a hair in the soup! Get the chef here immediately!” Diana put on a displeased face and reached into Katya’s bowl.
“What are you doing?! There was no hair!” Katya went pale. She liked the soup and wanted to finish it, but Diana had other plans.
“Right now! Call the health inspector! This hair belongs to your waitress! She put it there on purpose! We’re not eating anything else here! I demand that Mila is fired! Immediately! Bring the restaurant owner!” Diana screamed, waving the hair around.
“Ladies, please calm down. Our kitchen is spotless, and Mila Sergeyevna never even touched your meal.”
“I don’t care! It’s her hair! Look! It’s blond!”
“Mila Sergeyevna isn’t a blonde anymore. She dyed her hair,” said the frightened waiter who had rushed to their table.
The women exchanged glances. They hadn’t noticed Mila’s hair was tucked away under a wide headband.
“There are cameras in our restaurant. We’ll check right now how that hair ended up in your soup. Don’t worry,” the administrator said dryly. Luckily, it was a quiet afternoon, so the restaurant managed to avoid a full-blown scene.
“No need for cameras. I know for sure it’s your fault!” Diana snapped, nervously stroking her own fair hair.
“You dropped your hair in my soup…” Katya said quietly, but Arina heard her.
“Diana?”
“Stop it!” Diana hissed.
“We’ll get fined…”
“Keep quiet!”
“Ladies, we’ve checked the camera footage. It’s clear that the hair is yours. This is considered intentional harm and damage to our restaurant’s reputation. We can call the police…” the administrator said politely. Diana understood things were looking bad.
“It was an accident. I didn’t know…” she stammered, searching for support from her friends.
“I don’t know anything. I have nothing to do with this!” Arina grabbed her bag and tried to leave.
“You will need to pay for the dinner.”
“Your waitress told us…”
“Mila Sergeyevna isn’t a waitress. She is our restaurant’s owner.”
“What?!” the women shouted in unison. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
“No. She personally served you because you are important guests.”
“Bring her over! We’ll deal with her ourselves.”
Mila saw the commotion and decided to step in, coming out into the dining room. She didn’t want the other guests to suffer because of the rude girls.
“Did you set this up?” Arina asked angrily, glaring at Mila.
“Me? No, I just wanted to be kind and hospitable. But that clearly doesn’t work with you. I could call the police and make you pay for everything. But I’d rather just kick you out,” Mila said firmly.
Diana clenched her teeth.
“You can go. But you won’t be allowed back in my restaurant. Or any place in our chain, and there are plenty in the city.”
“Snake…” Arina hissed. She and Diana quickly left their table.
“Mila… The soup was delicious. I’m sorry… Really. And… forgive me,” Katya said to Mila with guilt in her eyes. “You did great.”
Mila didn’t reply. She watched the disappointed girls outside arguing about who would pay for the taxi, and she actually felt sorry for them.
“Ms. Sergeyevna, why didn’t you kick them out right away?” the administrator asked quietly.
“The customer is always right. Well, almost always…” Mila replied. She was about to say more, but at that moment, her phone rang.
“Beloved husband.”
“Yes, honey? I’m already on my way. Wait for me.”
“Thank you, guys. I’m heading to the opening of a new restaurant. Have a great shift. And bring out some compliments for the guests from me. I want everyone happy.”
“Of course, Ms. Sergeyevna.”
She left with a smile. The situation with the girls was soon forgotten, and so many wonderful new things were ahead—most importantly, her beloved husband, whom she met at a prestigious university. It was his family that helped Mila open her first restaurant, which quickly grew into a successful and popular chain.
Her hard work at school definitely paid off. Oh, it really did.