Chapter 1: Day off

Being the only child of my mom, I lived up to her expectations...doing everything I could to please her and making sure I don't piss her even a bit.

My dad was a pervert, he got her pregnant with me and dumped her. Although he later came back but didn't stay long, he left again... moving on with his life elsewhere.

Anyways, that was two decades ago and now I didn't even care if he was alive or not. My only concern was my mom, she was yet to get over him.

I didn't just know why she couldn't get him off her head, maybe it was because I used to remind her of him. She said I looked pretty much like him, even though I didn't used to see the resemblance.

In her room she placed a big portrait of him, whenever I see it I hiss. I overly disliked him to the core. I hated to think about him.

...

Today being Sunday, I had nothing much to do than shop for groceries. I used to do that every weekend and every dime I spent came out of my pocket.

My mom was a cook at KFF, a small fast-food restaurant across the street. She used to earn enough to take care of the house but ever since I started working, she hardly contributes to anything. Well I was happy for her, it's good to enjoy the fruits of one's labor anyways!

I worked at one of the notable newspaper companies in the country, DailyExpress. I was a features editor. My friend, Lena, got me the job. She was very close to the founder of the company who passed away a few weeks ago.

After getting myself prepared for shopping, I took my car keys from the drawer and bade my mom goodbye.

"Drive carefully!" she said as I walked down the stairs. "And don't stay long, okay?" she added.

"Okay, Mom!" I muttered rolling my eyes.

I remotely unlocked my car as I headed into the garage, it was somewhat dusty but I didn't mind because I would drive through a car wash soon. I pulled the door of the car open, hopped in, and ignited the engine into action.

Just as I drove out of the garage, Mrs. Coffer waved at me while trimming the grasses of her compound with a lawnmower. Her house was facing ours and she lived with her grandson, Sam. She was a wonderful woman, I waved back at her with a cheerful smile.

"...you can't miss this week's episode of Amour De Campus on Crystal FM..." Said the man on air as I turned the radio on. Though I loved the program, I tuned to another channel to see if I could get some fresh news. I loved being updated. I did.

Hopefully, Radio Salvania was airing something interesting. "...the autopsy reveals he died naturally and not as claimed by conspiracy theorists..." I slowed down the car and paid more attention to the radio, it seemed they were talking about our late CEO. "...now a 'Nicholas Brian' is taking over the company tomorrow as its new Chief Executive Officer. Hopefully, he will continue the legacy of Mr. Rogers..."

I sighed recalling the last time I saw Mr. Rogers, he was a very jovial man. Even though he was the CEO and founder of DailyExpress, he worked hard like any other staff. I'd never seen a CEO like him, at least not yet.

Now about the new guy – Nicholas Brian – nobody seemed to know anything about him and the acting CEO, James Leigh refused to tell us a word. Somehow though, I overheard some staff saying 'Nicholas' was Mr. Roger's son. Some however claimed he was his nephew. Anyways, time would tell.

Halfway to the car wash, my phone started ringing. It was a call from Rebecca, one of the writers working under my supervision. "Hello!" I said as I picked up the call. "What's up?"

"Cool, Stella," she said and continued. "I just sent you an email, do you mind checking it out for me, please? It's my work for tomorrow"

"Oh Rebecca," I lamented. "You do know that today is my day off, right?"

"Yes I do but...you gotta help me please, Lena says the work sucks and that I should reach out to you for proofreading" she pleaded.

"Hmm, fine then. I will check it out for you but..." I said as she cut in screaming joyfully.

"Thank you so much, Stella! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" she said, not even allowing me to complete my statement.

"You are welcome!" I uttered.

Just then, she ended the call.

Urhhh!

I disliked it when people give me work on Sundays, that was my off and I ought to enjoy it to the fullest. Hopefully, one-day things would change, and I would have enough time to rest at home and think about my life. I would also be able to go on tours, I loved tours!

I huffed as I approached the car wash, drove through it, and got my car cleaned before sparklingly driving to Fresh Grocery Store. It was my favorite store for shopping for groceries, you'd get almost all the groceries you need there.

I took a cart, strolled to one side of the store, and began picking the stuff I needed. I was able to fill half of the cart when a friend, Victoria, sent me a message reminding me about her birthday party.

"Venue is, Rio Club! I just hope you don't cook up stories like you did last time" the text reads.

Uhmm! I sighed and quickly replied, "Sorry Vicky, I failed you last time. I was busy, you know? And I think I made that clear to you already. Anyways, this time around I won't fail you. I will be there for sure!"

"Like seriously? Awwwn, thanks then. Come around 7 pm please before the club gets full" she texted again.

"You invited the whole world?" I sarcastically texted back.

"No, Raymond did. He's such an as*hole, isn't he?" she texted again, probably laughing by now.

"What can I say?" I texted back, chuckling.

After shopping, I drove back home and prepared myself for the birthday party. I didn't like going out to night parties but I also didn't like disappointing my friends all over again.

Victoria and I had been friends since high school, we did the same college together too. She was now working with Samara Magazine. We both studied Linguistics.

One thing I loved more about her was the fact that she was living the life she dreamed, unlike me — I had to live up to my mother's expectations. I couldn't even befriend a guy let alone keep a boyfriend, just imagine!

Sometimes I used to feel like I was being caged. Whenever I complained, my mom would say she was just trying to protect me from perverts like my dad. Well, I believed not all men are like my dad!