A slap. An ear piercing, pain throbbing slap. Yes, that was the perfect way to describe the words that Gabriel Marshall had been throwing at Melissa. His words felt like arrows and he kept shooting them at her without stopping, without remorse, yes, Melissa was convinced that the man, sitting in front of her, looking down on her, didn’t have a shred of remorse in his conscience.
She clenched her hand into a fist, it was the only way Melissa could control her burning rage. Just who was this man? Why was he acting so sniffy in front of her? Was he some kind of celebrity?
Melissa exhaled harshly, trying to quell her rage as she spoke.
“And who are you, to say all these things to me, right to my face?” she entreated, Her ire was heard in the way she spoke, despite trying to calm herself.
Gabriel rested his back on the chair and crossed his legs, his hands folded on his thigh like he was sitting in a meeting room. A small smirk seemed to appear on his lips, it was the closest emotion Melissa had seen him exhibit.
“This is quite amusing,” He jeered. “You, a mere commoner, trying to cling on to the little pride you have.”
Melissa looked down at her food that she hadn’t touch as her lips quivered. His words had a way to touch her deepest insecurities. Clinging on to the little pride she had? That was an accurate and detailed description of her display. Melissa shook her head. She didn’t have to sit here and listen to this man degrade her. It was unacceptable. She slammed her fist on the table and shot up from her chair.
“This date was utterly ridiculous. I’m not going to sit here and watch you belittle me.”
Gabriel didn’t respond, he just watched her with those eyes, those cold eyes that Melissa couldn’t shake off. His silence infuriated her further. She had expected him to as least apologize or say something to her, but he just sat there, staring at her. This man had no smidgen of human decency in his bone.
Melissa turned to leave, but paused and turned to look at him again.
“Meeting you was a big mistake. You’re the most egoist and prideful bastard I’ve ever met in my life. I hope you fall in a ditch somewhere.”
She rummaged her purse and slapped a couple of dollar bills on the table, not bothering to count it.
With that she breezed away from the table and ran down the stairs, her eyes burning with the tears she had held back. The tears were out now, blurring her vision daring to slip down her eyes. But she held it in as she ran all the way out of the restaurant, ignoring the stares she got.
Melissa hailed a taxi and got in without thinking.
“Where are you going ma’am?” The driver asked.
Silence.
The driver looked back at Melissa.
“Ma’am?”
Melissa flinched and looked up at the driver, tears slipping down her eyes, staining her cheeks.
“Um, are you okay?” The driver looked worried.
“Yes, uh yes, I’m fine. I’m going to clover street.” Melissa replied as she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
The driver nodded slowly and drove down the street.
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Melissa slammed her door shut loudly and kicked off her shoes angrily. She laid back on her bed, her mind still filled with rage. Melissa had been treated like utter garbage by two men in one night. She was feeling very shitty.
Her anger began to subside as it slowly changed to sorrow. Everything Gabriel had said was right. He hit the arrow right at the centre of the target. He wasn’t wrong and to hear the truth she had never wanted to say out from someone else was agonizing, excruciating even.
Melissa curled up in a fetal position and cried some morebawling her eyes out like a child. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. It made her feel worse that she was crying because of a stranger.
Melissa sat up on the bed and walked over to the mirror. She looked at her get up. She had tried so hard to look good for her date and he had the audacity to call her curls distasteful. Melissa ran her hand through her hair. She had fixed it up herself, putting her hair in tight curls and letting it fall freely on her shoulders.
Grimacing, Melissa walked back to her bed and sat on it. She was worn out, mentally. She wanted to forget this night, like it had never happened.
Melissa heard footsteps outside her room and shot up from her bed. Brandon. She had been so wrapped up in her little blind date and had forgotten all about Brandon. So much for being a parent to him.
She walked out of her room and into the living room. It was empty, but the television was turned on. Melissa walked over to it and put it off. She passed the short corridor that led to Brandon’s room and knocked at his door softly.
