The End

Chapter : 30

*Before The Virus*
*Unknown POV*

I was running down the busy corridor with a laptop and a bunch of files in my arms, some paper’s managing to slip through the gaps in between the files. I picked each paper and carried them as is without caring to put them in order.

I reached the meeting room and knocked the door before opening it and was met with 7 people who were quite older than me, sitting on a rectangular table with their files organized in front of them. All of them had the same stern yet scary look as a parent would have when they scold their child in front of other people trying not seem rude.

“You’re late, Mr. Michael”, the man in the very front with his arms crossed said. “I’m so sorry, sir. I was just organizing-”, I was forced to close my mouth by the man’s hand in the air, gesturing me to stop. “There’s no need for your explanations. You’re wasting time as it is”, the man told.

“Right, I’ll get on to the point”, I said as I made my way towards the podium and placed my files on it. I plugged in the cord of the projector with my laptop, grabbed the remote and turned on the projector which displayed my laptops wallpaper, it was of my family.

My wife standing in front of our new house and just beside her my daughter and son stood with the cutest smiles on their faces. “Uh… My apologies”, I apologized as the screen was supposed to display the slides that I had prepared.

The man from before stood up from his seat while I tried to find the right file on my laptop. “I guess I have seen enough”, the man said while adjusting his suit. “No, sir, just give me a moment. I promise you this is something no one has ever seen. Please let me show you-”, I was cut off again.

“You’re time is up, Mr. Michael Barnes. You had you’re chance to impress me, now go back to what you were doing”, he waved his hand, not caring to look at my state. “Sir, I have a family to provide for, this is my job. Please give me chance to clear myself”, I pleaded.
The man looked at me with a sour expression on his face before speaking, “Out”. He emphasized the word and I glanced at the rest of the people who shook their heads in disappointment.

With my head down to the ground I grabbed my files and laptop before leaving the room and stopped just as I was about to close the door. I turned to look at the man and spoke, “You will regret this”. With that I left and went to my office cubicle and placed my stuff on the table.

“What happened now?”, a guy asked from the opposite cubicle. “Not now Bob”, I said while looking at a photo of my family, sitting at the corner of my desk. “I’m a failure”, I sighed before plopping myself on my spinning chair. “That’s true”, Bob agreed.

“Your not helping at all”, I said and held my head in between my hands. “Wanna grab a drink after work?”, Bob offered. “Not today”, I said. “Aww, come on”, Bob whined and pouted. “It’s family night today”, I told before getting up. “Ah, right”, Bob said and played with his hands. “See you later, man”, I said while packing my things and waved him goodbye.

I reached home and parked my car before taking the key out and opened the door. I got out of the car and grabbed my bag before closing the door and locked the car. I stood in front of the door and waited a while before pressing the door bell.

The door opened and I smiled widely. “Hey!”, I said and kissed my wife on her cheek, soon a small figure came running towards me and grabbed my legs, hugging me tightly. “My baby~”, I said while carrying my daughter in my arms.
“Dada, did you get me the toy you promished?”, she asked. “Of course I did!”, I said and pulled out a toy from my bag and handed it in her tiny hands. “Awww, it’s sho pweety”, she said while looking at the doll in her hand.

Just then another figure came running towards me and hugged my legs. I crouched down to my son and picked him up in my arms before putting my bag on the floor. “Daddy! Daddy! Me too!”, he jumped with excitement.

“How could I forget my son?”, I said before kissing him on the cheek and placed both my kids on the ground, reaching for my bag and took out an action figure. “Wowww! It’s shooo coool”, he exclaimed and ran to his room with my little princess tagging along behind him.

“They missed you so much”, my wife said in between her giggles and I turned to her with my smile slowing dropping. “What’s wrong?”, she asked. “They…”, I sighed before continuing. “They didn’t hear me out again”, I told and my wife tensed. “I’m sorry”, I apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re doing just fine right now, there’s no need to worry about us”, she assured and I smiled sadly. I felt bad for having such an amazing and understanding wife, tolerating all my mistakes and not once scolding me to get a new job as it was a dream of mine to become a medical scientist.

It was night time and I laid my kids on their beds before giving them good night kisses. I turned off the lights and made my way towards our room and saw my wife already laying on her bed. I took off my slippers and laid next to her before turning my body in her direction and held her hand in mine.

“I’m sorry for being such a disappointment”, I told my wife and she turned to face me, putting her hand on mine, she spoke, “Don’t say that, you’re perfect. So what if it didn’t go well today, there’s always a tomorrow”.

And… She said it again. She would always tell me that’s it no problem and that I have a chance tomorrow. Deep down she must be hurt and would want me to change jobs, but she doesn’t want to see me sad.

I must do well tomorrow, for sure this time!

With that my eyes felt heavy and I feel into deep sleep.

*Michael’s POV*
*Morning*

It was morning and I opened my eyes only to see my wife sleeping while hugging my body. I smiled at her sleeping figure and put a few strands of her hair behind her ear before caressing her soft cheeks with my thumb.

Today’s the day. I’ll make sure to bring the good news.

With that I removed her arms from around my body and covered her with the blanket before getting ready to leave for work. I was in my car and stopped in the middle of a traffic when I received a call, I picked it up and put it on my ear before speaking, “Hello”.

“Heyyyyy mannn~ what’s up?”, my friend Bob from the other side of the call greeted and I answered, “What happened now?”. “Nothing, why do you ask?”. “Whenever you get all jolly, there’s always some bad reason behind it”, I told and heard him scoff.

“What nonsense did you hear that from?”, he laughed before continuing, “Yeah, something's happened. You better come quick”. “What happened?”, I asked with a serious face. “Well, the files you left back at the office yesterday…”, he trailed off. “Yeah? What about it?”, I asked.

“Sam took them and claimed them as his idea”, he told and my eyes widened. “The hell?!”, I yelled. “Yeah… That’s not all, he even showed them to Mr. Jones, to my surprise he approved of them”, he finished. “That’s great, but those are MY documents!”, I yelled once again.

“I don’t know, man. Come quick”, he said before hanging up. I threw my phone on the passenger seat and hit the steering wheel with my hands, hard. “Damn it!”. Sam, that little dirt bag. He thinks he’s the brilliant one all the time, note the sarcasm.

Stealing my ideas and claiming them as his! Who the hell does he think he is?!

Sam is known as the lab dog of the whole team and the favorite one among Mr. Jones, the guy who kicked me out of the meeting yesterday. He’s always been after my ideas and did everything he could to make me look like a failure in front of Mr. Jones.

I'll show him!
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Hi, Hunter's!

It's been 3 days since I last published my story, I'm shorry🥺

The reason was that I had no idea what to write... Yeah... So, I'll publish 2 chapters today to make it up to those missing days.

Enjoy! 💜