The Drift: A Legacy of Glass

Chapter 1 *It’s a very beautiful evening outside with all the colors painted in the sky with the hue of red, orange and yellow colors. Leah is outside standing in her balcony as she enjoys the sunset with a cup of coffee in her hand tightly gripped as she lean against the rail handle of the balcony.* “It’s going to be a new day tomorrow for me. Tomorrow is the day when I finally be an adult.” Leah murmured to herself as she gazed upon the view of some cows grazing in the stable in front of her apartment. Leah, a 21 year old woman holding a degree of Computer Engineering mastered in coding and development. She is a typical girl who always cared about studying and being independent in her life since what happened 6 years ago. It aches her heart whenever she tries to vaguely remember the gruesome memories that changed her life entirely. She had a great family which consisted of a loving mother who cooked her good food and took care of her, a doting father who worked very hard for each penny in a beverage factory for his kids’s future. Her father wanted nothing in this world other than giving his kids a great life with comfort. Leah had a small loving brother who used to play around and was the life of their home. Unfortunately for Leah, fate had planned gruesome time for her as they all passed away in an accident while attending a function. Leah always wished if she should have just accompanied them and died with them. Without them, her life was more painful and meaningless. The accident wasn’t the only thing that damaged Leah. As she washed her cup with soap to rinse off the coffee stains, she imagined her mother on how she taught her to let the water sit in the cup for a while to easily scrub it off. She curled up inside her blanket on the bed and waited for sleep to overcome while anxiously waiting for her new life.   *It’s 8 am in the morning. Leah had just woken up by the alarm in her phone. She quickly freshens up, prepare her breakfast to eat and lunch that she packed for her office and arranged her documents. She was good to go.” Leah was wearing white shirt and office pants matched with a jacket and heels. She quickly rode down her bike and reached the location. It was a tall building with the glass windows all glazing and reflecting the opposite view of the streets and the sky filled with grey clouds waiting to rain. There was an unusual cold breeze as she stood there looking at the building in front of the entrance door with board filled with letters engraved in steel which read “The Black Horse”. She took a deep breath as she walked in. The office had a great infrastructure with a lot of achievement photos flashing on the big screen placed above the reception counter. There was black marble floor that reflected off the lights on the ceiling. Leah was very happy and contended that she would be working in a very reputed office such as Black Horse. She went ahead to the reception and quickly presented her offer letter. It was then when the receptionist smiled at her and told her to meet her attending team leader whose office is in 10th floor. Leah quickly grabber het documents and took the lift to the 10th floor. She didn’t realize why her heart was suddenly beating and with each floor moving up, she could hear her heart beat faster and louder. As soon as the screen displayed number “10”, her heart stopped and she took a moment of relief before getting out of the lift. As she stepped out of the lift, she senses something really strange. 10th floor was rather quite and silent as compared to the lively reception down the ground floor. This floor had dimmed yellow lights and only one room with big glass door opaquely designed in a way that no one from outside could see the insides of the room. She wondered as to why was an attending team leader given an office of this stature. She quickly went and knocked on the door and asked, “ May I come in?” A hoarse voice answered, “Yes Leah, I have been waiting for you.” Leah sensed there was something in the way he talked that reminded her of someone unpleasant. As she entered the room, she saw the man sitting on a big chair staring at the view of the amazing scenic outside through the large see through windows that have replaced the big wall. She saw many trophies aligned perfectly on the shelf to her right side and a seating arrangement of sofa and cushions for the guests or clients. There were side tables with coffee maker and other tea sets arranged in the cabinet. There was a big desk with laptops, papers all arranged perfectly. Leah understood, he must be no ordinary guy if he was given an office like this. She uttered softly, “Good morning sir, I was sent by the receptionist to see you. This is my first day in this office. I was selected as a candidate from my college to work as a developer here. It’s a pleasure and an honor to work for this company sir.” Leah moved her hairs at the back of the ear as she anxiously waited for the guy to turn his chair. The man finally got up from his chair and turned around, “It’s a pleasure to meet you too finally after 6 years LEAH!!!!!!” Leah startled, immediately her eyes widened with shock as she saw the face of the man. She went breathless. The man continued,” I waited for 6 years for this moment. 6 Years!!! Searched for you everywhere and now finally the sheep has finally come to the tiger’s den herself. You have made me wait Leah and I am not letting you go again.! Leah wanted to jump out of that window at that moment. Finally she spoke, “Alex!!! Please… I.. uh… I want to leave.” Alex smirked at her and stared at her for a while gazing at each and every part of her he missed those 6 years. He said,” No way my darling!” To Leah, Alex stood there like a hungry lion waiting to feast upon the sheep that has walked into its den.