Sunday had come around a lot faster than he had expected. Morgan was staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, content about how he was feeling today. He had been diagnosed with moderate clinical depression and subsequently placed on psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. The psychotherapy involved a one hour session with a psychologist every other day, except weekends and the pharmacotherapy involved a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) and a Benzodiazepine. The Benzodiazepine countered one of the major side effects of the SSRI that had plagued even before he was on the drug; insomnia. The irony of it all made him chuckle.
Morgan got into his car and headed in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be going for his date. He had one stop to make and more than enough time to do it. During a call two days earlier, Jackson had suggested that he should purchase a gift for her. There was no doubt that she would insist on paying for her
I wasn’t always like this.These were Morgan’s thoughts while he stared at his reflection in the mirror on the bathroom wall. The twinkle in his eye that he once held onto throughout his childhood and adolescence was nowhere to be found. If he had to be honest with himself, it had been gone long before today but he continued to look for it, everyday, in the hope that it would someday return to him. The hollow feeling seemed to grow in power, daily, consuming every ounce of life and energy from his body.
Maddison Silva was not your typical accountant. Her insatiable appetite for success had led her to be the youngest senior accountant at the Braccio Accounting Firm, the biggest accounting firm in the region. An intense desire to live life to the maximum led her to early morning workouts two to three times a week at the local gym down, dieting, attending church every Saturday, self-defence classes and reading many self help books on how to get the best out of life. The result of all this was a toned five foot eight inch frame, staunch religious belief and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. While most of her friends and colleagues were either in long term relationships or married, she had no desire for such companionship. A traumatic and abusive past relationship quickly saw th
Sangela City Regional Hospital was located on the outskirts of the city, precisely ten kilometres due west. Sitting on three hectares of land, it was the fifth largest hospital in the country and the largest in the southwest region. Founded in the early nineteen nineties by a group of local businessmen trying to make inroads into a growing private healthcare system, the hospital had steadily grown over the last two decades. Apart from an increase in the bed spaces from three hundred to just over two thousand, there were also a variety of specialist services included and thus it was one of the foremost medical centres in the country.
Morgan arrived at Pop’s diner thirty minutes past noon, taking a moment to marvel at the building’s longevity rather than its feats of architectural brilliance. The diner was opened a decade before the hospital and very little had changed over the years, at least that was what he was told by many of the senior nurses and other staff members at the hospital. While many of the other smaller businesses around it had been bought up by well funded corporate entities, the little restaurant continued to stand in defiance as the last remaining symbol of a bygone era. The brown, wooden logs and gray stone combination gave the exterior a distinct rustic look. Simple and earthly colours of gray, brown and taupe decked the interior, providing unpretentious and organic warmth to
Though it had been a long and arduous day, largely due to several creditors taking action against one of the firm’s biggest clients, Maddison’s colleagues wanted to grab a few drinks after work to celebrate their successful triumph over this accounting emergency. She took a rain check instead and headed home. Driving along at a steady pace, her thoughts started to drift. Maddison was part of the team that initially handled the books and though she was very good at what she did, she was not perfect. Her superiors informed her that only the most seasoned professional would have spotted the small errors that she missed which did little to comfort her.
“Crap!”The week had flown by and though it was usually a good thing, Morgan was less than happy on this particular occasion. Much of his week was spent on getting his affairs in order for the trip; a little extra shopping and packing an adequate amount of clothing that were at the very least presentable, getting a much needed haircut and shave, arranging his travel documents, going through the programme for the conference and making sure his apartment was spotless before he left. On the day of his departure, Morgan begrudgingly loaded his luggage into his hatchb
She opted to drive all the way rather than fly, adding as much as thirteen to fifteen hours to her journey. Maddison was positive she could cut it down to ten if she put the pedal to the metal. The SUV she hired for the trip was certainly capable of doing the job. Her day-to-day vehicle, a convertible, was in the garage undergoing servicing and would only be ready by Sunday for pickup. Embrace the journey, not just the destination.
The flight was relatively unremarkable, with the exception of the last twenty minutes when the aircraft encountered some turbulence. It was not enough to wake up from his nap but when combined with the grumbling of concerned passengers in the cabin, he silently protested by uttering a few curse words in a low voice when he awoke from his slumber. The pilot shortly made an announcement reassuring his passengers that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, nevertheless, there were still a few pockets of dissatisfaction. Twelve minutes later, the large airliner began the banking sequence before initiating its descent. The smooth landing was greeted with audible sighs of relief from a few sections of the cabin.