Chapter One

She stretched, getting up from her double bed. The time on the wall clock read 5:15 am, a time later than her usual waking time. She rushed into her bathroom remembering that she has an important meeting at 7:00 am.

"Damn it! I won't be able to wash my hair like I planned."

She thought to herself deciding against washing her hair due to the time. For she had barely thirty minutes to spare. She had to get some blueprints from her office before she heads to the meeting. She hurriedly took her bath before getting into the body-con office dress and blazer she picked up the night before.

She took a last look at her outfit making sure her boss wouldn't have any problem with it. He seems to have problems with everything that has got something to do with her. And she never ceases to tell him her mind without fearing losing her job. She knows Mr. Cohen is very strict and influential but she trusts in her works and capabilities and believes that she can get a job anywhere she applies if he fires her. She had gotten a couple of offers from his rivals being one reason he has not fired her yet no matter how much she gets on his nerves. She smiled to herself knowing what an asset she is to the Unique real estate company.

Convinced that she looked great, she dashed off through the doors immediately into the elevator that led her down into the apartment garage then into her car before driving off in the direction of her office. Working for Mr. Cohen had its own advantages. She gets paid tons of dollars and gets to live a comfortable life in her three bedrooms apartment. She had thought of getting herself a house but that would have felt lonelier than she felt right now living in the apartment. So many a times, she questions whether there will be someone out there that would want her. She had questioned why she is still single despite her beauty. Is it because she is a career woman or because she is strong-willed?

A question she has been trying to answer. She had even tried to lower her standard just to get a man but all that proved futile. Her best friend had scheduled countless blind dates but one way or the other she finds faults with all of them.

"Mimi you need to relax for once. Guys don't like ladies who overreact to everything. This guy was great and he doesn't look that bad. He has a good career. Not well paid like yours but it's okay."

Her friend, Alice's exact words after every failed blind date.

"I know but he seemed creepy"

She always replied with faults she found with her date. Alice knows very well that it is impossible to convince her to give it a try when she has found a fault. She knows her friend is overreacting and had tried endlessly to make her see reasons why she needs not to do so. At twenty-Seven, she is still a virgin and had had only one boyfriend who died years ago in a plane crash while on a trip with another woman he was cheating on her with. The trauma she went through was real but why mourn for a guy who cheated on you and treated you like trash?

A question Alice herself finds difficult to answer. She had known Mila since high school but they weren't this close. They weren't even friends. But they got closer when Alice became her roommate in college. They found each other trustworthy and since they both had trust issues they clicked right away delighted that they have found in each other a confidant. But they defiled the saying that 'birds of the same feathers flop together' because Alice was the exact opposite of Mila. Whereas Mila is gloomy and always serious, Alice is jovial and always making jokes. She believes that one has only one life to live so she must as well enjoy it laughing and not frowning and always taking things serious. She is the life of every party she went to making her one of the popular girls in school. Others often wondered why two distinct people are so compatible. Alice had to snob girls who asked privy questions concerning her relationship with Mila. There were rumors that circulated in college that they were lesbians and that they are only friends because they satisfy themselves but these rumors died down when Alice started dating Collins, her then course mate but now husband. The ringing tone of her phone filled her car bringing her out of thoughts of how much her life has changed yet remained the same.

"Hello scarlet how are you?"

"I am fine ma'am. Hope you are good too?"

"Yes, I am thank you."

"I called to inform you that you left the blueprints here yesterday so I have handed it over to Mr. Monett's assistant to give it to you. Therefore there will be no need for you to come all the way here for them."

"Oh thank you Scarlet, you are a lifesaver."

"You are welcome ma'am. You know you can always count on me."

"Yes I know. I will see you later. Bye."

She ended the call with her assistant, grateful that she was smart enough to fix her mistakes. Mr.Cohen had asked her earlier yesterday to take the blueprints home so she gets to the meeting early but she forgot. After all, she had a stressful day at work so she can't be blamed. To her, Mr. Cohen is to be blamed for loading her with a lot of work that was meant for his assistant. Some not even concerning her department but he expected her to do it anyway. And she did but of course after a lot of protest from her.

"You do it or you won't get paid for this month!" She recalled him yelling at her when she said she wouldn't work on the documents he gave to her.

"That jerk! He thinks I can work the whole month and just when it's the last day of the month, he tells me he wouldn't pay me just because I refused to do some stupid irrelevant work?"

She made a U-turn deciding to get breakfast before heading to M&M cooperation where the meeting would be held.

Stopping at the Mac B breakfast diner, she got herself their famous cinnamon waffles and coffee, not the way she likes it but she had no choice since she couldn't go a day without coffee. It wasn't until she got out of the diner that she realized that not one but two of her tires had become flat. But how come she didn't see it earlier?. She wondered not liking the idea of taking a taxi moreover leaving her car here in front of a diner. That's illegal and she might get sued for it. There was little time for her to call her mechanic so she called a tow service who took the location of her car and her contact after she told them she wouldn't be able to wait for them to arrive.

She exhaled loudly, after spending close to ten minutes trying to hail a taxi. Settling down in the passenger seat, she gave the driver the direction. Since M&M is such a great landmark, it wasn't difficult for the driver to locate it. But it seemed like the day has been cursed for Mila when she yet again encountered another calamity. The time was nearing 7:00 with only fifteen minutes left for the meeting to start but she found herself in a very bad traffic. When I say bad traffic, I mean the one that moves every five to seven minutes. Yeah! that bad. Even though the weather was warm, she found herself shivering and sweating at the same time. Her phone ringing was the only thing that brought her back to normalcy.