I excitedly wake up as a ray of sunlight graced my apartment room. I repeat my usual morning blues.
When mid-morning strikes, I start contemplating about how my first day of work as a part-time piano tutor will go.
I wonder what kind of student I will have. Sure, I know that my student is a beginner but other than that, I have no clue. I hope we can get along well; that will make things smoother. All right! I'm going to include an ice breaker. Perhaps, a thrilling game will do.
With that, I start making my very first piano lesson plan.
In between planning, I still took the liberty to take short breaks either to eat some or take short naps.
Hours later, I completed my piano lesson plan. My lesson plan's outline comprises the Greetings and Self-Introduction; Musical Trivia Game; Lesson on How to Tune the Piano; Short Break; Brief Introduction to Musical Notes and how to locate them on Piano; Short Break; Assessment; Short Energizer; Reminder about the next lesson; lastly, Dismissal.
Feeling content with the lesson plan, I decided to have supper. Later on, I did my skincare routine, then went straight to bed after.
The next day, I wake up at the usual time, in preparation for a Sunday mass.
Before lunch, I arrived home from the Church. This time, I didn't bother to change back into my home clothes as I only have less than 4 hours before the start of my part-time job. I just ate lunch then, cleaned my mess afterward.
The time says that I have 2 hours and 45 minutes. Thinking that I already rested enough, I use my remaining time to practice my lesson plan.
Before leaving, I gave one last check of myself in front of the mirror. In an instant, I felt confident that things will go well so I walk my way to my part-time job.
I have been walking for a good 15 minutes when my phone rings.
"Hello, ma'am! Good afternoon. It's Alaine on the line. I'm on my way there."
"Oh! Hello Ms. Chesney. This is Beverly, the secretary of Mr. Leary. I don't know if I can call this good timing but, regrets because the parents of the student that you're supposed to teach have requested the cancellation of their job offer to you. I'm sorry that it has to be this way but, this instruction was given on short notice. Please understand that I am only following the employer's instruction."
"I understand, Ms. Beverly. Also, it's alright. No contract was signed anyway so, it's not a big deal. Thanks for informing me, by the way."
"-sighs- Thank you so much, Ms. Chesney. Goodbye and have a good rest of the day."
"Thanks and likewise, Ms. Beverly."
The call ended leaving a flabbergasted and dejected me who decided to just go home.
Many thoughts run into my mind while walking back home.
Even after arriving inside my bedroom, my thoughts are still floating.
"What did I even do to make them change their mind about me? Did I leave a bad impression? But it was clear to me that they rained praises on me last time so, how come? Maybe they found another better candidate? Ugh!!! Fine, I was fired out even before I started my first day!"
"Whatever; I'll exact sweet revenge on this. On the night of our anniversary, I'll make them see what I'm made of."
So with that in mind, I start my zealous practice for the company's anniversary night.
The weekdays had gone by with me doing my daily blues with the inclusion of my practice.
On the night of the anniversary, all the ladies are dressed in lovely long dresses. As for the gentlemen, they are dressed in suits and ties.
The anniversary party opens with a speech from the General Manager of the company. The event proceeds with the presentation of awardees of different categories from the different departments of the company.
At last, the moment that everyone's waiting for arrives; the performance from each representative(s) of the departments.
I'm indeed very fortunate to be the first one to perform.
Before I went upstage, I drank a glass of champagne.
Everyone went quiet when I went upstage and sat on the grand piano, the lights were turned off. Only the spotlight illuminates the function hall and that spotlight is focused solely on me.
I played Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A Major K. 331.
In the middle of my performance, I felt a bit drowsy but I persevered. Fortunately, my performance went well and everyone in the hall applauded my performance. When I got off the stage, I was greeted with praises by my co-workers in the department.
Not wanting to sound rude to them, I let them finish what they have to say before excusing myself from them and going to the restroom.
Inside a cubicle in the Ladies Restroom, I felt relieved being able to finally, urinate.
When I'm out of the cubicle, I check if my makeup is still okay.
As I face the mirror, I let out a yawn, "Hmm, I don't think I need any retouch. I'm happy with my performance but gosh, that was tiring. How long has it been since I last played? I guess Thorndike's Law of Disuse doesn't lie. Weirdly, I feel a bit drowsy. I wonder why? Anyway, I got to go back; I want to catch the other departments' performances."
