Seated in white-walled room, hung images of the agent who was used as a means for the job attainment, framed in different shades; wears and appearances, a ceramic vase of flowers at the table-top, colored with blacked-palm tree, spreading its branches as a child's unaligned fingers lifted for a lift by his mother, files properly arranged on the shelf and a wall clock giving a chime sound as it moves.
"What do you want?" One of the guards asked her, he was dressed in all black and from her dressing, he could tell that she wasn't supposed to be here.
"I'm here for the auction" She said, as she clutched tightly at her strap bag, she didn't really have anything in it but it gave her a feeling of safety.
"Stay here, do not move" the guard commanded, "I'll be back with the mister" he said before leaving her to admire the walls.
Melissa glanced her eyes through the room, carried away by its simplicity and tidiness, when she was quickly taken aback on her little sisters' condition and how to pull through for their health - that moment of a little trance not until the door's knob releases a latch, then he stepped in with a smile, stepping forward than maximum boundary, as he said, with hands laid on melissa's shoulders as she tries to have a flee from his hold.
He looked like someone in his thirties, from his clothes it was obvious that he was rich but, the lust in his eyes were too obvious it made Melissa scared.
As he approached her, she stepped back a bit trying hard to not give him the space to touch her. She dreaded men like him, men who think they could get any woman with their money but, this is what it had come to.
'Oh poor child!" He exclaimed as he approached her, he was closing in on her.
'Why not come to daddy to take you out from your mysteries?' as he gave a glance of dark eyes, burning in lust.
"I'm not a child" Melissa corrected him, she wanted to give the impression that she understood whatever was going on in his mind.
"Oh well, young lady" he said sarcastically as a mischievous smile spread across his lips.
Melissa, understanding his gestures and points he was trying to show, staring with pity, knowing fully well how dead he would be at her response to his approaches.
"Get your hands off me" Melissa screamed at the man who had placed his hands on her body.
"Spoilt brat! How dare you speak to me In that tone?" He demanded, angry that she had dared to insult him in public.
It was another ball game, for her childhood was quite a stage for her; that strong, wared child that grew with all intelligence and strength due to a rough; uneven level of a regular kid, been to multiple foster homes due to her stubbornness and troublesome-self as a kid.
It was obvious he didn't know who he was messing with, as he slipped through his fingers into her blouse, moving in his desires and not-colliding ecstasy, as she said, 'I do not remember signing up for a sex visitation, but rather, an appointment for a job'.
"How do you wish to get the job if you cannot pass such a simple test? '' he said, as he stared at her in disgust.
"I want to take my leave," she said as she picked her bag which she had dropped on the table earlier.
She tried to take her leave,but he forcefully had a strong grip on her and pinned her to the chair.
She was scared but she knew she had to do something or else, she would leave her with shame and her femininity in rags.
She needed to release herself from his grip and so, she gave a lift of her right knee and gave him a hard strike at his manhood.
He staggered back in pain and cursed under his breath "You little brat!"
In pain, he spat; 'have it in mind you are off the job, you witch. I'd make sure you dine and feast with penury and pain that you'd be so filled to the brim'.
"I don't care, '' Melissa said as she ran out with fear, forcing her legs to speed like lightning.
Getting back at the auction, she got struck with reality as she burst out in tears, realizing not just the $50 dollars she had left, but that it was already used as the entry fee for the auction.
She was both sad and disappointed and she knew within herself that she would never be allowed back at the auction, everyone would have heard of all the pains she caused to the men who had tried to help her.
"how crazy oneself is found diving in love, enjoying its pleasures and offers. Most times, it feels that's all is needed to survive, holding firm to it, and can beat the chest it's all settled.", Melissa thought to herself.
Melissa Dior, a lady of strength and mysteries, unsettled feet as she sways in ebbs and flows of life; agony and ecstasy.
No doubt, it was quite a rough beginning as she struggled to gain a space to get a home, sojourning from one place to the next. There's no comparison to a united family to a broken family, for there's always differences which can have a rolling-list with no sight for the end.
In the center of living with one of her foster's parent who was obsessed and into fashion; a fashion tycoon, Melissa attained a name she hold so dearly; 'Dior'.
Oftentimes a lot of people tried to make her feel less of herself, they would insult her family and some even went as far as saying that the reason she was abandoned by her mother was because she was a child who only brought pain and misery.
When the "Dior" family died, people blamed her for their death, everyone claimed that things were going well for the family until she came.
When Melissa got home, she saw the twins lying helplessly on the old bed that laid on the bare floor and she couldn't help but blame herself for failing them.
She walked over to the kitchen counter and poured herself some left over coffee.
One of the twins let out a dry cough and Melissa rushed over to check on them. She knocked down an empty bottle of whiskey that had been kept carelessly by the side of the road. She was sure that her mother was the one who had dropped it there.
Melissa's real mother was a drunkard who brought shame to her family and she was very famous for always abandoning her children and eloping to places no one could reach her.
