I Was Chosen by a Gift

Chapter 1 As Sandy was running to work wearing a black short skirt with a beautiful Royal Blue top the heads were turning behind her, men admired her beauty and well-shaped body and females just stared wishing for that faultless body. But Sandy was very insecure and thought something was wrong with her hair or clothing. That’s why everyone was staring at her. The insecurity came from Sandy’s childhood when she was put down all the time, due to her kind nature. Her family or class mates would bully her, “Look at your hair, don’t you own a hair brush?” or “God you have a big nose.” At school she was pushed and her food taken from her but she never said anything and always convinced herself that they must have been hungrier than me. Although she was a professional manger in one of the leading retail stores and loved by everybody she always underestimated herself, this young beautiful girl managed the biggest store in the country but could not manage the dark side of her own life with insecurity. She lived in such a dark world that if someone complemented her on her beauty she would get disheartened thinking they’ve been synclastic. That morning when she got to work Sandy found her coffee ready on her desk and her assistant Angela standing next to it. Angela had the habit of arriving at work early and wait by window. As soon as she saw Sandy crossing the road she would run and make her coffee ready. “Angela how many times I have to tell you do not have to make my coffee”, Sandy called out with a smile on her face. “I am happy doing this because it makes me feel better.” That morning the board of directors had a meeting. Nearly half an hour after the start of the meeting, they sent for Sandy. For a few minutes Sandy got worried as to why they should call her to the meeting? But as soon as she walked in to the meeting Paul one of the directors looked across the table and said “Here is our relief, not only she is hard working but very trust worthy” Paul continued,” I honestly believe that Sandy is quite capable of running the show while we are away in Europe for the opening of the new store.” Being a shy person Sandy went all red in the face when everyone turned and looked at her. When Paul put the motion to the other directors they all agreed by simply putting their heads down. “How do you feel about doing our jobs for at least three months while we travel overseas?” “Three months overseas! Holidaying?” She asked. “No” replied Paul “Preparing for the opening of the new store” Sandy could not believe her ears. She was covered with excitement. This was a big honour, and with a very shaky voice she said, “Sir are you sure about this offer?” With a cold look Paul replied “Are you doubting our decision?” “Of course not” “Then what is it?” “I just think that there are more worthy people than me to take this role on.” The decision is made. Paul continued “You may go back to work now.” “I will do my best sir, to make you proud.” “I am already proud because I know you can do this.” Walking out of the board room Sandy barely could fit into her skin. She made her way straight to the ladies room, after making sure there was no one there to judge her. She started crying. The happiness she was feeling at that moment was overwhelming and crying was the only way for her to settle. Going back to her desk after a long cry Sandy managed to do some work, but she could not wait to get home and share the good news with her parents. Her eyes were glued to the clock and from inside fireworks were exploding. Unlike any other afternoon, Sandy knocks off work at exactly five o’clock, the beautiful smile that was glowing on her tiny face made her more attractive than ever. Not one person went pass without complementing her on her beauty. “How come you are home early?” asked her parents when she arrived home. Tears filed her beautiful brown eyes. Don her father quickly noticed the tears. “Is something wrong Sandy?” He cried out “No everything is fine.” “Why the tears then” “You don’t know how excited I am. Today was the best day of my life.” “Well hurry up and share some of that excitement with us.” “Today I was asked to replace our directors for three months while they open another store overseas.” Don was a strict man who could never show his true feelings and affections to anyone. He stared at his daughter with satisfaction. Then said “I always knew you would be successful in life, God is helping you reach your goals according to your kind heart and down to earth personality, I honestly am so proud of you.” Donna her mum didn’t give a chance to Sandy to reply. She shouted, “Enough of these talks. We should celebrate this promotion”. Don smiled “And I bet you want Sandy to pay for this celebration”. Donna, “well off course, She is the one getting promoted, not me.” The three of them laughed. Come on dad. Let’s go get ready. I will pay when we finish. “Who is driving?” Don asked “No one dad, I will call a cab because I want us to have fun.” The bar at the beach where they went was beautiful. When their first drinks arrive Don grabbed his glass and stood up “Let’s drink to Sandy’s achievement and all the eyes that are glued to her right now”. They all had a sip from their drinks. Sandy put her glass down. “Thanks dad”, she said “You are my inspiration and I thank you for celebrating with me tonight.” Don replied, with a wink and a smile, before picking his glass for the second time. “I am feeling a bit hungry, I’m going to see if the restaurant is open, “Donna said while getting off her chair.” “I will go mum, you sit.” Your father is right “replied Donna” There is not one person that is not looking at you. It feels safer if I go. “Why are they staring? Is something wrong with what I am wearing?” asked Sandy. “No Darling. They are stunned by your beauty.” replied Donna Fortunately the restaurant was open. After booking a table Donna walked back to the bar to collect the others. As soon as they finished their drinks they walked to the restaurant. A waitress greeted them and showed them to their table. The atmosphere was so beautiful and relaxing. There were no brick walls at back of the restaurant; instead there was a massive glass wall. The beautiful moon that was shining on the sea was completely visible. It truly was a magical view. A few young men tried to grab Sandy’s attention but she wasn’t in the market for a boyfriend. Eventually one of them found the guts to go to Don. “Good evening sir do you mind if I complement your daughter?” “Not at all” Don replied while winking at Sandy The man then turns to Sandy. “I am lost in your beauty” Sandy went all red in the face. “Thank you.” “Thank you for talking to me” “Now do you mind? We are having a family time.” “Oh sorry” said the young man. “Please I beg you sir. Here is my number I would love to take her out to dinner.” He then put his business card in front of Don and left. Don couldn’t stop smiling to a point that Sandy got embarrassed “Dad please stop it” “I haven’t done anything. I just feel sorry for the bastards that are attracted to you. Donna got offended. “What do you mean by that?” “Well look at her. Even if the most beautiful man on earth went past her she wouldn’t notice. Sandy I really hope that you decide to stay single because I don’t think there is a man that deserves you. Donna slowly pushed her hand under the table and pinched Don. He screamed “What was that for?” Sandy laughed at her parents. “Listen you two my plans are never to get married.” “You see Donna.” At least our daughter has a good sense of humour. The family were enjoying the night so much that they kept on ordering drinks all night until the early hours of the morning. The alarm went off at six am the next morning. Struggling to get out of bed Sandy was really felling the effect of last night drinks, but finally she forces herself up and runs into the shower. After a quick wash she gets dressed, grabbed her bag and quickly ran out of the house, while tucking her shirt inside the skirt. Driving towards work Sandy is looking around, admiring the beauty of the day. Then a man on the other side of the road grabs her attention. She slows down into the slow lane. The man stops two pedestrians and says something to them. Those two pedestrians pushed him. When he fell on the floor they spat on him and walked away. Sandy puts the breaks on and stops to see what the man will do next. He stayed on the floor and slowly pushed himself close to the wall where he could lean. Curiosity took over Sandy. She parked the car and walked towards the man “Are you all right sir? Do you need help?” The man puts his head up and looks at Sandy. Covered in tears he tries to fix himself. “No I am ok. Thanks mam”. For some odd reason Sandy didn’t give up. “I saw how those two pedestrians pushed and spat on you” “That is my problem mam.” “Please tell me why they did that?” “Why are you so nosey? Mam” “I never look at people but there must be a reason of why you grabbed my attention before I got to you.” “You mean I was put in your path?” asked the man “I think so.” Shame and pain reflected on the man’s face while tears were pouring out of his eyes. He said “I received a phone call this morning. My son is very sick and I need to go back. “I came here in hope of finding a good job to support my family and create a better home for them, but I not only couldn’t find work but all my belongings got stolen. “How?” asked Sandy “I thought it is safer to leave my money and belongings in the room that I was renting than carrying them with me. One day when I came back from job hunt my window was broken and everything I had was gone.” The man stops for a second then he continues “After receiving the phone call about my son, I had to find a way to hospital, and I thought asking a few pedestrians for money is the only way to pay for my ticket home. Those two were the first people that I approached but as you saw they pushed me and started cursing me. Calling me peasant”. The man starts crying even harder. Not a word came out of Sandy. She rushed to her car, grabbed a bottle of water and a few tissues. “Here clean yourself”. While the man was cleaning himself Sandy reached for her volute, pulled out all the money she had. “Here take it; I hope this is enough to take you home.” The man with an unbelievable look looked at Sandy and said. “This is too much. I can’t take this.” Sandy grabbed his hand and said. “Please take it I do not need this money now. If you have a sick child you might need it”. He tried to kiss Sandy’s hand but she did not let him