CHAPTER THREE

Sighing deeply, Catherine emerged from the back room carrying a tray in her hands, placing it down on the counter. She'd had enough today, she just wanted to go home and relax. She was tired and worn down already, and she wasn't even halfway through her day yet.

"Hey, Cath." she heard Danny call over to her.

She looked up and forced herself to smile. "Yeah?"

"Melissa came in looking for you a few minutes ago." Danny informed her. "She said to tell you she'd stop by later after work."

"Oh, right." Catherine said, not too enthusiastically. "Thanks for letting me know." She knew that Melissa was checking up on her. Great, that's all I need...a lecture. Catherine thought to herself. She knew that Melissa was just worried about her, but Catherine wished that she would just let her deal with things her own way.

"Are you okay, Cath?" Danny asked with a concerned look. "You don't seem yourself today."

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little unwell." Catherine lied. "Actually, do you mind if I take a quick break?"

"No problem, go ahead." Danny said, taking the tray that Catherine had placed on the counter earlier. "Are you sure you should be working at all?"

"Yeah, it's nothing to worry about." Catherine smiled. "I'll be back in a minute."

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Catherine leaned against the sink in front of the mirror in the bathroom, staring hard at her reflection. She closed her eyes to hold back the tears, not daring to let them fall. She took a deep breath and opened them again, but this time looking away from the mirror. She turned on the cold tap and let the icy water fill her cupped hands. She splashed the water over her face and then dried it with a few paper towels. She glanced back up in to the mirror at herself, now looking bare without her make-up which had been washed off by the water. She narrowed her eyes at her reflection and unzipped her purse, turning it upside down and angrily tipping the contents of it on the side by the sink. She rummaged through her stuff and applied all the make-up as she could find. Once she was finished, she gathered her stuff together and shoved it back in to her bag and zipped it up. She cast another look at the mirror and sighed slightly at how different she looked now her face wasn't bare anymore. She looked like a different person, which she often wished she was. She took the clip out of her hair and ran her fingers through it. She scrapped it back again and clipped it in to place, with a few loose strainds falling down. Catherine straightened her clothes down a little and headed for the bathroom door.

As she walked out of the door, Catherine stopped and closed her eyes. She lowered her head, trying to hold on to her composer. There was no way that she was going to go out there and let everyone see her hurting. She was stronger than that. She just shook her head and continued to walk, but as she stepped forward so did someone else. Catherine felt her body collide with somebody else, almost knocking her to the floor. She stumbled backwards and clutched the wall beside her to keep her balance.

"I'm sorry..." a smooth male voice said to her.

Catherine slowly glanced up at the man in front of her, eyes locking with his. She gazed in to his pale blues eyes and felt her heart start to beat faster.

"You okay?" the man asked, genuine concern in his voice. Catherine felt her breath catch in her lungs as he smiled at her.

"Oh...yeah...I'm fine." Catherine stuttered, looking away. "It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Well, neither was I, or I would've seen you coming."

Catherine laughed lightly at his comment and looked up at him again. She gave him a sideways glance and shy smile. She tried to shake off the feelings she was getting just by looking at the stranger in front of her, but it was impossible. She usually didn't feel this way towards people she had just met, but this guy seemed different. She stopped and looked away from him. Are you crazy! Her mind shouted at her. Guys are all jerks! Why should this stranger that you don't even know be any different? Men are only after one thing. You're better off out of it.

"I better get back to work." Catherine said quickly. "Sorry again for bumping in to you." She tried to just hurry past him, but the man stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Hey, I'm John, by the way." he smiled. How she wished he would stop doing that. That smile almost made her melt then and there. "John Cena. May I ask your name?"

Catherine snickered slightly at John. He certainly seemed like a gentleman, asking permission to ask her name, but she had been fooled by too many people just like John in the past, who turned out to not be at all what they seemed. She sighed and glanced up, her eyes fixing on John's, looking for signs of sincerity.

She took another deep breath and rolled her eyes. "It's Catherine." she said quietly, in a voice that was only a couple of notches above a whisper.

John smiled widely and stepped forward a little. "Well, it's certainly a pleasure to meet you, Catherine." he said, reaching out and taking one of her hands in his. He brought it up to his lips and placed a light kiss on the back of her hand before letting it go and stepping back again.

Catherine felt a sudden shot of electricity pass through her body the moment John's lips touched her skin. However, she forced herself to push whatever feelings she was getting aside and ignored them. She couldn't let another man in to her life right now. She was fed up of having them use her. Men were a waste of time and she would be a lot happier without them.

"Can I get back to work now?" she asked John, hand on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently on the wooden floor.

"Of course." John smirked, gesturing for her to leave.

Catherine rolled her eyes and turned around, walking away from the bathroom area and back in to the main part of the cafe.

John tilted his head to the side, watching Catherine as she walked, smiling to himself as she did so. He certainly felt an instant attraction to her, but getting her attention was going to be a tough job.

John laughed. "I like a challenge." he said quietly to himself, as he turned and walked in to the men's bathroom.

Well, there's chapter three done. The good parts are still to come...I just have to do a build up first! lol. Anywho, R&R guys and lemme know what you think!