Flashback: Unravelling the past

Valerie moved towards the door of her workplace building , and she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. As she turned with fury, she saw a young athletic man, smiling at him, revealing a perfect set of teeth. The man exuded an air of understated sophistication as he stood tall, clothed in a simple yet impeccably tailored black tuxedo. The luxurious fabric, likely a high-end wool or cashmere blend, hugged his athletic physique perfectly, complementing his broad shoulders. A pair of polished black oxfords, crafted from the finest Italian leather, completed his outfit, their subtle brogue detailing a testament to the wearer’s discerning taste. Despite the simplicity of his attire, it couldn’t hide the scent of wealth and luxury that shone from his outlook.

Despite his polished and refined attire, the man’s attempt to disguise himself was evident, particularly around his face. His eyes, were hidden behind a pair of stylish yet slightly oversized glasses, his attempt to disguise himself quite evident.

“Yes?”, she snapped, looking at him. In a bid of hesitation, he smiled and said, “Are you an egg? Because you’re egg-cellent..and also because l love eggs, l guess”. Valerie couldn’t believe her ears. That was the dumbest thing she had ever heard. Whatever he meant! In this moment, she just had to say whatever that got this creep out of her way.

As she reached the end of the hallway, she peeped through the window and quickly ducked. She walked to the door and glued her ears onto the wooden door . She could hear her workmates gossiping about her; that she was rude and inconsiderate, but you could gossip about anyone else and not Valerie. You would not live to tell the story. She banged the door open, angrily.

“ How could you ladies insult me like that? I’m just so disappointed. I thought l was worse than just inconsiderate. You didn’t even mention some of my awful and despicable qualities?”, she said smiling. They could tell her smile was a calculated façade, hiding the seething resentment beneath. The gossipers froze. In this moment of terror, no one uttered a word.

“It’s time to play girls. And l always win”, she suggested, in dark humour. She dropped the caramel coloured purse she was holding to the floor and quickly loosened her tie. She walked towards the girls. They were in for it! She slapped the first girl before she could run, kicked the second, gave a strong fist to the third, straight on the nose and she wailed in fierce pain. In a few seconds a vigorous fight had broken out. People rushed from all directions to witness the altercation as the dramatic scene unfolded before them, their faces engraved with shock and disgust. The girls made such a hullabaloo, the manager came out of his office in full speed. He had to gather up all of his energy to hold Valerie up, rescuing the other girls who had bleeding noses and scratches all over them. He took Valerie out of the room. He could swear she was possessed.

That same morning, Chris Malvins could not concentrate at work after experiencing the most embarrassing moment of his entire life. That same morning as he was going to work, he couldn’t help but notice this beautiful girl in a white shirt , black tie and black skirt, complemented by a gorgeous caramel coloured handbag. She appeared to be in her mid twenties. He was completely mesmerized by the ravishing woman he had seen. He had to recklessly stop the car in the middle of the road, bringing the traffic to a halt.

 Chris stepped out of his Bugatti Chiron, he made sure he made a perfect disguise of himself. He followed her to the door of the building she was going into. Unfortunately, he had received the coldest reaction ever. He could still hear her voice echoing in his ears as she shouted, “I’m not looking for a stalker, so get lost you creep”, drawing everyone’s attention and all eyes on him; some looking at him with pity, some laughing their lungs out. How embarrassing!

As he snapped back again into reality, pacing back to his car, the other driver insulted him, “ Maybe you should stick to riding a bike!”.

Chris felt humiliated to death, he literally felt like crawling under a rock. He wondered what went wrong, he had practised his pick up line perfectly, “Are you an egg? Because you’re egg-cellent…and also because l love eggs, l guess”. Couldn’t she just have rejected him quietly, after all her looks and personality were two things, totally different. More like her looks and personality were fire and rain. Judging from her outlook, he had assumed he knew what she would be like, but now he got a little wiser, truly understanding what ‘you never know until they talk’ truly meant.

After talking to her, he thought she was a girl with the most terrible attitude he had ever seen. He was Chris Malvins, the most eligible bachelor in the city, women vied just for a piece of him and there she was, snapping at him. He vowed that he would one day ‘help her understand her mistake’ . Chris was a man of pride, the kind that would never beg nor forgive, so to him it was just a matter of time, they would meet again on a fateful day.

“Aye , Valerie , gannin or ah’ll hae ti call security pet…”the manager fumed.

Valerie could not understand a word he said. “ Oh, great. Another person who thinks l can magically understand their accent”, she alleged angrily.

“I said, get going or l will call the boys in blue!”, he yelled.

“I apologize, sir…”, she said absently then muttered something under her breath. “ Not that it’s entirely my fault but…”

“Which part of ‘you are fired’ don’t you understand, yet? Please exit the premise”, he said firmly, pretending to get busy so she could leave already. He felt annoyed with each second passing.

“Everyone deserves a second chance, you know. This is not fair at all”, she answered.

“Well, life is never fair sweetie, get used to it, besides you can not be asking for a second chance. You already had a second chance, third, fourth and many more chances, but screwed them all”, he fumed.

“But ….”,she tried saying something.

“But nothing Valerie, no…just use the door”, he complained. There was a brief pause and then he heard…

“With great pleasure, I, Valerie, hereby declare my independence from this miserable, stinking gossip factory!”, she vowed and raised her right hand, “I swear to never again subject myself to such toxicity. Oh, joy! I get to leave this ‘wonderful, uplifting environment’ , said no one ever,” she said sarcastically rolling her eyes as she pointed at the door and shouted I’m gone!”.

As she walked out, Valerie ripped off her ID badge and flung it to the ground, and threw a vile mucous- like glob of thick saliva on the floor, as if symbolizing her break from the company.

“What a truly stomach- churning sight indeed”, the manager wondered to himself, but could not speak another word . No one really showed it, but everyone’s heart at the workplace was singing ‘Free at last’ with joy, some air would finally be flowing. To them, her absence would make a whole lot of difference, her absence meant a breath of fresh air.

Valerie’s life took a drastic turn since she lost her job, she had downsized to a way smaller apartment since she lost her job. She had made many adjustments. She had been hoping to get another job in at least five months, that would have suited her budget until she got another job. Unfortunately for her, it happened otherwise and no job came by. She had sold off most of her clothes, her couch, her cupboard, wardrobe and electronics . Infact, she had sold literally almost everything she owned and now she did not really have anything else to sell off to buy food and pay for her apartment. 

A ray of hope shone when she was called for an interview at Nexus Global Company and she hoped for the best, hoping they would take her in and save her from starving, and not trace her up to her terrible fight records. In the last hours of the day before her interview, she turned her wardrobe upside down looking for the best outfit to wear from the few clothes she had not sold off. She finally settled for a midnight- blue dress with a black coat and black heels. She definitely had to make an impression, a good one this time. This was her chance to shine again. It was not that Valerie could not do a job well, just her terrible attitude made it difficult to keep a job for more than six months. Or even less.