The man then asked “Why are you helping me? You do not even know me”? Sandy looked at him and said “I do not think anyone deserves to be treated the way those pedestrians treated you. They could have just said no. But remember this “no pain and no wealth stays for ever.” Life has a lot of ups and downs. What happened to you now could happen to me tomorrow.” Looking at the time Sandy shouted. “Oh my god I am really late”. As she walked away from the man she said “God always opens a small window when all the doors close.” The man called out. “My name is Charles. Where can I find you to give your money back?” Sandy turned and smiled at the man. “If it is meant to be, we will meet again.” She then quickly jumps in her car and takes off. Charles waited and stared at Sandy as she was driving away. He could not believe a total stranger out of nowhere came to his aid. Soon he cleaned himself and ran towards the railway station. A few minutes later Sandy was at work, Angela quickly ran to her. “Sorry your coffee went cold and I washed the cup. I will make you a new one now.” “Please wait. I am going to make you a cup coffee today” Sandy replied “You can’t make me coffee.” Angela replied “Why not?” “You are my boss and it is not right for you to make me coffee.” “What makes it right for you to make me coffee. I did not put that in your job description.” Sandy replied “But.” “No buts Angela. You better tell me how you take your coffee?” Minutes later Sandy came back with two cups of coffee. “See Angela I can make my own coffee. Please from tomorrow, I do not want you to have my coffee ready. Not only does it make me feel bad but I need to move a little bit as well.” Sandy then starts walking out of her office to do the routine check. Sandy always addressed all the employees by their names and asked them how they are. She loved making people happy. When she finished cheering all the floors she made her last stop at the basement. The cleaners were so happy for the attention they were getting because Sandy believed every human has its own values and they should respect each other regardless of their jobs or living standards. By interacting with each employee, Sandy kept them all motivated. The levels of sick leave people having dropped by ninety percent since she started working in this department and this made her peers very happy. This beautiful young lady glowed when talking to people. Her beautiful innocent smile and comforting voice would win any heart in seconds; her goal was to let everyone know they are special. For weeks Sandy and Paul worked together until the time came when the directors went on their trip to prepare the opening of the new store. “Angela, unfortunately we are going to spend a lot of time here because we will be filling in for another four people until they come back.” “That is fine with me Sandy. “Replied Angela It is now the first week that the directors are away and Sandy is already feeling the pressure but that would not stop her from the routine cheering of her employees on a daily basis. One morning when passing one of the employees she felt so much tension going through her body, she turned “Hi Rebeca what is wrong?” she called out. “Nothing.” Everything is good. Thanks for asking.” Although the girl was in good spirit, Sandy felt that something was terribly wrong with that young girl. That morning Sandy did not finish her routine of cheering. The tension that she felt, drained all her energy so she went straight back to her office and leaned back into her chair. Angela runs inside “Are you ok?” “Yes” “Then how come you didn’t finish your routine walk around?” “I went past this girl and somehow all my energy was drained.” “Sandy, don’t tell me you believe in the evil eye.” Said Angela with a sneaky smile. “What is that? Forget I asked but can you please go and page Rebecca to come to my office.” “Ok” So it was Rebeca who gave you the evil eye.” “Knock it off Angela. Just go and page her.” When Rebeca heard her name, she started panicking, thinking she is called to the office because they want to lay her off work. She was hesitating and shaky but slowly made her way to Sandy’s office. “Hi Sandy did you want to see me?” “Yes I did. Please come in and take a seat.” “Is everything ok?” Rebeca asked with a very shaky voice. “Sandy looks up and notices the fear on the young girl’s face.” I am so sorry if I scared you by paging you. “Not at all.” replied Rebeca. “Don’t worry,” Sandy said with a smile.” The reason I called you is because I felt something is terribly wrong with you. I know that is none of my business to push my head into your private life but I just want to let you know I am here if you need help.” Rebeca with unbelief looked at Sandy “Why are you asking me? Did someone say something about me?” “No.” Why is there something that I should know about? ”No.” “This morning although you smiled at me your eyes were very sad. It seemed as if you’ve been crying. I hope no one is upsetting you at work.” ”No.” “If you have a problem that I can help you with, please tell me.” It is nothing to do with you or work.” Rebecca replied “That’s ok.” Sandy implied.” You can go back to work, but remember my door is open for you if you decide to talk.” Rebeca gets up “Thank you Sandy.” Then she left. Sandy knew