Deal

When she came back to the kitchen, her boss Nikki was furious at her. She was looking at Annika with a pissed look, she didn’t know what her boss was going to do to her after the accident that she may or may not have caused earlier. “So Annika? What do you have to say for yourself? Don’t you know the trouble you caused me after everything you’ve done earlier? I’m just lucky that they weren’t going to sue me or my business. Good thing I was able to talk to those men before they went out.” Nikki said in an infuriated tone of voice as she looked enraged and reddish all over. 

“So it’s my fault? They’re the ones who grabbed me and tried to make me sit with them, yeah that wasn’t going to happen. It was either the, or me, and obviously, I chose the latter.” Annika said to herself in a low tone of voice to make sure that her boss doesn’t find out about her ranting. 

“What was that? Were you saying something?” Nikki immediately asked the moment she saw Annika’s lips move. 

“No! I didn’t say anything! And, I’m sorry for all of the trouble I’ve caused you Ms. Nikki, I swear I am sorry and I swear it won’t happen again.” She said in a sincere tone of voice as she begged for her boss to give her a second chance. 

At this point, Annika was already flustered since she was the victim but as her boss keeps seeing it, Annika looked like she was the one who was at fault even though it was clearly the man at the table that harassed her first.

“I didn’t even do a single thing, it was not my fault that that man came crashing down to the floor. It was that Kurt's fault, not mine because I didn’t do anything wrong. If another second passed by while he was grabbing me and Kurt didn’t come out of nowhere, then it would’ve surely become my fault because my fist would’ve been the one that knocked him out of his seat.” Annika thought to herself as she regretted not standing up for herself earlier, if Kurt didn’t come and save her from that situation then she would’ve easily taken matters into her own hands. 

While Annika was thinking about what happened earlier, where she went wrong and where she lacked. Her boss on the other hand felt like she should fire Annika on the spot due to the scene she caused in her bar earlier. “What should I do about this girl? She’s not even working here all that long and here she comes just waltzing in into the party and coming crashing down. I mean, of all the employees I’ve had all the years, I never had someone like her coming and ruining the party. I don’t think that she should be working here…” Nikki thought to herself as she was just running around in circles trying to think of a way out of their situation and how she and the club was going to recover from what happened earlier. 

“But… I was the one that gave her a job because of her situation… I don’t think that it’s fair for her as well to lose her job because of what a man did, I know what it feels like to be on her shoes because I too have been a victim… But, I cannot let my feelings get the best of me because I know that I have a business to run, but I also don’t think that I could just let that kind of thing to slide even if he did get what he deserved, getting punched straight in the face and getting knocked out on the cold hard floor. Nothing is better than getting embarrassed in front of a huge crowd of people.” Nikki thought to herself, she couldn’t think straight, she had so many things going on her head at the moment. 

Of course, Annika noticed her boss was overthinking as well, she couldn’t help but feel bad for her. “I caused trouble in her bar, she’s the one who gave me a job and a steady salary, but instead… I repay her with a scandal, but it’s not entirely my fault. No! It was never my fault to begin with, I’m sure that I was in the right this time, I did nothing wrong! He was the one who grabbed me in the first place, and why do I have to feel about something that I was the victim of? No, that’s not going to happen because I did nothing, he should be the one who’s feeling sorry for my boss, not me because I was the victim in all of this.” Annika thought otherwise, every single odds were against her at that time, including her boss as well because if the man who was knocked out earlier filed a lawsuit against Nikki, then it would be the end of her because she won’t be able to do anything at all because of the evidence. A black eye on the man that Kurt punched earlier. 

“Oh, what should I do? I don’t think that I would be able to get out of this situation without me losing something in the process. I know that it’s not her fault in any way, but that’s how it has to be if I want to keep my business up and running, I would need to sacrifice her in order for my business to strive in this cold harsh world. This is something that I’ve worked hard for so long now, I don’t think that I would throw this away for someone that I barely know. Even if her situation is quite dire at the moment, I just can’t let my business go. I'm sorry Annika but I know what I have to do now.” Nikki thought to herself, she could feel the anxiety creeping up on her, the moment she knew what she really needed to do. 

Everything looked like a blur to her, everything was just going so fast. She didn’t know what she had to focus on first, it was either Annika, and letting her keep her job or the man who could actually file a lawsuit against her and her bar. As she was weighing the odds of what she needed to prioritize, she knew that she should make her business her number one priority because that was something that she had been caring for her entire life, she poured her sweat and blood, as she woke up every single day early in the morning just make sure that everything is in tip top shape so that when someone comes in, everything would be perfect. When she did get employed, her work ethic did not change one bit. 

She was still frantic, she didn’t know what she was going to do with her employee since she somewhat knew the situation Annika was in at the moment, she didn’t want to get rid of her because she herself wants to help her as well.

“Look, the man I talked to earlier, the man that was knocked unconscious on the floor earlier. He and I made a deal, he won’t sue me or the man that punched him earlier if I fire you for good. I’m sorry Annika but…” Before she could finish what she was saying, Annika interrupted her. 

At this point, Nikki won’t be able to take back whatever comes out of her mouth because she won’t be able to do a single thing after this. 

Tears started to pour out of Annika’s eyes as she knew what her boss was going to say, she didn’t know what was going to happen other than the obvious. “No! Please Ms. Nikki! I am begging you to reconsider! Please give me a second chance, I swear I won’t screw up again, I badly need this job. I don’t want my sister to go away forever, I just want to be with her and get everything over with. Please don’t do this…” She begged for her boss to let her keep her job, but it looked like Nikki’s mind had already been made up. 

Nikki let out a deep sigh and looked at Annika with a look of despair in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but it was either you or my business. And I can’t handle another lawsuit right now, my hands are already tied. I can’t exactly do anything about it, even if I wanted to keep you right now. I just can’t, if that man comes back here and sees you working here. I’m sure enough that he’ll come back with the best lawyer money can buy to make sure that my business gets toppled down. I hope you understand Annika, I’m not trying to bring you down, I would never do anything like that, especially to someone all I’ve been trying to do is get somewhere in life.” She said in a concerned tone of voice.