Sophia felt nothing akin to love for Mr. Joe. She hoped her aunt had better resolved her understanding and dropped the misunderstanding from her doubtful mind.
Even while Sophia was combing her hair and facing her reflection in the mirror, her aunt threw a suspicious stare at her and glared at her with a threatening eye from behind.
That morning, her aunt was crouching on the sofa and reading a newspaper the length of her chunky body. Her hands would frequently flip through pages every minute, to lift her head and watch over the charming young lady.
Sophia had attired herself in a sky blue frill stripped frock, with hairs in a bun, supported by braids on the head. Her aunt( Marge's) pretended reading was not hidden from Sophia for longer. Sophia lowered her eye to the corner of her eyeball, to discover her aunt's intentional stares.
"Today's a special day, huh?" implored her aunt in a flat voice, creasing her eyebrows. Her aunt's lips were slightly parted, and her paunchy cheeks had wrinkles to the chin. Her question startled Sophia, making her spin slowly to face her.
"No, I'm cheering myself up because I'm going to be fired today." Sophia's words lacked the stout. Her face hung down in shame as she finished her final words. Her face's radiance quickly faded, and her aunt saw a wimpy, unattractive face.
" What? so now you are telling me you are going to be jobless? Oh, that's why you attired yourself up like that. It was just to fool me." Then dropping the newspaper on the sofa and standing on her feet, she continued, "Listen, I won't bring you up if you lose your job. By doing so, you forfeit all rights to live in this house, understand? " Sophia's aunt yelled at her without looking up at her with mercy.
Her aunt smacked her fist on the dining table and displayed an ugly, furious grimace. She returned to Sophia's sobbed face, gritting teeth scowl, and strode towards her room.
Sophia watched her disappear into the darkness of her room. She lifted her head to glance at herself in the mirror, only to find a wet face covered with streams of tears and reddened from misery.
Sophia washed her tear-stained face before grabbing some cookies from the kitchen and quickly munching on them. She bit on them so hard that a twitch ran through her middle canines.
Pain spread, but it only lasted for one second. Sophia pressed her folded fingers to her mouth to endure it, and she walked out of the house once she felt better.
While walking through the street, she felt anxiety build up in her chest, like smoke in the chimney, with the other end enclosed with a stopper. Her face bespoke her fear. Her eyes were wide open, her face slightly bowed, and only rose to guide her steps on the path.
Her behavior was the result of her losing her job. She was not the one to be blamed for not meeting the client's expectations; instead, it was her aunt who was responsible. She did her labor during weekdays, reducing her job hours to weekends. Her seniors couldn't withstand it and called her to sign a rejection letter the next Sunday.
Sophia heard it like a convict heeding the death sentence from a judge's mouth in court. She had no option but to bend to her knees, beg for mercy and lose her dignity. How can she explain her plea to those masters who had turned down every excuse of their employees, fired every careless employee, and rejected salaries for misconduct? Their hearts were meted out of steel, which can't be broken by outer appeals and falseness.
But stressing her mind on the same matter was of no use. She was only leaving wounds on her sensitive heart. She was filling it to the brim with negative thoughts. "Chop and change! So, thinking so, she left the matter to fate.
A load lifted itself from her heart. She had her brain empty the trash of negativity. Her tightened chest eased. She diverted herself by taking rapid breaths and gazing at the greenery of the park from outside as she passed by the fences.
She completely ignored the background noise and the people standing along the path. Her only focus was her job location. It was just a matter of ten minutes and she would be standing in front of her boss. This scene shivered her body and trembled her hands. Her overthinking returned to the chronic pattern.
When she gripped her hand to the handle of the office gate, her hand dropped from weakness. Sophia opened the gate with her left hand. She wanted the events to quickly flow because her mind felt anxious while waiting for the boss's decision.
Sophia rested her arms on the table, in between her chair and her boss's. She can feel her heart knocking against her chest. Her hung-down face flushed, while she fiddled with her thumbs to shift her focus.
The door opened and a man in a red fringed hairstyle, mustache and beard, a well-groomed mustard suit, and tie as an accessory entered the room in a bossy manner. He appeared to be one between the ages of 30 and 35. He was carrying some documents in his folded arm. These papers had something to do with the girl who was facing her head down from embarrassment.
" You are Sophia, right?" The man pointed his finger to assure himself. Sophia wiped her tears and quickly stood up from the seat, facing the boss. The man sensed that Sophia's face had patches of tears, with her eyelids reddened.
" Are you okay, lady?" The man creased his brows and spun his hand. " ya, I am okay." Sophia quavered.
" Lady, if there's anything, tell me. My name is Alex. I am the owner of this company. Your previous boss has been fired for misconduct." Sophia's body relaxed listening to such news. She looked into the man's eyes to utter something," That means I am not fired?" Sophia managed to communicate with her stuttered voice.
" No, lady you are not fired. Today an investor came to our office. He was quite angry with my manager's conduct. We already received a list of complaints against him, from the department. We had no option." The man spoke firmly as he looked into Sophia's eyes.
" So, I can continue my work today at the same salary." She spoke with a gentle sweet voice.
" No, lady, not at the previous payout. We have extended your salary to double. Our investor made a huge investment today and asked us to double the salary of the new employees. He didn't tell me his name, otherwise, I would have mentioned him in the conversation."
" At least you can tell me how he looked." Sophia waited curiously for an answer from the boss. Her lips split to the edges, and her eyes remained open.
" Nothing just brown hair, a neat suit like me, and blue eyes." Alex had hardly finished the conversation when Sophia's heart jerked in excitement.
His last words cited blue eyes. Sophia could make out who he was referring to. She nodded her head slightly in joy with fists shaking in enthusiasm. "Miss? what are you doing?" Alex spoke in a low tone.
Sophia sensed that she had overreacted in enthusiasm. Immediately, She halted her actions and bowed her head low to ask for an apology." I am sorry, boss. Pardon me!" Sophia's innocent look made Alex chuckle. His sense of humor reduced Sophia's panic.
" Dear, don't worry. There is a need to rejoice and whirl in excitement on such an occasion. We will have a party arranged for next Saturday. Bring any beloved there, okay?" His boss's frankness relieved the gloominess Sophia had built in the background. She spun heartily around the objects in the room, enjoying her new happiness.
After completing her tasks at the job, Sophia made haste to reach home only to explain the events in the office. But this didn't change the attitude of her aunt towards Sophia. She continued to look at Sophia in the same old fashion and listened to her news as something futile.
She turned to Sophia with a frown face and announced to her that she was not moved by any of her promotions or accomplishments. She was going to treat Sophia in the same manner as always. Sophia would still have to toil under her aunt's command and bear all the abuses and punishments. She should not lift her head bravely, but rather submit herself to her aunt.
Sophia stood still as her aunt's words hit her inside like curses. That night, she slept with both happy and sad feelings in mixed ratios. But it was not late when night turned into early morning.