“I can’t believe you’re this careless, Eve.”
Mr Jerry’s voice slammed into me like a truck. I wasn't surprised though, he was always like that. Yelling and cursing through the walls of every office in the company. It was no one's fault the incompetent daughter he made a manager was ruining every chance we got at an exclusive report. Now he blames it on every other staff member?
I stood in the middle of his office, my eyes stinging, trying not to crumble under his wicked glare. Stella stood smugly beside him with her arms folded and her makeup untouched despite the drama she caused.
“Sir,” I began, carefully choosing my words that'll end up going against me either way. “I swear I wasn’t holding anyone’s hand. I wasn’t even near the camera during the shoot. Stella had it all along,” I defended, my voice trembling with disbelief.
“And I told you I saw her,” Stella snapped, her fake innocence laced with venom. “Maybe if she wasn’t flirting during work hours…”
“I wasn't flirting.” I shot back.
“That’s enough!” Mr. Jerry cut in, waving his hand.
I swallowed hard. He leaned back in his chair, disappointment painted on his face. “You know…I should fire you.”
I blinked. “What? No! I didn't do anything wrong, mr. Jerry. You can't fire me. I told you, Stella was behind all this.”
“You keep talking and I see no sense, Eve. Get a grip or I'll throw you out myself!”
“Sir, please…” I begged, my legs trembling.
I worked 16 hrs every day. The first and the last to leave the office and now this?
“I should be the manager!” I mumbled on my soft fingernails as he kept speaking,
“If you want to keep your job, get me an exclusive report. One big enough to clean up this mess. Other report companies are going to be making a mockery of us. We aren't even top of the 20 companies in the search list. Don't you think that's awful enough?”
I stared, my heart thumping. “What kind of exclusive? I doubt there's a new talk in town, Mr Jerry.”
“What do you mean there’s no new talk? The famous hockey player? The one who just flew in. He’s in Maldives for six months for training and matches. But you know what I heard? That that was just a cover up, he came for something else. Now I need to know all of that and to do that,” He fixed me with a look. “Get him to give us an interview. You have one month. If not... you're done.”
I held my head and took a deep breath. So much for striving to be independent.
“That bitch!” I cursed under my breath. Stella has always been the one holding me back. Sometimes I wish I never opened my heart to her in the first place. I even told her about my one night stand and she suddenly took all my credits overnight.
And now I was going to lose my job because of her. I left the office with my dignity in pieces.
I got home and nimbled on some crackers and coffee .Then I picked up my phone and texted my blogger friend. “Let's meet up at Joe's cafe”
Vivian arrived in no time and we settled on one of the tables. We were college best friends and remained the same after graduating. Her absence for a year made me feel so alone I had to settle for that rat, Stella.
“Who even is this hockey guy?” I groaned to Vivian over a plate of waffles.
Vivian ran a blog and knew literally everything about everyone. “You don’t know him?”
I blinked. “Of course I don't. I was only crushing on Bruce in college and he was literally the only hockey player I knew was the best.”
“Well, this new guy is tall, dangerous, every sports magazine’s wet dream. I've heard a million gist about him but he doesn't seem anything like Bruce from high school.” She pulled out her laptop. “I’ve written about him three times since Canada went wild when he arrived.”
I rubbed my temples. “Viv, you write about billionaires for fun.”
She ignored me and opened her email. “Here. His manager’s address. You’re welcome.” She clicked, and the contact info appeared.
I sighed. “That was fast. You’re a lifesaver.” I hugged her and passed the rest of my waffles to her.
*
That night, I stayed up composing the perfect email. I poured every ounce of professionalism and desperation I had into it. After checking l over again, I hit send and dropped back on my bed.
“Please let this work,” I whispered into the ceiling.
Just as I closed my eyes, my phone buzzed.
I took a peak, it was my mum.
I picked it up. “Hi mom.”
“Evelyn, I need you home next week. And I don't want any excuses this time. You're coming home.”
I sat up. “Why?”
“Don’t ask me that. I clearly told you the last time you had your fingers stuck on your computer with no breath.
“Mom!” I snapped.
“What? We’re moving. You’ll be meeting your new family, and you're grown enough to understand I owe you no explanation.”
My throat closed up. “What new family?”
She sighed. “I just told you, I owe you no explanation.”
The call went off. I stared at my phone, stunned. Dad’s barely been gone three months, and now she’s married? I shook my head, pushing the thought away. We talked about it and now she did it without considering my feelings?
I stepped out for some air, being in the house was one thing to deal with and the next was suffocating news.
A black car suddenly pulled up right next to me and a strange man alighted.
“Who are you?” I asked, as he walked towards me
