Genius Daughter Of What Was Broken

Chapter 3: I would rather eat glass

Quick moving footsteps, quicker than usual. Deliberate speed. Eyesight pointing at his office. His heart pounding, curiosity tangled in his mind as he arrived at the door.

He clutched both sides of the doorframe, head lowered as breathed heavily through parted lips, anxiety etched across his face.

He lifted his face, and locked eyes with Justin, who was confidently sitting in his solo chair, an apple in one hand, feet crossed on the table, biting into it slowly, almost mockingly. Something very unusual, hence why the female staff member alerted him to it.

“Is it done?” Justin asked, pausing mid-chew, his forehead wrinkling, curious to hear the manager’s response.

“Yes, it’s done. She’s exiting as we speak,” Mr. Tank replied, pulling his hands off the doorframe to adjust his tie as he walked further into the room.

“Good man, very good man,” Justin added, nodding in satisfaction as he swung his feet off the table and walked to the manager. He patted him on the shoulder, took another bite from his apple, chewed loudly, the sound deliberately annoying as he started laughing and walked out of the room.

“What a jerk,” Mr. Tank fumed, repositioning his chair, and picking up fallen files from the floor before noticing that some staff were watching.

He looked at them furiously, some of whom immediately began to flee in different directions, heading back to their respective positions as he walked to the door and slammed it hard enough to send ripples through the building.

The mood shifted, the atmosphere grew unusually quiet. Everyone was in their best behavior as nobody wanted to anger the manager who was still visibly upset over Justin’s actions.

Little did he know that Justin was unbothered by his anger as he stood on the balcony, biting the last bit of the apple and watching Alice exit the building—a sight that made him run his hand through his hair in excitement.

He quickly went down to the parking lot, got into his car and zoomed off with music blasting, drawing unwanted attention to his exit from the building.

Speeding, bopping his head to the music, a smile stretching across his cheeks. His fingers drummed on the wheel as he sang along in a loud voice.

It was a happy day for him, but a sad one for those affected by his behavior. It ended quickly, fading into a blur as the next day arrived.

The blaring sound of the alarm startled Alice awake. She bolted upright from a deep sleep, staring at the clock with sleepy eyes, barely able to focus and realized it was 7:00 a.m.

Oh, great! Good job! But I’m not going to work today. I have been suspended or maybe fired, who knows, Alice grumbled sarcastically to herself, as she let out a yawn while rubbing her eyes.

She reached for her cellphone, glanced at it drowsily and dropped it back. She dragged herself out of the bed, and headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

She stared at herself in the mirror as she brushed, lingering a little too long in quiet admiration of herself before finally finishing. She opened her wardrobe and collected her workout clothes, went to the shoe rack and pulled out her workout shoes, dressed up and headed out for her morning run.

Halfway through her run, she began replaying what happened the previous day, wondering if she had lost the job for good.

Running through her thoughts, readying her mind for job applications since she needed a job to pay bills and keep a roof over her head.

Looking at her watch, breathing heavily, checking how many minutes had been covered, waving at familiar faces running past her before eventually taking a turn back to her house.

On reaching her neighborhood, a few meters away from her house, she noticed a car parked by the roadside and a guy standing with folded arms, staring right at her. She slowed down, moved a little closer—only to realize it was Justin.

“What the f**k are you doing in my neighborhood? How did you find my address? Did you trail me home?” Alice growled, breathing heavily, a look of anger beaming through her face.

“Relax. I came to you with an offer you might like, don’t be so hostile. You should be honored I came to you,” Justin said with a smile, unfolding his arms as he moved a step closer.

“There’s nothing from you that will ever interest me. You’re a creep,” she added. Moving further away from him.

“Don’t be so quick to conclusion, you will like this offer. I promise!” He assured in a confident tone.

“Ugh, boy please! You’re full of nonsense, your presence is already making my stomach ache.

The longer you stay, the more uncomfortable I’m going to get, just get it out of your mouth and take your sorry self back to wherever you crawled out from.”

“Wow! You’re so rude and mean. Are you usually like this with people? I’m starting to wonder how you got a job in my father’s company.” He grumbled, lips slightly parted, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Oh, I’m very sweet with people, just not people like you,” she narrowed her eyes, waiting to hear his offer.

“Well, I’m here to offer you a chance to come back to work, but on one condition.”

Hearing that, Alice leaned her head closer, her right ear facing his face, curious to hear what he had to say.

“You’re going to have to kneel down and beg me before you’re allowed back into my father’s company, that’s the condition.” Justin said, rubbing his jaw as he awaited her response.

“I would rather eat glass than kneel to a creep like you, you’re a jerk and you should shove your offer up your ass.” She gritted with folded arms, anger lingering in her eyes.

“Well, then you’re going to be jobless. Enjoy it. I hope your pride puts food on your table when you finally go hungry,” he said in a disappointed tone.

He reached for his car door, opened, and ducked inside. He stuck out his middle finger at Alice as he ignited the car to life and zoomed off.

Alice raised both middle fingers in response as he watched her through the side mirror.