I wanted to wail at the top of my voice, but I possibly couldn’t do that right here. But, seriously, what was my sin? I hadn’t even worked here for six months, and now, I was getting fired? Why me? Marsha had been the one who caused all this, but I got to suffer for it?
“So, I’m sorry, you’ll have to leave,” Mrs. Stanley finished the long and boring explanation I had definitely not been listening to. She grabbed her pen from the desk, her eyes glued to the paper in front of her. “So, y’all should be dismissed. I’m sorry for this, but I can’t help it. Pack your stuff, and leave now. Thanks.”
As soon as she said that, everyone started walking out of the office. I was very unstable, but I managed to walk out as well. I couldn’t contain my tears. It seemed like I was the only one who was crying. Well, I knew how painful this was.
“Hey.” Kenneth walked over to me, just when I wanted to arrange my items. His eyebrows were creased, that sad look hovering on his facial expression. He sighed. “Serene, I’m really sorry about this. I-I didn’t expect her to fire you. I mean, it’s not even your fault. It’s Marsha’s. Besides, you work very hard.”
“It’s fine.” I rubbed off my tears, sniffled. “Thanks for your concern.”
“Take care, okay?”
I nodded.
The moment he left, Marsha walked over to me. She heaved, digging her hands into the pocket of her big jacket. She pursed her lips like she was disappointed, smiling between.
“Hey,” she called. “I’m really sorry about this. It’s my fault. I should’ve focused on my work, rather than focus on a guy who hardly even cares about me. I guess this is a lesson for me.”
“It’s fine.” I gave her a small smile.
She stepped backwards. “At first, I hated working with you. But well, I ended up liking it. Sorry, once again. And, um, have a nice life ahead.”
“Thanks.”
She left as well, so I resumed arranging my stuff.
Was I upset? Definitely. Now, what next?
***
In the last two days, being with Ryan had been the best way to get rid of the unnecessary thoughts that were running in my head. I didn’t want to be worried about the fact that I lost my job. I was working towards getting a new job, and, in the meantime, I just wanted to be happy.
Okay, I was trying to be happy, but Ryan’s mood was really ruining my mood.
Rolling my eyes, I stood up from my seat, and joined him on the three seater couch he was seated on. I raised my hand to caress his back, and he turned to me.
“What’s going on?” I asked, being as calm as possible.
He just sighed. “Serene, to be honest, I’m worried.”
“About what?” I furrowed my eyebrows at him, quite surprised.
He dropped some papers on the stool in front of him, and leaned his back into the couch. “I don’t know what I’ll do. Well, you see, since Raymond got arrested, it’s been pretty hard to maintain things at the office. His younger brother is now in charge, and that little thing knows nothing about business. If he continues to work as the CEO, the company will run at a great loss.”
“Oh, that’s creepy.” I shook my head in surprise. A whole Twinkle Stars was going to run at loss?
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. And, I feel like I might have to leave the company. I mean, I haven’t gotten paid in two days. To worsen this, only recently, I invested millions of dollars into a business. I really don’t know when I’ll get the result of the investment. And, I really don’t wanna go bankrupt.”
“No, that won’t happen.” I patted his back, giving him a small smile. “I’m sure you’ll be able to sort this out.”
He ran his fingers into his hair, seeming even more worried. “I-It’s already happening. And, if anything happens to me, my family won’t assist me.”
“Why?” I asked.
He glanced at me, and looked down. “I haven’t said this to you.” He sighed. For some reason, he looked hesitant. “You see, my dad kind of disowned me. When I was younger, my parents separated from each other. Because I went with my mom, my dad got upset. And, well, he doesn’t ever speak to me. After my mom died, my sis took care of me for a while. But, the thing is, we haven’t seen each other in about three years.”
I stared blankly at him.
Okay, that story seemed too unreal. Who in the world uttered such painful words in only a few seconds? He sounded so blatant, though there was a tiny bit of terror in his tone. Seriously, was that it? Was that the thing he hadn’t ever wanted to say to me?
I took his hand, squeezed it in mine, giving him a small smile. “I’m so sorry about that, hun. I knew something was up with you and your family, but I hadn’t expected you to say this. I feel quite bad for you.”
