"I am sorry to announce it to you but you are fired." announced the manager. Astrea just turned and got out of his office.
Outside, everyone was taking care of their own business but you could see some throwing glance at her, full of pity. While walking in direction of the exit, she could hear two ex-coworkers talking about her.
"And another one is gone. If she didn't reject him she would have kept her job and even gone up in rank."
"Well, it's her loss, haha."
"It's her fault. She should just have just suck it up and then be done with it."
" Someone like her? She would never do it. It was just a question of time before she was fired. At the least, it was just the manager and not a higher ranked one. Else she could say bye bye to finding another job."
They were talking quite loudly but Astrea didn't linger for too long and proceeded to the exit.
Outside the company, a clear blue sky welcomed her. As she took the way to the hospital, she saw a woman on the other side of the street. Although she seemed to be in her early twenties, her back was hunched like an old lady. She was wearing make-up but it couldn't hide her pale face and the dark circles around her eyes. Above her, a black form was stuck there, not moving at all. Astrea stared at it and the shadow began to shake like a leaf.
The possessed woman walked in direction of a crosswalk and waited for the cars to stop. Astrea joined her and continued to stare at the black figure. When the light turned red, she and the woman crossed the road. As they were about to pass each other, Astrea raised her arms like she was stretching. Her left hand touched the panicking shadow and then it disintegrated into dust.
Noticing the weight on her shoulders disappearing, she suddenly stop on her track and look around her. Seeing her not moving, the car honked at her. She got surprised and ran to the sidewalk. The car then drove in the same direction as Astrea.
Arriving in the hospital, Astrea stopped before the reception desk. The receptionist began a conversation with her.
"Hey Astrea, how are you doing today ?"
"Oh, today it's you Aine. Well, I just got fired today but everything is fine."
"HUH !? YOU GO-" "SHHH!!!" The co-worker next to Aine glared and made a shushing motion. She hid her mouth with her two hands and nodded strongly. Then she turned back to Astrea.
"So you lost your job. How will you do with the hospital fee then? I can always help you."
"Don't worry about it. I have enough for the next three months. I should be able to find another one until then."
"Haa, you frightened me. Luckily you aren't a big spender. But why did you get fired? From what I heard, you were pretty good at your work."
"Mmmh, the manager wanted to date me and asked me out many times but I always refused him. He took his revenge by firing me."
"AAAH! THE BAST-" "SHHH !" Her coworker repeated the same actions as before. Aine once again nodded and said sorry.
"The bastard! How dare he! Aaah! What an unfair world we live in! I hope he receives retribution! Curse him !"
"Calm down."
"How can I be calm. It's already been the twenty-fifth time it happened to you! Either a jealous female superior or a lecherous male one !! Ah, Astrea! Why were you born this beautiful !?"
"You are also beautiful Aine."
"Ah! You are so nice! But compared to you, I'm nothing. There is something about you making everyone to look back. An aura or something. But your figure alone is top quality."
"You are flattering me."
"I'm just stating the truth. Ah! I already took so much of your time. Hey! You have free time now! Let me treat you to dinner tonight! There will be the girls from high school too !"
"Sure."
"Yay! The girls will be so happy to see you! Right after I finish work I 'll call you! Okay. I'm letting you go now. Shoo! Shoo !"
After being chased away by Aine, Astrea took the extremely familiar path to her mother room. She knocked on the door. After hearing an enter she opened the door. The first thing she saw was the big window. As it was the middle of the afternoon, the room was very well illuminated. There was not a little shadow in the room. On her right was the lone bed where her mother lied. She worked very hard to allow her mother a single room in this reputable hospital. She sat on the prepared chair for the visitor.
"Hello, mom. How are you feeling ?"
"I'm fine. And you ?"
"I'm fine too. I brought you the new book from your favorite author."
"Oh, thank you."
After giving her the book, her mother directly opened it and began to read it. A few hours passed and she finally put down the book. Noticing this, Astrea stopped looking at her phone and looked at her. Embarrassed, she blushes and tried to cover it by turning her head away.
"I... Sorry. I only wanted to read a few lines but it was just too interesting. I couldn't stop. Sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry. I read it too and I understand your feeling of not wanting to put it down" said Astrea with a slight smile, trying to soothe her mother.
"Okay" replied her mother with a big smile. "So you read it. What do you think of it? "
Astrea took a moment to organize her answer.
"In my opinion, it felt like the author actually experienced it. Another world where mythical beings all live together in a society and the humans are the myth. The explanations inside are really realistic even if there are some absurd parts such as the slime hunt. But it adds to the comedy. Overall, it's quite entertaining."
"Mn, I agree with you but I don't see how the events inside can be absurd. After all, they are a different civilization than us. They have their own tradition and history. You cannot judge them as absurd."
"Mom, you don't need to be offended. It's only a book."
"Aaah, you girl, so what if it's only a book. Humans have advanced so much that we already began to colonize other planets. It's only a question of time before we discover intelligent lifeforms different from us. What if they are more advanced than us and they are provoked by what you said..."
After triggering her mother, Astrea just stared at the window looking at the still shining sun waiting for her to finish her lecture. But a knock on the door interrupted them. Someone entered the room.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Elysium. Oh, there is also the young daughter. Good, I would like to discuss with you about the new treatment for your mother."
"Sure."
The doctor then went on to do a check up on her mother. Concluding everything is alright, he signaled to Astrea to come to talk in the hallway. She followed him and talked a few meters away to not be heard.
"We have good news for you. We finally found a cure for your mother sickness."
"Really ?"
"Yes, however, the cost is really high..."
"Whatever the price is, I will pay."
"Are you sure? It's a new treatment and the demands are high. The ingredients making up the medicine are also really expensive to synthesize. She needs to take it for five years continuously. In total it would cost you 1 200 000 credits (= 960 000 dollars)."
"It's… really a lot."
" Yes, but at the least, there is a solution. I just wanted you to know. When you have the money, we can start whenever you want."
After finishing this sentence, the doctor left. Astrea sat in the rest area and pondered about her choices. She could always go in the show business but she didn't want to show herself to a big public and it wasn't as clean as the companies claimed it to be. She could also try the lottery but what was her chance of winning. The only other ways to make a lot of money are illegals.
She kept on thinking but there doesn't seem to be any solution at all.