I was glad that I was able to get rid of Gabriel. I was also glad we resolved that without any hitches. I was free, finally of his narcissism. Another pleasurable thing was that Megan stopped her impromptu visit at Neil Incorporated. The last time I saw her was at the diner when she approached me. Which was so weird. I pushed all those thoughts aside as I headed to the cemetery. It was a ritual to visit my mother's tombstone the first day of the month no matter where I was. I'd run down to watch her, and talk to her, and sometimes, I felt like she spoke back. I felt her presence. Mom smelt of wild flowers, so I didn't forget to carry some whenever I visited. It's been five years, but I never stopped visiting. I would never. I took an Uber down to the cemetery. I also had work to go to, so I tried to be early enough that I could talk to her and still meet up at the time. No matter how close I was close to Neil or how friendly he was with me, I never tried to take it for granted. One
Days I went to work pleased me. Weekends were so boring I'd wish Monday would be right after Friday. On weekends, I'd snuggle in a corner and binge a series on N*****x or think about the full work days. Neil was a huge part of my life. Monday came full-blown to me. I waited all weekend for it, so I was prepared. I rushed through my bacon and egg with a cup of tea. Boarding a taxi, I got to Neil's Incorporated and stared at it, noticing Neil's face splattered around the glass panes. The curves of "E" blended in with the "l". This was now my innocuous home. A place I couldn't get worried about anything. I walked in and passed by a buzz of Neil's workers. Till today, I had no clue of some people that worked in the same building with me. This place hosted about four hundred workers and I worked on the last floor, so there was a thin percentage that they'd even know me. I stepped into the elevator before it closed. Inside was a woman I'd never seen. She had a ponytail and a pleated sk
I cussed and dropped my phone hard on the table. My mind was in disarray and I just couldn't think. Zina just quit her job because of those videos. I had no clue who posted them, but if I got to find out, then they would be doomed. I'd bring them down. Margaret stood by me, also pacing. She walked to my door and scrutinized the back of it. "You're being bugged." "Obviously. Shit." I canceled all my appointments after Zina left my office. There was no point attending all those without a secretary. Without Zina. "Are you sure she'll ever come back? Even after we find the perpetrators."Margaret turned to me from the door. "You like her, don't you?" I turned away from her. "That wasn't the question." I also didn't know if I liked Zina. It was a battling thought. She turned back to the door, looking at the knob. "If she likes you, she'll always come back. I've seen it in her eyes." She plucked out something. "Damn it, you are being bugged." In her hands was a small, negligible camera
I snuck in further into my bed and cried some more. What happened back at Neil's office could never be taken away. It sank in my heart and laid there, arousing bit by bit, tearing me further apart. I avoided calling my friends. They didn't need to hear all my misfortunes. Things always didn't work out for me. I looked in the fridge to look for a bottle of soda. People lose appetite while eating, but while I cried, food was one thing that calmed me. Drinking soda or taking ice cream helped to send warmth to that cold area that seemed to thaw.I opened a bottle of Coke and gulped it down. It tasted bitter and sad. Like me. I wanted something hot, something that would help me forget all that had happened. I needed Whiskey. I opened my cabinet and dug out a bottle. I didn't need a glass so I opened it and drank from the bottle. Wiping my snort and running my hands through my hair, I'd never felt so depressed in my entire life. I heard knocks on my door and I quickly cleaned my face. I d
I stumped out of Neil's office in agony and pain. I was embarrassed at the rejection and pain he caused me in front of his pesky secretary, Margaret. I zoomed off in my Porsche car, crying my eyes out. Neil just broke up with me. Unbelievable. I picked my phone to text Mom that I was coming to her house, but my hands were so shaky that I dropped the phone. I couldn't believe that Neil threw me like a rag because his secretary that was without a class. Earlier today, I sat on the balcony in my house, sipping an apple juice with my laptop in my hands. I watched the office twenty-four seven, waiting for when they'd start having sex. And I saw the moment coming to pass when Zina walked into the office with a cheerful look. I waited and watched as she served Neil coffee, I also watched as the coffee burnt his hands, and when Zina ran helter-skelter to look for a band aid. I smiled. I placed my hands on my mouse, waiting to press the left button. It started with a slow, wet, sloppy kis
I could finally breathe. Keeping Megan to myself was I was holding myself down and I wouldn't think things through when I was with her. Would I say I was with Zina now? There was a lot of chemistry between us. She understood me quite well and I also did understand her. Life was easy with her, but I had to play my cards well. I wanted it all to be an affair, not something that would end up in an altar. Sometimes I wondered how life would be with Zina. I thought of my home flooded with kids that would run down to me and I'd lift them on my shoulders. I had thought of kids with Zina, children that would have her wonderful eyes and hair. I'd thought of waiting for her to walk down the aisle in an overflowing dress, smiling so hard at me. I'd wonder how life would be if I had children that I'd dress up for the first day at school and graduation. If I'd have girls that would have boys knocking on my door on the day of prom. I'd imagined life with children that would warm me when I'd be
I saw a woman coming out of Neil's office with a sad look. She saw me and stopped "hey! You are Zina?" I nodded my head. She looked at me from head to toe and stumbled out. I wondered who she was. "Could she be Megan's mother?" I walked to Neil's office to inform that I was about to leave. "Neil, I need to leave now, it's closing time." "You are free. I will call you later." I quickly left the office. On getting to my house, I met Gabriel. "What are you doing here?" "Zina, please I am sorry. I am here to beg you to forgive me and accept me back. I know I have wronged you." I asked myself if truly he was sorry or he was just saying it because he noticed I have moved on with my life. "Gabriel, you can actually see that I am just coming back from work. I need you to please leave the door, let me find my way inside and rest." "Zina, why are you this heartless? Remember how we forgave each other easily in the past. Why are you treating me like this and making things difficult?"
"How dare you?" I shouted in my voice and was very close to him like I wanted to hit him with my head. "So you are the billionaire that has been deceiving my girlfriend." "I beg your pardon! Who is your girlfriend?" I asked to be sure. "Zina of course." "Oh! You mean my wife to be or is there any other Zina you are talking about?" I purposely said to make a mockery of him. I could tell he was surprised by my statement. He never expected such a line to come out of my mouth. I am sure he was trying to gain his balance. "You are not ashamed of yourself that you left a good woman to some sort of sluts. People like you are not supposed to be in the category of men." If there was any weapon around, I am very sure he would use it on me. I wasn't mincing words and I meant everything I said. "You know why I pity Zina? Billionaires like you don't stay with one woman. Your type hardly thinks of getting settled in marriage. I am out to save her from heartbreak." I bursted out in lau