Chelsy sat on one of the chairs in the staff room wincing in pain from her bruised knees. Helena had intentionally placed her leg in front of Chelsy so that she could stumble on it. This ended with Chelsy falling, and her knees being hurt.
As she sat down contemplating whether she was going to be fired or not, Rita walked into the staff room and asked, "Chelsy, are you okay?" Chelsy nodded and said, ''Hey Rita, I am okay. Thank you for asking.''
Rita walked closer to her and then said, ''There is a first aid kit in one of those drawers. Let me get some plasters and alcohol for your bruised knees. You wouldn't want that infected.''
Chelsy just nodded and let Rita help her out. As Rita was done cleaning Chelsy's bruised knees, Chelsy was called through the intercom to go to the manager's office. When she got to the office, Clyde Peters, the manager, was sitting at his desk. ''Hello sir, you called for me.''
Clyde said nothing and just stared at Chelsy with an unreadable expression.
Oh my gosh, I am going to be fired on my very first day at work. Chelsy thought to herself. Chelsy had a worried look on her face. Since she was wearing a black knee-level skirt, the plasters on her knees were visible.
When Clyde noticed the plasters, his brows furrowed, and he raised the corner of his eye and asked, Miss Powers, are you okay? Does it still hurt?''
Chelsy was surprised and shocked at the same time. She looked behind her to know if there was someone else there or was the manager actually concerned about her bruised knees? She stuttered and asked, "Sir, are you talking to me?"
The manager rolled his eyes and asked if there was someone else in the room with them? Chelsy felt so stupid for asking such a ridiculous question. Oh Chelsy. Can I be more stupid than I already am? Chelsy thought to herself while clenching the helm of her blazer. ''No sir, I am fine.'' She replied with an awkward smile.
The manager took a deep breath and said, ''Miss Powers, today is your very first day at work, and you are already causing trouble and constituting a nuisance. Do you know why I won't be firing you today?''
Chelsy's eyes grew wider in anticipation. She shook her head and said, "No sir." Mister Clyde cleared his throat and said, ''Today, you assisted a woman in picking out an outfit for her daughter. She left a very positive review of the service you provided. It is rare for workers on their first days of work to get such reviews. So, with that in mind, I will pardon you and not get you fired. Since I would not want to step on the toes of Miss Richards, I wouldn't want her to see you when she comes here next. So, you will no longer work at the front desk. You will move to your new station, which is the inventory. You will be keeping track of the stock levels and replenishing stock. That is the best I can do for you now.''
When Chelsy heard this, she was grateful that she wasn't going to be fired. "Thank you very much Mister Clyde."
Mister Clyde asked her to go home early and take care of her bruised knees.
Meanwhile, Helena and Ken had left the shopping mall not happy with each other. Ken kept thinking of Chelsy and how Helena made her fall down. His brows furrowed as he kept thinking of Chelsy's bruised knees and his countenance was red with rage.
Why did I feel so angry when Chelsy referred to me as Mister Roberts? Do I actually miss her calling me love or baby? And why do the bruises on her knees make me this upset?'' Ken thought to himself.
Helena, who could not stand his silence again, shouted at him. ''Ken, what is wrong with you? Why has your mood suddenly changed? We came here to shop for the baby. But the moment you saw Chelsy, your entire mood changed. Wait a minute, don't tell me you are in love with Chelsy?''
When Ken heard this, he turned around and looked at Helena with piercing cold eyes. ''What the hell are you talking about? Matter of fact, why are you talking about Chelsy?''
Helena couldn't stand Ken's aloof attitude and burst out crying. ''Ken, why are you doing this? Today was supposed to be a bonding day for you, me and our baby. But you have spoiled everything, and it is all because of that girl, Chelsy. You even went ahead to refer to her as love.''
As she spoke, the tears kept rolling down her cheeks.
When Ken saw Helena crying, his face softened, and he raised his hand to clean the tears from her face.
''Honey, you know you are pregnant and being upset is not good for you and the baby. Don't worry, I don't love Chelsy. I only called her love, because it was a slip of the tongue. It is you and our baby that I want, okay? Besides, we are getting married soon and all this will be behind us. So stop crying and don't be upset again. It's been a long day and I think you should be hungry by now. Let's go to your favorite restaurant and have your favorite food.''
He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He placed his hand on her growing belly and whispered,
''Hey little champ, please tell mummy not to cry anymore.''
Helena, who was sobbing, stopped crying after what he said. She gave a smile as he rubbed her belly, and leaned on his shoulder. Ken called out to the driver, ''Hey Derrick. We are not going home. Please take us to Helena's favorite restaurant.'' Derrick nodded and they drove off.
Chelsy went back home after the crazy day she had at work. When she knocked on the door, Rachel shouted inside, ''Melinda, if that is you again at my door, I will make sure I break your neck.''
As she opened the door and saw Chelsy. She froze. ''Chels, why are you home so early? It's still five pm, and you said you would be back by nine.''
