|1| Fired

Riley’s POV

I placed my stuff in the box, glancing at my colleagues as they offered me a sad smile, passing my desk. “We will miss you, Riles,” one of them said, and I offered her a smile.

“It was nice getting to know you guys,” my voice croaked out, barely being heard from the restless nights I have been through.

They gave me one last sympathetic look before they walked away, heading to their meeting.

I watched them as they left, leaving me all alone on the floor. This was the perfect time for me to leave. I wouldn’t see another sympathetic look on their faces.

A door slammed open, and I lifted my gaze, seeing the last person I wanted to see right now. He flashed me a mischievous smirk, striding towards my desk.

God, how much I wanted to cut his throat open. I said to myself, glaring at him as he leaned on my desk.

How did I even ignore all the red flags, my sister’s and best friend’s warning? Love blinded me or what I thought was love…

“Need help with packing?” He asked sarcastically, pushing a bunch of my stuff to the floor.

“Asshole,” I hissed, and his eyes locked with mine. He pushed the box I was just filling, sending everything on the floor.

“Have fun cleaning it, Riles,” he gibed, walking closer to me, a bit too close for my liking.

I closed my eyes as I felt his intoxicated breath hit my face, creeping into my skin. “Chris,” I bellowed his name as his hand traveled down my back.

Now I see all the warnings clearer. His touch wasn’t out of love, it was all lust. He never wanted me for who I was. He wanted someone to fuck over, to manipulate.

The game lasted longer than intended.

My eyes flew open when he grabbed my butt harshly. It only took me seconds to slap him across his face with no hesitations, still feeling the blood boiling inside of me.

That slap wasn’t enough to satisfy my broken heart, but it felt good slapping him, a thing I wanted to do since last week.

Since I saw him fucking another.

I pushed him off me. “Don’t you ever touch me!” I hissed while he stood there, placing his hand on his cheek.

I never stood up for myself like that before.

“Fuck you, Chris,” I spat out and he gurgled, throwing his files messily on my desk, then grabbing my face roughly.

“What did you say?” He bellowed with a growl, tightening his grip around my face, his fingers digging into my skin.

I stopped breathing once the air was replaced by his intoxicating scent. How did I even have feelings for that man? My eyes flickered between his greyish eyes, not seeing the love he once held for me.

Or what I thought was love.

A binge of pain went across my chest and I forced my eyes shut, not wanting to look at him anymore.

“Chris, you are hurting me,” I whispered as the tears pooled in my eyes.

His grip loosened and let go of my face. I sighed, opening my eyes. He grabbed his files and glanced at me before chuckling to himself and leaving.

“You are pathetic,” he shouted over his shoulder and finally left out of my sight.

I got on my knees and gathered my stuff off the floor, letting my tears fall freely on my cheeks.

The pain in my heart remained, and I was getting annoyed by my naiveness. I was angry, brokenhearted, and tired from all the crying I had been doing for the past week.

And he had the guts to assault me.

Now that I know what assault means. I always lied to myself whenever he grabbed me forcefully or forced himself on me.

Athena came out of nowhere and sat on the desk. I quickly wiped my tears and straightened myself up. “I’ve called you countless times. Where were you? And why are you packing?” She asked with concern shown on her face.

“Chris and I broke up, and… they fired me after Chris reported me for fraud,” I mumbled, and her eyes widened.

Athena has been my best friend since college. Both of us majored in business, then we chose to be real estate agents.

We both enrolled in Pearson’s real estate internship and after three months of training, we got the job. That was two years ago.

“Fuck him, you don’t need a man to boss you. I can’t believe Stephanie believed his crap,” she hollered, and a dry chuckle escaped my lips, earning a puzzled look from her.

I was surprised she didn’t tell me she was right about him, and that I was blind all this time about him.

I was too heartbroken to talk to anyone since what happened.

A week ago, I was preparing a surprise for my fiance, Chris. Thinking about him now made me want to throw up.

Seriously, how did I fall for someone like him?

Anyway, it was our sixth month anniversary, and I thought to myself, why not surprise him with a good date night?

Before we got busy with our wedding preparations, that was in a week.

Who is sane enough to marry someone who just met six months ago? Absolutely not me.

So, I dressed up for him, bought his favorite food and wine, then headed to his house.

