Seven

Jasmine stared wide-eyed at her boss, Ms. Laura. She blinked her eyes rapidly as she tried wrapping her brain around the statement that the woman just made. Jasmine froze in her seat as she stared at her boss and then, involuntarily, she lowered her head. She placed her hands on her chest as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Jasmine, are you okay?"

'Was she okay?' That was a question that would take hours for her to answer. She was having the worst week of her life and she didn't even know why. She wished the person she had offended would come out of the shadows and tell her what evil she had done, it would be easy for her to apologize. At least, it would be easier than going through a series of heartbreaks in a day.

"Ms. Sullivan?" Laura said as she shifted awkwardly on her chair to get a better view of Jasmine's head which was bent low. "Ms. Sullivan!" Laura shouted when she still didn't get a response from Jasmine.

"Yes?" Jasmine raised her head as she finally looked at her boss again.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked again.

"Yeah, Ummm," Jasmine cleared her throat and adjusted her seat. Placing her hand on the table, she dared to ask. "Why am I being fired, ma? Is it because I stayed back from work for a few days? I will like to remind you that, you personally authorized that leave. You told me that I could stay at home till I'm all better to resume work again." Slowly, Jasmine started getting back her voice. She had suppressed the feeling of pain and that of anger became heightened.

"It's not because of that, Jasmine. Look," Laura's eyes scanned the building, looking for what to settle her eyes on. She couldn't look at Jasmine's face while she spoke. Her conscience won't let her. The woman was good at her job and did everything with a touch of excellence. But the situation had gotten out of hands and she had orders from above to let her go.

"Jasmine," she said as she stood up from her chair and walked toward the window. It was better to stare at her environment than to look at Jasmine. "There is nothing I can do about this. It's quite unfortunate, but it is what the people above me want." She turned and looked at her. "I'm so sorry, Jasmine. But there is nothing I can do about it."

‘There is nothing I can do about it.’

It was the second time Jasmine had heard that statement in a week and she knew that someone she had offended had come back to haunt her. She looked at Laura's eyes, she could see the sadness in her eyes, and the tears that were starting to form in them. With the wind, her anger flew out the window. Standing up, she dusted off her skirt and walked toward Laura. Smiling, she pulled her in for a hug.

She could feel Laura releasing her breath as she melted into the hug. Her shoulder unclenched the more when Jasmine tapped on her back. The week had been rough for her and Jasmine could feel the walls surrounding her heart closing in on her, making it difficult for her to breathe. But when she hugged Laura, she could feel oxygen rushing back into her heart, making it easier for her to breathe. Then she knew that she would be alright.

"Thank you," Laura said when Jasmine pulled away from the hug.

"Thank you, ma’am. I will go clear out my desk." Jasmine turned around and walked out of her boss's office and into hers. She wasted no time in clearing her desk and taking her properties with her. The excitement she came in with was gone and she could finally notice her co-workers. She turned her head to all angles as she noticed their countenance. Some were sad at watching her leave, some didn't care. Some came up to ask what happened, but Jasmine didn't even know why she was fired and as such couldn't explain it to another person. She just smiled and said, "I guess it wasn't working out for them and there was nothing they could do about it."

Fighting back the tears, she boarded a taxi and went home. She sniffed, pulling back the tears that threatened to fall as she stared out the window of the car. She was grateful when she saw the driver pulling up into Bethany's apartment. Finally, she could cry her eyes out in peace. She got out of the car with her box and walked up the stairs slowly, wanting to soak in the ambiance of her environment.

She finally got to Bethany's door, using her keys she unlocked the door and walked in.

"Jas! Why are you back home so early?" Bethany said as she walked out of their bedroom.

"God!" Jasmine said as she held onto the sofa that was close to her and placed her hand on her chest. With a look of shock on her face, she turned to Bethany.

"You scared the crap out of me. What the hell are you still doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She asked as she dropped her box on the table and took out her shoes.

"Nope. They called to inform me that I'm not supposed to be on site today, so I shouldn't bother coming." Bethany rushed through her explanation. Her thoughts focused solely on the box that Jasmine had brought in with her. "What's that?"

Bethany worked as a journalist and she was a damn good one. While growing up, she was always in everybody's business, trying to get the most important and spicy details of their life. Her parents had always known that she would be doing it as a profession and it didn't come as a surprise to them when she said that she wanted to remove Lab Science as her major and put in Journalism. They tried putting on a fight, but Bethany was as stubborn as she was beautiful. After countless hours of talking to her and trying to force her, her parents finally caved in when they realized that it was all to no avail.

"So, who is on-site today?"

"That bitch, Emily!" She said with a snort. "Jasmine, I asked you a question."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Jasmine asked, trying to feign ignorance.

"What's that?" Bethany repeated her question as she pointed to the box on the table. Jasmine's eyes followed the direction of her hand and landed on the box.

"Oh, that! I got fired today," she said casually and moved into the kitchen, leaving an open-mouthed Bethany in the living room.

"What?!" She bellowed as she walked into the kitchen. "What do you mean you got fired today? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Jasmine said as she poured herself some orange juice.

"So then, why were you fired? Oh My God!" Bethany's eyes grew wider as she spoke. "It's because you stayed back from work for two days, isn't it? Jasmine, I told you not to do that."

"Will you calm down? It's not because of that. Laura said that the men in charge just told her to let me go and she doesn't know why," Jasmine said as she took a sip of her drink.

"Oh, we need to find out why they did that." Jasmine knew that look on Bethany's face. She had seen it a couple of times and after that look, she always found a way of getting them into one trouble or the other.

"No, no, no! We are not doing any FBI uncover thing right now, we are going to let it slide." Jasmine took her drink and moved into the living room.

"How can you just let this slide?" Bethany said as she moved into the room with her causing Jasmine to groan in pain. "Jas, we have an opportunity to make a difference." She said as she took a squatting position to talk to her.

"No, YOU have an opportunity to go make a mountain out of a hill and I won't be joining you in it."

"Fine, then I'll just do it myself." Bethany stood up and Jasmine followed her.

"No. Beth," she said as she turned her shoulders around. "Promise me that you won't do anything reckless. I really am over this and I just want to let it go."

"Are you really over it though?" Bethany asked with concerned eyes. Bethany could be a very annoying person when she wanted to but deep down, she was a simple girl who cared too much and always wanted to help in whatever way she could.

"Yes, I am. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go rest my head a bit," Jasmine said and moved into the bedroom to take a nap. A few hours later, she was awoken by the rigorous tapping on her shoulder by Bethany.

"Girl, what the hell?" She asked as she stroke her eyes.

"A man is waiting for you outside," Bethany said with a wide grin on her face.