RECONCILIATION
Maria was back to her habitual little prayer, eliciting from the event that had occurred between them three days ago. She was beyond humiliated and for some reason, she hated that she was a virgin.
She would rather take the stairs than use the elevator. “It was a form of exercise, anyway” She would say in denial.
She needed to be at work for a quite urgent issue and thankfully, Reid had not been to work which made her prayers more than willful.
“I would be there in the next few minutes,” she said through the phone before downing her juice and hurrying out.
She didn’t stop by her usual coffee shop which was like a curse that she needed to shift off her head some other time. It was past noon anyway, she prefers her coffee in the morning.
She checked her time as she hurried to the restaurant, walking briskly in her two inches heels which accentuate her button-down blue dress.
She looked a bit exhausted when she got to work and she got more exhausted when she saw the ‘SEALED’ notice by the door.
“What the fuck is going on here?” she asked one of her workers that were standing outside the restaurant with arms akimbo.
“I am the one going on here,” Kyros replied as he walked forward to where she was standing as she looked back at him.
“Kyros!” she exclaimed with not a single bit of fear appearing on her face.
“Yeah. That’s me!”
“What’s going on here?” she asked him directly hoping to get a suitable response from him that would explain the whole situation to her understanding.
“The restaurant is sealed!”
“Why would it be sticking sealed?!”
“Be mindful of the cuss words, Maria,”
The sound of her name rolling out of his criminal lips made her wanna puke. She had already known he was an asshole but this whole new him was a discovery.
“Tell me why this place is sealed, Kyros,” she said a little softer than she had sounded a few seconds ago. She was trying her best to stifle the urge to shred him into tiny pieces.
He moved closer to her till they were a few inches apart. She didn’t budge neither did she feel intimidated by his stance.
“This place has been reported to be involved in multiple criminal activities and has been mandated to be sealed till further notice and till when adequate evidence has been acquired!”
“What?”
“The report was made a few weeks ago but instructions hadn’t been given to proceed with the necessary steps but now we have gotten the instructions needed!”
“Report? Instructions? From who?” she felt a mixture of confusion and anger within her. She was finding it quite difficult to understand a single word coming from him.
He seems like a man who had never professed his love to her. He seems so different like a person who had never even kissed her. He seems like one who hasn’t stared dead into her eyes, saying sweet words to her. He seems like a totally different person.
“You will get a word from us when the time comes. For now, you can just stay back at home with your team while you wait, young lady,” he said with a smirk before turning to walk away.
Maria was too shocked to comprehend what was going on and not a single word slipped from her lips.
“You’re all dismissed!” she said softly to her workers and with a worried and concerned look on their faces, they were dispersed.
She thought of what she was meant to do next and the only thing she could think of as she walked away from the restaurant was to call Reid and relate the whole thing to him, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment.
He picked on the second call which upset her more than she wanted it to.
“This really isn’t the time to be disrespectful with calls!” she yelled.
“Hey, hey, young lady. Chill,” he said in a little lively voice than she was willing to hear. She hated that he called her ‘young lady’ again just like Kyros had done in the most annoying way possible.
“Kyros came over and now the restaurant is sealed for whatever the fucking reasons he laid down that I do not give two shits about to understand the fuck he was shitting about!!” Maria rushed out and Reid caught not a single line of her harsh words.
“I need you to calm down, Maria. Tell me exactly what happened alphabetically, if you can,” he said to her and she cleared her throat first, breathing heavily before speaking again.
“Kyros got the restaurant sealed!”
“Why?”
“I would be damned if I could tell what reason it was!”
“Listen. That’s no reason to get worked up. I’ll have it fixed!
“It’s enough reason, Reid. It’s so damn huge as a reason for me to get worked up!” she sobbed and that alone was tearing his heart apart.
“Come on. I’ll get it fixed. He wants to see you break down at your lowest. He’s a loser, I’d put him right at the bottom where he belongs!” he consoled and soon she was convinced.
She got back to the apartment feeling down and the whole thing felt like a scalpel used on a bulged part of her body. She broke down in tears as she felt like all she had managed to accumulate and retrieve back from her manager who was going to ruin her then was back to crumbling again but she wanted to believe Reid. She wanted to trust that he was going to get it fixed.
A few minutes or probably hours had passed but she kept no record of time as she sank onto the sofa and rested her head on the headrest, dabbing her face, sniffing and reminiscing on her whole life.
She hated Kyros more and the sight of him alone irks her. While she was still in her feelings, the doorbell rang and she walked to the door.
She opened it and was greeted by Reid who was smiling broadly at her.
“I got it fixed!”
“So fast?”
“Yeah, so fast,” Reid replied with an even broader smile and with that, they reconciled.
“Come in,” Maria said.