New Life New Me: Urban Romance by Christine Mandeley Page B

going to cry again. That was about the same time that a tear escaped though the corner of her eyes.  It pulled with it a few other tears and soon, she was in a pool of tears once again. She again reminded herself of what she had promised herself. She wiped her tears off her face and cleared the second helping of cereal from the bowl. It was time for bed and tomorrow would be a good day.

Chapter
Two
     
    B right and early as she always was, Cynthia was getting ready for work. She walked a few blocks to her new workplace. She got to the gate and greeted the security guards. She was delighted to know that she was already expected as she was led to meet the boss.
    After all the formalities were done, it was time to get to work. She sat down in her modest office and opened the books in front of her to familiarise herself with the job at hand. She started reading about the ship loaders and conveyer belts. It was all interesting to her and it felt like learning a new language all together. The industrial feel of this town was all very interesting to her. The front end loaders, back loaders and vehicle weigh-ins and all infrastructures were explained to her. Her new boss, a man in his mid-sixties was introduces as Mr Trey Baltimore.
    Mr Baltimore was strict and she knew she would love working for him. She felt that the twenty-odd year age difference between them made her feel like he was the father figure that she missed in her childhood. He took her around the company yard and showed her how everything worked. As the clerk, it was going to be her job to ensure that all incoming and outgoing cargo was well documented. If that was to be done well, it was to be done using the machinery and resources available to her and this was the perfect opportunity for her to learn.
    She did not really have trouble walking around the vast yard as she was in flat pumps as she always did. Her drab wardrobe meant that she did not take a long time to get ready in the mornings and therefore she was always on time. Moreover, she was an early bird that took about an hour every morning to just sit and plan out the entire day ahead of hear. From the to-do list to the to eating section, it was all well planned.
     
    Cynthia was in a steel jungle. It was a world filled with cargo containers and cranes. It was also very noticeably male dominated. Although she had never thought of herself as a beauty queen, she suddenly felt like one. Her ugly clothes did very little to prevent or even stop the wolf whistles which she got from every corner that she turned. From African Americans to Latinos and even Caucasians, they all gave her signals that they were interested.
    It mattered very little to this sister whether a man was driving a truck or a Bentley, she was simply not interested. The idea of getting close to a man again was very daunting for Cynthia. She had just come out of a tornado and she was not ready to get herself into a blizzard. Because she was the only girl at her work place, she was suddenly the talk of the boys as they offloaded cargo from containers. They openly discussed everything about her even during their matches and after work drinks. It was not very long after she started at her new work place that she was invited to join the boys for after work drinks.
     
    She preferred sitting alone watching late night movies at home to going out with the boys. She was careful not to mix work with pleasure. She was hell bent on keeping the relationship between her and the boys strictly business. She was only too aware of the dangers of making work friends become socialising friends too. Every invite that she got to go out was turned down.
    Although the majority of the population were largely Latino, there were a few brothers in town and they were all quite fond of her and she noticed. Back at her residential area, she provoked a few interested stares as well. From the cashiers at the cafeteria to the petrol attendant at the station as well as some