FOR THE LOVE OF DAHLIA

TORI' POV

I was exhausted. I've been cleaning and serving for about 7 hours straight without a break. I needed a bonus so I could pay Clyde, my landlord. I needed to pay rent for two months since I skipped paying it last month. Then I had to pay the bills. I also needed money for grocery since I was running short. I also needed money for Dahlia's upkeep. I needed a lot of money and I know being a waitress could never pay well enough for all this. I had to find another job as soon as possible. For now, I just have to work extra hours so I could get a raise in my salary. Working at RICO'S was good. At least I was guaranteed of free breakfast and lunch. This helped me to save enough money. Thank goodness my baby Dahlia wasn't a materialistic child. She understood at a young age that things never came to lazy people. I was blessed with the sweetest child ever. A smile made its way to my lips as I thought of my baby who was fast asleep. She was the only family I had. She was my everything. All this hardwork was for her. I was determined to give her the best in life.

"Tori sweetheart, could you do me another favour?" I turned around and met Rico, the young owner of this restaurant. He was charming no doubt.

I smiled up at him. "Sure thing, sir."

He gave me an intense look. "I've told you one million times to call me Rico. What's up with this sir bullshit?"

Okay. Rico has been asking me out for some time now. He's a great guy but I'm totally not interested in dating. My number one interest is giving my daughter a good life. Rico told me to call him by his name but I know I can't since it'll raise a lot of suspicion on me by friends. My co-workers were the only friends I had since they were the only people I spent time with. I never had time to waste on friendship outside work.

"I'm not calling you by your name, sir. What can I do for you?" I asked. He needed to see my determination so that I could get a double raise.

He scoffed. "Fine. When you're done with cleaning this room, go to H&M and get the shoes I purchased. I already paid for it under my name." He said sounding professional.

"I sure will." I replied and watched him walk away. He was such a good boss. I felt bad that I had to look for a new job since the money I got from this one wasn't enough.

I hurriedly mopped and got ready to go. I walked over to the makeshift bed I made for Dahlia and tapped her lightly. "Sweetie."