definitely something is hurting the young girl. So bad that she is losing control of her feelings but without Rebecca’s confession, there was nothing she could do. Days went by and Rebecca’s sad face became obvious to everyone. Quite a few times she was found crying in the rest room. Things looked so bad for Rebecca, she decided to take Sandy’s offer and ask for help. She went towards the office a few times but couldn’t find the courage to knock on the door and went away. Angela, who was watching her the whole time, followed her to the rest room where she heard her crying. “Who is crying?” called out Angela “No one” replied Rebecca “Come on. Whoever you are you know this place has a no tear policy?” All sudden Rebecca walked out of the rest room. “Are you serious about the policy?” “Yes girl.” replied Angela “Oh please, don’t tell anyone I was crying, I don’t want to lose my job.” “Girl something is bothering you a lot. Why not ask for help?” “From who?” “Your boss, she already offered to help you. Take up the offer; it will make you feel better.” “I am embarrassed.” Angela laughs “Don’t worry, I will hold your hand and walk you in.” When they made it back to Angela’s office, Rebecca said, “Thanks Angela but I will take it from here”. She knocks on the door. “Come in” said Sandy. Then she looked up to see who was entering her office. “Oh it is you Rebecca” said Sandy, covered in excitement. “Do you have five minutes for me?” “I have all the time in the world for you.” “Sandy please don’t hold this against me, but I have no one else to talk to.” Sandy slowly gets off her chair and goes towards Rebeca “You know that I am here all the time. I asked you to come and see me if you need anything”. At that Rebecca started crying, and Sandy said to her “It’s ok to cry. What is upsetting you so much?” “You know that I am from a very strict family, and girls are not allowed to have a boyfriend.” ” Yes” “Well I started seeing someone a few months ago and somehow things got heated between us. Not only have I lost my virginity but I am also pregnant.” Sandy smiled. “Congratulation you should be happy. Why you are crying?” “My brother somehow found out that I have a boyfriend and dobbed me into my parents.” “My parents were going to kill me. That’s how angry they were. But instead they decided to give me a second chance. But then I started having morning sickness.” “Then what happened?” asked Sandy “They kept on asking me questions but I had no answers and that made the situation three hundred times worse. Eventually they dragged me to the doctors and made the doctor do a pregnancy test. When the doctor came back with the results my heart dropped because he went straight to my parents.” “Congratulation you are going to be grandparents.” “At that moment I wished the ground would swallow me.” “What did your parents say or do?” My father lost it completely. He could not wait to get home so he could punish me. As soon as we arrived home he started swearing at me then he physically attacked me. He bashed me so much that I thought I lost the baby. Somehow I don’t know how I was able to escape. Where did you go to? I had nowhere to go, so I drove my car into a park and slept there. Have you gone home at all? “No, I have been living in my car since. I use the public rest rooms to have a wash and my car, to rest and sleep.” What about your boyfriend. Can’t you go to him? Ever since his parents found out that I was pregnant they stopped him from talking to me. I really don’t know what to do? I am so sorry to hear you are going through so much. This is not good for the baby. Are you going to keep the baby? It is too late to do anything now. Ok here is what I can do for you. I will ask the bosses if I can pay you in advance of your wages so we can find you a place to live. After you settle we will slowly deduct the money from your weekly pay. Oh thank you so much! Once you settle you need to find a way to talk to your boyfriend and sort something out for the baby’s future. I really appreciate it If you would have told me when I asked you, you wouldn’t have suffered so much I was so lost “Don’t worry” Sandy replied. You can go back to work now. I will call you when I need you.” Sandy straight away calls the directors and asks for their approval and they approved it straight away. She then contacts a few local real estates and finds a one bedroom unit with low rent. She makes arrangement with the real estate so that Rebeca can see the unit. If she is happy with it, they can finalise the paper work. In the afternoon when Rebecca finished work Sandy took and showed her the unit. Rebeca was so happy that she could not back her tears. By that evening Rebeca had a place of her own to sleep in and have some peace of mind to deal with her other problems. Using most of her time helping others, Sandy was getting left behind in her work. She would start at five am and work right through the night. Helping all those in need gave her such satisfaction that she never felt tired and her spirit was boosted with happiness. The amount of work Sandy had was over whelming and it did not leave her much time to meet with her friends or go out. Slowly, slowly her friends started to keep their distance believing that the promotion she got has affected her personality.