Undesired Feelings

“You should know that I’m not that kind of person. You of all people should know that, but I don’t think that I can choose you over a business that I’ve poured my heart and soul into for so many years already.” She said in a dejected tone of voice as she had a hard time firing her employee. 

“I’m sorry Annika, but it was either you or my business, and I choose my business because this is something I worked hard to build for years on end. This is something that I put effort and sacrifices to get to where I am right now, I won’t let anyone ruin it because of a lawsuit that I could potentially face. Nope, I am not having that right now, I’d rather fire you on the spot, it may seem harsh but this is reality. Sometimes, it’ll hit you right in the face, but most of the time, it’ll knock you down on the cold hard floor and make you realize that the entire world is always against you and you will have to fight back and defend yourself just to make sure that you would survive out here.” Nikki thought to herself as she felt like she couldn’t do anything else for her employee even fully knowing of her situation, firing her was a decision that Nikki herself didn’t like but felt like she had no other choice but to just obey their agreement in order to not get a lawsuit from the man earlier. 

Annika had no other choice but to just accept her boss’ order as she felt betrayed, she had a feeling that she would be jobless after the scandal earlier. “Okay, thank you anyway for giving me a job…” She said in a dejected tone of voice as she walked out of there as fast as she could. 

While the two were talking, everyone else was still doing their jobs. But all of them were staring at Annika and Nikki as they talked, they all knew that something bad was going to happen because of the scandal earlier. Every single one of them knew that when something bad happens outside, the person who caused it would be the one to blame a hundred percent even if they were in the right just for Nikki to avoid a lawsuit which he always had a good chance of dodging as long as everyone just does as they’re told. 

“I pity her, she’s new here but she’s already getting fired… Working in a place like this isn’t exactly great for women because we are usually treated like an object, especially perverted men like him earlier. I saw what happened with my own two eyes, but if we were to stand in court. I wouldn’t be counted as a witness because I have an affiliation with both Ms. Nikki and Annika…” A female employee said as she walked right passed them while Nikki just looked flustered while talking to Annika. 

“This is just how it has to be, I don’t think that we can do anything more as her colleagues. We have to sacrifice someone in order to survive when it is needed, reality is often disappointing.” Another one of Ms. Nikki's employees thought as he passed them while the two were talking. 

“Anyway, thank you again for everything you did for me even though I only worked here for a short time…” Annika said to herself while she was walking out of there and avoiding the crowd in front of her.

The moment she got outside, she felt hopeless. She didn’t know where she should go and where she would look for another job. She felt powerless the moment she got fired from her job. 

This was a strange feeling for her since she always felt confident about everything she does, especially when working for someone else. She would always go back up no matter what anyone throws at her, but this time. She felt different, she wasn’t feeling like she had the courage to go back up.

Then, as she walked across town looking for another job as soon as possible. She noticed the envelope from earlier, in her coat pocket. “Oh… I forgot this was here, honestly, I forgot all about him after all of that commotion from earlier… Should I?” She thought to herself as she was tempted to call the number on the card. 

“No! You can do everything by yourself, just like how you’ve always been doing in the first place, I don’t need someone else helping me along the way because… You know what? Fine, I forgot this isn’t about me, it’s about my sister. I want to get her out of jail as soon as possible, and we can’t exactly do that without cash…” She thought to herself as she went somewhere far away from the bar to make sure that no one she knows or have any close ties with will hear what she is going to do.

As she was walking away, she was wary of the risks that she had to take for the sake of her sister’s freedom. “Okay, okay… You can do this Annika… Just call him up, ask what you need to do, ask how much he’s going to pay… But, you already know he’s rich Annika, come on, he literally gave you a tip that’s almost worth a hundred times my salary… I never held something that much on one hand before. I’m sure that He’ll pay me enough to make sure that I get to pay for the fees of my sister’s lawyer.” She thought to herself as she finally dialed the number on the card. 

It rang for a couple of seconds until someone finally answered. “H-Hello?” She said in a nervous tone of voice. 

A man on the other line started to giggle. “I knew you would pull through, so? Have you thought about it?” The man said in an enthusiastic tone of voice. 

“W-Wait… How did you know it was me? Are you stalking me or something?” She asked.

“How could I forget that voice of yours? And as far as I know, you're the only one that has access to this number because that card I gave you was one of its kind, there’s nothing else like it in the world.” He was filled with enthusiasm.

“Okay, let’s just get to the point. I already know what you want, but I’m not entirely sure that you’re doing this just to get your mother off of your back. There's something else going on and I’m going to find out about it sooner or later, but for now I want to focus on the problem at hand. How are we going to agree and what are the terms of the relationship that you want?” She hastily said to him in a serious tone of voice as if she was a lawyer or something. 

This made him chuckle and felt a little intrigued. “Okay, now you really got my attention. I don’t really have any terms or conditions, as long as you can follow my orders, not too specific of course… Then we would be fine, how about you? I’m sure you have a lot of things going through your mind at the moment, do you mind sharing them?” He said in an enthusiastic tone of voice. 

“Okay, these are my terms if we want this to happen. First, I want our little deal to be a substantive relationship, nothing else. Number two, you cannot restrict my behavior to any degree whatsoever, I will act as I see fit. Number three, even if our relationship is pretend, you have to give me the most basic respect. That’s all, if you can’t agree to any of them, then I’ll consider our little deal, off.” She said in a serious tone of voice. 

He chuckled again as he was smiling on the other side of the line. “You really are intriguing huh? And yes, I agree with everything you just said. I knew I was right when I told you that you really were different from every other girl I’ve seen and met. Now, as my first request to you. Will you go out with me on a date? I just want to show my mother that I am in a relationship so that she’ll really believe that I already am in a relationship.” He said with enthusiasm in his voice. 

This shocked Annika as she wasn’t expecting him and her to have their first date so soon. “Okay, okay… Fine, just text me the details or something.” She reluctantly said. 

“Oh, and wear your best dress!” He said in an excited tone of voice before he hung up the phone. 

Annika let out a deep sigh the moment their phone call ended. “Oh Annika, what did you get yourself into this time?” She thought to herself as she finally left the bar for good.