Becoming Human

The Nerve

SHE exhaled loudly when her mind suddenly recalled an irritating thought. Leonel’s face turned sour when a particular face of a woman comes to mind.

She huffed as she signed the papers in front of her.

“How can she be so judgmental?” She muttered under her breath. “For a young woman, she has the nerve to say that?”

She flipped the papers. When she saw her name in the lower part, she placed her signature on top of it.

“I don’t believe we knew each other from the past. It’s hard to forget that face. In case we did meet back then, she must be in grade school.”

Leonel closed the folder.

“She’s a baby compared to me. I’m thirty-four years old, for god’s sake!”

She opened another folder. Brows knotted, she read the label.

“She’s like nineteen. Appeared to be fresh out of high school. Hmmp!”

Leonel stamped her shoe-clad foot on the floor in frustration.

“Why am I even thinking of her?” She breathed out. “Yes, she’s cute. She has beautiful brown eyes. I don’t even like brown-eyed women.”

Four folders later, her mood did not change one bit.

“That witch keep on running in my head like a fly on top of a shit.” She groaned.

Her eyes went to the door when she heard a knock from the outside. She could seed the silhouette of Joanna’s form from the frosted glass.

The office space has three small private offices. Hers, the HR, and the accounting.

Hers was the biggest since it has a conference table inside. They held private meetings there as well as when the classified clients want a classified conversation.

Her assistant showed up a couple of seconds later. Her black, shoulder-length hair shine when the overhead light touched them.

“Boss, the account head from Buckley & Co is on line 2.”

Leonel sighed after nodding. “Put him through.”

“Do you need coffee, boss?” Her assistant asked. She was still peeking at the slightly opened door.

“Yes, please.”

Joanna sent her a smile before closing the door.

She saw the red light on the landline phone on top of the table.

“This is Leonel.” She uttered.

“Ms. Temple, the rest of the files that you were looking for has been sent in your personal email. My boss is very adamant that we catch the culprit.”

“I’ll call you after a couple of days. I will personally handle this one.”

“Thank you, Ms. Temple. We appreciate your concern for making our company a priority and for keeping this private.”

“It was great working with you all these years.”

Buckley and Co has been one of the first few companies who put their trust in her firm when she started.

As of late, she noticed the discrepancy in the records that she called the attention of the account manager. Yesterday, she met with the big boss and disclosed her concern.

The CEO was bothered by it that he wanted immediate action. Leonel was told to continue her work and informed him of what she needed to identify the offender.

If there was one thing she is proud of, she is very diligent. She did her job very well that clients stayed in her firm.

Leonel built her company when she was fresh out of college. Using her accounting degree and a double major in business, she put up a small independent accounting firm with two other staff.

She has nothing but her brain when she started the firm. The small fortune that her grandmother gave her was used for the space rental for half a year as well as for the basic equipment for the business.

The two staff stayed despite starting on small salaries.

She took small establishments and accepted bookkeeping when she was still starting. She tackled the ledgers of the medium-sized business establishments to uprising companies. Her team made a good job until they were advertised through word of the mouth from one businessman to another. She hired more staff when clients started picking up.

Eventually, upon earning the trust of one man, she got more regulars. A couple of mid-sized companies asked for another review one time when the CEO doubted their own staff. Turned out, he was right. He kicked his accountant. The firm got another client.

Leonel came a long way from being orphaned at eight.

She grew up having an absentee father. She only saw him once or twice every week. He would stay for a night but not more than a couple of days. It never happened on a weekend though or on holidays like Christmas.

It was fine since her mother has been doting on her. Little Leonel found her mother’s affection enough. She was never close to her father, anyway. However, she noticed her grandmother always reprimanding her mother whenever they visit. Despite her issues with her daughter, she found her only granddaughter a dear.

Unfortunately, her parents’ relationship started falling apart after her seventh birthday.

Her father was not there to celebrate with them. It was the first time for little Leonel to witness her own mother crying.

Her father’s presence in the house has been reduced from once a week to once a month. The occasional visit resulted in them fighting instead of their usual affectionate behavior.

Little Leonel innocently watched them until her father left again without staying the night. It happened twice. Her mother barricaded herself in her room after getting a bottle of vodka from the cupboard that Leonel was not allowed to open.

Days before her eighth birthday, young Leonel went to her mother’s room since she did not find her mother in the kitchen.

It was past seven in the morning and she was hungry. She was late for school, too.

She already finished her bath and is in her school uniform but her hair is still tangled. Her mother usually combed them as she eats her breakfast.

Her mother was still in bed. She was sleeping on her side. her back was facing the door.

That day marked on her ignorant mind.

She called 911 when she found her mother not waking up despite her screaming. An ambulance came. A while later, her grandmother arrived.

At first, she was confused as to why the old woman was crying. She finally comprehended what was happening when she was told that her mother was dead.

In denial, she ran to her mother’s room.

Confusion marred her face when she noticed that the bedroom was in disarray.

Her mother was very particular with cleanliness that she never wanted to see anything amiss in the house. However, the bed was unmade and the blanket has fallen at the foot of the bed. Several bottles were scattered on the carpeted floor. White medicines were spilled from the familiar opened bottle.

She saw her mother get medicine from there whenever she cannot sleep.

Leonel was pulled to her own bedroom. Police officers arrived and they went to her mother’s room.

On the same day, she moved into her grandmother’s house. A month later, she was transferred to another school. She never saw her father again. Even when she sent her mother to her final resting place.

She was sixteen when her grandmother told her what really happened to her mother.

Ava Temple was her father’s mistress. She took her own life when Leonel’s father wanted to be with his legal family.

Before her seventeenth birthday, Leonel was granted to use her mother’s last name.

She has decided to forget everything that has to do with her father. Her grandmother’s lawyer did the work that she obtained her father’s signature that forgoes his rights to be Leonel’s father.

Everything went well.

The house where she and her mother used to live has been put on sale at Leonel’s approval. All along, she thought that the money has been used for her college funds.

Though she got a scholarship all through college, she got her grandmother’s financial support that she has to hide that she has been working part-time in a construction company as an accounting intern.

After graduation, she told her grandmother that she wanted to start her own independent accounting firm. She got the surprise of her life when she was given a check as a present.

It was the amount that they got after selling the house.

Leonel saw the pride on her grandmother’s face when they officially opened the firm. Tears have fallen but it was pure joy.

It was unfortunate that her grandmother did not make it to the firm’s first anniversary. She had a heart attack.

A concerned neighbor saw her fall when she went out to water her plants. She was pronounced dead before she arrived in the hospital.

Leonel Temple has been living on her own for more than a decade. She sold her grandmother’s house. It was stipulated in her will.

Before she reached thirty, she was a self-proclaimed millionaire.

Her firm has grown. The office is located in the heart of the city. From two staffs, she now has more than ten employees under her. Clients have been pouring.

It all started because her grandmother believed in her. Gambled on her ability.