Cafe Manager Insults Teen Employee, Unaware Her Dad Is Standing In Line – Story of the Day

Lily took a summer job to pay for her art supplies but had no idea her manager would go crazy on her first day working the register. Things only worsened when her estranged father stepped out of the line to defend her. But his reappearance wasn’t welcomed, and it upended her life.

Lily grinned widely when she arrived for her first day working the counter at a local café. Summer holidays had started the previous week, and Lily was looking forward to spending the next few months producing new artwork.

However, that wouldn’t be possible without this new job. The money she made would be used to buy an easel and a new set of paints, so she was cheerier than most would be at the prospect of their first day.

She needed better supplies for what she had in mind. It would also make her artwork pop, as cheap paint didn’t have the same effect. So, she set to work with high spirits, arriving a little earlier than expected and listening intently to the other person on shift, Kyle.

“OK, so you’ll be taking the orders. I was told you know how to use the system,” he explained carefully. “I’ll be focused on making coffees, and you can help me with simple stuff like serving or packing muffins and the works.”

“Cool,” Lily nodded, smiling.

“But,” Kyle lifted his finger. “The mornings are the worst. We’re gonna be running and running straight for a couple of hours. Any mistake can set us back like crazy, so I need you to be on the ball.”

Lily gulped but nodded.

“We were supposed to have someone else on this shift, but well,” Kyle paused and looked around, then started whispering. “The manager, Mr. Reynolds, is insane. A word of advice: stay clear from him as much you can.”

“He hired me,” she said, frowning slightly. “He was nice.”

“That’s all for show,” Kyle shook his head. “He wants people to take the job, but once you’re on the payroll, he goes crazy.”

“Noted,” Lily said, thankful for the advice.

“OK, new girl,” Kyle rubbed his hands. “Let’s start this show!”

As soon as Lily turned the sign on the door to “OPEN,” a flurry of businesspeople rushed in. She ran to the register and started taking orders. She tried not to be intimidated by some of the more intricate coffee orders and powered through.

She was already feeling in the zone when a hard tap on her shoulder made her jump slightly. It was Mr. Reynolds, and his eyes were blazing.

“Congratulations, new girl,” Mr. Reynolds said. “You’ve just managed to get fired on your first day.”

“What? But why, Mr. Reynolds? Did I make a mistake?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, you came to work looking like a clown.” Mr. Reynolds gestured at Lily’s bright blue hair. “So get back into your clown car and get out of here.”

Lily ran her fingers through her hair, which she’d dyed that weekend. “But there’s nothing in the dress code about hair color…I checked, sir.”

Mr. Reynolds sneered. “I should’ve known better than to hire some snotty teenager. You have no understanding of how to present a professional image. There’s no place for someone like you in my coffee shop. Now get out!”

Lily stared at Mr. Reynolds in shock. All her dreams of buying high-quality oil paints died as she faced being jobless once again.

“Hey! You can’t speak to my daughter like that!”

Anger and embarrassment coursed through Lily’s veins as she recognized the voice calling out to her. She spun and saw the person she hated most in the world stepping out of his place near the front of the queue: her father.

“I’ll talk to my employees, make that former employee, however I like!” Mr. Reynolds yelled back. “If you don’t like it, take her back to the circus and don’t return.”

Lily looked at the floor in shame as her father, Damian, got close to the register, wanting to keep fighting with her manager. He had walked out on her and her mother, Alison, when she was 13. Although she tried, the memory of that day was always lurking in her consciousness.

Four years ago…

The harsh sound of the car trunk woke Lily up with a start. She was disoriented for a second until her mother’s voice registered. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” she pleaded. Lily frowned, confused, and lifted her comforter.

Her fingers separated two panels on her window’s blinds, and she saw her mother, looking lost and scared with her arms wrapped around herself, confronting her father. Damian was dressed, complete with a coat and hat.

The car was running. “It’s the only way,” he yelled, desperate. Dad circled around the car and got into the passenger seat before Alison could say anything else. The glare of the headlights almost blinded her, but he quickly pulled out of the driveway and off into the night.

Lily watched in horror as her mother — the strongest woman in the world, as far as she knew — covered her face with one hand and sobbed. The sound had her putting on her slippers and running outside.

“Mom!” the 13-year-old wailed. “Mommy, don’t cry.”

She wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist, leaning her head on Alison’s chest.

“Oh, Lily. What are you doing up? It’s late,” Mom asked, sniffing.

“Where did Dad go?”

“I don’t know,” Alison answered, tightening her hold on Lily.

“When is he coming back?” the young girl demanded.

“I don’t know,” her mother replied, shaking her head.

Lily was old enough to put the pieces together. Her father had left, and if her mother had no idea where he went, there was a good chance he was not coming back.

