A SECOND CHANCE

Well I decided to give myself a second chance to live,as he advised. The next morning I woke up,prayed, spent most of the pray session asking God for forgiveness then got ready for work. 

I have been mocked for my poor fashion sense in the past by my colleagues ,so I decided to put on my best outfit. I don't want them to think that I am depressed or whatever.

 At work, of course my female colleagues didn't fake it ,they all talked loudly about me and laughed out loud. I went straight to my corner, put my bag down on my desk and said a short prayer. 

The first thing my eyes caught was the portrait of me and my ex. I sighed and slowly put it down under my desk then proceeded to open my computer system.

"Good morning!”

 I didn’t have to guess ,I am sure it was Daniel. I looked up and smiled back at him.

"Good morning Dan". 

"Oh please don't call me that, if my girlfriend is here she will be jealous,you know how you calling me pet names gets to me". 

He was trying all he could to cheer me up,I smiled back and sighed. 

"You okay?"he asked me again,concerned.

 "I’m fine Dan, you should probably go to your corner,or else our nosey colleagues will start thinking of something else". 

"Do I look like I care about what they think?"

He stood up and shouted at them.

 "Jennifer, Beatrice,Kate hey! Are you here to gossip, go back to work,and that reminds me the boss will have an important meeting with us so better prepare for the big news!”

 Some hissed and others muttered some words before they got back to their places.

 I was curious about the meeting.

"Is everything okay ,what's it about?" 

"Boss is selling the company. The fashion brand isn't selling off as it should,so we will have a new boss today. Hopefully he will keep us but if we are not lucky enough he will replace us with his own team". 

Oh my God! Why now,I can't worry about losing my job? First my relationship now this,I screamed in my mind panicking.

"You don't have to worry, you are the most diligent worker here,I am sure the boss will mention that to the new CEO,"Daniel said as if he read my mind.

 "I hope"I said sadly. 

Just then the boss walked into the office. He was accompanied by two men in suits.

 We all went to the conference room to meet with him. I made the sign of the cross and prayed silently. 

"First I need to say a big thank you to you all,you have been the best team,I will ever ask for. Gigia fashion brand has been a name known in the country and internationally because of y’all but sadly we are not strong enough to compete.....”.

The boss's speech to me remained voiceless. All I could think of is how will I go on ,how will I start from scratch looking for a job,I know how long it took me to get here. 

"My best employee…." 

This statement caught my attention at least it might help to make the new boss want to keep me, everyone knows I work harder than my colleagues like Daniel said.

“Ms Jennifer!”

 I almost cursed out loud, what the fuck,Jennifer? 

Everyone else seemed not bothered and not surprised except me and Daniel. 

Jennifer was the boss’s sugar handbag babe,there was rumors about the two dating secretly .

She's a beautiful woman with a perfect body too perfect to be real. Her front side, tiny waist and huge backside is a suicidal, her skin like a baby's and her fashion sense is times better than the rest of us.

She was the only one allowed to wear skimpy dresses and mini skirts. 

At the end of the meeting,the boss never acknowledged my hard work,I was given a lot of awards by him for diligence, punctuality and hard work but today I needed him to say it ,he sold me off because of big boobs and ass.

Men!

Well now I know my chance of being in the company is 1 out of 100 percent ,I had to start job hunting as soon as possible. 

"We will get back to y’all through your emails,send your qualifications to us,our boss will decide".

 The two men chorused as if they're on autotune. 

We just nodded and went back to our offices while the boss accompanied them out of the company.

Jennifer couldn't control her excitement,she bragged about everything. She even said something that hurts me so much. 

"Hard Work and diligence don’t pay no more honey,you better wise up and put on your lipstick".

Another girl laughed with her.

I wonder if they know they have no chances of staying just like I am,or are they just trying to make me feel worse than others. 

I saw Daniel trying to talk to the boss,I knew he was talking to him about me. I saw the boss waved him off and walked out on him.

He couldn't even look at me when he walked past my corner.

I was angry ,even annoyed as much as I tried to control it. My tears decided to embarrass me. I got up and carried all the awards and dumped them in his office. 

He was angry at how I barged in and shouted but I don't care anymore. 

After all, I am no longer working for him from tomorrow onwards.

 I went back to my corner packing my stuff in my bag. 

I took the portrait of my ex and threw it into a nearby waste bin. Daniel came to talk but I ignored him and walked out on him. 

I felt bad about it but I don't want him to worry about me anymore. After all, he didn't even find me good enough to date. I thought,I guess I'm just frustrated, he had a girlfriend before we met.

He is a good person and has been a good friend to me but he is the opposite gender which seems very uncomfortable. 

"I went into a public transport,and saw two seat chances so I decided to stay by the window.

I brought out the invitation card my best friend gave to me,it's a VIP invitation,and inside is a note asking if I will accept to be her maid of honor. 

Wow! How could she be this heartless,how did we get here,we are like twins back then in school nobody really knew we are not related. 

How can she let her envy break us not alone getting my man just to prove she got better looks than me?

 As much as I tried to skip it off my head,it hurt so much I put the card back in my bag and cried my heart out,to the extent that the people seated at the other side glanced at me.

I tried to control myself. I covered my face and bent on my knees crying. I never wronged neither of them,how can they do this? I didn't realize when I slept off ,I have this habit of drooling when I sleep after crying. 

I was tapped on the shoulder by the person sitting next to me,on the one chance seat left before I slept off. I was too sleepy to look or do anything.I scratched and removed my hair while I was sleepy. 

I felt my head slowly move and then rested on the seat where I was sitting. I had to open my eyes slowly, still blurry. 

The man was in a suit , using his hand towel to clean his shoulder. I was too embarrassed to look at his face and apologized,so I pretended to be asleep. I closed my eyes tightly till I was sure everyone got out of the bus then I slowly got up and paid the driver. 

I got home and went straight to the shower,put on the shower and cried for some time. 

Few minutes later I felt a bit better,so I took my bath and went back to the sitting room. 

My phone rang.

I looked, It was my best friend or should I say my ex friend I Ignored her and then she called again, I sighed deeply and answered.

 "Hello babe, how are you doing? Hope life isn't so hard on you?" She asked with a mocking tone.