The whole office was tilting sideways. Ray could not seem to find balance. He tried to hold on to the table but everything had gotten all slippery. "Help!" He tried to speak, but he suddenly couldn't speak anymore. He then tried to call out to Tim but couldn't quite get the words out of his mouth.
It was at that moment that Ray looked towards the office entrance and a lady in her pajamas had stepped in. "Don't scream, Ray. I'll be quick. You'll see, it'll all be over in a while." The closer she got to him, the more frightened he was. Words didn't escape his lips, and they burned in his throat. "I'm here with you Ray, you're going to be alright. Calm down for me Ray." Her voice seemed to fade into echoes and his head pounded.
"Sir!" Tim called out to him. Ray looked out the office door and there was Tim, struggling to get inside. The lady stretched out her hands, already too close and ready to grab Ray. Ray screamed at his insides with all his might and sprang up from the chair with all the strength he had left.
Ray looked up to see a bewildered Tim. Tim stood wide-eyed and seemed to have frozen. "Were you having a nightmare, sir? It's day, so does it still count as a nightmare?" Tim asked, trying to get the right words out so as not to annoy his boss.
Ray was sweating like he had run for thirty miles. "I'm going to take the rest of the day off," Ray said, as he stood up straight. "Make sure you forget whatever it is you just saw." Ray threatened coldly, right before he grabbed his jacket and left.
Tim checked his phone and rushed after Ray, "Sir, please, you can't just leave, more foreign clients just stepped into the building, sir."
Ray stopped dead in his tracks and grumbled. "Why today? Why now?" He thought to himself. Without replying to any worker who attempted to exchange pleasantries, he walked back into his office.
"I'm going to grab some ice for you, sir," Tim said as he rushed out of the office.
"Thanks," Ray mumbled under his breath. Leaning deep down in his chair, he let his thoughts run. "I had dreamed about mother again," he thought, letting out a sigh. "When is this woman going to let me be for goodness' sake?"
Tim came with some ice, staring at Ray in apprehension. "Juice or wine sir?"
"Some juice will do," Ray replied, not making eye contact with him. "Tim has discovered different things about my life too much. He could play my wife if he were a woman," Ray thought, looking out the window.
"Here you go sir," Tim said as he placed the glass of juice on the table. "I already told the customers to wait in the meeting room. They believe you're in a very important meeting right now."
"Thanks Tim." Ray said, taking a sip of the juice. It calmed him down a little. Tim left the office and Ray looked up at him as he exited. "Work life's way easier with Tim for sure," Ray thought.
After taking deep breaths, Ray stepped out of the office and had the most boring meeting yet. "Many of these foreign clients already know what the outcome of this meeting would be, why bother to have it in person?" Ray complained as he stared at a speaker absentmindedly. Tim was taking notes as long as he could.
They shook hands with each other after the meeting, upon reaching a very obvious conclusion. "We look forward to working with you." They said just as they were about to leave. The foreign clients were to sponsor the upcoming anniversary in their way. "At the end of the day, they're just looking for the benefit of the association," Ray said to himself as he headed back to his office.
He heard footsteps behind him as he sat down. "I'm sorry sir, I tried to stop her," Tim said, agitated from running after a lady in heels. Ray only stared at their feet.
"It's okay." I motioned for him to leave us as I looked at the person from her heels to her face. It was Nelly, a not-so-consistent money chaser.
"Hi Ray, I decided to come see you today. Are you happy to see me?" Nelly asked, making herself comfortable. She had on a jumpsuit that couldn't seem to cover her cleavage.
"All you had to do was listen to Tim, Nelly. Why are you here?"
"Isn't it obvious, I came here because I missed you."
"It's been two months, Nelly. Why today?"
"Why not today? You didn't call me, not even once?"
"I'm not obligated to keep in touch with you, Nelly. We have a good time together and that's it. You know that's how I roll, so why all this drama?" Ray said, glaring at her and Nelly glared right back at him.
"You don't have to be so cold all the time, Ray."
"And you don't have to come running back whenever you're broke, okay?"
Nelly flinched and rose from her seat. Ray was happy she had decided to leave, but she walked closer to him instead. "I'm going to forgive you for saying that because you're right, I am broke right now. But I didn't come for your money. I missed you, that's all." She flashed a hurt smile at him.
Clever, but not clever enough, Ray thought. "Okay, thanks for coming, Nelly. Now's not a good time. I'll send you some money. Be good, okay?"
"Thanks," she replied, beaming. "I'll see you some other time Ray." She whispered as she kissed him goodbye. Ray sent her twenty thousand dollars, texting her afterward, and she replied with heart emojis. "Typical ol' Nelly," Ray said.
Lenae, on the other hand, had just gotten the best news of her entire year. She shrieked as she stared at her PC, "This is amazing!" She screamed as she read through Bloom's official announcement, the anniversary open auction.
Janette's attention shifted from her movie to the excited Lenae, "what's up?"
"You won't believe it!" Lenae replied. "Bloom's having an anniversary open auction. That means that we can submit our entry for free!".
"Wow!" Janette screamed, getting up on her feet and dashing towards Lenae. "Lenae is a very good observer, I had better sell my surprise." Janette thought. "Let me take a look," Janette added, shifting Lenae's PC closer to herself.
"How did she find out?" Janette thought. "And shy so soon?" Janette noticed that entries will only be accepted for two days, instead of three as she had previously seen. "They'd changed that condition so soon. The entries may be so many, I hope mine makes the cut at least." Janette wished in her heart.
"We're applying, right?" Lenae asked, looking at Janette in expectation.
"Sure we are," Janette replied, feigning excitement. She reaches for her PC and sits opposite Lenae.
Lenae smiled as she filled out her application, "Let this be it please," she wished in her heart. She kept looking up at Janette, "How's yours going?"
"Fine," Janette replied. "The Wi-Fi is excellent."
"Which painting are you uploading?" Lenae asked.
"Living Wonder."
"That's amazing," Lenae complimented. "I'll be uploading Two Hearts."
Janette just nodded. "She may think this will not be worth it," Lenae thought. "But please let it work out for both of us," Lenae wished.
After applying for the open auction, Lenae and Janette went out for some ice cream. "The auction is on everyone's lips," Lenae noted.
"You're right. Bloom is a recognized name." Janette responded, downing her chocolate ice cream.
Two little kids flocked into the ice cream shop, giggling in excitement. "Vanilla please!" One of them announced to the person at the counter. Lenae smiled, moved by their excitement. "I've always loved kids, you know?" She told Janette, who was also staring at the kids.
"Me too," Janette said.
"Too bad I didn't get a chance to have my gem," Lenae said, already thinking about her past.
"Let your sorry ex be. He shouldn't get the chance of ruining your day anymore, Lenae. You can be happy without him now. He never deserved you." Janette said.
"You're right. It's all old history now." Lenae said, smiling to herself. She looked at Janette. "I'm grateful to you, Janette," Lenae said.
"And I'm grateful to you too," Janette replied, lying through her teeth. "If anything, Lenae is the one person who stands in the way of my success now. If anyone deserves to be successful as a painter, it's me, not Lenae the spoiled brat running from her kind mother." She thought, squeezing her spook in her palm.