“Brandon.”
Silence, not a single reply from within the room. Melissa sighed and was about to leave when she heard the door click open. Brandon’s door slid open slowly and he appeared from within his dimly lit room.
“Oh, uh when did you get back from school?”
“A little after six thirty.” He answered dryly.
“How about dinner? Did you get something to eat?” Melissa asked.
Brandon nodded. He seemed disconnected even though he was looking at her.
“Is that all?”
Melissa looked wistful for a moment and nodded.
“Yeah, that’s all. Good night.”
Melissa walked away from him and into the small corridor.
“Mel.”
Melissa flinched and made a sharp turn to his direction. He was rubbing his neck and looking down at the floor nervously.
“Um, are you okay?” He asked.
“Oh..”
Melissa had completely forgotten the state of her face. Her tear stained cheeks mixed with her muddled up make up was an obvious sign that she was crying.
“I’m fine Brandon.”
He didn’t want to press and further and just nodded. He retreated back to his room shutting his door lightly. Melissa couldn’t help but smile. The fact that Brandon cared about her enough to ask, made her sadness go way a bit. She walked back to her room, feeing a bit better. Snatching her phone out of her purse, Melissa dialed Tory’s number.
"So, you wanted to talk to me? It sounded urgent, and you also sounded...angry?”Melissa just stared at Tory as she sipped from her cup of lemonade. She wasn’t particularly mad, well she was but it had subsided compared to how much she was seething with rage yesterday. All she wanted was answers from her. She didn’t want to bombard Tory with a lot of questions on the phone and thought it’ll be better to talk it out in person.“Mm, it’s not like I’m angry, well, not anymore.” Melissa finally said.Tory winced and groaned.“Let me guess, The date didn’t go well?”“The date not going well is an understatement, a really huge one.”Tory gaped at Melissa, her face full of curiosity and a slight hint of worry.“What happened? Please tell me it wasn’t that bad.”Melissa sighed and placed her cup of lemonade on the table as she tried not to relive the memories of last night’s date, but she had to, Tory needed to know what she had set her up with.“First off, Who is that man... Gabriel Marshall
Melissa looked at herself in the mirror again. A date. She had replayed the words over in her head a thousand times, so much that she lost count. Was she really going on a date again? After her last fail? She couldn’t believe she was doing this.Sighing, Melissa looked at the clothes she had on. It was nothing as extravagant as the dress she had worn for her first blind date. She wore a simple pastel blue shirt with a scoop neck and wore a cargo pants. Her hair was tight up in a tight, neat bun, with a few stands hanging out.Melissa hadn’t put to much effort into this date, because it was just Mark, her co-worker. It was strange to her that he’d come all the way to her work place and ask her out on a date. Melissa was about to refuse his request, but quickly remembered that she had promised to treat him to a meal.She grimaced, cursing herself for making promises she has no plans of fulfilling. ‘its just a casual outing with a coworker. It can’t be that bad. It’s going to be fine.’ M
Melissa moved back a little as the men approached her. The man with black long hair stood in front of three men. He was smirking at her, a smirk that felt like mockery to Melissa. He moved closer to her, while the other men stood in the same spot.“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Mel.”Melissa grimaced and moved back again until she felt her back, touching the door.“What do you want?” Melissa asked, trying as much as possible not to let her anxiety slip through her voice.“What a very stupid question to ask me don’t you think? The man said in a harsh tone.The small fox shaped pendant dangled from his chain as he bent over to look at her in the eye.“Your payment for this month is due, isn’t Mel?”Melissa felt her body tremble and small beads of sweat form at the top of her head as he stared at her dead in the eye. The man from a company she had burrowed money from, the loan shark that demanded money from her each month.Jack Torez, a tall attractive man in his thirties and the owner o
