His Secretary, His Life

Chapter 2

And then, just as their fingers brushed against my skin, I woke up, my heart pounding, I was drenched in sweat and gasping for air. The room was flooded with the soft glow of the rising sun, but the sense of dread remains in my head like a shadow, refusing to release its hold on me. It wasn't just a dream, it was seer's doing.

Even as the rest of sleep fade away, the sense of unease and fear that remains in the air refuses to vanish from my mind. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sit up in bed and try to shake off the fear that clings to me.

I reached for my bedside clock and checked the time, "Time to prepare for work", i said and as I swing my legs over the side of the bed and plant my feet on the floor, blurry flashes of my nightmare comes back to my brain and I can't shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong.

As I make my way to the kitchen, the sense of danger only grows stronger, like a storm in my heart. I pour myself a cup of coffee while checking the files I brought home yesterday, hoping that the warmth of the coffee and concentrating on work will chase away the fear that seems to have settled in my body.

But even as I take a sip, the feeling of dread refuses to abate, lingering like a dark cloud overhead. After drinking my coffee and I've dressed completely for work, I picked up my phone to check my unread messages and stepped out into the street and made my way to the restaurant where I work.

A black cat crosses my path, its eyes gleaming, I freeze in place, my heart skipping a beat as a shiver runs down my bones. They say that black cats are harbingers of misfortune, and as I watch the cat disappear into the shadows, I can't help but wonder if its appearance is a sign of things to come.

I waited for it to move out of my way and continued to walk to the bus stop. After all, it's just a cat, right? Just my mind playing games on me and maybe the effects of my nightmare.

I walked gladly to my place of work, because today is Salary day, which means I would be able to give Seer some money. As I approach the restaurant, where I've been working for over five years, DailyEats, my heart sinks at the sight that greets me. Someone else is sitting at my desk, their belongings strewn haphazardly across the surface.

Confusion swirls in my mind as I approach, my footsteps echoing hollowly in the hallway. It was not Joy, my new assistant neither any of the restaurant's waiters nor my boss or coworkers, it's an unfamiliar face.

"Excuse me," I say, trying to keep the uncertainty and confusion from creeping into and showing up in my voice. "I believe you're sitting in my seat."

The person looks up, their expression unreadable and uninviting as they take in my appearance from my head to my toe.

"Your seat?" they ask, their voice filled with grate and faked surprised look. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was reserved."

I open my mouth to respond, but before I can utter a word, my boss Israel White, appears beside me, a grim and unpleasant expression on his face. Israel is known by everyone to be very friendly and jovial, but his expression today means that something is wrong

"Sonia," he says, his voice heavy with regret. "We need to talk."

I feel a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach as my boss leads me into his office, the weight of impending doom pressing down on me like a leaden blanket. Out of curiosity to understand what is happening, I dragged my shaking legs and heels after Israel.

I took a seat across from him, he took a letter out of his left drawer and stretched it out to me, my hands trembling as I took the letter from his hand.

"What's this?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

"It's your termination notice," he replies, his words like a dagger to the heart. "I'm sorry, Sonia. But you've been laid off and replaced, we can no longer work with a betrayer."

Immediately I heard him say that, color drained out of my face and I stared at the letter in disbelief, the words blurring together on the page, and tears filled up my eyes. "But why?" I ask, my wobbly and brittle voice cracking with emotion. "What did I do wrong?"

My boss sighs and runs a hand through his hair, his expression didn't show any emotion or pity on me. "It's not about what you did wrong," he says deadly and regrettably. "It's about what you did that's been reported to me. Sonia, we got information from a very reliable source and you were accused of leaking the restaurant's special recipe for our upcoming dish to Wine and Vibes, where your ex boyfriend works. And I'm very sorry but until you can prove your innocence, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

My heart sinks as his words sink in.

How could this be happening?

How could I be accused of something I didn't do?

"Please, you have to believe me," I pleaded, tears welling up in my eyes. "I would never betray your trust and this Restaurant like that, I would never do that"

He sighs heavily, his expression dead and as he looks at me with a mixture of pity and resignation. "I'm sorry, Sonia, but the evidence against you is overwhelming, we got a screenshot of text messages between you and your ex boyfriend" he says, his voice tinged with regret. "We have no choice but to let you go."

I feel like the ground has been pulled out from beneath me, my world spinning out of control as I struggle to comprehend what's happening. "But I'm innocent, I'm no longer in touch with him, we no longer talk or text" I insist, my voice rising with desperation. "You have to believe me!"

My boss shakes his head, his gaze unwavering. "I'm sorry, Sonia, but there's nothing more to be done," he says gently. "Your salary for the just concluded month will be sent to you soon. We no longer need your services for the new month and for life."

His words send my new situation straight to my brain and I feel a lump form in my throat as the reality of my situation sinks in. I've lost my job, my livelihood, all because of a false accusation that I have no way of proving wrong and I've a debt to pay. Tears roll down my cheeks as I realize that my life has been turned upside down in an instant.

As I realized that there was no other way to prove my innocence, I stood up from the chair and turned to leave, my heart heavy with hopelessness that I could survive my new situation. I can't help but wonder what I'll do now.

How will I pay my bills, put food on the table, keep a roof over my head?

With a heavy and broken heart, I make my way out of the office, the weight of the world pressing down on my shoulders like a burden too heavy to bear.

I stopped in the middle of the road and stared down at the letter in my hands, the truth slowly began to dawn on me.

Someone is trying to sabotage me, someone who will stop at nothing to see me fall. "Who could it be?", I asked myself

"Sonia!"