Bentlee woke up by 5am with the help of her alarm clock. She cooked breakfast and ate before showering and preparing for work. Once everything was done, she shut all the windows and doors, locked them and headed for the bus stop.
She reached work by 7:30am, with thirty extra minutes to spare. Leilani arrived a few minutes after her and so did the rest of the co-workers. it was almost as if they were following her around.
People chatted for a while before work started. She was given write-ups to type, edit and add pictures to. By lunch time, she had finished just two and a half, and she had four more to complete by the end of work, so she decided to skip lunch and forfeit eating bread rolls.
Leilani, noticing how busy Bentlee was, decided to have lunch with Kevin, alone. Unknown to her, Kevin came to the third floor to see Bentlee.
"Hey Lee, my wife asked me to give you these", he said watching how focused she was.
She stopped what she was doing and appreciated him properly, "thank you so much for this. Tell her I said it was a life saver".
He smiled at her, no matter how busy she was, if you were a priority to her, she would make out time for you. She opened the wrap and moaned as she took a bite, praising it.
"I came to deliver that and since you're busy, we'll meet up later yeah" He said before leaving
"Okayyyyyy" she rose her voice so he could hear her.
Bentlee ate the perfectly seasoned chicken as she typed. She threw the wrapper in the trash, wiped her mouth and continued her work. By 4:53pm, she was done checking and correcting any errors that could've been made, printed them out and submitted them 5 minutes later.
She wasn't in a rush to go home, so she took her time to pack her things and head out.
On the bus, she sat near a nursing mother. The baby stared at her like she was the most interesting thing to see, watching her every move.
Bentlee didn't hate or like babies. They seemed like leaches sometimes and beautiful creatures other times. The woman's baby reached out to Bentlee, alarming her a bit.
Bentlee's POV
"He likes you", the mother said.
"Hold him for a while please", she asked giving me her baby.
Normally I would refuse, but I saw how tired she looked and had an urge to help out.
I took the baby from her and damn, he was heavier than he looked.
If I thought his looking at me was weird, his looking at me while carrying him was even weirder. He seemed like he was fascinated by something on my face, trying to touch it several times.
He was quieter while I carried him, only bouncing on my lap when he was excited beyond containment. He leaned into my chest, and a few minutes later, he was asleep.
The bus arrived at my stop and I had to give the baby back to the woman. She smiled and thanked me for helping her out.
While walking home, I remembered the colour of the baby's eyes, they were black, the same colour as Zeke's eyes.
"Nope...i refuse...i refuse to let him dominate my thoughts. My mind is clear and empty, void of any thoughts, especially those of him", I said out loud as I continued walking. Stopping what I was saying, I looked around to make Sure there was no one around or I would look like a mad woman.
Home sweet home. I was relaxing when I my phone beeped alerting me of a notification. It was a text from Emma. She wanted to know if I was free to hang out this weekend. I replied yes.
Cooked my dinner, ate, prepared for bed and slept.
Zeke's POV
I have a third meeting with Del Loona Experience next week, so I'll probably get to see her again. Work at Miller Corporation PLC has been progressive and successful. I've also been in a good mood and have not had any nightmares.
Bentlee has been at the forefront of my thoughts, not interrupting others, but not going away.
.....
The next day..
Bentlee didn't feel so good that morning. And that was weird because yesterday, she was in perfect health. She threw up twice already, unable to eat anything. This was the disadvantage of moving away from family, not having help.
She called Mr Richard to tell him she was sick. After complaining and yelling for five minutes straight, he cut the call.
Bentlee couldn't even make herself a meal because she was too weak.
A few hours later, her doorbell rang. She felt strong enough to walk, so she answered the door looking like shit. It was the mailman. She signed for a package that was delivered to her and shut the door, not bothering to open the package.
She walked to the kitchen and made instant noodles, the greatest creation ever. After eating and resting for some minutes, she decided to go to a nearby pharmacy to get some medicine.
She wore baggy trousers with a loose top, a face cap, sneakers and a face mask.
She arrived at the pharmacy, told them what symptoms she had been experiencing and they gave her drugs. She couldn't walk home because she felt like falling flat on the floor. In the taxi she hired for the ride, she felt like throwing up again. She controlled herself until she got home before releasing it in the toilet bowl.
She hadn't checked her phone since she called her boss. Right now with the way she felt, she just wanted to be healthy again.
That night was stressful for her because she slept sweating and gasping, waking up to throw up and repeating the sequence again.
She slept on an empty stomach as her body didn't have enough energy to stand alone.
The next day, Bentlee's phone was blowing up with calls and texts, but she didn't reply or call back. She didn't even remember where her phone was.
She couldn't tell her boss that she would not be coming to work again, she didn't even care anymore.
She was walking towards the kitchen counter when she fell down and lost consciousness.
Meanwhile at Del Loona Experience...
Kevin came to see Bentlee when he heard that she didn't come to work again. He was worried as she wasn't picking his calls or replying his texts.
Leilani came to ask him what was wrong, and even though he wasn't comfortable with her presence, he asked her if she had spoken with Bentlee recently. She said no.
He called his wife and told her what was going on, an agreement they had with each other.
He left work and picked his wife up from the modelling agency building she worked at.
"Where Is she?" His wife, Anika, asked.
"I have no idea", he replied.
"Well how do we find her?", she asked after a few seconds.
"I can try, but it's technically not legal", he answered.
She thought for a few seconds before nodding, "do it".
Kevin proceeded to track Bentlee's phone, hoping that it was still on. He remembered her mentioning that she had moved, but he didn't know where.
Thankfully, the phone was still on, so he used a tracking app to find her quickly.
The location was the fourth house on fifth avenue.
They rushed in to find her on the floor.
Without thinking further, they took her to the hospital where tests were carried out.
After some hours, the doctor came out and told that she was fine and just unconscious. They had to wait for two more hours before she woke up. During that time, Kevin went to buy food for them.
Bentlee's POV
I opened my eyes to see myself in a hospital gown with my hand attached to a drip and a machine beeping by the side. The hospital smell invaded my nostrils, something I didn't like but ignored.
While still trying to figure out how I got here, Kevin and Anika walked in with A look of relief on their faces.
"How do you feel?" Anika asked.
"I feel fine", I replied.
Kevin nodded as well.
The doctor came in and asked the same question Anika asked to which I replied the same.
"When can I leave? I can't miss another day of work", I said to the doctor.
"Your body was under a lot of stress and pressure, so it broke down just to make you rest by force", he said a few seconds after before adding "you need to take care of your health ma'am. You can be discharged immediately since there are no major problems" he said.
"What about the vomiting?" I asked.
"I'll prescribe some medicine you will strictly use with certain foods for the whole dosage", he replied and bowed slightly before leaving the room.
"You need to stop overworking...it's bad for you!" Anika roared..."and you too", she continued but looking at Kevin this time.
I nodded and did everything they asked including eating when I wasn't hungry, so as not to get a headache.
I was dropped off at home and only allowed to go in by myself after much appealing.
While inside, I finally relaxed. I didn't know whether to go to work the next day or not anymore.