Her Travails

Betrayal! meeting him.

Why! Why! She was betrayed by her own best friend. She didn't expect to see Katherine with her ex-husband, not after everything he did to her. Katherine knew about it, she knew the sufferings and pain she went through in that bastard's hands, so why? And how could she be with him in the same office pressing her lips together on the couch! Nothing hurts more than the one who you feel is by your side turning against you. That was the feeling Erika had right now. She decided to stay hidden from the both of them since Thomas couldn't recognize her. She doubted Katherine could also figure it out, she wanted to hate Katherine, but she couldn't bring herself to, she was her only friend, she wanted to know the truth surrounding the relationship between the two but couldn't bring herself to ask.

She was called by the head of staff who assigned her to her duty. She wanted to plead with him and ask for another office to clean, but she couldn't risk it, so she took her cleaning equipment and tools to the CEO's office.

Contemplating how to react to seeing Katherine, she decides to portray calmness and solitude upon seeing her. She gets to the office and knocks on the door waiting for their permission to come in. She stands outside for twenty minutes before she's told to come in.

" Good morning ma'am, Good morning sir. I'm here for cleanup". She greeted him calmly, but then she didn't care to know what happened. She started cleaning up the room. She bumps into Katherine, who tells her to stop. "Honey, she looks like Allison, don't you think," she asked Thomas while looking at her face. Ambled at the mention of Allison, Thomas walks up to her and says, "Don't you dare say that witch's name near me ever again, she's dead and that's it". He warned her, but not without making sure she understood him carefully.

Twitching in fear, she asks me to continue and goes to calm her darling husband, disgusted. Erika quickly cleaned the office carefully to avoid getting called back by her boss and his wife. When she was done, she left and went to the restroom. She needed water and air to soothe her boiling temper. While in the restroom, she sat on the toilet seat in thought what could have made Katherine turn against her, she was her most trusted friend, and she took her as a sister so what happened? She questioned herself. She couldn't just think of the reason why Katherine did what she did.

With time, she got used to seeing her around the CEO's office, but never talked to her to avoid exposing herself to her. When asked questions, she nodded or answered specifically. With her forbearance, she was able to keep working, although her pay was reduced by the head staff because the CEO ordered her manager to get some funds, not fully paying all she owed. Although she had a job, she had accrued more debts than before she had a job and that was because her boss refused to pay her full salary after she humiliated him, to feed, and other herself, she bought things on credit promising to pay after she gets paid, but months have gone by, and she has only received $150 as her salary, her homeowner still on her neck but reduced because he sees her trying to pay him his rent.

Tragedy struck on a fateful Tuesday morning. She was in a hurry and forgot to knock, thereby walking in on her boss and his wife. They were angry at her, but she pleaded with him to forgive her. To which he didn't reply, as she kept sweeping her hand. He hit a bronze plaque, and it fell shattering on the floor, bending to pack the now useless plaque. Her button came undone. Thereby exposing her breast from her bra. "I am really sorry sir, it wasn't my intention to break it sir". She looked at Katherine, who screamed at her" Would you close those things you call breasts? How dare you, you are trying to seduce my husband. He sides with her and tells her that Erika has always been coming to his room under the pretext of being a cleaner trying to seduce him. Hearing this, Katherine walks up to Erika, slapping her, sending the woman to a side chair. She walks to beat her but is stopped by Thomas. This was his plan and now he had succeeded.

" You're fired, you filthy b***h, leave my office now!" He thundered, "please sir, I'm begging you don't fire me, I have nowhere to go to find a job." Thomas stood by his decision and asked Erika to leave his office immediately. Katherine decided to say "no babe let her stay", she said, looking at Erika with disdain in her eyes. She continued. "Who do you think you are, you piece of s**t?" She said she was determined to humiliate her no matter what, "you will grovel at my feet and beg for your job and then maybe I will have a change of heart and beg my husband to give you a second chance" she said spitefully. Erika, having no other choice than to do what she had been asked to do, thinking of her daughter and the debts she had piled up, she went down begging and pleading for a second chance, but then Katherine and Thomas burst into an erotic laughter as they watched her, "No, my decision is final, leave my office" he said and threw a $100 note on the floor. "That's your salary now get out, filth" he bellowed.

Erika, knowing the decision was final, stood up and thanked her boss and left the office. She went to the staff head's office to plead with him so he could beg on her behalf, but he didn't let her step into his office because of the order from the CEO. She walked dejectedly to the entrance of the hotel and with one final look she walked out of the hotel.

As she walked down the road, she was unsure of her destination. She thought about her life. She felt she must have committed a big sin in her old life to be punished this way. She put her hands in her pockets and felt something. Bringing it out, she saw it was the $100 thrown at her in the office. She squeezed it tightly in her fists and kept walking till she got to a bar. She didn't have much money, but she wanted to drink her heart out. She was tired of suffering. Her head hurt a lot. The only solution was to drink away her sorrows and pain. She entered the bar and walked straight to the barista. "Can I get a heavy shot of vodka? My head aches please" she said to him. He looked at her from up to down and smirked. Nodding, he did what she asked, "Here you go ma'am," he said as he handed it to her, taking it from his hand and gulping it all at once, she asked for another shot. She roughly needed it. Before she knew it, she had taken five shots of vodka,

She asked for the bill, knowing she didn't have much money. "Ma'am, your bill is $2500 and 10 cents" he said to her as he dropped the tab on the slab facing her. She panicked. She didn't know what to say. The barista, noticing her countenance, said "It's on the house. Ma'am, thank you for coming to our bar." She thanked him and walked out of the bar, but then she was stopped by her homeowner and his boys. He was tired of giving her more time. He ordered his boys to take her with them, at least working for him would reduce the debts she owed him. She went down on her knees pleading with him to give her more time, but he was adamant about her pleas, as they laid hands on her to drag her.

A tall strong man with jet black hair came up to them, stopping them from going ahead. "How can you, as men, stoop so low as to harass a woman at this time of the night in public," he asked them, looking down at Erika, who was in tears. His heart was torn. What did she do to them for her to be treated this way? He thought, "Young man, what do you know? Stay out of it if you know nothing", her homeowner addressed him coldly, "I would like to know what she did to get this kind of treatment," he said to the man wanting to help her at all cost, "Fine! She owes me rent for more than 3 months plus light and water bills and I have got nothing more but excuses and pleas from her!",

"That doesn't mean you can harass her on the road. How much is everything" he asked the homeowner angrily, "$10000," the homeowner replied him.

"Okay, I'll pay you more than that if you let this woman go" he said to him. Still angry, the homeowner agreed, and the man paid him $20000. The homeowner, overjoyed, thanked him and left with his boys.

The man knelt down in front of Erika and said to her "I'm Jordan Scott, don't be scared, please, I'm of no harm", he assured her calmly. Erika looked at him. What did he want from her? Why did he settle her bills? Did he want to take her as a slave the same way Thomas did? What did he want ? She looked at him trying to stand up. She was dizzy, she fell back on her head, hitting the tarred road. She felt someone carrying her. Trying to see who it was, she blacked out..........