Today, I came back to the orphanage to tell the sisters about my job and the donations that I got, and the money from my paintings. I drove 10 hours again and I felt like I am slowly getting used to long drives like this.
I will stay here for a night and will come back to the city again the next day. I got to the orphanage and saw the kids playing in the street and the front yard again. They saw me walking out of the car and they immediately cheered for my return. Like they always do when someone comes to the city and makes it back. The kids knew how long the drive to the city is and it was too bad that none of them has yet to come to the city.
Sometimes, when I am in charge to look after the kids, I tell them about city life. The huge buildings, the traffic because of a lot of transportations, the places that you must visit and even the beach because they could only see the sea from the hill and they wanted to know what the huge blue view was.
I feel bad for the children. I want them to move because the children cannot live in this old building in the middle of the forest forever. Time will come and they will have to be ready to live in a lot more dangerous place and I am afraid that they might grow older not being able to know anything about living in the city.
The mother superior and the sisters want to move too because they often get shortages because they cannot drive to the get supply from the city every time because of the rain or extreme weather conditions. I feel bad for everyone that is why last night, I thought about talking to the sisters and the mother superior about moving to the city.
"We cannot do that, we're short for funds," the Mother Superior told me. "It's been years and a lot of people promised to let us move and provide a place but until now, there was still no progress," she added with a disappointed voice.
"I can do my best to collect money from the city,"
"That's a lot to ask from you, Xhyrah," she said while the others were looking at me, nodding and agreeing to what the Mother Superior just said.
"It's not a huge thing, I want to do it for the children too," I said, "There are companies in the city who are willing to donate and all I have to do is to look for them. Give me 4 months,"
"We cannot ask you to do something that big, Xhyrah,"
"Mother Superior, I've been here for 2 years. you've accepted me for 2 years. I had so much fun here and I want what's the best for you and the children. Please let me do it,"
They had no choice but to say 'yes' to my offer. I had to ask them because, by the time I get to find them a new shelter, I don't want to move them forcefully. I asked them first and ask what they think about it because they might not want to move and stay but after convincing them that I can provide and all I need is their permission, I finally got to make them say 'yes'.
I hung out with the children and never let go of Liam because I know I won't be able to see him in a while. I treated him like my own child, he was the one who urged me to leave the city and live in the orphanage. He watched me from falling to the ground and made me stand up before it was too late. Now, I got through my depression and managed to take care of myself even more. If I could bring him with me, I would.
I looked into his blue eyes as he look at me with a glint visible in his eyes like how it was every day. I feel like crying suddenly while looking at him and thinking that I will not be able to see him for a while. "Don't be a pain to Lila, okay?" I told him and pinched his nose and it made him giggle.
It was quite hard saying goodbye to the whole orphanage but I got through it without crying. I stopped tears from falling many times and managed to get into the car without any traces of tears on my face. I don't want the children to see how weak I am. I kissed Liam goodbye and bid my goodbyes to the other children too. One of them even gave me a flower that I brought with me to the city.
If I do my best, It won't even be able to take a month for us to move. Ali donated with his own money but it was still not enough because I still have to find a house and a lot or if I could, I would make it a building, and the money that I have right now won't fit for the necessities and the other things that I have to put inside the building like beds and stuff.
I also want to treat the children with my own money if I could ever bring them here. The money that I'd get from my work will all be spent on the children. I'd let them experience more in the city by touring them around even just for a bit.
Ali gave the biggest amount and my buyers were the only other people who had donated. Since it all came from Ali's pocket, they weren't that huge of an amount but he promised to donate more next month and throughout the year. I was glad that he told me that. Ali donated a lot of his money even if it came from his pockets and now, I think he just ran out of money because he donated it to schools and stuff aside from the money he took from the company funds to sustain those schools' needs.
I am now getting ready to go to the building for my first day at work. I tried hard to look fine and presentable even though I know I would just be sitting in front of my computer most of the time later. It's my first day so why not? I brought my laptop with me just in case and a purse filled with everything I need for the day. There is a cafeteria but I think I would just buy and bring it to the office. I cannot stay outside for too long because I would get caught and I don't want that to happen.
I got to the office right away. I only used the employee's elevator when I got to the third floor by the stairs. I went to the 12th floor and was surprised to see my co-workers welcoming me from the door. "WELCOME TO THE GP TEAM!!" They all said and even popped balloons and made the office dirty.
