THE BITE

SOPHIA'S POINT OF VIEW As I stood in front of my desk with the termination letter in my hand, I still couldn't believe what was happening. After five years of working my ass out for this company, I was suddenly being shown out the door without any explanation. Everything happened all of a sudden, and I was really startled that I couldn't do anything. Feeling confused and startled, I stared down at the letter in my hands to gather my things from my desk. My colleagues were all watching, whispering to each other, probably wondering what had gone wrong and why I was leaving so suddenly? Packing up my belongings felt like a walk of shame, and I couldn't stop wishing for the grounds to open and swallow me up. After clearing my desk, I raised my head up straight to look around, taking a last glance before leaving. That I couldn't do in peace because of the stares and questioning looks. Nobody had the mind to come ask me anything, they stay seated at their desks, watching me. I wasn't the type who keeps friends. I don't hang out with them or have lunch with them. I maintained a good working status for five years, just to get this stupid letter. I sighed, picking up my handbag. Then I picked up the box filled with my things. The only thing left on the desk was my office identity card, which I was clearly told by the head of HR to leave behind when leaving. I summoned the courage to walk out of my department office with my head raised high, then walk out of the company with stripping. That could have happened with the number of eyes on me while I leave. When I got out of the company, I stood in the middle of the stairs and took a deep breath. Didn't imagine something like this was going to happen. I can still remember my first time stepping into this company. The clumsy twenty-two twenty-year-old girl pulled it off on the day of the interview, and now here comes out the twenty-seven year-old girl leaving. I wonder which is more preferable, the clumsy me or the stupid me. I walked down the road to get a cab, at least I didn't have to wait for more than five minutes to get one. The ride back to my house was quiet, there wasn't any traffic compared to the one I had to pass through when going to work. I tried not to be late regardless of the traffic and the distance from my work to my place. Finally, I got home. I paid off the taxi guy before coming out of the car. Knowing what would await me if I had passed through the front door, I decided to go through the kitchen door. I don't want the neighbors staring at me with this box in my hands. The people on this estate are rumor mongers, they wouldn't stop at anything to get details of someone else's life. My mum and I are nothing new. We are like an open book. I don't know how they get many details about our life, but they do know a lot about my mum and I. Thankfully, the kitchen door was opened, which meant my mum was at home. She hasn't left for work. Entering the kitchen, I heard noises definitely coming from the living room. It was more like moans and giggles, weirdly how it sounded like my mum. The kitchen was open, it was definitely going to be her. I walked out of the kitchen to the living room. When I got to the living room, I called "Mum?" from where I stood at the entrance. She popped her head from the cushion , and looked in my direction. She gasped, grabbing her clothes from the edge of the cushion to cover her body. I couldn't see what she was doing or who she was with because I stepped behind the cushion. What the hell.... A shirtless man got up from the cushion. After my mum got up, that man happened to be Mr Andrew, the plumber that had fixed our broken pipe in the house. He adjusted his trousers, set his set. Thankfully, his trousers weren't off. "Sophie, what are you doing here?" My mum questioned as she wore her top. I raised a brow question. "Really? With the plumber? You couldn't have done it in his house or in your bedroom?" I chuckled dryly, walking to me. "C'mon, have some manners." I rolled my eyes annoyingly, I turned around and walked away. I didn't want to get involved or listen to her make silly excuses about why she decided to make out with our plumber. I went to the door of my bedroom, and opened it. I knew she was going to come after me, so I locked the door. I don't want her asking questions about why I was home early and with a box. I dropped the box on my table, and sat down on my bed. After some seconds, I lay down, facing the ceiling. The scene I just witnessed a few minutes ago was the first. Not that she doesn't hang out with me, she doesn't bring them home. Since my dad left us for his mistress when I was five years old, my mum decided not to get married again or start a relationship with any man, but she could make out with as much as she wanted. My mum refused to relocate from this street. I knew it was because she didn't have money to do that. She works at a club not giving a f**k what people would say about her. She had me when she was twenty years old, and she still looks young in older men's eyes. While growing up, I was used to her not always being around because she had to