OLIVIA
“Kate, you evil bitch. How dare you hang up the phone on me?” I fumed.
“Don’t bother trying to reach out to me. I am not going to respond. We need you at the company. The other staff members won’t stop asking me about you. I don’t know what to say to them. I don’t know how long I want to keep lying to them,” That was the text I received from Kate.
“The staff can’t wait to see me? What exactly is going on? Are they aware of what’s going on in my marriage?” I thought to myself. There was nobody around to provide the answer. I was left alone to figure out a way out.
I got fed up trying to reach out to her and decided to go take my bath.
I got dressed up in my favorite blue suit and skirt. I had my bodily applied make-up to brighten up my face a bit. I would rather not attend to clients looking so depressed. I styled my hair to make it appear more attractive.
It wasn’t my birthday, neither was I going out for a date. Yet, I spent five minutes in front of the mirror stand, trying to figure out what was missing in my outfit. I still couldn’t find anything wrong with my dress. Everything seemed to be on point for me.
“Oh, my face. How on earth did I forget that?” I suddenly realized how terrible my face was.
I may appear so beautiful with a spotless face, but my mood didn’t quite correlate with my beauty.
I was sure to scare many people away with my awkward look.
Slowly, I shut my eyes to chant the words of affirmation. “Olivia, you got this. This is just a reminder that you are a smart, courageous, and resilient woman. Don’t let your situation overwhelm you. You’re gonna pull through this if you channel your mind to it.”
How do I convince myself that I am doing perfectly fine when my home is in crisis?
Somehow, the words of affirmation worked a bit to rejuvenate my lost confidence. I found myself acting normal again.
“That’s what I’m talking about, girl! There’s no better time to do this. Go smash the damn thing and return victorious as usual,” I smiled at myself, grabbed my designer bag and stepped outside to leave.
The moment I opened the exit door, I was welcomed by Rene, my rival.
The sight of her took my confidence away in a few minutes. I only had one thought in my head, and that was smashing Rene’s head against the wall.
It becomes worse that I can’t shut the door against her.
It’s going to affect me because I’m stepping out.
“What the fuck are you doing in home? Haven’t you done enough? This wasn’t the agreement we had. I thought I asked you to stop by the office to get your paycheck?” I asked Rene. I scrutinized the environment just to ensure she was alone. She’s the last person on earth I would trust.
“Are you alone? You were accompanied by someone, aren’t you?” I asked her. I couldn’t trust my guts.
It’s not as though she’s most likely to be honest with her response anyway.
“Hell no! Of course. I came alone. Wait, what were you thinking? That I might have brought people to come hurt you? Come on, I’m bigger than that,” she boasted and flaunted her Auburn hair right in front of me just to spite me.
“What are you doing here? I don’t recall inviting you over. Leave before I call the cops on you,” I threatened her.
“Call the cops on me? For what exactly? Remind me of that offense I committed. When has it become a crime to pay someone a harmless visit?” She giggled.
“I’m not playing with you. Leave my home this minute. I don’t want to do something crazy to you,” I yelled at her and grabbed my phone.
“Look at this? I’m calling the cops immediately for a break,” I flashed the phone across her face to dare her.
“Relax, I’m here to discuss with you about Cyril,” she stated. At the mention of Cyril, I dropped the call to pay attention to her.
“Before you proceed, I already know Cyril has moved in with you. Is that what you came to tell me? Well, you shouldn’t bother because I already found out about it,” I revealed to Rene to shock her.
The question is, was she shocked? Because I can’t seem to find any fright on her face. She appears to be more confident than ever before.
“I see what you’re doing. I’m not here to fight you. I just want to tell you to give up Cyril for me. He doesn’t love me. My heart is where he is,” Rene demanded.
She was so confident in her approach. It wasn’t enough for her to snatch Cyril from me. She still has the guts to come plead with me to give up on Cyril.
I was hurt by her statement. My eyes were filled with hot tears ready to be streamed down.
Still, I showed no sign of weakness. I maintained my composure until she left. It wouldn’t make any sense to start weeping in front of someone who’s supposed to be my rival.
“Are you done talking?” I asked her. It was the only thing I could come up with after staying quiet for a while.
At that point, I couldn’t think of anything else to say to her. If I dare to attempt to speak further, I may end up hurting her.
“Yes, I am done talking. I’m just letting you know that you’re fighting a lost battle. Don’t even dare to act funny because you’ll never win,” she bragged and majestically walked away.
A few minutes after her departure, I was already regretting why I allowed her to walk away like that without hurting her. She put me in a complicated situation that I wasn’t even thinking about hurting. I just wanted her gone.