Chapter Two: She’s Hired.

Chapter Two: She’s Hired.

It’s been five years and everything went well. I have a decent job as a manager at a small restaurant and a part-time job every night to sustain my siblings’ education, and for my son who’s making my life even more wonderful. I thought that these are all impossible when I first found out that I am pregnant but now that five years have passed and it went well, I can say that I can raise him by myself. That I can do it alone, I don’t need someone else.

“Ah! What an exhausting day!” I stretched out my arms to ease the muscle pain I am feeling. A cracking sound made me groan, it feels better. Then I sat down on the couch and laid the back of my head on the back seat.

It was one hell of a tiring day again. One more year and Anthon can help me with our financial expenses. It’s hard to have siblings that are way younger than me. I’m 28, Anthon is 22 and Sharlotte is 16. My Mom was only 17 when she had me. It’s really exhausting to be a breadwinner in a family that doesn’t have a father to supervise. My mom stopped working after I gave birth to Brent. She had to and I wanted to. She’s the one who raised my son while I worked my ass off to sustain everything that we needed.

From the dim light, I saw the door of our room slightly open. A small hand opened it and he went out. He’s still rubbing his eyes while yawning, trying his best to wake up just to see me.

“Brent, I told you not to wake up whenever I go home. It’s late, you should not interrupt your sleep. It’s bad for you,” I scolded him, but still turned out to be soothing for him.

“M-mom, I want to see you at least once every day!” He ran towards me and then climbed up on my lap.

I tucked him in my arms and embraced him to make him feel my warmth. It is nice to hug my baby boy—nope, he’s a big boy now. A big boy who’s caring and sweet. I’m such a lucky Mom to have this kind of sweet son, such a blessing. Thought of him as a problem once but then as he grew I realized he wasn’t. He made me want to work hard more.

“Mom, did you eat dinner?” he asked.

“Yeah… how about you?”

“Yes, grandma cooked my favorite roasted chicken. You should at least have a bite of it, it’s good…” he yawned.

My fingers raked through his soft hair, gently taking him back to sleep cause I can feel how sleepy he was. I kissed the top of his head, smelling the fruity shampoo he was using.

“You can sleep again now. Don’t force yourself to wake up every time I go home, hmm?”

He didn’t reply to what I said, not knowing that he was already asleep again. I smiled while continuously brushing his hair with my fingers. Such a sleepyhead! I giggled.

When I’m sure that he was sleeping tight, I lifted him slowly to avoid waking him up. I walked slowly while carrying him to our room. When we finally reached the room and laid him on the soft bed, I crawled up to him, not bothering if I had a shower. Because of exhaustion, I forgot it and slept hugging my sweet boy.

The alarm woke me up, thankfully, ‘cause I always overheard it. Still sleepy, I hugged and kissed Brent before I stood up and prepare for work. The smell of onion and garlic elope my nose which made me crave whatever my Mom was cooking. After reaching the kitchen, I quickly pulled off the chair under the table and sat there, waiting for our breakfast.

“Fried rice and egg!” she exclaimed excitedly. Then he placed the plate on top of the table. She looked up at me with a questioning look. “Can you wake Brent? He’s going late for school.”

My eyes widened. “Oh, God! I’m sorry. I always forgot that my baby’s in daycare now.” I stood up and ran back to the room to wake Brent.

Thankfully, my sweet baby always listens to me and his grandma. We don’t have to force him to do things that he should do. We ate breakfast and did our things before going out. I always dreamed of taking Brent to his school, but then now, I couldn’t even get him there. I have a lot of things to do that I almost forgot about his activities. I felt bad for not being there always, but I always made sure that we won’t distance our hearts from each other. I know someday he’ll understand his Mom.

Even though I am busy, time flew faster. Night came and as I walked through the living room and stretched out my arms, Brent did it again. He walked out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes, but now he’s crying.

“Mommy!” he stuttered.

I quickly sat down on the floor to level his head. “Hey, did you have a nightmare?” I patted the top of his head, trying to soothe him.

He slowly nodded, and I wiped off his tears.

“Don’t worry, let’s get to bed and sleep again. I’ll be here with you now so you can sleep peacefully.”

“Mom, do I have a Dad?”

I stopped when his question came out. My heart almost sank. I started to get nervous. Honestly, I expected that he would ask this someday. He’s five years old, yet mature enough to ask things like this.

“Yes…” I replied in an almost stutter.

“Then where is he?”

Even though I expected this, I’m still shocked. I didn’t know how to answer him. How to explain why his father wasn’t here with us? He’s still a kid, and he needs a careful explanation. I was about to lie when he started to sob again.

“My playmates are asking me where my Dad is. Even my classmates are laughing at me for not having him…”

The feeling of pain in each of his words is squeezing my heart. It is more painful than I thought. I could have just told him that his father had died, but I couldn’t. I know it would be more painful for him to think that his father died without even seeing him.

“Do… you want to see your Dad?” I asked, eyeing him.

His grey eyes glow the moment he heard of that. “Can I?”

I slowly nodded. “Y-yes, but I still have to look for him. Can you wait?”

A smile curved on his lips. How happy my son is… He quickly jumped on me and pulled me into a hug. A peck on my lips and cheek made me close my eyes tightly. I need to tell Brandon about Brent. I know that this is the most foolish thing I will do in my life. Never in those five years that I planned on telling Brandon about our son. Even though Brent got hospitalized because of pneumonia, even though I needed money for his hospital bills… I never once think of him. But now that my son was asking, maybe it’s time to tell him the truth.

–

“YOU WERE AN applicant here five years ago? What made you backed out when you were about to get hired?” The interviewer asked me after she saw my resume.

I trembled as I was trying to avoid Brandon’s gazes. The moment I walked through the door, I quickly saw how his eyes darted on me. I didn’t know if it was just me or I did get his attention more than any applicants here. Don’t want to held my hopes high but I can sense there is something.

“I backed out because…” I stopped, couldn’t stop myself from looking at Brandon who’s looking at me intently. It is making me nervous. “B-because I have to do something important.”

“How can we be sure that you’ll not back out again? What if you resign right away?” The woman beside Brandon asked.

“No, I won’t do that again.” I held up my head and then gracefully looked at the woman interviewer. “I am confident that I can asisst the C.E.O with all my best. I won’t ever resign unless he fired me.”

The woman seems not impressed to what I answered. I am extremely nervous but I have to make sure that I’ll get the position of Brandon’s secretary. Luckily, his secretary resigned just few weeks ago and they need a replacement. It was a great opportunity to be with him and have chance to tell him about Brent.

The woman wrote something on the paper that was on the table, and then looked up at me. Her eyes were disappointed that nervous shocked through me the moment she spoke. “We will call you once we have an update–”

“No.”

We both startled after Brandon interrupted. I looked at him as he puts down his arms on the table, entwining his fingers… those fingers that run through my skin that night. Damn! Why should I think of that in the middle of this situation?

“What? No?” The woman asked.

Brandon turned his head to the woman and then smiled. “Tell her she’s hired and start tomorrow, I like her.” And then he stood up.

My heart almost sank after that. Does it mean, he remembers me?