Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Justine got dressed in a bodycon dress. She had to look corporate for the firm, with the intention of resuming work today. The boss—the one who had shown interest in her—had called yesterday.

She did the needful at home before leaving for work. It was going to be the easiest job yet; all it entailed was being a personal assistant.

She got to the firm quite late and met the receptionist—the same one who had been mean to her when she applied. She was going to enjoy this, working with the person who hadn’t seen her as worthy.

"Good morning," Justine said as loudly as she could when she walked in. "May I have the keys to the manager's office?"

"I'm sorry, are you the new PA?" the receptionist asked.

Justine ignored the question, just as the receptionist had ignored her back then.

The receptionist quickly looked up the staff list and saw that Justine had indeed been employed.

"I apologize, ma'am. Here is the key. You are welcome to our establishment; it's a pleasure looking forward to working with you."

All of a sudden, Justine felt slightly bad, seeing the receptionist acting all nice to her. She had wanted to roast her on the spot but couldn’t bring herself to do it anymore.

She took a deep breath as she collected the keys and spoke to the receptionist.

"My apologies for the hostility. I just wanted you to know how I felt when you acted that way towards me," Justine said.

"...And I totally get it. To be honest, what I did that day wasn’t okay. I want to use this opportunity to apologize for it," the receptionist admitted.

"That is nice to hear." Justine stretched out a hand. "What is your name, sorry?"

"My name is Layla, and I have been working here for four years. It's nice to meet you."

She accepted the handshake and, in turn, handed over the key to Justine.

Justine nodded and made her way into the office. She was assigned a desk. The office looked a bit messy from the last time she had been there. She wondered if they had ever bothered to clean it up even once.

Justine smiled as she walked in and began dusting the place. Definitely, Sophia would be pleased to hear about her encounter with the receptionist.

A few minutes after she was done, she sat down—not really exhausted, but there wasn’t anything more to do or any instructions given to her yet.

She couldn't believe her luck when she was told how much she would get paid per hour. Justine had no degree, not even a First School Leaving Certificate.

When she was in the 7th grade, she always complained about how tedious classes were. She skipped them more often than not, failed to even check her assignments—she couldn’t be bothered. Her grades plummeted like crazy. Each time the school asked her to bring her parents over, she always lied that they were not available.

It got to a point where she had to repeat the 8th grade. The principal at the school said she wasn’t good enough.

     This infuriated her parents, they made it known to her that they can't keep on splashing money on her education if she wasn't going to be taking it seriously 

      She was grounded for the whole weekend after challenging them that she doesn't care what they think 

    I didn't ask to be Born, I didn't ask for all this ,she had yelled back at her mother 

     She didn't care about how they felt ,she just Didn't like the pressure that was put on her

She found out she was bound to repeat 8th grade, and that was the final straw.  

She had never been the best student, but she had tried—at least, in the beginning. Somewhere along the way, the struggle became unbearable. The long hours staring at books that never made sense, the humiliation of being called on in class and not knowing the answer, the exhaustion of trying so hard only to fail again.  

So, when the news came, she made her decision.  

She dropped out of school.  

Despite all the nagging and pleading from her parents, she refused to go back. They begged, tried reasoning with her, even resorted to threats, but nothing worked. She was done.  

*"I’m just not cut out for it,"* she told them, her voice hollow, exhausted. She didn’t even try to explain further. What was the point?  

At first, Justine was comfortable with just staying at home. It was a relief, really. No more teachers, no more tests, no more feeling like she was drowning in a world she couldn’t understand. She slept in, watched TV, and did whatever she wanted.  

But after a while, the weight of it all started to settle in.  

She couldn’t stand the look of disappointment on her parents' faces every time they saw her. The way their smiles faded just a little whenever she entered the room. They tried to hide it, but she saw through them. And when they stumbled upon pictures of other children excelling in school—dressed in neat uniforms, holding up certificates, their parents beaming with pride—she felt something sharp twist inside her.  

Guilt.  

Her parents weren’t wealthy. They had never been able to afford luxuries, but the little they had, they had invested in her. They worked long hours, sacrificed things they needed, all so she could have a shot at a better future.  

And what had she done?  

Thrown it all away.  

The walls of the house started to feel smaller, the silence heavier. She could feel her parents’ unspoken words hanging in the air, thick and suffocating. They didn’t yell at her anymore—not after realizing it wouldn’t change anything. Instead, they just looked at her, eyes filled with something worse than anger: sadness.  

And Justine didn’t know how much longer she could take it.

  

Now as she sat in the office of this firm, looking back at all that happened, it was one of the biggest jobs She will ever do.

     Then ward walked in and she was brought away from her thoughts ,he was in a suit and looked better than Justine remembered 

    Good morning Justine , h

e said to her with all smiles. Glad to see you here today