"Omg! Omg! He has ordered again!"
Selene's soul nearly slipped from her body at her mother's sudden exclamation, but the fright immediately turned into excitement as chaos erupted in their home garage, which had been modified into a facility for their business.
Selene sprinted like a madwoman, just like Samuel and Jasmine, her older twin siblings, because the first person to reach their mother would be responsible for delivering the order that had just come in.
Leaping over the stacks of boxes their father was using to package customer orders, Selene's leg caught, and she tumbled forward, falling face-first onto the floor.
"Fucking hell!" she cursed, earning a berating glare from her father. But the moment he saw the trickle of blood from her nose, the irritation vanished into worry.
"Oh my! Baby, are you okay?"
The same sight that alarmed their father also made Samuel and Jasmine halt mid-sprint and rush back to help their sister.
Seeing them abandon the race to assist her, Selene immediately put on a show, tilting her bloodied nose upward for full dramatic effect.
"Quickly go and get your sister an ice pack and tissue," their father ordered.
The twins scrambled off at once, Samuel toward the fridge and Jasmine toward one of the counter tables.
Selene's eyes tracked their movements.
"Dear, you're seriously not…"
Before her father could finish his realization, Selene bolted upright and dashed past him toward her mother, who had just started walking over to check on the situation.
"I got to you first. I'm first!" Selene exclaimed, clutching her mother's arm in triumph.
---
A few minutes later, she winced as the small bump forming in the middle of her forehead was gently tended by her mother, while her older siblings shot her glares that conveyed their annoyance at her trickery.
Selene ignored them completely.
Deep down, she knew they would have given her the chance anyway, but she preferred victories she fought for, not ones handed to her because she fell down.
---
Their family of five had recently decided to build an enterprise around their mother's delicious recipe.
Maya had always been against junk food. But like many children, her kids loved burgers, so she improvised.
She created a recipe that was both delicious and healthy, satisfying their cravings while assuring her they weren't overloading on unhealthy food.
A few years earlier, Andrew had lost his prestigious job, and their financial situation had plummeted.
Selene and her older siblings were only two years apart in age and still in secondary school when the calamity befell their family.
They managed to complete their secondary education using part of their father's savings, before things worsened to the point that the family began counting down how long their remaining money would last before they were completely broke, unless their father secured another good job.
That was when Selene and her siblings suggested the idea that would become their way out.
It began with free samples to neighbors who were still unaware the family had fallen from grace.
Selene proposed they capitalize on their reputation before it disappeared, and it worked. With the family's combined ingenuity, they quickly registered their homemade healthy burger business.
Then Selene had an epiphany that changed everything.
The name "Healthy Burger" became "Burger and Sentiments."
Not only did people enjoy their food, but those who read the attached card found themselves smiling through the experience. Selene took time each week to create touching quotes meant to brighten customers' days.
The business grew through word of mouth and didn't stop, until the family, who had once been close to selling their home, now found themselves needing a larger facility just to keep up with demand.
So they entered a popular loan-shark show to gain exposure and borrow money for expansion.
Their sales were still too small to attract investor interest. However, one guest investor that day enjoyed their product enough to promise his personal patronage.
They didn't secure funding, but they gained recognition… and a very wealthy client who kept his word.
He placed an order every week, always on the day Selene changed the quotes attached to each delivery, and he gave a $100 tip to whoever made the delivery.
Which was exactly why Selene and her siblings became so competitive.
The rule was simple: whoever reached the front desk first among the siblings would make the delivery and keep the tip.
Selene had always been unlucky with this arrangement. She hadn't tracked the ordering pattern the way Samuel and Jasmine had. They would usually try to give her ten dollars to soothe her sulking, but she always refused.
But today, she had finally succeeded.
Selene decided it was absolutely worth the nosebleed and the bumps.
Because victory, however obtained, was sweet, even if it came with a little pain.