"For fuck's sakes, move already!" Rachel exploded at the cab driver. She was over an hour late for work and she was nowhere close to reaching.
"Move to where?" The cab driver retorted. "Do you see anyone moving? The damn road is blocked."
She hissed and took out her phone. Using the camera as a mirror, she noticed her lipstick was smudged.
How did that even happen? she wondered.
She reached for her lipstick to correct it but her phone started ringing. The caller, her boss.
She felt her heart tighten. Looking up, she scanned the road for any signs of movement. There was none.
So she ignored the call.
It rang again, this time her mother.
I don't have any money to give you now, she lamented silently.
She looked up one last time. The traffic still wasn't moving.
"I'll get down here," she said and handed him his money.
She weaved her way through the cars and onto the sidewalk. Her heels were killing her. Every hurried step she took on the concrete pavement rippled through her entire body. She looked at them and thought.
God, I picked the wrong day to wear these heels.
She took them off and quickened her pace.
15 minutes later, she arrived at her destination.
Her colleague was waiting at the front desk.
"What took you so long?"
"The fuckin traffic." She stopped to catch her breath. "Have you been outside today? It's a mess out there."
"Nevermind about that, the meeting's almost started."
She couldn't care less about the meeting. She was just a secretary in one of the conglomerate's many companies, she simply wanted to keep her job, and the only way to do that was by staying on her boss's good side.
Nonetheless, everyone was particularly on edge today—Even the doorman.
Suddenly, she overheard someone, "Did you hear? He's coming today."
Another person arranged his tie, "I heard he's taking over the company."
Just then, a tall man in an expensive looking suit walked in. A bunch of other men in suits followed behind him.
Is that him? She wondered.
He was broad. Had white hair and a full beard. His gait, defiantly confident.
Nah, too old to be.
The man looked at her, but she quickly broke eye contact.
A few seconds later, "There he is!" Someone lost their inside voice.
Her head snapped backwards to see him, but he was quickly ushered into another room.
Her colleague tapped her as she hurried into the conference hall, "The meeting's about to start."
Rachel took out the bubble gum she was chewing and threw it into a plant pot before following behind her.
The hall was filled with so many people from different branches of the company. Managers and execs of varying ranks in the massive corporate ladder. All assembled for this one man.
Despite the chatter, the hall immediately quieted down the second someone stepped on the podium. It was the broad man she had seen earlier.
Please don't tell me he's someone very important.
"Good day everyone," the man started.
Rachel leaned towards her colleague, "Hey Ollie, who's that?"
Her eyes widened, "That's the President of the Hathaway group."
Rachel wasn't fazed.
Oh she thought.
"I see a lot of new faces here today, that's good. Some of you may know me, I won't fault the rest of you who don't. My name is Julius Reynolds, and I'm the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Hathaway group. I've heard some of you simply refer to me as President Julius. That's okay too."
Some people in the crowd chuckled.
"As you all know, the CEO, my best friend, and our leader, Mr. George Hathaway passed away not too long ago. A recent development that has sent shivers through the entire corporation.
Because of that, the board has demanded that we quickly fill that gap—to curb the spread of dissonance and entropy. So, according to George's wishes, today, we will be introducing to you all, the new Chief Executive Officer and head of the Hathaway group." He paused and looked at someone in the front. With a nod and a smile, he continued. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Damien Hathaway."
A round of applause gradually rose and echoed within the entire hall.
Meanwhile, Rachel stared at the podium intensely. She didn't blink.
Damien climbed on to the podium, shook Julius and turned to face everyone. They all gasped. There was a huge scar that covered half his face. Burnt. He made a slight effort to hide it by turning away from the crowd, but he stopped and faced them fully.
Rachel stopped breathing.
It's him.
How is it him? Why?
That face was ingrained in her memory.
The red jagged left half of his face that resembled broken porcelain stitched back together.
It haunted her.
A memory flashed through her mind.
Highschool. Lunch break. She poured milk on a junior's head and watched him cry while covering his face.
"Why are you covering it? Eh Flame face." She laughed. "Thought your Daddy was rich? Tell him to fix your face. Or is it so horrible that they can't fix it?"
A bunch of people laughed. Her friends joined in and poured milk on him as well. "We're doing you a favor, it'll help heal you, flame face."
She felt her legs grow weak as she stared at him on the podium. Now a man, a very important one at that.
"Eh erm," Damien cleared his throat. "Good day everyone." He paused. The hall was quiet.
"Uhm, as you already know, my name's Damien Hathaway and I'll be taking over from my father, the previous CEO." He paused again. The hall was still quiet, too quiet. "Uhm—"
"My God, we're so fucked." Rachel heard someone say.
"No one said he was a pussy," someone snorted with a silent chuckle.
She was too bewildered to react. She just stared at him.
"Uhm, thank you." He ended his speech abruptly and was about walking off the stage when his eyes randomly fell on to hers. She quickly looked away.
Please don't recognize me.
Please don't recognize me.
PLEASE DON'T RECOGNIZE ME!
The meeting ended as abruptly as Damien's speech did.
Rachel figured Damien, the board members and execs would be the first to leave, so she waited behind as long as possible so that she wouldn't run into him.
After about 10 minutes, the hall was nearly empty. Save for her and a handful of other people who were left.
She looked at the front. No one. No Damien.
She heaved a sigh of relief and sat up on the chair.
"Oh my god, that was close." She relaxed and slowly caught her breath.
After she had calmed down, she got up and left the hall.
"Rachel." Someone said from behind her as soon as she stepped out.
She froze on the spot. Like a spell was cast on her.
"Rachel." They said again. "I know you can hear me. I'm standing right behind you."
As she stood there, Rachel felt her heart rate rise. Every beat, more loud and powerful than the one before. She wished she hadn't stopped. That way it'd be much easier to walk away. But it was too late for that, so she turned.
"H-Hey, flame face. Didn't see you there." A painfully fake grin spread across her face.
He kept quiet. "It's been a while. I'm glad to see you're okay."
Rachel felt something in her pulsate.
Huh? WTF do you mean by that you little bitch?!
The smile on her face still remained.
"Yeah! You too! So flame face made something of himself huh?"
He smiled softly and turned to leave.
She grabbed him.
"I don't care who the fuck you think you are—" she squeezed his hand, then whispered. "Nothing's changed, stupid."
He stared at her. No reaction on his face.
"Oh but everything has. I'll see you on Monday."
He pulled his arm away and left.