I opened the door, welcomed by darkness. My naïve self thought he was working late, as he missed a few days because he was sick.

My thoughts were too innocent, not realizing how dumb I was.

A backstory of how I even met Chris. He was my partner in the agency before I took the raise he wanted; we fought a lot for that spot at the beginning; he thought I wasn’t efficient enough for the position.

Well, I had two years of experience compared to him.

It was a rough start. We didn’t stand each other for weeks, then he suddenly changed. He became nice to me, showing a new side of him. We spent a lot of time together and I slowly fell in love with him; we dated for four months before he proposed.

When did the physical assault start? Right after I got the position he desperately wanted.

Love was a hard topic for me. My family never showed me an ounce of love, except for my sister. I was her world, and she was mine.

Athena was the second person I trusted. She was just like my sister. Then came Chris.

He was the first person who romantically loved me. Yeah, he was my first boyfriend, also my first kiss. He showed me what love is supposed to be, then he changed after I got the raise.

Turned out he is a manipulative douchebag who only wanted to use me for his own good.

He wanted to crack me to take my place, and how did he do that? He slept with his boss to frame me up for fraud.

I remember how my heart shattered into pieces when I heard the loud moans and groans coming from upstairs. My legs carried me to his room, and I opened the door, seeing Stephanie completely naked on top of him.

The horror in his eyes once his gaze met my cold one. He pushed her off him and followed me with the sheets around his waist, begging for me to listen.

Begging me to listen to more lies.

“Yeah…” I muttered, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ears, looking at Athena as her jaw flew open.

“No!” she exclaimed, leaning closer to my ear. “Stephanie, as in our boss?” She whispered and backed away, waiting for my answer.

I glanced at the empty hallway before nodding my head. “Yup, and now I’m facing a fraud case with a possibility of losing my license,” I mumbled, turning my focus to packing.

“Did he do that because I got the raise?” I whispered, and Athena was quick to pull me into her embrace.

“He’s just an asshole, and thank god you caught him before you got married to him,” she spoke in a soft tone, rubbing my back.

God knows how much I needed that hug.

I pulled away and smiled at her, wiping the tears that had spilled out. She smacked my arm, and I narrowed my eyes at her, rubbing my arm. “That’s for not calling me. I could’ve trashed their houses or even set Stephanie’s stupid blonde hair on fire.”

I rolled my eyes, giggling at her. That’s why I didn’t tell her she wouldn’t hesitate in burning their houses.

“You know what, I’ll quit,” she said with a grin, and I shook my head.

“No, you are doing great here. You have a lot of great clients,” I argued, and she laughed, clapping her hands as tears fell on her cheeks.

“Riles, you are really innocent. Your ex was fucking the boss just to frame you for fraud,” she said in a duh tone and I threw the last item in the box, turning my gaze to my friend, who was proud of her recent discovery.

I tried to connect the pieces, realizing Athena was right. He started to beat me two months ago, so that’s when it started.

When he started to hook up with Stephanie.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll be back,” she hollered with excitement before rushing out of the room.

I didn’t like how she said those words. I held the box and stared at the way she just took, waiting for her to show up again.

She couldn’t just quit right now, could she? I asked myself.

Only a few minutes passed before I heard a loud thud. “And fuck you, Chris!” Athena’s loud voice blasted through the quiet hallways.

She didn’t just interrupt the meeting; I said to myself as I waited for her to show up.

Workers gathered up in the hallway, trying to know what was happening. Athena popped up in the hallway. Behind her were Stephanie and Chris.

“Do you expect to be here again after that rebellious act?” Stephanie shouted in her high-pitched voice.

Chris looked me dead in the eye, mouthing me to make Athena stop. I smirked at him, pretending he wasn’t existing in front of me. He breathed out furiously, running his fingers through his brown hair.

“Shut up old woman, I’m quitting anyway, I don’t work in an agency where employees get advantages through fucking their bosses,” Athena hollered at her and people gasped.

I couldn’t even describe the look on their faces. It was priceless. His gaze locked with mine, and I gave him a sly smirk, amused by Athena’s act.

Stephanie’s face was flushed red and she couldn’t answer her, as she didn’t know what to say.

Athena strolled towards her desk, pulled out a packed box, then walked to me. “I see you were prepared,” I remarked, and she grinned at me, showing her white teeth.