I exited the restroom and suddenly my arm was yanked by a man in a tuxedo. Taking that as an assault from a hostile presence, I start defending myself by kicking the man on his shin. The attack barely hit the man. So I tried hitting the man again and again but with no luck. I got a little tired of it so I decided to try talking with the man.
"What on earth do you want, sir?"
The man in tuxedo only said, "There's no time to explain, just come with me!"
"Nonsense; no explanation means I'm not coming with you."
I resume attacking the man; however, my attacks seem to get duller and duller.
Getting sick of the situation, the man went to my back and caught hold of my wrist then, performed a rear wrist lock on me and said, "Geez, I don't want to do this but you give me no choice."
The man fished out his handkerchief and let me inhale its scent. I still try to fight it, but the man is too strong for me. In 5 minutes, I lost consciousness.
The man sighed, "At last, the antihistamine kicks in. Now, how do I carry you out of this hotel unnoticed? Time to call dad."
The man phoned a person he calls pops. Then, he exited the hotel using the fire exit route. Reaching the place where he parked his car, he unlocks the car and gets inside it with Alaine. He settled Alaine on the seat next to the driver seat and fastened both of their seat belts. Having everything ready, he drives at full speed.
In less than an hour, the two arrived at their destination. Alaine was still asleep so the man put her inside a room and lay her down on the bed. The man left the room right away.
About 90 minutes later
-Back to Alaine's point of view-
I wonder why I am waking up this late at night. I'm supposed to be at the function hall, celebrating our company's anniversary. Wait, where am I? My apartment room hardly looks like this room. This is not my bedroom! Realizing that, I screamed.
In less than a minute, a man in a tuxedo came in. Wait, this man is the one who knocked me out. He must be the one who brought me here.
"You, who are you? What do you want from me? Why did you do this?"
The man replies, "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Dashiell, Dashiell Klein, your savior. It's nice to meet you, Alaine."
After that, he went face to face with me. He gave me something and said, "Here, take it. I finally returned it properly."
"How did you get this pocket watch? Oh! And, it's certainly not nice to meet a butt hole like you. Also, you still haven't answered my questions."
The man just yawns, removes his wig, and his contact lenses. His eyes are on a beautiful shade of green that matches his dirty blonde hair. Huh, this man, isn't he that taxi driver who proposed to me a week ago? There's no mistaking it, he's that man!
"So, you and that taxi driver are the same people! You must be the one who burned my house. You're unbelievable!"
With that, I tried tackling this Dashiell guy but he just easily held me back so I continued hitting him.
This Dashiell guy continues blocking my barrage of attacks without retaliating.
Dashiell lets out an exasperated groan and says, "After risking my life to retrieve that pocket watch and to get you out of that hotel safely, this is what I get?"
I retorted, "More like, you barged into my room and tried to steal some valuables and out of frustration, you took my pocket watch instead then, burned down my house."
He got back at me, saying, "Geez, use your common sense. If I meant harm to you, you should be tied down to the bed and naked, which is not the case. Now, just calm down and stop attacking me since it's useless."
"Never! You can't be trusted at all. You used a sketchy drug on me."
I resumed my attacks. As for him, he resumed countering my attacks.
He reasons, "Look, I had no choice; there's no time left. Also, I didn't use a sketchy drug on you. It was just an antihistamine. I only ordered one of the servers to give you a drink with that."
I countered, "See, you ordered someone to do that. You almost sabotaged my recital. You even used chloroform on me. No sane human would do that."
He lets out a groan and pinned me down the bed. I tried getting away but he's really strong so I was kept in his hold.
He says, "Would you just give it a rest and at least listen to what I'm about to say?"
I reply, "How can I believe a master in disguise like you?"
"That's just how dire the situation is! I had to do what I did since time's ticking! Can't you understand that? Don't you even remember what I said before I used chloroform on you?"
What he said makes sense but still…
"No, I still won't believe you. And get off of me you filthy creature!"
I kept struggling to get out of his grip but I still can't get away from him. Not having supper contributes to it too.
This goes on for a minute longer until the bedroom door opens, revealing a person who appears to be in her fifty's.
Wait, this person…
At that moment, I stopped attacking Dashiell.