Chapter 5

Camilla's POV

"Your mother is sick, and it's cancer"

I blinked once, then twice

I sat very still and a heavy silence fell over us

The young doctor stared at me with slightly raised brows, an expectant look. He was expecting me to say something, to react to what he had just said but how could I when I was still in shock?

I couldn't believe my ears, I needed him to repeat what he said so I could be sure because I probably misheard

I forced my mouth open "Pardon? What did you say, doctor?"

He heaved a quiet sigh of relief when I finally spoke

"I know it's quite shocking, Miss Parker but your mother is really sick with cancer"

I sucked in a sharp breath. I hadn't misheard. My mother was sick, WITH CANCER

Tears welled up in my eyes and my voice trembled as I asked the next question "What kind of cancer?"

"Breast cancer"

I inhaled a shaky breath "What stage?"

The young doctor sighed "Fortunately, it's still kind of in the early stage but with your mother's advanced age; her condition is worsening rapidly because her immune system is really weak. So, despite the fact that the cancer was detected early; if she doesn't begin chemo immediately, then she has very limited time on this earth"

"Oh God" I forced back a sob, clenching my hands into fists

This seriously couldn't be happening

No, I had to be dreaming, all of this was definitely a nightmare that I would soon wake up from

I unclenched my hands and pinched the exposed skin on my thighs as hard as I could before wincing in pain

I wasn't having a nightmare

My mother was really dying

"Miss Parker?" The doctor called "Are you okay?"

I resisted the urge to bark out a sarcastic laugh at his question

Was I okay? He was seriously asking me that?

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I voiced my incredulity and he sighed

"I know, it was a dumb question. I just didn't know what else to say. I know that news of this magnitude is a lot to handle alone so it will be good if you have someone who can be there for you. Like a family member, your dad? Siblings?"

My jaw clenched slightly at the thought of the man who fathered me "No, we have nobody else, it's just me and my mum"

He made a low humming sound in his throat with an apologetic look on his face

"I'm really sorry that you have to go through this alone"

I smiled wryly "Why are you sorry? It's not like it's your fault"

He gave an awkward laugh "Ha, yeah that's true"

I sighed and sat up straighter in my chair "How soon does my mother need to begin chemo?"

"As soon as possible and, by that I mean today or tomorrow. Nothing later" he answered and I felt my heart sink with dread

I swallowed thickly as I prepared to ask the most important question "I'm-I'm guessing I have to make a payment for her treatment, right? I know I won't be able to afford to pay in full now so can I pay in installments?"

"Yes, you can" he nodded quickly and hope flared up a little in my chest

"That's great, how much do I need to pay as a first deposit in order for her to start receiving treatment?" I inquired

"Hold on a sec" he murmured before turning to the computer on his desk. He tapped rapidly on the keyboard for a few seconds before his eyes fell on me again

"As I said earlier, the fact that we detected the cancer pretty early is good because early detection reduces costs but unfortunately; your mother doesn't have health insurance so that kind of overrides everything. To answer your question, the first deposit you need to make in order for the hospital to commence her treatment is ten thousand dollars"

*******

Dead

I felt dead inside as I trudged up the stairs to the apartment I shared with Anita

Ten thousand dollars?

I wanted to laugh, scream and cry all at the same time

Where the hell was I going to get such an amount of money from?

I would probably need to sell off one of my kidneys or something

I winced at the thought of that before shaking my head to clear to rid myself of the image. I stopped before the door to the apartment, reached for the knob and twisted it before pushing the door open, coming face to face with Anita

She had an arm stretched out in mid-air like she had also been reaching for the knob before I pushed the door open

Her eyes gleamed with happiness when she saw me

"There you are, girl. I was literally just on my way to the police station to report you missing!"

I didn't reply or react, I just brushed past her and stepped into the apartment before flopping onto the dark red, two-seater couch that she and I had bought together when we first moved into the apartment

Anita huffed "Well hello to you too. Where the hell have you been? You said you were going to the bathroom last night at the club but you totally disappeared! Sean and I searched everywhere within and even outside the club for you but you were nowhere to be found!"

