chapter 2: Disowned

Harlan stood up and stared blankly at the other people who washed the plates in the kitchen. He stared at the woman who had suggested that it was him who broke the plate, she shrugged and looked away. Harlan clenched his fist.

"Sir, I wasn't the one who broke the plate, I can swear on anything that none of the plates slipped from my hands," Harlan said, still surprised at the turn of events.

"What are you trying to say? That those of us who have been working here all these while are the ones who broke the plate?" One of the dish-washer countered.

Harlan shook his head, no way he would be accused of what he didn't do, "are you also trying to tell me that I don't know how to wash plates?"

"Isn't it logical? The minute you started washing was the day a plate broke," another dish-washer chipped in.

"It's okay, all of you. Harlan come with me, the rest of you can go back to your duty post right now." The manager said and went out of the hall.

Harlan stared at the dish-washers angrily, "who among you broke the plates?" He knew that they were older than him, but it was only immaturity that would have made them shift the blame on him.

"Just follow the manager. You are the youngest, you don't expect that one of us will get punished for something that happened in the kitchen when you are around, do you?" One of them sneered.

The other laughed. Harlan clenched his fist and went after the manager.

"I can't believe you broke a plate without reporting it, Harlan. If not for how competent you are in this restaurant, I would have sent you to jail," the manager growl as he walked before Harlan to an office that belonged only to the rich customers

"I wasn't the one who broke the plate," Harlan protested, but he knew it wasn't going to make a difference because the other people in the kitchen had planned to make him get punished for their sins.

"There are a lot of things in this world that I hate, but what I hate most is lies."

As they entered the office, Harlan felt some funny movement in his stomach. He took a deep breath.

"Sir, this is the one who broke the plate, you can do anything you want to him," the manager said shakily, bowing frequently as he said the words.

Harlan took another deep breath and looked at the man on the seat. He was a young man in his twenties. Harlan found it unbelievable that the manager was trembling because of someone like the man… he took a closer look at him. Jason? Jason is the richest student in Harlan's college.

Jason had a frown on his face as he looked at the manager.

"What if I have swallowed the broken part of the plate together with the food? Do you think sorry is going to be enough?" Jason asked rudely.

The manager trembled, "we are more than sorry, anything you want, we will do it for you."

Jason glanced at the person who the manager had said had broken the plate. A dry smile caressed his lips as he recognized who the person was.

"You again?" He asked with a smirk.

"Did you know him from somewhere, Sir?" The manager asked nervously.

"He is one unfortunate being." Jason said with the smirk still on his face.

"If you want, we can send him away, anything you want."

"Since we can't be sure that I have not swallowed the chipped part of the plate, I should be examined in the hospital…" Jason said, not taking his eyes off Harlan.

"Sir, if that is what you want, we could accompany you to the hospital right away, all bills on us." The manager was slightly relieved, if Jason had spoken about a lawsuit, the restaurant should be sure of closing up because they would never win against the Alberts.

"Since he is the one responsible for it, he would be the one to take care of the bills. I give you two days, Harlan. If at the end of the two days, you are not with the money for my checkup, be sure you are going to spend the rest of your rotten life in jail. You made it to college with a scholarship, let's see how this goes." Jason stood up.

Harlan stared at him, dazzled, unable to say a word.

"Sir, it seems you don't know him, Harlan can never get the money to pay for a cup of your coffee, talking less of paying for a hospital checkup, instead of wasting your time on him, the restaurant will take care of—"

Jason shot the manager a hard stare which had him swallowing the rest of the words in his throat.

"Don't get me started, Mr Dennis, if you have done your job well, customers won't have to swallow a whole plate just because they want to eat here." Jason said coldly.

Dennis looked down at his feet in embarrassment. He didn't raise his head until Jason was out of the office.

"Harlan, pack your things and leave this restaurant at once. The very sight of you makes me sick. Don't ask me to pay you, you have done a lot of bad things for this restaurant already, you should even be guilty to ask to be paid," Dennis said.

Harlan stared at Dennis in shock.

"If you would leave right now, I will be very happy." Dennis added.

"Sir, I can't go like this. This is my only source of income. I promise nothing like this would ever repeat itself," Harlan pleaded, there was no cause convincing the manager that he wasn't the one who broke the plate.

"Of course, I know it will never happen again, that's why I am telling you to get away from here. This is my only source of income too. Imagine what will happen if we lose customers as big as the Alberts. Harlan, let's not make a big deal out of this, just go away. I am sick of you all of a sudden." Dennis said.

His heart almost stopped working when he got to know that one of the Albert family had a complaint about the food. Although the plate was only chipped slightly and it was almost oblivious, Dennis would not allow anything to stop Alberts from coming to the restaurant. He walked briskly out of the office, leaving Harlan dazzled.

Harlan let out a sigh. It was obvious that the whole world was against him today. He just lost a job that had been keeping him alive for the past few months.

Even if everyone rejects him, his parents won't. The thought that he was going home brought a smile on his face. He would get to his parents' house before midnight since he didn't have any money on him to take a cab.

Harlan didn't bother to go to the kitchen, that was definitely of no use. It would only make him more angry, and getting angry won't solve any of the damn problems now. He walked out of the restaurant. He turned around and took a last look at the restaurant. He could feel tears swell in his eyes, this was the twentieth job he had lost that year alone.

He shook his head slightly and continued walking. A few minutes to get home, Harlan remembered that he had not called his father to ask him if he was at home. He cursed under his breath as he reached into his pocket and fetched his phone. He dialed his father's number. His father picked at the second ring.

"Hi, dad."

"What?" His father asked coldly.

"I wanted to ask if you are at home. I am heading home right now."

There was a dry laugh at the other end, "I disowned you two days ago. Don't you know that?"