“It’s okay.” Again, he sighed. He fixed his gaze at me, the concerned look still hanging on his face. “I guess I’ll have to be careful with the way I spend money. All thanks to you for being in my life. Else, I’d have spent some cash on those weird women at the club.”
“Excuse me?” I narrowed my eyes at him, and slapped his arm. “Is that something you should be telling me? What’s my business with what you used to do before you got me? Huh?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am.” He threw his arms up in surrender.
I giggled. “You’d better be.”
I was about to peck him on the cheek, but my phone beeped. I grabbed it, smiled on seeing a text from Praise. It had been awhile since I had spoken with my friends. Immediately, I clicked on the notification.
“Hey bud,
You won’t believe it. *Breaths in, breaths out*. Babe! Tracie just gave birth to a cute girl! Men, I can’t stop dancing. Get your ass here at this moment!”
I leaped from my seat, and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh!”
“What’s the problem?” Ryan stood up as well, probably worried.
I yanked his arms, pulled him close, batting my eyelashes and pouting, as if I was about to cry. “Ryan, my friend just gave birth. Officially, she’s a mom!”
“Oh.” He sighed in relief. “I’d thought something came up. Anyway, congrats to her.”
“Aw!” I squealed like a happy teenager.
He smiled at me, and only walked to the kitchen. As he did so, I walked behind him.
“Guess you should get going.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, gulped down its content.
For some reason, I was smiling like a drunkard. I sat on the stool by the counter, staring at him. “Ryan, I love babies so much. I can’t wait for us to make our own baby.”
He choked on his water, held his chest, and began coughing like a lunatic. He shut the door of the fridge, and even leaned his back over it. Done coughing, he glimpsed at me, and, this time around, he started laughing. He laughed hard, hard to the point he was starting to seem insane.
Okay, was this part two of the laughing syndrome from the other day?
Not wanting to face this craziness, I turned around, heading out of the house. I wasn’t ready for his shit.
But wait, had he thought I had been joking? I really wanted a baby someday. Did he not like children? That’d be upsetting, because I loved them very much.
I guessed I’d leave that topic for later. And, I hoped it wouldn’t create an issue between us.
***
I glanced at Tracie who was already asleep, then turned to the tiny angel who was in the baby bedding beside her. Gosh, this thing was so cute. Why would Ryan not want one? That was upsetting. He had better be joking.
“She’s so cute,” I said to Tracie’s husband, Matt.
He smiled. “I know, right?”
“Hey, guys. I’m back.” Praise walked into the room. She had two bags in her hands, which probably contained the junks she had bought for us.
Smiling at her, my phone rang from the pocket of my pants. Seeing it was mom, I decided to step out for a moment. I didn’t think it was okay to disturb the sleeping mom and child.
With a small smile lingering on my lips, I swiped my thumb fingers past the screen, to pick the call.
“Hey, my mommy. How’re you doing?” I greeted.
“Good evening.” Hearing a feminine voice, a woman’s voice which wasn’t mom’s, a woman whose voice wasn’t familiar, I felt quite queasy.
“E-Evening?” I stuttered. Mom never gave her phone to anyone. Could it have been stolen or something?
The woman cleared her throat. “I’m inspector Rita Cowell. A few minutes ago, the owner of this phone, together with the man who was with her, got into a severe car accident. Right now, they’re being taken to the hospital. You’re the last caller on this phone, so may I know how you’re related to them?”
I froze in my tracks. My head rapidly felt heavy, my heart throwing daggers against my chest. I felt numb, and involuntarily, my phone slipped off my hand. Unable to maintain my stability, I stumbled backwards. Just when I wanted to fall, Praise walked out of Tracie’s room.
“Serene, did you…?” She paused. Her eyes were widened at me, her jaw dropped, nothing but shock running in those eyes. “Serene!” She hurried over to me when I fell. “Are you okay, buddy? What’s going on?”
As I sat on the floor, I couldn’t say a thing, I couldn’t think properly. All I hoped for was, this had better be a nightmare.
***