"Oh, thank you," I said and took the bouquet of flowers that one person gave me. They introduced me to their names and introduced me to my table. There I found out that I would be sitting beside Lydia and Carol. "Hello," I greeted them.
"Hi! Welcome to GP Team, I hope we'd go along well with each other," Carol said and offered me a hand even though we had already done it earlier. Carol uses thick glasses and her hair was braided tightly onto one side. She pushed her glasses backward from time to time and for me, she looked just like those girls in high school. And the fact that she looks very young too.
Lydia was the exact opposite. Though she liked pink, her skirt is the shortest among people in the area and seems to be the exact opposite of Carol who seems to be conservative. She's so loud and she talks every time. Her blonde hair was loose and her cleavage is visible because of her v-neck shirt which I didn't know was allowed as an office outfit.
She could pull as many guys as she wants with that small pretty face and petite body of hers.
I expected to be given normal work like editing and stuff which was very easy for me. But I am excited to work more and be given harder tasks because that s what's exciting about getting a job. Getting challenging tasks.
Lunchtime came and I was horrified, Lydia forced me to come with her and Carol to eat at the cafeteria. I was planning to eat in the office but Lydia pulled me toward the cafeteria.
I had no choice but to come but I kept my senses up just in case I spot Zach in the area. Well, it is so uncommon to see an executive eating in the cafeteria so I guess I am safe for today. We ordered food and I found out there's a cafe on this floor too where the employees could enjoy their coffee during break time. There is a lobby for employees to sit and talk during break time and is open to everybody in the building. It's a nice place to interact with other employees but not for me because I was hiding from someone in the building.
I have been working for 5 days and today is my last day which was Saturday before my first week on the team ends. I was so happy because I got along with all my co-workers and we often talk a lot at break times. I cannot even identify who I am closest with because they all want to talk to me all the time and so do I.
I even got very comfortable walking with them around the building because ever since I started coming here, I have never seen anything from Zach. Even his hair or his shadow and I think if I come to the building earlier or later than him, I won't be able to see him throughout the day because he never leaves the top floor.
I eat in the cafeteria every day and as time passed by, I slowly forgot about Zach's presence in the building.
We were walking back to the elevator after eating lunch to get back to work when the executive's elevator opened and I saw Zach walking out. My eyes widened and I immediately stepped back to hide behind someone's back and made sure I wasn't caught in his eyes. My hands were trembling while thinking that he might have seen me. But Terrence's back was too wide for me to hide and it was perfect.
I felt my heart beat faster than usual when I saw him for the first time in more than 2 years. he didn't age at all and he still looked like the same guy I had known before. But his look at home was different from how he looked at work. "He looks so handsome," I heard Lydia say. I immediately went back to standing next to her to avoid everyone from wondering why I was hiding. they were too focused on Zach earlier that they didn't take notice of me hiding. "He's tall and hot as fvck,"
"And he's rich," Carol added.
"As expected from the girls in this building," Terrence chuckled. "How about you, Xhyrah? What do you think about Mr. Alfonso?"
I was taken aback by the question. I wasn't prepared to be asked about something related to Zach. I don't know how to answer his question without being caught that I have known him for a long time. "He does look good," I agreed,
"See?" He chuckled and acted disappointed.
"By the way," I heard Lydia say, We all looked at her when she raised her hand while we were in the elevator. "How about we have a drink tonight?" she asked.
"I'm in," I didn't expect Carol to agree immediately.
"What for?" I asked.
"Duh," she said and pointed at me. "It's your first week and we're going to celebrate with the whole team,"
Oh,
"I'm in," Terrence agreed. A lot of people from the team agreed to have a drink tonight. Even Leslie agreed to come.
I wanted to decline but since it was for me, I had no other choice. Lydia was the one to choose the bar we are going to and she said it was new and her boyfriend knew the owner.
I went to Lydia's car because we agreed not to go home after work and go straight to the club. I didn't know Lydia can drive and I was amazed to see how good her hands look on the steering wheel it made me want to learn how to drive too.
I texted ALi that I will be late tonight and he asked where I was going I said I am having a drink with my workmates and he said 'fine, don't drink too much,'
We got to a loud building. It was a huge bar where you can sit together with the other people to exclusively rent a room for a group. We rent a room and we were the first to get there. As time passed by, the others began coming and we started with my first drink with workmates.
But before I could even enjoy the night, I saw a person pass by the window on the door.
I was stiffened because I knew who it was.