Braden Cross had been working as the errand boy for Miller's Medicals for a few weeks now. The job wasn't important and he wasn't paid that well for it, either. All he was told to do was to take things from one place to another, all over the company.
He was simply the person they would call whenever they felt too lazy to do something on their own. But that day, when he was going to deliver the files sent to him to drop on the desk of Elijah Durham, the president of the company, he had no idea what was awaiting him.
He opened the door and right in front of him was his girlfriend, Emilie on the lap of his boss, kissing him romantically. The files dropped out of Braden's hands in shock as he stared at what was happening. He couldn't believe his eyes!
"Emilie! What are you doing?" he cried. "Why are you with boss?"
Emilie didn't stand up from Elijah's lap, she just rolled her eyes and sighed. "Braden, I'm sorry but you're not just the right guy for me."
"What?" Braden asked with a teary voice. "What do you mean?"
"You're poor and you're powerless!" Emilie answered nastily. "You don't have what it takes to take care of a woman like me."
"Emilie, who is the scum of a person, eh?" Elijah asked. "Who's the worthless bastard who has no respect for a master like me?"
"Ugh, don't worry baby. This is my ex-boyfriend, Braden. He's a nobody. Don't mind him."
"Ex-boyfriend?" Anger swelled in Braden's face. "I'm her boyfriend! I'm not her ex! Let's go Emilie, we can talk about this somewhere else."
Emilie avoided Braden's hands as though they were smelly trash that she didn't want touching her body. "Don't touch me, doofus!" she cried. "We are not going anywhere to talk. We're over. Done! I don't want to see you again. You're way too poor for me, you have nothing going on in your life and all you do is keep secrets from me."
Braden's heart broke. "Why are you saying this, Emilie?"
"Human trash!" Elijah called Braden despicably. "You heard what the girl said. Get the hell out of my office."
Braden turned to Elijah, glaring at the man with anger in his eyes. Once again, Elijah Durham has taken something away from him. But this time, he couldn't hold back, he was too angry. "You bastard !!!" he yelled and lunged at his boss.
Elijah fell to the ground as Emilie quickly hopped off, but before Braden could land a single punch on Elijah, five strong bodyguards grabbed him and pulled him away from the boss.
"Leave me alone!" Braden yelled. "Let me go! Let me go!" He tried to fight off the powerful strong men, but their grasp on him was just too strong.
Elijah then got to his feet, he looked irritated and angry. He dusted his suit and slowly walked up to Braden, angrily. Then he slapped him, so hard that Braden's head started to vibrate. He couldn't even breathe for a while. And then he slapped him again.
Braden's face started to redden and his eyes got dizzy. Elijah squatted and grabbed him by the hair, raising his face and glaring into his eyes. "You foolish mutt!" he spat on his face. "What is your name? What do you do here?"
Braden tried to catch his breath, his head still spinning. "My name is... ugh... My name is Braden. Braden Cross. I work as a service boy here."
Elijah angrily slapped Braden again, then blood poured out of his nose. Emilie shrieked, wondering if it has gone too far.
"So you're just a mere errand boy, eh?" Elijah snarled. "A stupid, worthless, wretched errand boy who we gave a chance to work in my illustrious company that I built out of my sweat. And you dare have the guts to attack me?"
Braden wanted to tell Elijah that he's a liar. 'You didn't build the company out of your sweat. You stole it from my father!' But he knew if he said that, he would be in a much bigger trouble. And so he began to beg. "Please, Boss Elijah. Forgive me. It was a moment of uncontrolled emotion. It will not happen again. I am sorry."
"Oh, you're sorry," Elijah laughed. "It's too late for that now, ignorant scum. My boys here are going to teach you a lesson. And I'm going to watch. Get him up, boys."
The bodyguards pulled Braden to his feet. He already looked weak with a bloody nose from the slaps Elijah had given him. Elijah then took a seat, inviting Emilie back into his laps as he watched.
The bodyguards surrounded Braden. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew it wasn't good for him.
"I'll give you the chance to defend yourself, errand boy," Elijah said. "If you can defeat my boys here and escape, you get to keep your job. Otherwise, my boys will beat you to a pulp and dump your lifeless body out in the streets."
Braden's heart sunk. These men were almost twice his size and they were very muscular and scary-looking, how could he ever defeat them? He was a skinny man, with no fighting skill. "Please, boss. They are much stronger than me.".
Immediately a punch landed on his face by one of the men.
"I said fight, damn it!" Elijah ordered.
Braden had no choice. He took a weak stance and tried to measure up his opponents. Maybe if he was fast enough, he could land a punch on one of them and weasel his way out of this predicament.
Braden quickly swiped his hand and punched one of the men, but the man barely moved. The punch didn't even harm him in the slightest. Seeing this, Braden gulped and tried to escape. But they caught him quickly and slammed him hard on the chair.
"Ugh!" Braden cried.
"Ha! That's what I'm talking about!" Elijah laughed as he lit his cigarette and started smoking. "Beat up the worthless fag!"
Braden tried to get up but they landed a kick to his stomach and he fell back down. More kicks were rained on him, bruising him all over. He was then picked up and slammed on the wall, pushing all the air out if his lungs and almost breaking his spine. Then more punches and more punches as blood kept pouring out of his damaged face.
"That's what I like to see."
Braden fell down lifeless, barely breathing as his body creaked and ached. He wished he had never said anything, he wished he had never met Emilie, he wished he had not decided to work under his father's killer. He wished he had not been born!
"Take him out of here!" Elijah demanded. "Dump him by the streets. Let him stay with the beggars."
The men obeyed. They carried Braden's lifeless body, picking him like a rag doll and dumping him out near the trash where beggars were fumbling for a good meal.
Tears started falling from his eyes as he lied down there in pain. This is the life that he was now living. The life that his father's death had caused.
The life of a loser.