Chapter 5

Melissa snapped back to reality, her eyes met with the elevator that was almost coming to a close. She rushed in there and was glad that the door came to a close before anyone else could join them.

There were about six other people in the elevator, two were on their phones while the others didn’t seem to have Melissa’s time. She was about to press the 4th-floor button when she realized that someone had pressed it.

As the elevator started going up, Mel tried to catch her breath, not believing all that just happened. Her stained blazer was clung to her left arm while she held her handbag on her right hand.

Her head was a mess already and all she wanted to do was to crawl into her bed and put her thoughts together. She was already late for her interview and wasn’t in the best frame of mind. In as much as Mel would do anything to be in her house right now, she knew she had to attempt the interview.

The elevator came to a stop on the fourth floor. Three other people got out before she finally stepped out.

The fourth floor was like a separate organization but it was still Rolas Incorporation and three main departments occupied the fourth floor.

Melissa took slow steps towards the reception area but the lady beat her to it before she could say anything.

“Are you here for the interview Ma’am?”

“Yes, please.”

“Straight down, the second door by he left.”

“Thank you,” Melissa mumbled after which she made her way to the place described. She came face to face with a glass-walled conference room. She could see quite a number of people sitting there. Mel was trying to catch her breath before making her way in when she saw a lady in her thirties approach her at the entrance while holding a tab.

She took a glance at her tab, then at her Mel.

“Melissa Rue Wilson?”

Mel nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”

“You are next for the interview. Please come with me.”

“Okay,” Melissa mumbled, following her. She was glad that she didn’t have to go into the conference room as everyone looked so intimidating through the glass door. And even though her day was a total mess already, Melissa was glad that she had the opportunity to attend the interview even though she knew that she had slim chances of performing well.

............

Three Hours Later.

Emily had smiles all over her face with her attention on the TV. Her eyes darted to the entrance of the house when she saw the door flung open. The smile slowly faded when she took in her younger sister’s appearance.

“You look weird! How did the interview go?” She asked, sitting up from her sleeping position.

“Terrible,” Melissa answered, making her way in.

“Why? I’m sure you prepared well. Is the interviewer an asshole?”

“Tell me so I will go kick his ass!”

If there was anything, Emily knew her sister to be a very dedicated individual and she could bet that Mel stayed up all night preparing for the interview. So if there was a problem, she could swear that it was definitely not from her sister.

“No, no, it was me. My mind went blank.”

“What do you mean?”

“I need something strong.” Melissa dropped her handbag on the arm of the couch and made her way into the kitchen with her stained blazer. She dumped the blazer into the washing machine, then went in search of the strongest drink they had in the fridge. Shutting the door of the fridge, Melissa came face to face with Emily.

She sighed. “I bumped into him.”

“Who?” Emily frowned.

“I don’t know. I don’t know his name. The stranger.”

“What stranger? Of course, we just moved to this city, everyone is a stranger.”

“The one we met at the club.”

Melissa sighed deeply when she saw from Emily’s expression that Emily wasn’t understanding her.

“The one you guys dared me to give a lap dance years ago!!!”

Emily’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit!!! Ryan’s father. You should have said that in the beginning.”

Melissa rolled her eyes at her elder sister. “Please don’t call him that.” She turned her attention to the canned drink in her hand, opened it, and took a satisfying gulp.

“But he is Ryan’s father. Saying that would have given me a faster understanding of what you meant.”

“Please do not call him my son’s father.” She said with pleading eyes.

“Why? Isn’t he biologically?”

“That’s not enough. Ryan has only one parent and that is me, okay?”

“Okay, let’s drop that for now. How the hell did you even come across him? Where did you guys meet and are you sure he is the one? We just moved here and it could be another person you know.”

Melissa let out a loud sigh, resting her back against the kitchen counter.

“I am not good at recalling things or recognizing people that I saw just once but I couldn’t be more right about that stranger.

“I can recognize his voice even while asleep and his face that has given me sleepless nights for years.”

“I was late for the interview and just when I was approaching the elevator, some freak ran into me and poured coffee on me. Thankfully, only my blazer got stained. And that was when his voice came through. He was probably related to the person who poured coffee on me because he was asking her what was going on.”

“I thought I heard wrong; thought I was probably dreaming until I turned around and looked at him. It was him. The bastard said that we spent the night together and he disappeared before I woke up.”

“Watch your words, sis. He’s Ryan’s Dad.”

“I don’t care if you are my elder sister. I am going to strangle you if you mention that once more.” She glared at Emily who scoffed.

“But what was he doing there? He works there?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know why life is just so against me. I mean, of course, I had more than enough reasons to perform terribly at the interview. It would have been better if I saw him after the interview.”

“Today was terrible and I made a fool of myself before the interviewer.”

“I had no idea if he came for an interview too or if he was a staff there. I can’t even recall which outfit he had on. I recalled almost having a heart attack because it was as though I was staring at an older version of Ryan.”

“I’m so sorry this had to happen.”

“Yeah, what a very terrible day.”

“Did you guys at least talk?”

“Come on, Emily. I literally just explained to you that I was late for the interview and you expected me to stay back and talk to him?”

“No, that is not what I mean. Did you try looking for him or reaching out to him after the interview?”

“Why in the hell would I do that?”

“Because you have a history with him.”

“Sorry if I gave you the wrong perception but I want nothing to do with him.”

“You are joking, right?”

“Of course not! He fucking left me at the hotel as if what we had meant nothing!”

“You need to grow up, babes. It was just for fun, nothing deep.”

“Yeah, you are not going to understand, because it wasn’t you who got screwed. We had more than a good time and he left just like that without leaving a single note.”

“He left you some money with the receptionist which was more than enough for a cab and painkillers.”

“Yeah, perfectly making me feel like a slut and I am glad I left the money with the receptionist.”

“So you want nothing to ever do with him?”

“Exactly! I don’t know his name, I don’t know what he does or where he hails from and I hope it forever remains that way.”

“Don’t you think you are being too harsh? You may be able to tell lies to Ryan for now but one day he is going to want to know who his true father is.”

“And I am going to tell him the truth. He left!!!!”

Emily sighed, massaging her temple. It was a norm for Melissa not to listen to anybody when she was pissed.

“I will finish this up.” She gestured at her drink, “Then go have a long nap, after which I will start searching for other jobs because I am sure I performed woefully. I literally lost a job that would have changed my life forever. Thanks to that gold-digging stranger.” Melissa stormed out of the kitchen with Emily staring in disbelief. She had never seen her younger sister this angry. Not even when she discovered that she was pregnant from the one-night stand.