My lips twitched as I fought a wry smile. They obviously hadn't searched everywhere. If they had searched the private VIP rooms then they would have definitely found me having sex with a man I had just met for the first time that night.

I didn't smile though neither did I say anything to Anita, I remained seated, staring blankly at the turned off TV screen on the wall in front of the couch

Anita's brows furrowed as she continued to watch me, she shut the door before walking over and sitting beside me on the couch

"What happened, Camie?" She asked in a low voice and I bit my lip to force back the onset of tears

I was one of those people who tended to break down in sobs whenever someone asked them what was wrong

"It's....It's my mother, Anita. She's sick and it's cancer"

Anita sucked in a sharp breath

"Fuck!" She swore harshly

"She needs to start chemo immediately and the down payment is ten thousand dollars, Anita. Ten thousand dollars! I literally just quit my job today and even if I hadn't; ten thousand dollars is my salary of three years in Axia. I'm stuck and I don't know what to do, I have no idea how I'm going to get that money. I can't even go back and beg jack Monroe to give me my job back because I know he wouldn't and I would just end up getting humiliated by him!"

All the tears I had been holding back since I heard the news of my mother's condition from the doctor started flowing and I buried my face in my hands as it streamed down my cheeks in rivulets

I vaguely felt Anita wrap her arms around me and pull me close to her in an effort to try and comfort me as I sobbed uncontrollably

"There, there" she cooed softly to me as I let out one strangled sob after the other

We remained like that for a while until my sobs quieted and I gathered enough composure to lift my head

"Why did you quit your job at Axia?" Anita asked in a whisper and I sighed tiredly as wiped the wetness from my face

"I think I just had enough. I couldn't put up a front anymore" I replied in a now hoarse voice

"I guess Jack Monroe finally succeeded in pushing you over the edge, huh?" She mused quietly and I chuckled softly

"Yes, he did but now I'm fucked because I'm unemployed and my entire life savings isn't even half of the money needed for the down payment"

Anita heaved a deep sigh and clicked her tongue "How about I chip in with some of my savings?"

I turned sharply to her "No"

She rolled her big, brown eyes "I knew you would refuse. Just let me help you with however little I can. It's to save your mother's life, Camie!"

"I know that but I won't ask you to use your life savings on me. I won't be comfortable taking the money from you. She's MY mother and I'm responsible for her. I'll figure out a way to get the money myself" I uttered in a determined voice

She scoffed "Oh yeah? Well, how do you plan on doing that? You're literally unemployed! Unless you're planning to sell your kidney or rob a bank"

Shit

She was totally right

Those two outrageous options were the only choices I had

"Well, in that case I'll just sell my kidney" I muttered and Anita snorted in disbelief

"Are you being serious? You would honestly rather sell your kidney than accept help from me?!"

"Yes, Anita and you should know this about me by now. I would rather suffer than be a burden to you or anyone else that I care about" I replied and she sighed

"While that is a very good trait to have; you should also be wise enough to know when to stop being a hardheaded Miss independent and accept help" she enthused and I groaned as I rose to my feet

"I'm done with this discussion and I'm going to my room" I mouthed and strode away from her, heading towards my room when she called out;

"If you won't accept help then at least try and get another job! I saw an ad online this morning. King Enterprises is hiring secretaries, the interview is tomorrow!"

I paused in surprise before turning back to her to see her watching me with a smug look on her face

King Enterprises was really hiring?

This was amazing!

I turned away from Anita and sprinted to my room. I jumped onto my bed, picked up my laptop and powered it on

As I waited for it to finish booting up, I prayed fervently to any god that was listening for what Anita said to be true, for King Enterprises to be really hiring because that would be a dream come true.

King Enterprises was one of, if not THE biggest enterprise in the country. They were number one in almost all sectors. Oil and gas, Construction, Automobiles and tech products, real estate, even hotels and restaurants! They were a multi-billon dollar enterprise.

It had always been my dream since I was a teenager to work for King Enterprises. It was one of the reasons why I had chosen business management as my major in college.

