CHAPTER THREE
The boss shook his head, still trying to process the events that had transpired.
"She would have been pardoned if she hadn't told that lie, because thank goodness I could still retain the CEOs patronage," he said to his assistant as they walked out of the kitchen.
His assistant nodded in agreement.
"Her lie was really the icing on the cake, leaving a bad taste in everyone's mouth."
"I gave her a chance, and she blew it. Dishonesty will not be tolerated in my kitchen."
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Cherry's job history read like a laundry list of failures - twelve positions, twelve terminations, and a whole lot of disappointment.
Now, at thirty-one, she felt like a ship without anchor, drifting aimlessly through life.
She'd taken to calling herself cursed, like some unseen force was conspiring against her.
A nagging voice within Cherry reminded her that her habitual lying had ruined her career.
Amidst the wreckage of her career and life, one constant remained - her parents' unwavering pride.
They were always filled with joy, believing their daughter was a respected civil servant, blissfully unaware of the struggles she'd faced.
Cherry had kept up the charade, shielding them from the harsh reality, and the weight of that secret was crushing her.
That evening, Cherry's feet felt heavy, like it was rooted to the spot. She couldn't muster the courage to face her parents, to explain the unexplainable - her job lost, and their pride shattered.
The thought of their questioning gazes, their concerned voices, was too much to bear. How could she break the news?.
And the thought of tomorrow brings the inevitable question- 'Why aren't you going to work, dear?' was something she was nowhere near ready to confront and not ready to lie again.
She couldn't help but wonder why her parents never encouraged her to spread her wings, to find her own place, like a grown woman should.
After all, wasn't a civil servant's salary supposed to be enough to cover the basics, including a comfortable apartment?
But, in a twisted way, Cherry was grateful they didn't pressure her.
If they had, she'd have been forced to work even harder to make rent, just to maintain the illusion of success. And that would have been a burden too heavy to bear.
Cherry's inner voice was a harsh critic, branding her 'shameless' for still living at home at thirty-one.
But what was the alternative? The streets? No, she couldn't stomach that thought.
'Shameless, maybe,' she'd admit, 'but at least I'm safe, fed, and loved.' She rationalized her situation, convincing herself that her parents' hospitality was a blessing in disguise.
'Better to be a shameless dependent,' she'd tell herself, 'than a hopeless statistic, lost to the streets.
As she walked through the pedestrian lane, she had a flashback, the memory came haunting her again like bricks falling:
The honest prank that led to the tragic death of her best friend, Tamara.
Another reason she moved into her parents house when the trauma was hitting her hard.
Cherry's April Fools' prank had gone horribly wrong, as she falsely told Tamara's boyfriend that Tamara was cheating on him.
Enraged, he had thrown Tamara off a cliff, leaving Cherry consumed by guilt and self-loathing.
Cherry's fibbled legs took her straight to the ground, sitting on the concrete floor as she kept her head on her palms and voiced out with a loud voice since she was alone on the street.
"I'm sorry Tamara!!!! I hope you can hear me from up there!!!"
She looked up to the sky.
"I didn't mean any harm to you I promise! I miss you so much!!" Tears began streaming down her cheeks.
She blew in a mucus.
"I know right, I'm such a failure, I promised you the other time at your grave that I wasn't going to lie again, and that I was already tired of such life, b..but look at me," she stuttered.
"I thought I was very intentional, but it came out of me yet again today and lost my job because of that.
I'm cursed Tamara, I'm cursed!!" She shouted aloud.
A cold breeze coarse through her veins giving her goosebumps, the feeling wasn't usual, she looked up, and wiped her tears to see a tiny, twinkling light shining like a star that had wandered away from the night sky.
The sight was nothing short of surreal. 'What was a celestial body doing in front of me?' she wonderedas she struggled to make sense of the phenomenon.
And then, in a move that defied all logic, the light began to move closer, its radiance intensifying until Cherry could see that it was no star at all but a pair of piercing eyes, belonging to a curious creature that emerged from the darkness.
Its soft 'meow' shattered the spell of wonder that had held her entranced.
The light drew nearer, and Cherry's wonder turned to delight as a sleek black cat emerged from the shadows.
A golden tail twitched back and forth.
As the feline approached, it's one turquoise green eyes and one piercing red eyes fixed intently on Cherry's face.
With each step, the cat's meows grew louder, more insistent, like it was trying to convey a message that only Cherry could hear.
Cherry's grip on her handbag tightened, an instinctive gesture of self-protection, as she bent down down to meet the cat's gaze.
The cat, sensing her hesitation, slowed its approach, beckoning her closer.
She then felt the cat's warm breath on her skin, its whiskers brushing against her hand like a whispered secret.
She hesitated for a moment, then reached out a hand, her fingers brushing against the cat's soft fur as one last drop of tears fell onto the fur.
"Well, well, well. Look who's here.
Another spectator came to witness my downfall. I suppose you're wondering how a grown woman like me can't even hold down a job.
And how I can't stop myself from lying,
Newsflash, it's not for lack of trying. But somehow, the universe seems to be conspiring against me.
That job I had? Gone, thanks to some mysterious pin that seemed to appear out of thin air making me put a lie against my coworker.
I'm starting to think I'm cursed."
"But somehow Kitty, I really wish to stop lying, and I don't know how that last one came out of me, I really want a change and I no longer want to be branded as that woman who always tells lies."
She let out a scornful laugh, then sprang to her feet, spinning around with a dramatic flourish.
"Oh wow, I've really hit rock bottom now!" She slapped her forehead, trying to shake off the absurdity of it all.
"I'm having a heart-to-heart with a cat! What's next? Expecting sympathy from a brick wall?" She shook her head, chuckling wryly at her own desperation.
"As if a furry little creature like you could possibly understand the complexities of my miserable life..."