1. The Job

Sofia's POV

Staring out of the cab's window, I could tell it was about to rain as darkness slowly covered the surface of the street.

"Hey, Little Miss. We're here" An old voice sounded not far from me and I tilt my head gently to see the grey-haired cabman staring at me with his dim eyes.

I guess I was distracted to notice when the vehicle came to a stop.

Quickly, I handed over a euro note to him before alighting the vehicle and slamming the door closed.

"Keep the change," I told him without looking back and I think I heard him say,

"Tante grazie" before driving off.

Eleven years old me took a deep breath and lifted my eyes to see the small bungalow in front of me.

The entrance was covered completely with the perfectly mowed square lawn except for the narrow brick pathway that lead to the door of the building.

My father had messaged me earlier that afternoon to meet him at the bungalow we had on this particular street instead of driving home after school.

As I got closer, I couldn't wait any longer to see him because this could only mean he had something special for me.

We only left our family mansion for this bungalow during vacations and unique events between the both of us alone.

Privacy was needed.

I hit the doorbell several times and decided to go in when there was no response.

The door was left unlocked so I strolled in and as I did, said with a moderate voice tone, "Papà"

There was no response from him still and I could only imagine he was playing hide and seek as usual.

Papà does not care to act like a kid around me, just to make me happy.

A smile formed at the corners of my little lips as I took the corridor that connects to the kitchen.

The Kitchen. He would always hide in one of the kitchen cabinets.

Predictable old man.

Getting to the kitchen, I shoved open the door and what I saw changed my entire life.

Traumatized me forever.

There was my father's body in his pool of blood that swam slowly and spread around the white sneakers I was wearing.

Bullet shells scattered all over the green floor of the kitchen.

My heart rate went off the normal and my ears were instantly clouded with a certain screech noise.

I couldn't hold it any longer and let my scream at the highest possible pitch. "Papà! "

..

..

..

"Papà!" I screamed out of my daydream with beads of sweat scattered all over my spotless face and my heart pounded without control.

I heard indistinctive chatters from various directions and turned my head 90 degrees to see the employees of the company whispering and laughing among themselves while stealing glances at me.

They soon returned to concentrating on the computer screen in front of them and I wiped the sweat from my forehead with a deep sigh.

How the fvck did I fall asleep?

I was here for an interview with the manager of Auro Consolidated; the big tech company in the city for the vacant seat of a software developer in the company.

"Damn!" Escaped my lips and I rest my back on the waiting chair to see some of the tech workers still staring and giggling.

Somehow, a random lady screaming 'Papà' sounded funny to them.

I grit my teeth and with a long face, cursed internally 'Fvcking peasants!'

Maybe they'll respect me when I get this job. Only--

I was distracted by the voice of a woman and turned to see Mrs. Grey approaching in her black cropped tuxedo blazer and the noise made by her classy stilettos heels announced her arrival.

Mrs. Grey was the secretary at the front desk who asked me to sit and wait while she informed the manager of my presence in the building.

Minutes passed and Mrs. Grey never showed up until my mind drift into a daydream.

"Miss Sofia, right?" She demanded as she approached with a small laptop in her hand.

I nodded intelligently and rose quickly to my feet saying, "That's right. I'm Sofia. " I wiped my face with my palm and swallowed the saliva in her mouth.

Mrs. Grey came to a halt in front of him and with a long face announced, "I'm um sorry, Miss Sofia, my manager picked someone else already. The seat is now occupied and your service would no longer be required"

The sentence she made stung my head like an angry Borneo carpenter bee and I tried to keep myself calm by shaking my head.

I have been stung by that specie years ago and it hurts like hell.

I would kill to avoid feeling that pain ever again.

"Y-you Me--mean.." My voice cracked. I wasn't sure what to say.

"We have your contact and will mail you if there's ever a vacant spot in the company. Please exit the building ma'am"

My head boiled and the rage I was trying to contain was slowly let out. "Don't fvcking call me ma'am, Is this because I have no college degree? Huh?"

"I can do this job better than anyone of you here, all I need is an opportunity to prove myself. Just give me the fvcking computer and I'll show you my superpowers"

My breathing rate was gradually increasing.

Mrs. Grey pinched the roof of her nose and raised her face to me with a narrow look. "You need a college degree, ma'am, that's right but, the vacant seat is taken"

She was trying to be polite but I could see the truth in her eyes.

The company will never hire someone without a college degree.

I rubbed my forehead and decided to be calm with Mrs. Grey who wasn't harsh at me, unlike the former companies.

"Alright, I'll leave" I strolled towards the exit and paused mid-way.

The crazy side of me would never let me walk away just like that.

They needed to know how pissed I was at the fact that I wasn't considered for the job.

Turning slowly to the employees who were once again giggling at me with their hands over their mouths.

I guess they knew I was trying to get a job without a certificate.

"Fvck y'all... Okay?" I said with a loud voice and tightened my middle finger at them, keeping my tears trapped inside my emerald green eyes.

"I have been on the computer screen for a fvcking decade and you won't hire me because of a fvcking piece of paper. You know what? One day, y'all will see me at the top and will regret this day because I'll torment you with it. Once again, fvck you and your assh0le company, you create shitty buggy software by the way "

The stream of hot tears was eventually let out to dribble down my cheeks and I raced out of the building.

I could still hear their uncontrolled laughter ringing in my head and had no idea how far I'd run until I came to a stop at the sidewalk of an unknown street.

My heart and breathing rate were uncontrolled and my eyes, well, puffy with a load of tears.

The third tech company to have rejected me in just a day because I had no degree on paper.

They couldn't even try to see what I could do and my potential.

What lazy 21-year-old lady would have zero degrees in her name?

That was me, Sofia Dante.

Actually, my real name is Sofia Di Marco and I'm not fvcking lazy.

I ran into the United States after the gruesome murder of my father in Naples city of Italy and have been in hiding for 10 years.

My teenage life was wasted in isolation.

My father was Italian and my mother; was a Native American from South Dakota.

She died of a brain tumour when I was three.

I was a replica of her and looked nothing like my father.

The fair skin, the strawberry blonde hair, the green eyes, the accent and almost everything.

I'm pretty sure Papá was jealous even if he doesn't spit it out.

I engaged myself during that period in coding with the system I had and that was the only activity that kept me sane.

Only if Papá hadn't died of an assassination; an event that changed my entire life and a story for another day.

Right now, I had to keep my head straight on repelling suicidal thoughts that would eventually creep in.

They always try to creep in.

I opened my purse and glanced at my last 5-dollar note inside, staring back at me in disgust.

That is exactly how much I had left to survive before I fade away.

If I couldn't get tech jobs, then I could try grabbing the per-time job of a waitress, butler, or even stripper.

Nay, I wasn't sure of stripping but typically anything to survive this cruel world.

I couldn't even think about flagging a taxi to drive me home.

"Think about something, Sofia" I mumbled to myself when my phone buzzed loudly inside my purse.

In shock, I quickly pulled out the device to see it was a call from an unknown ID.

I was shocked because I'd never given my digits to anyone, ever, yet someone tries a random number and it happens to match mine.

Could that be it?

There was only one way to find out, I took the call and almost immediately, a husk voice sounded from the other end.

"Am I speaking with Sofia Dante, the professional therapist on um On-help.."