My old and outdated laptop finally finished booting up and I quickly rushed to the internet before logging into king Enterprise's official website and clicking on 'vacancies'

I gasped softly in delight when a bold flyer with an eye-catching caption that read 'WE ARE HIRING SECRETARIES! CLICK HERE TO BOOK A SLOT FOR THE INTERVIEW!'

I quickly clicked on the button to book a slot, filled in my name and other needed details before clicking 'SUBMIT'. Almost immediately an email notification popped up; 'CONGRATULATONS MISS CAMILLA PARKER, YOU HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED FOR A PHYSICAL INTERVIEW TOMORROW AT 9AM!'

I squealed in delight, resisting the urge to start jumping around on my bed

Yes!

I had a job interview with freaking King Enterprises tomorrow!

This was a gift from the heavens and I was going to try my best not to blow it.

********

The next morning, I was out of the apartment by 7:30 and flagging down a taxi.

The drive to King Enterprise's HQ office lasted forty minutes. I stepped out of the taxi after paying and stood at the pavement in front of the skyscraper building

I inhaled and exhaled slowly with my eyes closed

"You can do this, Camie. You NEED to land this job" I murmured to myself repeatedly before opening my eyes again and fixing it determinedly on the revolving doors that served as the entrance to the building

"Okay, let's do this" I mouthed before adjusting the black pencil skirt I was wearing and strutting through the doors in my black, knock-off red-botttom heels.

I greeted the lady at the front desk and she directed me to the 16th floor which was where the interview for secretaries was going to hold. I rode the elevator and got off on the 16th floor where I found another lady sitting behind a desk

"Hi, good morning" I greeted in a slightly breathless voice and she smiled faintly at me.

"Good morning, are you here for the interview?"

I nodded "Yes, yes I am"

"Well, congrats. You can sit over there with your fellow early birds and wait. The interviewers will start calling applicants in at 9am on the dot"

"Thank you" I mouthed to her before walking down the sleek hallway and stopping at the spot where a row of chairs had been arranged neatly before a door

I sank onto one of the chairs and was surprised to find that it was quite comfortable. Other applicants of both genders were also seated. I flashed those I made eye contact with the friendliest smile I could muster up with how nervous I was feeling before I sank back onto the chair to wait.

At exactly 9am on the dot, the first applicant on the list was called in to be interviewed followed by the next and the next.

I was sitting with my fingers clasped tightly together and jumped slightly in my seat when I heard my name being called

"Miss Camilla Parker?"

I blinked and shot to my feet "Yes, that's me"

"Step inside, it's time for your interview"

I thanked the lady, who was different from the blonde one behind the desk before stepping into the air-conditioned office. There was a wide desk made with shiny brown wood in the middle of the room.

A single chair was placed several inches away from the wide desk where two men and one woman with stern looks on their faces sat

"G-Good morning" I greeted and cursed inwardly at my nervous stuttering

"Have a seat" one of the men spoke and I sank onto the single chair before them. They all peered down at a small stack of papers before them which I knew was the résumé I had uploaded last night

One of the men clicked his tongue after flipping through the last page "I'm sorry to tell you this, Miss Parker but we've looked through your résumé and you're just not up to the standards we're looking for"

My heart sank all the way down to my stomach

I gripped the edge of the chair I was sitting on to keep myself from keeling over at the shock of being rejected so blatantly

The interviewers turned away from me and called out; "Next person, please"

I forced myself to my feet and walked out of the chilly room in a daze

I had been rejected

I wasn't up to their standards

I wasn't good enough

My feet automatically stopped before the elevator and I stood, waiting for it to come up while staring at my feet.

I couldn't bear to look up yet because I was afraid that I would start crying if I did. With that thought, tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision completely

I heard the ding of the elevator, signalling it's arrival as it's doors slid open and I stepped blindly inside only to bump into a warm body harshly

We both let out an "Oof" sound at the collision and I lost my balance. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the impact I knew I would feel when I fell but two strong hands suddenly gripped my forearms and yanked me back into that warm body I had bumped into

Flush against my savior's chest, I slowly opened my eyes and found myself staring up into beautiful iridescent eyes that looked WAY familiar

And then it hit me. It was HIM!

Our eyes both widened at the same time

"You!"