Melissa wiped her eyes, which were now red and puffy as she picked herself up from the ground. She walked into the kitchen tiredly and saw that her sticky note was still in place, untouched.She opened the pot and the meatloaf stew was still intact. Melissa sighed and looked up at the wall clock ticking away. A couple of minutes after 9pm and Brandon wasn’t home. Melissa was drained mentally and she didn’t want to worry about Brandon. He usually got back home 5pm, well that was what he told her since she wasn’t at home all the time.Was he having extra lessons? Melissa shook her head. There was no way extra lessons would close this late. Maybe he was the Library? Yeah, that was plausible enough since he preparing for his final exams. Or he was at a friend’s house? Melissa didn’t know if Brandon had friends or not, he never talks to her or tells her anything.Melissa was getting anxious as the seconds passed. She contemplated going out to look for him, but she didn’t even know where to
The staff room was a small space with a few cabinets. It led into a break room that had a long rectangular table and a few chairs surrounding it. Melissa made her way past the staff room and the break room, until she was in front of an oak tree door. The word “boss” was written boldly on at the top of the door. Melissa knocked on the door lightly and listen for a response.“The door’s open.” A low voice said from behind the door.Melissa took that as a go ahead and swung the door open slowly. In the small cramped up office, filled with piles and piles of papers stacked up on each side of the large mahogany desk that was basically taking up all the space in the office, Melissa wriggled in. In the midst of the messy office, a fortyish looking man sat in a chair behind the desk, a cigarette in his mouth and his nose buried deep in some paperwork Melissa couldn’t understand.“You called for me boss?”The man finally looked up at her and scratched his short black hair that had a few grey s
Gabriel Marshall flipped through the pages of the document in front of him and let out a frustrated sigh. Ever since his little “dinner” with his mom, Gabriel had found it hard to focus at work. Her words kept resounding in his head, playing like a broken record, over and over again.It made him mad, infuriated that his mother was the one who was deciding his marriage for him. Gabriel had never been close to his mother, even his father, and the feeling was mutual for each of them. They were a family, who were only together for the sake of the company, no love and no bond attached them together.Gabriel didn’t have a choice but to accept the marriage his mother had arranged for him, without consulting him first. If it was for the company, Gabriel would do anything and marrying someone he barely knew and had no feelings for was a small sacrifice.Gabriel sighed and placed his pen down on the table. No matter how much he tried to read the words written on the document, it all came out ju
“You want me to increase your working hours?” The woman questioned Melissa, as she cocked her eyebrow at her, strangely.Melissa nodded slowly, her eyes pleading as she judged the woman’s expression. The woman that stood in front of her was Regina Martinez, her boss at the day care. A short plump woman in her fifties, but her face looked quite young. Her short, blonde hair was tied up in bun and she cradled a baby in her arms.Regina hushed the baby, while her face showed that she was deep in thought, pondering over Melissa’s proposal. She looked up at Melissa and let out a regretful sigh.“I’m sorry Melissa, but I can’t increase the amount of hours you work. More hours mean more pay and I can’t pay you more than I already am.”Melissa felt disappointed, but a part of her expected this type of reply. She knew that asking for more working hours was a huge risk and her request wouldn’t be accepted, but she did either way, having a small ray of hope that it’ll be granted.Regina looked d
Gabriel ran his hand through his wet hair as he stood under the cold shower. On every other day he would’ve taken a hot shower, but he needed a cold one to cool him down and it helped him clear his thoughts. He had a lot on his mind and Gabriel hated overthinking. He detested it with a great passion.He turned off the shower and got out of it, wrapping a towel around his face and another, he used it to dry his wet hair. Gabriel walked into his room and looked around. His long sized bed draped with a plain white bedsheet was positioned in the middle of the big room, beside a large glass window. The decor was quite simple, since Gabriel liked to keep things simple and minimalist.There was an L shaped black coloured sofa at the bottom of the king sized bed, with a glass table at the centre of it. The walls were painted white and a few abstract paintings were hung on wall. Sighing, Gabriel threw off his towel and wore a grey colour tone. He walked out of his room and went down to the spa