Not a chance to love

Blair pushed the front door as she rushed into the building. She was late and was sure to get another scolding from her boss again today. She walked briskly into the pub greeting her colleagues as she walked past them. "Hey collins!" She threw a smile at her bestie across the room. "Hey pumpkin! The boss is waiting for you in his office" He returned a mischievous one. "s**t!" She muttered under her breath walking faster into the changing room. She changed quickly and went over to the manager's office. After one and two knocks, she heard a low 'come in'. She heaved a sign and took a slight pause before slowly turning the door knob opening the door. "Good evening sir" she greeted. The manager lifted his eyes to her and after some seconds he shifted it back to the computer before him. "You're late again. What's your excuse this time?" He said sarcastically. She could clearly sense the sarcasm in his tone which made her gulp nervously. "Sir...I...." She was interrupted even before she gave her excuse. " If you don't want to work here again I'll understand." The manager threw in. " No sir I can explain" She wasn't going to lose her job over her usual bad habit of late coming. She took a deep breath and took a step forward ready to explain herself. "I got a message from the hospital that my mum was rushed to the ICU this morning. The doctor said it was a fifty-fifty chance of survival surgery. A malignant tumor was recently found in her brain and since the surgery was an emergency, my consent was urgently needed that's why I couldn't make it here on time. I'm sorry Mr. Raymond." Blair knew that he had had enough of her but she still wanted another chance. It wasn't the first and it wasn't going to be the last either...she knew it. Mr. Raymond stood from his swivel seat and approached her slowly, both hands thrust into his pants pockets. "Last chance" He whispered to her and walked out of the office. All of a sudden, Blair blew out a huge sigh like she had been holding her breath the entire time. "Last chance" she repeated and walked out of the office praying a silent prayer of Thanksgiving in her heart. ********** "How'd it go?" Collins asked as he passed a tray of drinks to her over the counter. She took the tray of drinks from him and gave him a tired look. "I was lucky this time. Probably won't be next time." She grabbed the tray and walked over to serve the drinks to the designated tables. Just then a man walked into the pub. His aura couldn't help but make everyone stare at him. His presence which was so noticeable accompanied with his silhouette, made everyone stare out of curiosity. But after a while, people slowly stopped staring and continued their various businesses. He walked over to the bar. Sitting on one of the bar stools, he took off his black coat and placed it on the empty stool beside him. He motioned for Collins to come and take his order. "So what can I get you sir?" He asked the strange man whose eyes never left his making him feel strangely intimidated. "Cachaça please." He ordered in a deep Italian accent. "Ok coming right up." In a jiffy, his ordered was ready. "Here's your order sire." Collins passed the drink to the stranger. The man took the drink and without saying a word, gulped it down in a few seconds. He roughly dropped the glass on the counter making a noise which almost startled Collins. The man adjusted the black hat which was on his head partly covering his face. He took out a phone from the inner pocket of his waistcoat and after dialling a number on the phone, he placed it on his ear. Seconds later, the person at the other end picked the call. "Is she there yet?" He asked in a deep Italian accent. "Non ancora capo" (Not yet boss) was the response he got from the receiver at the other end. "Just let me know when she gets there" "sí " And with that he ended the call. The man asked for his bill and when he had settled it, he picked up his coat and stood to take his leave. He stepped out of the building walking to the car that was waiting outside to pick him up. Just before he entered the car he heard a voice calling out to him. " Hello! Hello mister! excuse me! You dropped something." Blair called out running after the stranger. He stopped and turned to look at her and she immediately bumped into him and fell roughly to the ground. " Ouch!" she exclaimed when her butt hit the ground forcefully. He stared at her like she was a rare object he had never seen in his entire life. She was a bit surprised about the fact that he didn't even bother to offer her a hand up so she got up angrily and dusted her butt irritated by the fact he wasn't even bothered at all. And to her surprise his next question threw her off balance. " Who are you?" The Italian baritone accent which could instantly make any girl melt in submission didn't make her flinch a bit. Not to lie, she almost instantly fell for his voice but reality was just in front of her so she pulled herself together. " Really?" she asked and roughly shoved his wallet on his chest. "You dropped this punk!" she said angrily and turned to leave. The man quickly held onto the wallet before it fell to the ground. "Strano" He muttered under his breath and got into the car that had been awaiting him. *************** " Il Mio ragazzo! " The old lady squeaked happily on seeing her grandson after so many years. She opened her arms wide expecting a hug from her dear grandson. " Nonna! " He said excitedly and bent over to hug her. " I can't believe it! After all these years you even look better. I can see you're doing so fine even without me." She feigned annoyance. " Granny, you know that's not true." Rubbing her chin affectionately, he stood straight. Yes he was the stranger from before. But wait, who on earth is he? Carlos Bernardo is a tycoon in the business world- underground business specifically. He is a multi billionaire who is ready to do whatever it takes to get whatever he wants. According to him he didn't have any family except his grandma. She had being the one raising him since the age of seven. His mother was an abusive wife to her husband; Yes you heard right. At a young age, he noticed how his father was head over heels for his mother. But she didn't love him a bit. She found another man outside their marriage but his father still didn't give up. Whenever they brought up discussion about her extra marital affair, she would shout at him and throw things at him claiming that she had the right to love whoever she wanted to but the poor man didn't give up on her. He loved her dearly and did whatever she requested of till she got fed up with their marriage. On a miserable day, when the poor man came home to meet his family after work, he realised that his wife was nowhere to be found. He searched and searched for her creating a scene wherever he went but it was all to no avail. A few weeks later, he was sent an invitation card together with a divorce paper in his mail box. He didn't want to believe that his wife whom had just ran away from home was about remarrying and had even planned their divorce. It was then he concluded that he had tried but his poor being was totally shattered. He started taking drugs and took it in excess till he broke down both physically and mentally and lost his poor soul. It was then Carlos realised that true love didn't and never existed and even if you were to even fall in love at all, it would end up tragically.