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Chapter Two
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2020-09-22 13:00:45Maddison 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 the end to that dream, at least for the foreseeable future. Life was good, really good and she had no desire to fix what was not broken. Besides, very few men were willing to tangle with a strong-willed and independent woman capable of kicking their asses.
She finished her morning run and headed towards the shower, glancing at the clock hanging on her bedroom wall. It was half past six in the morning, meaning she had two and a half hours before she was expected to be in the office. Maddison preferred to be in the office earlier than that because she was determined to outwork every single one of her colleagues, especially the men. This was not the equity and equality that true feminists had been advocating for but it was the reality of life. Men statistically earned more than women, despite doing the same job. Although Maddison did not consider herself to a feminist, she did agree with on this matter and a few others. Initially the whole idea of having to work twice as hard as any man to get the same amount of recognition and money bothered her immensely until it became something she relished. There were many things you could say about her but slacker was not one of them.
I’ll seize this day like I have done every other day before it.
Maddison dumped her sweat-stained running gear in the laundry basket and strode into the shower. She was feeling really good today, probably due the endorphins in her brain and the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
I hope that this feeling never ends.
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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.
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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
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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.
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“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
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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.
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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.
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Maddison managed to talk her way out of getting a ticket which inherently made her feel guilty because she generally kept things on the straight and narrow. A total of four stops had been made during the course of her road trip and currently, she was hurtling away from her fourth and final stop several kilometres out of the city of San Valentino. Apart from refuelling and using the facilities, she also stopped for meals. On more than one occasion, she fought off the urge to buy coffee or energy drinks to keep her going and instead relied on good old willpower to get her through. The sun was beginning to set, prompting her to lower the visor so she could maintain her visibility. She turned off the radio, letting the grunt of the V8 engine take its place. Motor vehicles were a sec
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The first day of the conference took place in the enormous and tastefully decorated lobby on the 8th floor. No fewer than 100 delegates ranging from students, healthcare practitioners, well renowned researchers and entrepreneurs had come from all over the country. Several of the attendees were students and faculty members from sister institutions outside the country. It began at nine in the morning with an opening statement by the chairperson, which lasted exactly ten minutes. This was followed by a forty minute presentation highlighting the challenges faced by t
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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
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Morgan woke up an hour earlier than the time his alarm was set to ring, which would be six in the morning. He had been tossing and turning the whole night albeit for an entirely new reason. The text he had received the previous day was from his mother and while he was always happy to receive one from his mother or father, the contents of this particular message felt like a punch to the gut. His parents would be visiting him for the first time since he moved down to Sangela City. They were schedule to fly in the following weekend.Perched on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped together, he began to evaluate the situation. The timing could not have been worse and he began to wonder what prompted them to visit. He hadn't spoken to them in just over two months and they were definitely the type to worry. The other possibility was that Jackson had briefed them on his current situation which led them to that decision. None of that mattered now. The real iss
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And the hits just keep on coming.Morgan slammed the door behind him as he returned to his apartment, barely two hours after he had left the very same place for work. His neighbours would most likely take offence with his actions but, for today, he couldn't care less. He went straight to the fridge, grabbed two bottles of Ludweiser and found a comfortable spot on the couch.Once again I'm alone with my demons. This will be a long couple of weeks.His work was not only his passion but also a welcome distraction from the tumultuous events of his life. It was a problem that he had spent months running away from, hoping against hope that it would either vanish or sort itself out. He knew for a fact that there were better and more effective ways to deal with it, one of which was forced upon him today.Morgan opened one of the bottles and took a gulp. As the cold alcoholic beverage slid down his throat to prod
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Morgan pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex. The morning in Sangela City was relatively warmer than that of San Valentino, which lay close to the ocean. After unzipping his jacket, he proceeded to unload his belongings from the vehicle. Struggling under the weight of his luggage, he made his way through the front door towards the elevator. When he reached the corridor that lead to his apartment, he slowed down at the sight of a tall, shadowy figure lurking near his apartment door and slowly pulled out his phone. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Jackson, who was more than willing to help him carry his stuff into the apartment.
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Morgan had been filled with excitement all weekend about his date with a one in a million woman. In his free time away from the conference and his colleagues, he scoured the internet for good conversation starters and sought advice from his best friend Jackson. Morgan was not the best judge of character, especially when it came to women, but he was absolutely certain about his assessment this time.Today was D-Day and all the excitement had slowly been replaced by fear and anxiety. When this happened, it was only a matter of time until his mind went into overdrive. It would
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Maddison lay in her supremely comfortable bed staring at the ceiling of her hotel room, wondering where the time went. It was still relatively dark outside so she knew her alarm, which she had set for seven in the morning, had not gone off yet. Maddison began recollecting the events of her weekend up to this point. Her Friday was spent touring the city, visiting the movie studios where she not only made some new friends but also took a few selfies which she eventually posted on her social media accounts. Later, she went shopping for some of the season’s hottest trends