She placed her hands on the neck of the twins who seemed to be enjoying their sleep, their temperature was okay except for the sweat that had formed on their forehead.
Melissa removed the scarf wrapped around her neck and wiped the sweat with it. She didn't plan for this life but she was having maternal instincts. Slowly, she was becoming a mother to her siblings and the only thing she wanted was for them to get better.
Apart from Melissa's real family, there was a connection she had with Mrs Dior who was her foster mom. The warm embrace and acceptance the family gave her when she joined them, so welcoming in all areas; Mrs Dior treated her like her eldest daughter and even made her own daughters treat her the same way.
Mrs Dior had two kids who were a reflection of a good heart. Their years of togetherness was spent in happiness as they were enrolled in same school,they shared their friends with Melissa, and they also had a 'girls room' where they all chat at night before bedtime.
The garden was their favorite place and they would play on the swing with their little ball gowns and hair bows.
Mrs Dior had a big Library that housed different books from distant centuries, the girls loved to read and quiz themselves about all they had read.
She was treated like a princess and Mrs Dior taught her good values and morals. Having Mrs Dior's daughters look up to her made her develop Maternal instinct and she always protected them.
It was not long before Melissa began to refer to Mrs Dior as 'Mum' and it was not forced. Mrs Dior had told her that she could call her whatever it was she was comfortable with.
Mrs Dior never treated Melissa like an outcast, she cared for her with the same measure of care she showered on her two daughters.
No doubt, they were just so perfect that the word family blooms because there was always a reason to live for Melissa; there was always a reason to create a home full of such great happiness and harmony as it was a desire that burns brightly inside of her.
She said to herself, 'someday, I'll get to have a home, and all that was deprived of my childhood will never be away from my children' As she had a teardrop on her pillow and bedded afterwards.
We were all perfect despite our flaws, but it was something we lived and loved not until the love I thought will be eternal halted.
A switch in time back to my agony as the Dior family met with an accident. Who knows my life will be spared? She said to herself.
Melissa remembered the day the accident had happened. On that fateful day, Mrs Dior and her daughters left home but never returned.
It was just like yesterday and as she looked back, Melissa blamed herself for not getting into the car with them. Who knows? Maybe things would have happened differently.
'Let's all go visit grandma', Mrs Dior said on a sunny afternoon.
Mrs Dior had a certain connection with her mother, she was the only one who would leave everything and visit her mother in the countryside.
That faithfulness day Mrs Dior had told the girls that they were to go visit grandma and probably stay with her a while.
The last time they visited, she had a heart attack, and she grasped for air like she was struggling to live. Mrs Dior had gotten there to find her in an unlikely state and immediately she was rushed to the hospital for instant treatment.
"Is Grandma alright?" Melissa had asked Mrs Dior on that fateful day. She was too young to understand what was happening.
"I hope so" Mrs Dior had said as she bent her head and said a silent prayer for her ailing mother.
Grandma had lived almost all her aged life in drugs, and the quest to live the rest of her life in peace and more love was all she wanted.
If perfection was to be described, building such a bond with the Dior family was everything to her. But, it was a moment she wished could last forever, not until that fateful day.
As they prepared for the journey, 'I really don't feel I am okay', Melissa said, holding her belly as she rolled on the bed. 'Honey, you need to get you to the hospital', Mrs Dior ran her fingers into her pulse as she searched for her car key'.
'No! I will be fine really. It's just my monthly enemy trying to hold me back from seeing grandma,' Melissa said as they all laughed.
'Okay, honey, you can stay behind; and if anything, call me. Okay?
'bye, darling '.' bye, mum' Melissa responded.
In due time, the house became silent as she heard the car zooming away.
After hours, I had my bath because it is something I needed to have a cool night, and to reduce the pain. I hate drugs. It was the first thing I found about myself – that acceptance of injections rather than oral intake of drugs.
Heading to the hospital didn't matter to me because it is something I face every month; I understand how to make myself better, and I really don't do bad with it.
Down the stairs to get some cheese, as I jumped on the sofa, picked up the TV remote as I changed stations to my favorite TV series. Got stuck in the news even though I am not a news person or things about politics. But, this my eyes were glued to was a must-watch.
'THE DIOR FAMILY' name was plastered on the screen with subtitles, as my eyes got so teary.
Everything changed; every bit of it. The Dior relatives were never in support of my presence in the house, and that was the right moment for them to gain dominance and get me out of the way.
Little did I know', it wasn't just grandma's place they were heading to, but to bequeath some Wills to me. They wanted to give me an identity. They called me their own. I have always lived a life of my own, and the moment I found a home, I am all left to start a new beginning.
The truth is, there was a tender love and care shown to Melissa till her death. Hence, the connection clicks that memories of her growth and adjustment Mrs Dior impacted is something that created a huge transformation to the woman she is. 'I'd live with your memories in heart, coming out as a conqueror, Mrs Dior.
To purchase that life I want, I'd pull through, Melissa thought out aloud.