take extra shifts to afford to take care of me. I was always stuck with my babysitter, and the neighbors would talk as much as they wanted to. The kids would mock me about my mum being a whack w***e while I was a kid. I do get bullied in school because of her, and I never for once told her about it. I know my dad left us, and her working hard made her a different person. I don't want her getting hurt because of what those dumb kids were saying to me. All I had ever wanted was to leave this neighborhood, get an apartment of my own, a place lower close to the company I used to work for. I thought I would get a promotion after we were done working on a new peach for a project. I was the team leader. We haven't even presented the peach I was busting my ass on. I guess leaving this estate isn't going to happen anytime soon. I'm now a twenty-year-old lady who lives in her mother's house. Couldn't this get any worse? I heard a gentle knock on the door, and my mum's voice came after it. Hey, honey, I brought you a glass of juice. "She said calmly. Before I could tell her to go away, she opened the door and walked in. "What the hell? I thought I had locked the door." I sat up on the bed, staring at her confusingly. She smiled, walking to my bed. "I forgot to tell you, the lock is broken." "What? Since when?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows. She sat down beside my bed, placing the tray she had put a glass of juice on beside the bed. "I think I noticed it two days ago." She looked at me. "And you didn't bother calling James, the door guy, to fix it.?" She shrugged freely. "We don't need him anymore, I will call someone else to fix it. I know it won't be hard to find a replacement." "What? James has always been the one...." I paused briefly. "Did you have s*x with James?" "What? Hey, I'm not like that, you know?" She picked up the glass of juice she had brought for me and sipped it. I raised both my brows, staring at her. I thought she had brought that for me. "Then why do you want to change him? He has been helping us to fix the broken locks in the house. Everybody knows him on this street. Why now, mum?" I blew out some breath through her mouth. "I don't like him. I know he does his work well, but that doesn't make him a good person." I knew she was hiding something, whatever it was. I don't know if I care. Anyway, she can do whatever she wants. It's her house. I sighed, lying back on the bed, I placed my hands on my stomach. It was awkwardly silent in my room, with the two of us together, it wasn't going to be for long. "Alright, I will tell you." She broke the silence, she turned her head to look at me. "I saw him the other day at the club, not that he saw me though. I was too busy to go have a drink with him. It wasn't long ago when I saw him hit a young lady at the bar, he was thrown out of the club." I sat up abruptly, listening attentively to what she was saying. With a shocked look on my face, I asked," Why did he do that? " She shook her head. "I don't know either," she continued. "The lady he slapped approached him earlier, I think, they sat down at the bar, then suddenly he slapped her. None of the waitresses saw what happened before he slapped her, not even the bartender." "Wow, I didn't know James hit women. He was always a nice guy, and he always looked happy," I pointed out. She hissed, picking up the glass of juice from the tray. "Not the look, Sophie. Characters matter a lot. I never liked him." I watched her as she finished the glass of juice which she had intended to give me. Over to James, I was really close to going on a date with him. Whenever he comes to the house to work on broken locks, mostly on weekends when I'm at home, he would start a conversation with me, acting all charming and cute. I thought I had a thing for him. "You should stay away from him. The people on the estate had heard what happened at the club, and they were all disappointed. Whoever wants to keep him, should go ahead." She got up from the bed with the glass cup in her hands, she looked down at me. "I will go get another glass of orange juice." As she was about to leave, I stopped her. "Don't bother, mum. I don't want juice. I would appreciate it if I'm left alone for a while, probably pretending the door is locked." She looked down at me, worried and confused. "You want to talk about it?" She sat down on the bed. I sighed for the fourth time since I came back. I shook my head. "No, I don't want to." "Really? You know even if you don't talk to me, I would figure it out myself?" Wasn't it obvious, I didn't expect it to take long for her to figure that I had been kicked out of the company. I know she was just waiting for me to tell her without leaving out any details. "Mum, I really want to be alone now. You should figure out whatever you want outside." I said tiredly. "I want to take a nap." "Alright? Take as much as you want, I won't disturb you." She got up again. This time she took the tray she brought, and walked out of my room. She closed the door on her way, and I got the room to myself again. I was actually planning on taking a nap, it was what I need now.