With moisture gathering in her eyes, Lily turned to her manager and saw the expression of a man who thought he was better than everybody. She looked at her father, who looked ready to fight Mr. Reynolds, and couldn’t decide which was worse.

Finally, she threw her apron down on the counter. “Fine! I’m leaving!” she exclaimed, threw an apologetic look at Kyle, and stormed out of the coffee shop’s back entrance. She was halfway down the street when her father caught up to her.

“Lily, wait!” he said. “I want to talk to you… I know you must hate me, but I have so much to explain. There are details you need to know about the day I left.”

“Go away!” Lily yelled, refusing to stop her brisk pace. “I don’t care about anything you have to say to me!”

“Please, Lily! I had to go. I didn’t have a choice, but I’m back now and want to make it up to you.” He grabbed her shoulder, tried to stop her, and pleaded. “If you’ll just give me ten minutes to explain…”

Wrenching her shoulder off his grasp, Lily repeated that she wanted nothing to do with him. “Forget I exist! I did!” she spat and started walking again, weaving between smartly dressed businesspeople until she reached the subway entrance.

She stomped down the cement stairs and felt it in her soul. Luckily, the next train had just arrived, and she entered discreetly before finally releasing the tears she had no idea were still behind her lids. The 17-year-old couldn’t fully release all her feelings in such public, but it was impossible to hold on to her wits.

Aside from being humiliated in front of many coffee shop customers by the manager just for having blue hair, she had to face the man who betrayed her and her mother so horribly. Lily had been a daddy’s girl through and through until he just picked up and abandoned them.

It was a struggle, not just emotionally but financially. Her mother had only held a part-time gig at the time because her father made good money. But suddenly, Alison was working extra shifts. Lily knew that other 13-year-olds took care of themselves, but her world was upended in a second.

She had to use the bus to go to and from school instead of being driven by her mother. Lunches and dinners were now her responsibility because Alison had no time. In the meantime, she was mourning the loss of her father, who had changed his number and didn’t even write. He was just gone.

It took a while before Alison found a steadier job, but she wanted more of her daughter, so they moved to a better area. Lily exited the subway and walked toward her relatively new townhouse. Her mother had decided Lily needed to be in a better school district to have more chances to get into college and bought a great house.

The mortgage was a little more than they had paid in rent before, so Alison now had a second job. Lily hated seeing her mother working so much, so she couldn’t ask for paint supplies from her. She knew Alison would say yes and sacrifice more of herself to buy anything, which only worsened her resentment towards her father.

Hence her deep desire for a job, which had lasted less than half a day. “This must be some sort of record,” Lily muttered after opening the front door. She removed her shoes and let her purse plop on the floor before running to the kitchen for a glass of water.

She downed the liquid in one gulp and washed the tears from her face in the sink. Her hands reached for a paper towel to dry off, and she threw it in the trash can when she was ready. Cringing, Lily kicked the plastic container, a real-life demonstration of what she wanted to do to herself.

“I’m never crying for my father again,” the teenager muttered and went to her room. Finally, it was time to concentrate on something more important: her artwork. She propped a canvas up on her desk and took out her paints. The tubes were nearly empty.

She angrily took the fullest tubes—black, burnt orange, and turquoise—and squeezed some paint out onto the old dinner plate she used as a palette. She then started painting. A few hours later, she stepped back to stare at the result.

“God, it looks like Pollock and Frankenthaler got drunk together and had a blindfolded paint-off on the same canvas,” Lily sighed.

“Well, I think it’s beautiful,” Alison said from behind her, startling her. “The colors are interesting, but the texture and shapes are amazing.”

“You have to say that. You’re my mother,” Lily chuckled, setting the plate down and running to her mother.

“Oh, sweetie,” her mother returned the hug happily. “You haven’t hugged me like this in a while.”

“I know,” Lily murmured into her chest. For a second, all she wanted was to tell her mother what happened with Mr. Reynolds and her father’s unexpected appearance. But Alison yawned heavily and leaned her forehead on Lily’s head. “Mom, why don’t you take a nap?”

“I wanted to make you dinner for a change,” Alison said but yawned.

“No,” Lily stepped away. “You sleep. I’ll make dinner. Besides, I already bought the frozen ravioli and sauce you like.”

“That sounds delightful,” her mother sighed happily, nodding. “Alright. I’ll have a nap.”

“I’ll call you when it’s ready,” Lily said, watching her mother wobble to her bedroom. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, sweetie,” Alison said, closing her door.

An hour later, they were at the dinner table, enjoying the sweet scent of cream sauce, bacon, and mushroom on top of doughy, delicious cheese-filled ravioli. Lily hoped to keep their dinner cheery and light-hearted, but Alison asked about her first day at work. She had no choice but to tell her the truth.

“The manager took one look at my hair and fired me on the stop,” the teenager confessed, shrugging in defeat.