Accursed Love

Third Person's P.O.V The smell of faint rain on the warm cement of the bustling city, the birds flying away from the dangers of getting wet, and people that were too busy with calls and emails to even care about the droplets of rain falling on them - their hair, their shoulders, their suitcases - they were too preoccupied. The scenery before Autumn made her finally acknowledge that she was in the big city where country people's come true. Or so they thought. The overwhelming pressure forming inside Autumn's stomach made her sniffle. She was unsure if she could get by the day without shaking or irrevocably saying something that would make her look like an i***t. She was scared, but she needed work. She looked left and right, feeling somewhat nostalgic - as if she had been there before. Deja vu? She thought to herself. But there was no time to dilly-dally. She shook her head and went straight through the crowd, going against the wave and wave of people going in the direction that she wasn't going. She sucked in cold air, trying to pass through the small openings between people. She was small, too small for that crowd, but she was determined to cross the street no matter what. "Are you alright?" she huffed out the air that she sucked in earlier, trying to look at the person that was trying to help her. She was astounded at the person that was in front of her. Flawless skin, pearly white teeth and blond hair. It was her first time seeing a person that beautiful. Samantha's plump body was accented by her corporate uniform. Autumn felt small, felt like she was an inconvenience in front of someone so beautiful. "Y-yes, sorry, thank you." Autumn, who only noticed Samantha's hand after finally coming back to her senses, took Samantha's hand and stood up straight. The air between them wasn't as tight as Autumn had initially thought. Samantha was friendly, smiley even, and had an ambiance around her that just screamed 'comfy'. For the first time, Autumn didn't feel like she was being judged for being a country girl. Autumn reciprocated the friendliness and extended her hand for Samantha to shake. "My name's Autumn. Nice to meet you." "Samantha. So, no last names?" they both giggled and shrugged, not really paying attention to their last names. They thought that they weren't going to see each other again, so they left it at that. "My last name isn't so special. Oh!" Autumn started sprinting towards the direction of her work building, waving to Samantha. "Sorry! I'm late! I hope we see each other again!" "Careful!" the encounter had left Samantha with a smile. People weren't surprised to see someone running, as if it was a daily happening. The droplets are now becoming more and more prominent and persistent, adding more volume to every single one. Nothing was going to make Autumn stop now. She ground her teeth as she sprinted, slowly starting to sweat, especially on the side of her forehead. Will I make it? Crap. She thought to herself. Something was building inside her. She can't explain it, but as if the world and her gut were telling her two different things at the same time - which were to go and to not. But she needed money. No matter what was going on, she was going through with her work. She managed to get inside the building with the help of her ID. Her ID gave her access to elevators, and she didn't have to push any button on which floor she was assigned to. She was confused at first, but she didn't see any buttons in the elevator, so she let the machine do its work. The lighting inside the building was sublime. She could tell how much, or just generally, they spent on the building itself. She saw computers beautifully aligned in a non-suffocating manner. It wasn't an ordinary office where everyone was lined up like sardines. The building wasn't monochrome. It had a touch of gold and ruby. Is this work or a hotel? Am I in the wrong building? She couldn't help but raise the question. She looked around, taking a few steps inside the magnificent walls. Everyone was satisfied with the environment. There were no bags under the staff's eyes, and they all looked fresh, sipping coffee and laughing with some other co-workers. Just as she was taking in the not-so-normal office before her, the elevator dinged. "Hey, you're that girl from earlier." Autumn turned around to see whose familiar voice that was. "You work here?" Autumn asked, still bewildered. She forced herself to talk, not wanting to sound rude by not responding even though the cat's got her tongue. "Yes, I do." Samantha beamed and led the way to her table. "You must be the new staff then. Isn't this like a string of fate bringing us closer together? Your desk is there, just two desks before mine from the right." Autumn checked and saw that her desk was already free and decorative. There was already a blank picture frame, a stack of colored sticky notes. It wasn't like what she had expected from a company. She thought that she was going to be a corporate slave, like the people told her it would be. "I know what you're feeling, and trust me, I too was surprised when I came here. I used to work at a company that was so toxic, so I quit." Samantha sighed, relief came out of her mouth and turned to Autumn. "This is real?" Samantha nodded. "Each floor of this building has its own coffee area, rest area and printing area. The company makes sure that we don't have to go to other floors just to print and whatnot." "Is that why we don't have to push a button on the elevator?" Samantha flicked her thumb and index finger. "Yes, that's right. But we don't really know what's on the other floors though, since we're only limited to this floor." Autumn nodded, taking in information as she adjusted her desk to make it look a little bit 'hers'. "Are there any pro and cons?" "Hm, the floor limit, a con, obviously, but other than that? Nothing. We're not oppressed here. We're allowed to take days off too, as long as you send that two-weeks notice. We have great pay here, great management, and the company looks at your overall performance directly from your computer and not from the manager's word of mouth." The whole setting of the company was unsettling for Autumn, so she had to ask. "I'm sorry, this is a weird question, but how long have you been working here?" "Almost five years. Nothing weird is happening. I know it's skeptical, but that's just how it is." Samantha shrugged. "No, you're right. I'm just too paranoid, I guess. Must be what my people have been telling me that's making me weird and all." "Psh, you're fine. Let's talk a bit later too. The CEO always makes sure that everyone's settled in each floor before proceeding to his office." Weird. Autumn thought to herself, but ever since she came inside the office, everything was nothing but weird. She just had to take precaution and let the waves guide her to wherever she was going. Samantha waved farewell for the time being and sat at her desk. Autumn breathed in and out. Once the elevator opened, the office became quiet. No. Not people going to work kind of quiet, but just quiet and not doing anything. Her heart began thumping really fast. She was unsure of what to do. She wanted to look at the CEO, but she sat frozen on her chair until a low voice spoke. "Welcome to Daylight Corporation."