“I was just waiting for the right moment.” She shrugged, and we hollered with laughter as we walked out of the agency.

…………………………………………………

Athena and I were now at a nearby café, having our breakfast, as I told her what happened. I don’t know how I managed to tell her everything without crying. Maybe my tears finally dried.

“And now we are jobless, not to mention the fraud case. Lara will be pissed off,” I mumbled as I played with the rest of the pancakes.

“She will be pissed because you didn’t handle the situation like how it’s supposed to be handled,” Athena stated, and I snorted, lifting my gaze to her.

Amusement lingered in her green eyes, and fear struck my heart at the idea that jumped in her brain. “Whatever is on your mind, it’s a no,” I said, picking my fork and stuffing the piece of pancake in my mouth.

“You didn’t even hear me!” She grumbled in a loud voice and people glared at us. She shouted a sorry, then turned her focus on me.

“Fine, say it.” I gave up, and her lips quivered into a wide grin.

She clasped her hands, setting them on the table. “So, now that we are out of that horrible place, we can work at…” she stopped talking, waiting for me to continue her sentence.

I narrowed my eyes, relaxing my posture on the chair’s back. “Um… where?” I questioned, and she rolled her eyes.

“At Harrison’s real estate brokering, one of the best in the field,” she answered in a duh tone.

“I don’t know…”

“Trust me, I’ve googled them. Also, the CEO is a total hottie and single-“

“Seriously, Tina?” I cut her, and she chuckled before taking a sip from her coffee.

“Anyway, their open day is in a month, and our portfolios are great. We sold a lot of estates in just one year, also our names were in the best agents magazine,” she blurted.

“That explains the existence of a packed box at your desk,” I retorted, and she rolled her eyes.

“So, what do you say?”

Knowing Athena, she wouldn’t pick up a trashy company. She planned everything beforehand and working in such a huge company was a dream. I could prove myself there.

“I’m in,” I uttered and Athena squealed.

“Harrison, wait for the best duo agents in Florida,” she said, wiggling her shoulders.

“But I have to see what to do about the fraud case,” I added, and she grinned at me.

She had an answer I wasn’t very enlightened to hear, but I knew it was my only option.

“Just spill it out,” I sighed.

This is how we spent our morning, coming up with a plan to save my license, exchanging conversations, and laughing our ass off. Gosh, I feel much better now than a few days ago.

I invited Athena for a sleepover, and now we were at my house. I was on my laptop, surfing N*****x for a good movie to watch while Athena took a shower.

“Do we watch horror movies?” I shouted to Athena, who was busy singing out loud. I rolled my eyes when I heard no answer and continued surfing for a movie.

My phone rang, and I saw Lara’s name on the screen. So I answered. “Where are you? I’ve been waiting in front of the supermarket for an hour,” I heard her concerned voice.

Crap! I forgot what she told me this morning. I was supposed to buy groceries and stuff needed for the house, but I forgot.

“... ugh I forgot about the shopping thingy,” I mumbled, hearing her sigh loudly.

“That’s fine. I’ll be home in thirty minutes,” she assured me, and I felt guilty for adding more chores to her.

“I’m sorry, Lulu,” I said, guilt trailed in my voice.

“It’s just grocery shopping. I’ll do it no big deal, also don’t forget to take your insulin.”

I groaned, remembering I didn’t take it. “Fine, mom, I’ll take my meds and insulin,” I said sarcastically, and she chuckled.

Lara was like a mother to me. She practically raised me since I was only ten years old. She wasted her teenage life just to provide me food, clothes, and good education, also not wanting me to end up in a foster house.

Sometimes I regret being a burden on her and want to retrieve the time she wasted on me. I never saw her in a relationship and whenever I asked, she said I’m enough for her.

She could’ve had a family of her own by now, but she wanted to guarantee me a good life. And right now, I am trying to do the same. I wanted my sister to find love, get married, and have kids of her own.

I smiled as I got off the bed. “Take care, Lara,” I said, hugging myself with one arm.

“You too,” she said before hanging up. I clenched my hand around the phone and headed outside my room, walking downstairs into the dark living room.

The street lights crept inside the room through the curtains, but it was still dark for me to see. I walked over to the lights, but a hand grabbed me, pushing me against the wall.

“Chris,” I breathed once I figured out his face. He flashed me a devilish smirk, and I felt my heart drop in my stomach from fear.