FATED MATE

CHAPTER THREE-THEJOB

Marina sat on a bench watching her sleeping father. He was in bed sleeping. He was in a caretaker's home where some old, sick parents were placed under the care of Madam Carrie. Every month Marina would pay Madam Carrie for the care of her dad. Her father couldn't live with her because she was living with her best friend. And she mostly wasn't around to watch over her dad. Her dad was sick with dementia caused by a brain tumor growing in his head.

She knew how Fiona had come through for her countlessly but she couldn't abuse such help. Fiona was also a busy lady, a hairdresser who had a lot of customers most of the day. Fiona would beg her to work with her but Marina didn't want to be a bone in the neck. Fiona had done enough and Marina was greatly grateful for that.

Currently, she has lost her job at Penguin Bar. It had been shut down by the police to investigate the deaths of the lives lost. Four men had lost their lives. One was shot, which was Jamal. The rest had a mysterious kind of death. They either died by suffocation, dislocation or one of their bones snapped out.

Her testimony had not been handy. Her manager had called in and relayed the dreadful news to her. What would she do with her life? She had still been saving up for almost forever and it felt like the money was stilln't enough. She needed more than a million to get surgery for her father.

She remembered when she lost her mother after graduating from high school, her life drastically changed. Both of her parents had been involved in a ghastly car accident. Her father survived but her mother kicked the bucket. She was saving up to go to college five months after the death of her mother.

Adulthood hasn't been easy on her. She would one time and again wish she could swim back to the past. She missed her mother. Her smiles, the hugs, the talks, everything about her mother. Life had never felt the same way for her.

At one time, she was doing well. She got into college and started her schooling. Two years down the lane, she heard another dreadful news. Her dad had slumped at work. He was a carpenter working in Westwood's sawmill. She had thought it was because of the stress at work, but it was a different thing.

That day had evoked another emotion that she never knew existed within her. She knew she didn't want to lose her father. Her father was her only family member. So, she had to stop schooling. She got into a better-paying job to pay for his treatment.

Her father got better with time until he was tested on another occasion. A brain tumor was growing in his head and he needed surgery.

At first, Marina had felt helpless. Everything she was ever working for wasn't working in her favor. What was she doing wrong? Her heart ached and broke into tiny pieces which made her cry.

Maybe, life wasn't favorable to her. Life wasn't all roses to her. Her best friend, Fiona, was a different tale entirely. That was why she would be entirely grateful to Fiona. Fiona had been there with her through thick and thin. When she had lost her mother, got her first job, got into college.... literally everything. Yet, she wouldn't want to be a hindrance to Fiona's dream and life.

Marina watched the thin lines of wrinkles forming on her father's face. She wished that she could do so much for him. She picked herself up and moved over to the window as she watched the setting sun.

A tear came down her cheeks and she couldn't hold it in anymore. She buried her face in the palms of her hands and began to sob. Her shoulders shook slightly as she tried desperately to muffle the sounds emitting from her mouth.

"Mari..?" She heard the deep voice of her dad.

She suddenly stopped herself from crying, wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hands, smacked her lips lightly, then twirled to face her dad.

He was sitting up, looking up at her. His hair mass was thick, he was also brown-haired like her, she realized that she looked so much like her dad.

"Are you crying, Mari?" He asked her. He usually shortened her name, it was endearing how he could still remember her when he had forgotten most things about himself and others.

"No, Dad. It was the wind." She walked towards him and bent low before him, studying his face. "I thought you were sleeping." She said,

"I was, but I heard you crying in my sleep. So, I had to wake up." He spoke gently for a man his size. He was huge and 6 ft 2.

"I'm fine, dad." She gave a thin smile.

His hand reached out to touch her face, she reached out to hold it with her right hand. "You are rather too early here, shouldn't you be at work?" He asked her.

"We closed early today, Dad. I missed you so much, that's why I came to see you." She told him.

"You should take care of yourself. You need it. Or do you have a man already?" He teased her.

Marina laughed at that. "I'll bring him to you once I have a man." She said,

"You should, you're getting rather old. No man likes an old woman." He scoffed.

Marina laughed at that, she pulled herself up to sit beside her dad. How could her dad be teasing her about a man she would and might never have? She had way more important things to do with her life. There was no way she would ever fall in love. At least, she was content with her life.

Her flip phone beeped, she opened it and stared down at the message. Her thin lips spread into a thin, long smile. Fiona had just forwarded her a message. There was a job opening at Erikson's company for the post of secretary.