Cuffed

There was no one, absolutely no one with her when she was teased that night. The hands coming down on her, trying to ravage her body, gripping her shoulders and tearing open her shirt. 

Splash! 

"Faith, are you alright?" 

Faith felt the water droplets on her face and looked at Jeanie, her favourite co-worker and best friend who worked in the marketing department. 

"I'm good. Just fell asleep." 

Jeanie patted on her back, "Are you sure, dear? You were probably seeing a nightmare. See, you are sweating like a pig." 

Faith smiled to herself. 

Nightmare?

Well, her life itself was a series of nightmares. Her grandma's cancer, her sexual harassment case, her boyfriend cheating on her. What more could happen with her? 

Faith stood up and smiled. "Don't worry, Jean. I'm good." 

"As you say. Well, Mr. Hamilton's looking for you!" Jeanie said and left for her department. 

Faith straightened her prim black pencil skirt and white halter neck blouse and made her way towards her boss's cabin. 

He was more like a father to her. He always trusted her, supported her and treated her with love. Never once did he treat her like she was only a mere employee. According to Josh, she wasn't. 

When she entered the luxurious cabin of Mr. Josh Hamilton, she saw the old man sitting timidly on his easy chair. He had wrinkles all over face, his skin slithered due to the ravages of time. The black depths under his eyes were testimony to the endless hard work and sacrifice. 

"Faith? Where were you since morning? You didn't even bring me my morning coffee." His complain was soft, as usual. 

"I'm sorry, sir. I fell asleep. I was tired." 

"That asshole left you, eh?" 

She shivered at the question. She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her but she did get hurt. Her heart was breaking and that was the evidence that she had loved in good faith, that she had made the kind of bond that hurt so very much to break. When she had witnessed his long-term boyfriend having sex with another woman on her bed, all the life force was sucked out of her and she was tossed away like an empty shell. 

"Sorry, my child." 

She tried to put together the pieces of her heart and smiled, "It's okay, sir. I'm recovering." 

"He doesn't deserve you." The old man railed. 

His face fell, all of a sudden. As if sadness had come as a powerful cleanse for him; his eyes began to water and Faith failed to understand the reason why. The warm tone of his skin was slowly ebbing away to give rise to an icy paleness. 

"I need to tell you something very important, my child." His voice didn't hold the same excruciating power that Josh Hamilton was known for. 

Faith held her breath. What was so important? What news so important was capable of stealing the brightness of a person? 

"I'm dying. I have pancreatic cancer. And a handful of years to live." 

The land beneath her slipped. 

Cancer? 

The same disease her grandmother had. She closed her eyes in despair. Her breaths were so low that she could barely believe that she was breathing. 

"Faith?" 

She looked up at him with tear-stricken eyes. 

"Don't cry. Please, can you call my son and ask him to meet me before I," 

"He doesn't pick up any calls from Hamilton Inc. I'll mail him. I'll try to reach him anyway possible." She gave him a cup of hot water. "Don't you dare worry!" 

The old man smiled and nodded. 

Faith got out of the cabin and sighed. The grief was overcoming her senses. She had known no father since her childhood. Her parents had died in an accident when she was six. Since then, her precious grandmother, Jennifer West, had been taking care of her. But a few years ago, when she landed a job as a personal assistant to Mr. Hamilton, her grandma had fallen sick and it turned out that she had leukemia. 

The cancer was all over her blood cells. And with the news of Josh's illness, Faith was feeling sick to the stomach. 

"Jeanie, can you please mail Mr. Hamilton's asshole son and ask him to call his father back? Tell him that his father's dying and he might as well see him one last time! Write the mail in my name." 

Jeanie was puzzled and then with a slight nod, she headed to her laptop. "Where are you going?" 

"To see granny." 

Jeanie nodded and started doing the task she had been given while Faith started for the nursing home where her granny was admitted presently. 

She needed to see her.