[Two weeks before the bachelorette party...]
The laptop screen lift up, soon I was surfing the job site. A futuristic-style advertisement for a chatbot service from a multinational company named Falcon Group greeted me faster than the speed of light. Then, a super micro ad's close button appeared after 10 seconds of the ad's greeting me, and it really pissed me off!
I looked at my six years at Falcon Group, in the production division, and the people I worked with. As well as the things I had to do as a huge blessing.
No expression of sympathy is necessary in my case!
That day, I stopped my Lamborghini in front of the company's gate while pointing a middle finger toward the top floor out of the windows. Where my former boss- Mr.Carl was.
"Just watch, you old man! I'm going to go find a way to live life!"
That's what I thought I said after stepping out of the Falcon group building areas.
I would like to tell you that before all this happened, I had been in the golden age of my career. Top officials and executives were always praising my work, and I often received awards from the company that allowed me to quickly climb the career ladder.
All my hard work changed my life. I lived in a super luxurious penthouse in New York, I owned my own Lamborghini and I also became a 'secret' investor. In short, for my twenty-seven years of living in this world, I could be considered a rich and independent woman.
However, the pandemic has destroyed all my achievements. The company I worked for was on the verge of bankruptcy. Ten thousand of their employees were sacked, and replaced with one of our new projects on artificial intelligence systems.
It was called Business Large Language Model Automation System A.K.A 'Belda's Project', including me as the Manager of the project.
I wondered.... if I look back at my outstanding performance, there was no failure in it. But why did they decide to sack me at this time? I could have helped them to solve this problem. This is the most awkward thing when the company is having problems.
"This is our final decision to save our company, sorry Clara," said Mr. Carl.
"But Sir, I had predicted that our business would be safe if we-"
"No, Clara! It's over!" He interrupted.
I tried to discuss this with my boss and other leaders, I wanted to make them trust me to handle this chaos. But they wouldn't listen to me and argued that all this was happening because the economy was in such a mess.
It's like the advice quote from 'rich mom, poor mom'. I had followed that advice and had prepared for it, so I invested in some start-ups and I was hoping that one day my 'money' would work for me and I could retire in peace, at least I could save myself from this chaotic situation.
But what I got now is a big minus! The market crashed, and I lost all the money I invested, even Silicon Valley banks are bankrupt now.
After being fired, day after day I used my last salary to survive. You know, living in a luxury penthouse is not cheap. So I decided to sell my Lamborghini to pay my rent and living expenses, but it seemed like the money wasn't enough to match my old lifestyle.
Sometimes, I couldn't afford the rent and had nothing left. When things got even more chaotic, my Dad called me and checked on my condition after a year, and he offered to return to my homeland. A peaceful little town in a country on the continent of Europe. However, here I am. living in my parents' house again...
I closed the job search website window as there were no jobs that suited me, and started checking my email. But not for long, I also closed the window of my email page.
I rolled onto my bed, next to Bong who was already fast asleep and curled up on my cotton blanket. I exhaled in frustration that my email box was still empty without a single reply from the company I applied to. Amid my frustration, I heard someone knocking on my bedroom door.
"Yes?" I replied in a lazy tone.
My Dad opened the door, his brow furrowed with his big hazel eyes looking at me sharply and his arm crossed around his chest. Meanwhile, I turned my head lazily.
Now, our eyes met each other full of concern as he asked me, "How long will you be like this?"
"I don't know, I didn't plan to be like this either. If that bastard hadn't sacked me. I would never have been like this" I rolled over again feeling frustrated with my current situation.
When he heard my answer, he took a deep breath, "Listen, girl. You're already twenty-seven years old, why don't you go out and find someone to date? you know, when-"
I tried to continue his sentence by mimicking his tone before he finished what he was about to say "When I was your age, I was already married to your mum, and when your mum was your age, she was already carrying you in her womb"
"Right..."
Then, he stepped inside and walked around my bedroom, stopping in front of the wall where my graduation photo was displayed. He looked at our family. The beautiful and warm photo at my high school graduation party a few years ago.
*Sigh*
I heard my Dad sigh heavily. I rolled my body over again, and now I was staring at my Daddy's back. I just realized that now his polo looks smaller than the last year I saw him. And I could see his gray hair from a distance.
"Don't worry Dad, I'll get a job soon!" I tried to reassure him.
Then my Dad turned and looked at me with a sad face. It was as if he wanted to say 'What a poor daughter'.
As he began to speak, he expressed his heart "You know, your cousin Susan is getting married soon "
I nodded and replied, "Yes, she has already sent me the invitation "
"The thing is... she's four years younger than you! And she's already getting married! When are you going to find someone to propose to you?" The news left him stunned and curious.
My Daddy couldn't believe that his younger niece was getting married before his daughter, and it made him think that his brother would defeat him. So, he put more pressure on me so I could get married soon.
I got up from the bed and quickly sat down. I couldn't seem to control the expression of my bad mood at the moment. Bong, who had been sleeping, woke up and left the room. Now it was just the two of us in my bedroom.
In a cordial conversation with my father, I explained my position. " Dad, I would never marry a random man just because Susan got married before me!"
"I'm not saying you should marry a random guy, can you go to a bar and find someone there?"
I shouted, emphasizing my words. He tried to suggest going to a bar to find a potential partner, but I wasn't convinced.
"So you're saying I should pick up a random guy in a bar? Really? " replied skeptically.
He stumbled over his words, "N-No, I mean... You should hang out with your friends and find a nice guy to marry!"
"All right, if you want me to do so!"
Feeling frustrated, I agreed to her plan and started packing my rucksack.
I tied my wavy blonde hair into a ponytail covered my white T-shirt with a denim jacket, black trousers, and trainers, and then put on my old navy blue baseball cap.
As I was getting ready to leave, my dad asked, "Where are you going at this hour?"
I replied sarcastically, "To the bar to hang out with a hunk".
He quickly caught on and accused me of trying to trick him, pointing out that no bars were open at 9 a.m. He even made a joke about me going to the library.
"Yeah, I'll drink with all the books in the library until I get drunk with Hamlet!" Then I left the house with my backpack.
"Wait! Hey, you Clara!" Dad shouts from the front of the house.
The conversation with my Dad left me feeling conflicted and irritated. But I was determined to find a suitable partner on my terms, without having to pick someone out of nowhere or a random guy from a bar.
When I left home and went to the cafe library in the suburban, I quickly got on the bus to make the most of my time. However, I still felt frustrated and angry with my Dad for putting pressure on me to find a partner as soon as possible.
I was determined to make the job search my priority, but my Daddy's expectations added an extra layer of stress to my day. All in all, I boarded the bus with mixed feelings of determination and annoyance, hoping to find solace in the books at the library.