Aggrieved 2

Todd had only a couple of pace to cover before he would be back at the door.

“Good morning,Mr Phillips” Mr. Jude roared. Todd was frightened. He rushed forward to Mr. Jude desk.

“Good morning, sir” Todd greeted. He was panting. Mr. Jude must have been surprised seeing him acting like that. He looked at him weirdly for some seconds.

“Sit down, please” Mr. Jude was polite. He didn’t always try to be polite. There must definitely be a reason for this kind gesture. Todd sat down quietly, trying not to be forward. Mr. Jude searched for something. His face relaxed as he found it. It was a letter envelope. He gave it to Todd.

There were only few reasons for a letter like this. Most of the time, it used to be a research assistance from another facility and Todd being a disposable employee, not liked by his boss. He always received that.

But this was no research assistance. It was from this very establishment.

Todd thought why a letter would be used for information within them. Mr. Jude must have forgotten the existence of electronic mail. 

Todd's face brightened up as another thought formed in his mind. 

Promotion!

That would be the purpose of this letter. He would be promoted. This must have been from higher ups and Mr. Jude wouldn’t be happy about this. He didn’t like him at all. He would have tried stopping this and he must have failed.

Todd became overwhelmed with joy and he couldn’t open the letter easily. His hands became shaky and unstable. 

Mr. Jude sighed. He must be unhappy. He would need to sigh for a very long time. He would also need to take sigh classes because when Todd would reach his full potential. He would need to be an expert in sighing.

Finally, Todd had the letter opened. He looked through it and nearly folded it when he realized he had to look again.

“No, it can’t be” Todd said calmly. He was talking to himself aloud.

“Yeah, it is a sack letter. I’m sorry, Mr. Phillips” Mr. Jude was being diplomatic.

“You can’t sack me. I’m currently working on Project X” Todd was finding everything hard to believe. He didn’t expect getting sacked. He believed he was giving his best.

“Actually, Project X is not something we can be proud of. You are into mass destruction” Mr. Jude must have had that in mind for a long time. Todd knew he hated him and his ideas. But a sack would be too much, he didn’t expect it.

“Mass destruction? What happened to necessary and constructive destruction?” Todd was always ready to defend his project. Despite being sacked now. He didn’t give up. He shouldn’t give up.

“I'm sorry, this is not a terrorist organization research facility” Mr. Jude paused briefly. He must have thought he didn’t need to say that. “And there is a board which I answered to”

A board that listened to whatever he said. Todd believed that was not enough for an excuse and he would be treated better if the board knew him directly. But he never had that opportunity.

“We employed you to invent what will be impactful to humanity. Something we could be proud of in this establishment, one that will make us marvel. You are very good but the competition is high” It seemed Mr. Jude didn’t want to talk much, if he would like to, it wouldn’t be with Todd. He hated him. He shouldn’t tried talking with him, he had sacked him already. Nothing said would change his hard stupid mind. 

“Yeah, I will make the whole world marvel. The whole world will see what you couldn’t see. I will be spectacular” Todd grinned loudly. Mr. Jude looked at him with surprise. He was surely not expecting to hear that from him.

“Thank you, Mr. Phillips” Mr. Jude said to discharge him. He must have been confused by his recent actions. Todd threw the letter on the desk and walked out.

He loved his job and he had been giving his best. He believed Mr. Jude would regret his actions one day but then it would be too late. He was dumb, he couldn’t think like the Chinese. Neither the Chinese nor the Russians would rule out an invention like Project X.

This wasn’t the end, he would get a job and that would be soon. Of course, he was good. And he wouldn’t mind even if it was the Russian, the Chinese or at worst, a terrorist organization that Mr. Jude mentioned. He would be getting a fatter check. He had no problem.

Something struck his mind,he was going home. He would meet his wife. That was another problem. He would need a story to tell her. He wasn’t sure if she would even care to listen. There had been a problem in their marriage, a problem none of them could comprehend. 

*******             **********              ******

Stephanie pushed the cart around in the supermarket mindlessly. She perambulated picking stuffs she was not going to buy which would warrant another trip to return the unwanted item back to it’s rightful place.

She was bothered and traumatized. Anyone who knew and only saw Stephanie some few years back would have a hard time recognizing her. She was no longer beautiful as she used  t be. She looked old for her age. That was what she got from her unfortunate marriage and her useless husband.

Something like this should not be happening to her. All she wanted was the American dream. She also worked hard to achieve that but life had not been bed of roses like the popular saying.

She was married to a man he thought would be one of the best husbands in the world. He had all the qualities required for that. Education, good job, intelligence, he had all she could and couldn’t think of as necessary qualities of a good husband.

But reverse had been the case after she married. She didn’t expect a life like this. The problem was unclear. Everything was not just working as it should. She was now frustrated. 

Her husband was no more caring like when they were dating. He had become irresponsible to the core, in every aspect. The only thing he cared about was his work. He used to treat her like a stale food, something to avoid. 

Stephanie had tried a lot to bring their home under control but he didn’t cooperate. The only thing obvious about this was her husband couldn’t live with a wife. But he wanted a wife.

Stephanie crashed the cart into someone. Some of the items fell off the cat. She bent down to pick it. She had not been looking up though but she was damn sure she wasn’t at fault for the collision. That person must have willingly crossed her lane.

She didn’t bother about challenging the person. Why would she? All she would get would be an apology. She preferred to let the matter rest.

She noticed something when she was rising up. This person was like glued to the spot. He or she had decided not to move out of the way. 

This person had come at the wrong time. She looked up furiously in readiness to attack verbally. She became weak seeing the face of the person standing before her.

She scoffed sadly, pushed the cart aside and went to hug the person. She buried her face in the little space between them and cried.