She held onto her bag as she walked, letting the breeze blow against her face. Its coolness relieving her of her usual everyday stress.
Unlike other days, she had closed early, left work early because his words wouldn't stop playing in her mind. The words of the manager.
She had gone to see him, landing a knock on his door just ten minutes after Catherine had informed her.
" Come in." He had yelled from within and soon Alyssa pushes the door open after summoning all her courage.
" You wanted to see me Sir." Alyssa said softly with her head bowed slightly.
He hummed softly as he attended to the files stacked up on his table, sorting them one after another. After about twenty minutes of pretending she wasn't there, he finally looked her way.
" Yes, I wanted us to talk." He informed and stretched his hand, pointing towards the chair sitting opposite his. " Take a seat." He added when she didn't get the hint.
"Thank you Sir." She mumbled under her breath, her heart racing as she silently hoped that she wasn't in trouble.
He watched her settle in it before clearing his throat.
" We have gotten an instruction from above so there will be five promotion this year. I must say that your write ups lately does not impress me so I am afraid you might not be among those that will be promoted. I can't have the company looking like a fool for providing someone incompetent." He was saying then paused briefly to read the expressions on her face before he continued. " See, I know how hard you have worked in the past years and we know how many sales you have gotten us but times have changed, Alyssa. It's time to do better. We need a story, you need a story to blow off their minds." He ended and cleared his throat.
" But Sir…." She was saying but then he interrupted. She wanted to ask him where he expected her to get some juicy scandals from.
" You have no excuse, Alyssa. For so long you have always dreamed of a promotion, this is your chance so come up with something." He responded as though he could read her mind.
" Okay Sir." She mumbled sadly. She had no choice after all.
Maybe he was right.
" Close the door on your way out." He said and picked up the Blue pen laying on his table with his right hand, his eyes resting back on the file he had placed right in front of him.
Alyssa had said nothing as she stood up and quietly exited the room.
She pushed the thought aside and adjusted her glasses.
What could she have said to save herself?.
She had nothing.
After so long of wanting this, she was about to lose it all. That promotion that came with a better offer, better cash and she would get to attend meetings and meet with influential people. She would get to be famous.
But no, she was about to lose everything. She was about to watch it all slip through her fingers.
Make up a story!!.
It rang in her head.
What story was she to make up? What was it to contain?.
She wondered as she kicked the empty bottle laying in front of her away.
Her eyes followed its trail and soon stopped, her eyes landed on the grown-ass man, who had nowhere else to relieve himself but the street.
Angry and pissed, she stormed over to him. His back now facing the bus stop.
" Hey you!." She yelled angrily and watched him ignore her.
" Hey asshole!." She swore and watched him look her way.
" Me!." Marco questioned in bewilderment, his right hand on his chest to demonstrate it.
" No, it's me." She snapped rudely. " You should have picked another place to decorate your pee with. See up here." She said and pointed at the flyer on the wall. " It say not to or can't you read." She added rudely, raising a brow.
She was pissed because she knew that people like him were the ones that ruined in the hard work of the others. She also could never stand the smell of a grown man pee every time she sat there to wait to her bus.
" You can see me?." He questioned, his eyes glued to her.
Alyssa paused for a while as her eyes trailed down from his head to his toe.
Blood stained shirt. Tore shirt. Barefoot. Rough hair. A breathe that stink.
How did she miss all that? How did she not notice that he was one of them? One of those that were treated in asylums.
" Wait, you can really see me." Marco questioned curiously, shocked as well as ashamed.
" Alyssa, you should have just ignored this." She said inside her head, scolding herself out of fear that he might bite her or worst still beat her up.
Maybe kill her.
The blood stain on her shirt. She wondered who it belonged to.
Was it one of them? One of those that treated people like him? Did he kill the poor innocent man so he could escape? Or could it be a woman? Was that why he was staring at her this way? Asking her this weird question.
Thousands of thoughts ran through her head as she felt the breeze get colder as though it was scared of him too.
She swallowed a hard lump of saliva, her heart pounding in her chest, fear sending different feelings through her spine.
Please don't kill me.
She pleaded in her head.
She retreated, taking few step backward then turned around to walk away, increasing her pace. She made sure to walk where people were, people she knew wouldn't just watch her die even if she was a stranger.
Tilting her head backward a bit, she could see him following her. His hand holding onto his trouser as the though he hid something in it.
Maybe a gun.
Maybe he wouldn't need to get too close to kill her.
Heavens save me!.
She prayed inside her head as she increased her pace, ignoring the pain she felt in her legs from having to overwork them.
She just had to hide somewhere safe, somewhere she knew he wouldn't follow her.
But where?.
She thought and turned her head around to see him getting closer.