Her Travails

Getting a job

Months after she came to New York, her debts had piled up. She had unpaid and accumulated tax bills, electricity bills and owed more than the expected amount for house rent. To top it all, she didn't have a job. Looking for a job in a new city with no connections wasn't easy. She was already haggard looking enough and not everyone wanted someone looking like her in their company.

Tired and exhausted, walking down the street leading to her house, she comes in contact with the house owner,

" Erika Liam, you ungrateful b***h from the slums" he screamed at her. He was furious and in a rage. Not only was she owing him house rent, her light and water bills were piling up day by day. She couldn't dodge. She knew he had shown mercy on her, and he was tired of hearing her excuses.

She let him insult her because she truly deserved it. If only she had killed herself while she was in Mexico, she wouldn't have been in this kind of debt. Her thoughts were cut short by his quitting notice,

" By the end of this month, Erika, if I don't get my full rent plus the debts you owe me it's either you leave or I send people to take you, filthy bastard" he spat at her, entered his car and drove off, making sure the smoke from his pipes got to her.

What could she do? She was at her wits' end. There was no hope for her. She walked to her door exhausted, to meet Maya on the bed sleeping. She knew her daughter was hungry. Her last cereal had finished, and she had no money to get another. She sat on the chair crying. Her head screamed in pain from the pounding headaches, her tummy growled and tumbled out of hunger. It was too much for her to handle, she stood up to go into her kitchen to find something to eat. When her phone rang, she picked it up.

" Hello, am I speaking to Erika Liam?" The voice at the other end of the phone asked, "Yes, this is she, who am I speaking to please?" she replied wearily. "This is the hotel manager of the Emgrand company. Your application for the post. A cleaner was. We called to inform you that you are to resume work tomorrow unfailingly. Thank you, Erika, we hope to see you tomorrow", the caller said, and immediately ended the call.

Erika couldn't believe that she had just got a job, and in the last company she ever thought she would be accepted, tears of joy gushed from her eyes. She was overly happy. So she ran into the bedroom to look for suitable attire that wouldn't make her seem poor in the eyes of her co-workers.

The next morning, she dressed quickly in order not to be late, taking Maya with her, dropping her off at a day-care. When she pleaded with the owner to take her in for some hours, she hurriedly left the hotel. When she got there, she climbed upstairs and met with the manager of the staff. She knocked on the door and was told to come in.

" Good morning sir" she greeted him politely, to which he looked up at her, nodding his head, he said, "Miss Erika Liam, you're welcome to the hotel you'll be assigned to clean the CEOs office, that's by far the easiest job and has the highest pay", "so what do you say do you wish to change, or you accept?" He asks her, she doesn't think twice and immediately accepts the Job, signing the membership form she is now a cleaning staff of Emgrand group of company hotel.

She's led to the changing room where she's given her uniform and the dos and don't's of the hotel, she's discharged to do her duty.

Happy and belated to finally have a job, she hurriedly walked up the stairs to the CEO's office, stopped to knock and entered after he signaled with his hand. She greets him but he doesn't reply. She is not bothered and goes around doing her cleaning. While his back is turned to his glass windows and is on a call with someone, he turns around, almost bumping into Erika who is cleaning his table. She looks at him and stops what she is doing, frozen.

"Ooh my bad, I'm really sorry dear. I didn't mean to startle you like that, I'm very sorry" he apologized to her, but Erika was not listening. In her head she was screaming. He was the last person she wanted to see. The cause of her problems, the one that had caused her pain despite her love for him, her ex-husband, Thomas Smith, she wished for him not to recognize her and when he apologized she knew he didn't recognize her. She quickly cleaned the room and left his office, but not before he stopped her.

"What's your name?", "Are you a new worker?" He asked her. She turned her head, bowed down "my name's Erika Liam and, yes, I am a new worker." She was angry with herself for being so humble, but she knew it was part of her job.

"You have a nice body," he said, looking at her lustfully. She hated him more.

She didn't expect him to change, but she didn't think he would act this way to his staff. She shrugged it off and said "thank you sir" and quickly scurried out the room, impressed with her self-control but furious at him for looking at her that way, she knew she couldn't do anything. She decided to let it be vowing not to clean his office when he's around.

In his office, Thomas couldn't stop thinking about her. He wanted her not for anything but to toy with her body, have s*x with her, use her till he gets tired and then dispose of her. He pings his head of staff to come up, restless. He thought of Erika. He didn't notice his head of staff in his office "Mr. Smith sir", his head of staff called, jolting out of fear, he turned to his head of staff "who's the new worker assigned to clean my office?" he asked "she's the new cleaner we recruited recently sir". He replied "get me her file", he ordered him.

His head of staff immediately left to get his file, pondering why his boss wanted a cleaner's file. He hoped he hadn't messed up employing the wrong person. He panicked as his mind had different theories as to why his boss wanted her file. He found it and rushed to his boss's office, giving him the file he was asked to leave. He scurried out heaving a sigh of relief to know he wasn't in danger.

Back in the CEO's office, he kept drooling over Erika's passport photo on her application file. He was determined to have her at all costs. He was happy to see that she was single, so no- one would say anything about the affair and, to cover it up, she was his cleaner. He laughed as he came to that conclusion. He pinched his head of staff, telling him to send Erika to his office with immediate effect, to which the head of office obeyed. Immediately he sent for Erika.

" Mr. Smith sends for you, Erika, and immediately," he ordered. Erika, already knowing what the boss wanted, answers the manager and heads upstairs sluggishly. She knocks on the already opened door and waits for his signal for her to come in. He doesn't waste time and immediately calls her in. She greets him.

" Good day sir, you called for me?" She asked, waiting to know what he wanted to say to her.

"Yes, sit down pretty lady, I want to have a chat with you" he lustfully said, looking at her breasts, making it obvious.

" I'm very busy sir, and I'm sorry to go against your orders, but I have a job to attend to" she said, still calmly. It was hard to calm herself as her whole body boiled with anger and hatred towards him.

" SIT DOWN" he bellowed, knowing she wouldn't be able to fight him. She sat down, he hastily shut his door, locked it and moved to where she was seated. He tried to touch her but she moved. He tried again telling her to be still, but she got angry. He said to her, "you filth, do you find yourself so worthy that I can't touch you",

She replied by saying "no sir, but I am your staff and not your wife. You have the authority to order me around, but I have the authority to say to who can touch my body or not, not to disrespect you sir, but if you would allow me........" saying this she left his office, making him infuriated at her guts.

Each day she goes to clean the CEO's office. He insulted her, either by making glass shatter, knowing the bits of glass would pierce her hands as she tried to clean up. He did all this because he felt humiliated after the experience with her in his room where he was turned down. If she wasn't anywhere near him, if her shift had ended, he would tell the staff head to assign her more jobs. Anywhere he saw, he made sure he rubbed salt on her wounds by insulting her. Erika knew him well and, after being married to him, was already used to the abuse he had just endured. Her endurance made him more infuriated with her. Determined to make her suffer, he cooked something bad for her.

On a Monday morning, arriving at work to clean the CEO's office earlier to avoid his insults or him messing up the office as she cleaned, she got to work earlier than the rest of her co-workers. After cleaning, she headed downstairs to the resting quarters when her eye caught a figure so familiar, she stopped in her tracks as she recognized her long-time best friend, Katherine Wayne.

Happy to see her again, she runs to meet her but stops midway as she sees her enter the boss's office. She's shocked as to how they know each other, deciding to find out for herself. She walks to Thomas's office. As she gets there, she peeps through the blinds on the window, her heart stops, shocked and hurt at what she sees..............