CHAPTER FOUR
ROXANNE'S POV
"You've been so sweet and helpful to me, Thank you," I said to Mara as we were heading out of the company. The cashier was the only "not rude" person the company had, except Tarella of course.
"We're to start our duty by 7:30 am tomorrow, isn't that too early?" Mara asked as a usual inquisitive person.
"Mara, we don't determine the time we resume or close and..." I sighted Tarella
"Oh Tarella over here," I called out to her as she exited the company's building.
I heard a snort from Mara but I ignored it. Maybe she needed to sneeze
We waited for Tarella to display her elegant bossy walk that gave her out as a VVIP.
Her long brown hair was flying in the air. She elegantly took a wisp out of her face angrily but the stubborn wisp flew back in place.
Her round face was made even rounder by the distance between her and us and her hips more curvy.
I couldn't help but envy her beauty. She looked like a goddess.
"How are you doing Roxanne? You look so refreshed," she praised as she gave a gentle pat on my shoulder.
"Yes, Tarella, I indeed feel refreshed thanks to Mara who has been my guide, though we are both new to the system," I responded breaking into a huge grin. It didn't matter that I had said more than was asked
"Wow!! Mara, you're such a sweetheart, taking care of her so well.
So how do you find life in the company?" She asked
"I can already feel the heat from the hell I'm about to experience. Why's the CEO so rude?" I asked the most nagging question on my mind. His rudeness could pass for a terrible mental illness.
She shook her head sadly, "I don't blame him for his rudeness; anyone in his shoes would do the same. He's lost three girlfriends in the past three years,"
"Lost them? Did they break his heart?" Mara asked, not missing a chance to insert a question.
"Breaking his heart would have been a better way to end things but they were all killed mysteriously, found murdered in their room," she dried a quick tear from her eyes.
"And worst of all, the last, who was his secretary was so good to everyone in the company. She died a day before their wedding," more tears gushed down.
"I'm so sorry Tarella, I didn't mean to hurt or bring back hurtful memories to you," I apologized, feeling triply guilty.
"This is too much news to digest on our first day in this company," Mara shook her head so violently that it indeed was about to fall.
"He has been rude mostly to females and has refused to go into a relationship since then," she said, hailing a cab unceremoniously bringing the conversation to a close
"I guess we say our goodbyes here. Where do you stay? I mean we can both go together if we're going to the same destination," Mara said, waving at Tarella as the cab drove her away
"Uhmm... Not that close, I live at Kingfisher Street, three miles away," I said
"Yeah, I live a mile away from there, we could both use the same cab," she said as she made to hail a cab
"No!!! I'd walk, don't have enough fare with me" I waved and hastened my steps away before she asked more questions.
EDWARD'S POV
"I didn't want you to see me like this," My mom said trying to hide her face from my view.
"No, Mom, I'd kill to see and be with you. Everything will be alright, your health will go back to its normal state," I tried to ease her pain.
She managed a weak smile, "Let's not lie to ourselves anymore. Let's learn to face the truth. Eddy, I'm dying, I can feel it in every breath I draw in. I won't last long but my greatest wish is to see you married. Even at that, I'm still okay with your being single. I do not want any more dead bodies. I prefer dying in peace than in mourning," she panted a bit. The long speech must have been very tasking.
"Mom, You aren't dying, I won't let that happen. Together, we'll find a way," A gallon full of tears clouded my vision.
She gave the weak smile again and coughed violently, "Let me go, I'll find peace in death. I can't bear the pain anymore, the weakness, the tears, I don't want to see you guys in pain again," her eyes registered her sad predicament, glowing with the same enthusiasm as her shrunken cheek.
"Did you find the killer? The culprit behind Sara's death?" she diverted the conversation away from herself.
I sobbed in response, recalling the tragic incident. The blank look on her face.
Her death was the most recent and most painful. If not for my parent's support, I would have ended my life and followed wherever she had gone.
We had all planned the wedding together; her family and mine. Everyone was looking forward to the D-day but she was brutally murdered the day before. The horror done to her body was massive. She was in a pool of blood. Her ear was cut off and there was a sharp slit on her throat.
The bouquet I had bought to surprise her, dropped in surprise, mirroring my surprise. As I had opened her entrance door and saw her lying lifeless on the couch, my heart had stopped for a split second and it took thirty minutes for me to recover before I could call on the cops.
Her death made me a changed person. Each of the three deaths made me more rude and irritable than before. It molded me from bad to worse and from worse to worse.
"Mom, Let's not talk about them, they're gone. You need to focus on not going yourself because if you go I will never love again," I said determinedly, in between fits of sobs as I held her hands close to my chest.
"Okay, my dear, how's work?" She switched the topic again while stroking my tear-stained cheeks.
"Nothing is fine. Now you've been admitted to the hospital, nothing is fine. I miss you, mom,"
She threw her head sideways in laughter "Do I usually go to work with you? How does my admission into the hospital make things less fine?" She asked, still laughing
"Mom it's not funny, I mean I couldn't...."
"I understand dear, but it's funny," she chuckled, "Go, my dear, I can see you're spent. Goodbye, you can visit tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you." She said, bidding me farewell
"I love you, Mom. Stay strong," I kissed her softly on the cheek.
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I lay on my soft bed thinking about my mom's ill health. I couldn't recall a moment where she had ever fallen sick. She was always a healthy and vibrant woman, unlike my sickly father. Who would've thought she'd be at the brink of death before my father who was a frequent customer to the hospital?
I thought of how fresh her skin had always been and how proud of her beauty I was back then in high school.
Seeing the poor girl who came for employment in my company, drew my memory back to my mother and how flawless her beauty was.
The poor girl was indeed not poor in beauty for her white skin was the creamiest I've ever seen. Her brown honeyed hair itched my tongue making me feel like kissing all of it. Her lips looked so soft that my spirit and soul had already gone out to kiss. Her faded polo could not hide the volume of her twin towers that stood dangerously erect, pulling my eyes closer to see through it.
Her nose pointed in the direction of love and when she apologized, my ears rang melodiously. Could anyone be compared to her enchanting beauty? The tiny shape of her mouth that would've fitted wonderfully with mine was resting there quietly. Her natural eyelashes were so long and beautiful that just a blink from them could quench a flaming fire.
When she raised her tear-stricken eye at me, my breath seized. Those lovely blue eyes had me entranced.
I quickly snapped myself out of the fantasy. How could I be thinking of another woman, when my mom was at the brink of death? More so the fact that I had recently lost a would-be wife.
Sara was the world to me; I could always drown in her eyes. Her skin was flawless too but was nothing compared to the poor girl's.
I realized that I hadn't asked for her name, and I was so tempted to do so. I had secretly copied her contact digit from my system; a move I felt was stupid.
The enchanting picture of her lips kept flashing in my head that I was going dead crazy. The red frosty lip gloss she used was dangerously driving me insane. I decided to make use of the cell phone beside my bed to end this possession. "Maybe if I could hear her voice just once, everything would be alright," I convinced myself.
I tried to stop myself when I had dialed the first two digits, but my fingers were faster than my common sense. The phone rang for two seconds before there was a reply
"Hello," The angelic voice called out, filling my body with electric shock and spasms. The way she pronounced hello, got me smiling like a fool.