The Heir's Redemption; Leonid Triumphs Over wealth

CHAPTER 3

4:01pm.

After working at the laundry he headed to the bakery. He had finished washing the clothes by hand, even though Mr. Thomas felt a little reluctant to give the paycheck to him. He still got it anyway, he had walked out of Mr. Thomas office when he bumped into Millicent.

"I have been waiting for you." She had said. "Did you receive your paycheck?"

"I sure did." He replied.

They had left the laundry together and headed in different directions. He had headed to the bakery for his second shift while she headed to the orphanage. 

Leonid got to the bakery and pushed open the door. He was greeted by the sight of flour around the floor with the workers scolding the cleaner. The cleaner was on her knees and begging for forgiveness.

"Please don't tell the boss about this." She pleaded.

'What's going on?' Leonid thought as he walked into the bakery.

He walked towards where the workers were, they gave him a once over glance and went back to what they were doing. Leonid stared at the maid, he couldn't do anything about it because he didn't know what happened.

"This is it, Mara, you are going to take the blame for pouring the flour all over the floor." Richard said.

"I didn't do it, I cannot take the blame for what I didn't do." Tamara tried to defend herself. "The only mistake I made was not cleaning the floor stained with flour, I didn't pour the flour."

Jared, the assistant baker, popped his head to peek from the kitchen. He rolled his eyes at the drama and spotted Leonid, wearing his apron. Jared frowned at him and wondered what he was still doing at the bakery.

"Hey Leonid." Jared called.

Leonid turned to look at him, "Yes?"

"You're late."

"Just one minute late." 

Jared grinned. "You should at least mob the floor as a punishment. Besides, isn't that what your momma has done all the time since you were little."

Leonid ignored him and went to his usual spot, Leonid was the person in charge of selling things to people. He was always at the counter and he also was the one in charge of delivering the ordered baked food.

He was not the only one though, they were three of them. Leonid was the one who did most of the deliveries though because they always forced him to do theirs. He gladly accepted because of the tips he gets from the people he delivers the stuff to. That was his gain and their loss.

Leonid so much wanted to ignore the drama happening at the bakery. They were bullying Tamara and he could do nothing about it. What could he do? Tamara had also been so rude to him and sometimes asked him to clean some spots and the rest supported her. Why wouldn't she be able to order him around when she was clearly having more money than him.

He wondered what they had finally found that they used against her to bully her. Well it wasn't his business, afterall, he only came here to work and earn money. He didn't have the time to defend anyone and get bullied in the process. 

He was about to take his seat at the counter when a woman walked up to the counter through the front door. He glanced back at the place Tamara had been kneeing but couldn't see the place. He was relieved a customer won't be seeing that. The woman stopped in front of him, she glanced at her wristwatch and stared back at him.

"Good day ma'am. Do you want to send an order or order one yourself?" Leonid asked, picking up his notepad and pen, getting ready to strike.

"No, I would like to eat a pizza here. She turned around and pointed at a table near the window. "I would like to sit there." 

"Sure. Would you like anything to drink?" Leonid said, he smiled at her when she turned back to face him.

She smiled back. "An orange juice would be fine. Make it quick, I have somewhere to be." 

"Sure ma'am." He replied.

He rang the bell and Mirabel came rushing to him, Mirabel was also part of the people that stayed at the counter with him. He tore the sheet off the notepad and handed it to her. Mirabel dashed inside while Leonid waited for it.

Few minutes later, Mirabel brought the order and placed it on the table for the woman. The woman smiled delightedly as she began eating it. Leonid answered the other people who came to him also. 

Customers began trooping in and out of the bakery, the people at the counter were all attending to everyone on the table. Leonid was part of them and he was working as fast as he could and checking the time for his next shift.

"One Whiskey please."

"We don't sell Whiskey." Leonid replied.

"Why don't you sell whiskeys?" The man thundered.

Leonid put on a calm face. "We don't sell whiskeys sir. Would you like to take another drink apart from that?" 

The man ignored him, stood up and left for the door grumbling. "No whiskey, no food."

Weird!

Leonid turned around to go back to the counter when a voice stopped him.

"Chocolate juice please."

"On it ma'am." He replied.

He walked into the storage room and took the chocolate juice. He placed it on a tray and placed it on the table. He took out his notepad and wrote down everything before walking out with the notepad under his arm.

The woman who had asked for the chocolate juice was sitting on a chair beside the window. Leonid walked past Richard to get to her. Richard smirked as he obstructed Leonid's path with his leg. Leonid had not been expecting it, he fell, crashing into a woman and spilling the chocolate juice all over her.

The woman shrieked, Leonid quickly got up to his feet. Before he could utter a word, a thunderous slap hit his cheek.

Slap!

Leonid still opened his mouth to speak. "Sorry ma'am." 

"Do you know how much this white coat costs?" She yelled.

Leonid wiped his cheek. "No ma'am, I am so sorry for staining your coat. It was a mistake."

"Mistake? Did I hear you made a mistake?" The woman yelled, giving Leonid another slap.

The incident had drawn the attention of other people at the bakery. People had room out their phone and started recording what was happening instead of helping. 

"Sorry ma'am." Leonid apologized again.

The woman was not ready to listen, she looked like she was going to tear Leonid apart if he kept on repeating that sorry.

"This is worth more than your life, aren't you the man who owes a lot of debt and is so poor like a church rat? I should have noticed it a long time ago and not have come here. For someone who owes that kind of debt could do whatever to get the money." She thundered. "Do you think I would take off the coat and give it to you so you can sell it and get some money for your wretched self?"

Leonid took a deep breath. "None of the above ma'am, it was a mistake and I can help you wash the coat if you want."

"If I want? Are you crazy? Do you think I would let you go with my coat? I knew it, I just knew that was what you wanted. To make me give you my coat, no fucking way this is leaving my body."

"Okay ma'am, can I at least get you a handkerchief to wipe the stain off your coat?"

Slap!

Another slap echoed around the bakery, Richard was trying hard not to laugh at Leonid. He was glad Leonid was getting beaten and insulted by the woman.

"Why would I use your dirty handkerchief?" She questioned. "Get your stinky self out of here."

Leonid nodded, "Yes ma'am."

Leonid hurried out of that place, he had tried really hard to be calm. Besides, everyone met different kinds of customers everyday. He checked his wristwatch, it was 5:59 and he was glad his shift was over.

He knew Richard was behind all this, Leonid didn't know how he was going to deal with Richard. Richard had put his feet to make his trip and he sure succeeded. He was made a laughing stock in front of everyone and he was even recorded by them. He knew the video was going to go viral, all over social media.

He collected his payment from his boss's office. Leonid took off the apron and headed out of the bakery to his next shift which was at a Car wash.