Chelsy walked into the house and Rachel closed the door. When she saw Chelsy's bandaged knees, her eyes grew wide. ''Holly, Molly. Chels. What happened to your knees? Are you okay?'' She asked with so much concern in her voice.
Chelsy sat on the couch and said, ''Don't worry Rach. It's not that serious. It's just a little bruise. I slipped and fell while working.'' Chelsy knew if she told Rachel the truth, she would definitely make a big fuss out of it.
Rachel rolled her eyes and said, ''Chels, I have known you for so many years and I know when you are lying. Better tell me the truth. Did someone at your job bully you? Are your colleagues picking on you?''
Chelsy felt as if she had a migraine from all the questions Rachel kept bombarding her with. ''Okay, okay. I will tell you the truth.'' Chelsy snorted. Rachel crossed her hands on her chest and said, ''Start talking and don't leave out any details.''
Chelsy looked at her best friend and chuckled, ''girl, you are such a drama queen. How did I really become friends with you?'' Rachel just rolled her eyes. Chelsy told Rachel what had happened.
''What? Those two are crazy, and should probably relocate to a different planet. They are just so evil. Anyway, guess who showed up today at this door.'' Chelsy raised her eyes with a curious look on her face.
''That is the exact same face I had when I saw that evil spirit called Melinda. She came here pretending to be all calm and was asking after you. I couldn't stand that fake face of hers, and asked her to leave.'' Rachel explained.
Chelsy was so surprised and asked, ''But why will Melinda be looking for me? Did she wake up on the wrong side of her bed today? I'm sure my brother must have asked her to come here. Anyway, she is the least of my worries now. I just need to take a shower and rest.'' Chelsy got up and went into her bedroom.
Back at Leonel's house, Melinda was sitting on the couch waiting for her husband to come back. When she heard the door unlocked from outside, she stood up and rushed to the door.
Leonel walked in and acted as though Melinda was transparent. He didn't even spare her a glance. As he walked into the room and was about to go upstairs, Melinda rushed and hugged him from behind. She started crying, ''Honey, please don't ignore me anymore. I am already tired of this silent treatment. I have come to the realization that my attitude towards Chelsy has really not been the best. Please, I will do whatever it takes to bring her back. I just don't want to lose you.''
As she spoke, her face was filled with tears. Leonel's heart softened, but he didn't let it show on his face. He turned around to face her but said nothing. Melinda lifted her teary eyes and asked him to sit down. Leonel followed her and sat down without uttering a word.
''I am sure you would be wondering why I hate Chelsy.'' Melinda spoke while cleaning her eyes. She gave a little chuckle and said, ''I don't hate Chelsy. I am actually scared of her. I am scared she might one day influence you to kick me out of this house. I know I am weak, and I hide under the umbrella of being your wife to suppress her. But the truth is, I have realized she wasn't being suppressed, but she respected me out of the love she has for you.''
Melinda continued with a painful smile, ''You know I used to have an elder sister too? Her name was Elizabeth. She was married to a very wealthy man, but the man's younger sister was the epitome of evil and wickedness. The man loved his younger sister with everything he had. His younger sister would frame all sorts of lies against my sister and feed her brother's mind with all sorts of bad things. The man would shout at Elizabeth and even hit her sometimes, irrespective of the fact that she was four months pregnant. Then one day, the man's sister deliberately started a fight with Elizabeth. She pushed herself down the stairs and made it seem as though Elizabeth had pushed her. My sister's husband walked onto the scene with the notion that Elizabeth had tried to kill his sister. My sister was locked up in a room until it was time to give birth. Unfortunately, she developed so many complications and she and the baby ended up losing their lives.''
Tears rolled down Melinda's eyes as she spoke.
''When I met you, I saw how close you were to Chelsy, and how much you loved her and would do anything for her. I promised myself that I would never become a punching bag like my sister Elizabeth. I have realized that you are different from my sister's husband. Please honey, forgive me. I really let my fears clog my sense of judgment.''
Leonel's countenance, which was stiff before, relaxed with so much pity in his eyes for Melinda. He held out his hand and cleaned Melinda's tears.
''Honey, why didn't you tell me your fears? You should have explained to me what was going on. We are a team, remember? As much as I love Chelsy, you are my wife and I love you and little Fiona the most. I am nothing like your sister's husband, okay? And Chelsy is actually one of the most peaceful and compassionate people one can possibly come across.''
Melinda lifted her face and looked at Lionel. ''Please honey, can you ask Chelsy to come over so that I can apologize to her? I went looking for her today but, her best friend didn't let me see her.'' Leonel gave a little chuckle and said, ''that's Rachel for you. She is so protective of Chelsy.''
Lionel hugged his wife and asked her not to worry. He took out his phone and placed a call to Chelsy. When the call got connected, he said, ''Hey Chels. Can you please come over to the house tomorrow? Melinda has something to tell you. Please don't say no. We will be waiting for you.''
Will Chelsy go over to Leonel's house, and will she be able to forgive Melinda after listening to her past?