I stood, not knowing what exactly it was I wanted to say, I mean what could one even say?

“I just,…I need..” then the tears started again, more than I expected, then it went like spring from my eyes.

“hey” she said softly, hugging me tightly while telling me that she was here for me, but all that was some background noise, covered up by the sobs that escaped my lips “it’s fine, you’ll be fine” she continued, trying to calm me down.

After a while, I calmed down, the sobbing now reduced that I could speak and actually be listened to.

“do you want to come in?” she said, opening her door wider for me, to which I nodded.

I walked in, my clothes in the plastic bag.

For the briefest moments, I could not help but look at the clothes she was putting on, like properly look at them.

Leather skirt that stopped just above her knees paired with high heels, ones that covered up to her knee, along with a crop top.

A very simple yet cute outfit, but at the same time, I could not help but mentally note how those shoes alone could afford my dinner for a week.

I sighed, shaking my head to get rid of the thought. “you want to talk about it?” she said, handing me a glass of warm water.

I spilled, starting from when I left the graduation ground, till when I was kicked out of my job because of a bastard who could not watch where he was going and made me late.

I took a sip of water when I was done narrating, an attempt to stop myself from balling my eyes out any further.

“is that all?” she said, looking at me genuinely confused.

I blinked. ‘was she actually serious? Did she think my pain was some sort of joke?’ the thoughts ran through my head as I opened my mouth to speak.

“by Monday, you should go be able to work in Elias company, they were going to have an opening for newbies anyways” she said as though she was talking about the weather.

“could you not…” I said, taking in a deep breath. “could you not play with my feelings this way?” I said, trying to bite back the frustration that was bubbling at the pit of my stomach.

“what do you mean?” she said, looking at me, genuinely confused.

“everyone knows the Elias company is a big shot company, even Harvard graduates have little to no chance entering, what would make me, a community college degree holder, have a shot?” I felt the tears come back up.

I felt a bit hurt, no, it was more than.

If I was still with my mum, or at least if my dad was still here, I would have had the chance to at least get into a prestigious university.

In that brief second, I thought of how mum would have taken out the funds by now.

“I would never say anything that would hurt you, and you know that” she said, sounding equally offended, before taking out her phone.

She stood up, making her way to the corner of the living room to make her call before coming back to me.

“Monday, eight sharp and don’t be late”

“if this is some sort of a prank…” I said, still not believing her, because who the hell randomly had a contact of Elias company, and not just a contact from there, but one powerful enough to give me a job?

“have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?” she snapped, her soft spoken voice sounding broken for a minute that it scared me. Never, in the four years I had known her, did she raise her voice, ever.

“n..no” I said.

“good, then Monday, eight in the morning, don’t be late” she said, emphasizing her words.

I watched her make her way out of the room and into another room, but I could not really think of that at the moment, all that was in my head was one thing.

Who the fuck was Linda?

^^

I found myself crash at linda’s through the weekend, with her telling me that ‘I could do with the house as I pleased and then went to heaven knows where'

The alarm woke me up as early as six, I was not about to risk oversleeping and coming in late, and on the other hand, I was skeptical.

What if all of this was a prank?

My heart raced at the very thought.

At 7:30, I was ready, taking the taxi to the company.

For one, I did not miss the way the taxi driver sized me up, probably thinking what someone like me was looking for in a company like this.

I said nothing, holding my credentials and any other thing they would need.

“hi, I was sent here by Linda, Linda Crowell.” I said, trying to adjust my dressing to make myself more presentable.

The receptionist sized me up, looking at me like dirt under her feet.

“the boss is not around right now, but his second will see you.” she said, directing me to the place I was meant to go.

She scrunched up her face as she spoke, looking at me like I was filth. I paid her no mind, just walking away from there so I could get to my destination as fast as possible.

I walked into the elevator, the door, closing behind me, giving me enough time to break down and put myself back together before I reached the top floor.

The elevator opened, someone who I could care less about, entered. They did not matter, not now. I practiced all the possible questions I could be asked, just like on YouTube, answering them as professionally as possible.

“this is it” I said to myself, walking out of the elevator, when l felt hot coffee run down my shirt.

“shit it was a mistake” that voice, that familiar voice called, shocking me,

"what the fuck is wrong with you” I said, anger and disappointment flowing through my voice.

“I am..”

“are you blind or are you doing this intentionally? Can you not see? God!! you are nothing but a fucking cunt and..”

“CEO Evans, I am so sorry” someone said, shocking my every nerve. Suddenly, the coffee no longer burned my skin, the anger I felt washed away.

The only thing on my mind was ‘I am fucked’…..