Whimsical Perfection

Prologue



"I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano –
A stage where every man must play a part,
And mine a sad one."
         —Antonio, The       Merchant Of Venice

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~

Beep. The coffee maker chimed, letting me know the coffee was ready. Pouring the hot dark liquid into the cup, I took a sip from it almost instantly. I really abhorred it when my coffee got cold. It might be my first... and last time here, but I should at least fill myself up with some caffeine before I leave.

It wasn't like he had filled me up enough, or that he would charge me for using his state of the art machine, which reminds me to buy a new one of my own.

Clad in the pantsuit from last night, I winced as I looked at my heels. Will have to go through another long day in these. But no matter how uncomfortable they made me, none of my outfits were complete without heels.

They just had the ability to make me a badder bitch, the ability to make me switch from a smile to a glare in 0.1 seconds. And that was precisely what I needed whenever I tackled investors and colleagues.

People who worked with me found me a little... challenging. Sure, like I was the pathetic one with hundreds of shortcomings and the ability to mess things up in the snap of a finger! Whenever they made a mistake and expected me to understand and empathize with them, I wanted to either push them off a balcony, or jump down myself. Instead of working harder, they wanted to make excuses and squander away their and my precious time.

So, wasn't it natural for me to lose my head? And when their reality was presented to them as it was, they had the audacity to get offended and call me a 'bitch'. Whatever suits them the best, I guess. But by now, I had gotten so used to being called that in front of me and otherwise too, it didn't matter anymore. Even if I was a bitch, as long as they gave me what I wanted, I was a satisfied bitch.

As I finished my coffee, I heard shuffling from the doorway, and then a head appeared in the living room.

"You're up already? And helped yourself to some coffee too, I see," he chuckled to himself as if he had cracked the greatest joke of all time, and busied himself with the machine itself.

Giving him a disgusted once over, I was suddenly regretting last night. How could I drop so low and sleep with a man whose mere presence held the ability to destroy my braincells? What was I on last night?

Tequila, bitch.

Feeling a headache coming my way, I geared up to say the words. The practised sentences, in that same fake sad smile and guilty tone, was the way I lived my life. The life which is called so precious, didn't really have a meaning for me.

I too, like the others, was just breathing, and struggling to keep my job everyday because I needed to eat food to keep breathing. So, what was so special about my life? Nothing, really. And I hated it when others didn't get it.

Everyone here was like a robot, in a mechanical world created by God, doing the jobs assigned to them. You don't have to stop and look around to find peace of mind or happiness, it is just an illusion of people who love to dilly-dally and procrastinate.

"Look, I wanted to tell you something," I started off, gaining his attention immediately. "Like I said before, I wouldn't want this to extend into anything else, and I hope you understand that and respect my wishes. So from now on, I hope we will act like strangers to each other. Okay?"

From his dropped jaw, I knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Shit was going to get real clingy now.

"What? Respect your wishes? But you never told me this was a one time thing? How can you do this?" He started shouting at the top of his lungs, making me wince again.

"Calm down Ben, its eight in the morning. Don't shout like your life depends on it."

"Its James, not Ben!!" He immediately intercepted, making me stop for a second.

Wow. This escalated way more than I had expected.

"Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I clearly told you yesterday when we met at the bar, that I'm only interested in one night stands and I've no thought of extending those at all. If you didn't hear, or wanted to be smart with me, that's not my problem. I'm going to leave now."

I made my way towards the door and put on my heels while he followed me all the way.

"You– you're such a callous bitch! How could you do that when I tried my best to please you?! You're so damn heartless, fucking bitch!!" He continued to pour his frustrations out on me, and I listened to them without any reaction.

"You know what Ben," I said, stepping closer to him. "If you think you did a good job pleasing me, get your brain checked up. Oh, and I would really recommend not being a slobbery beast with women from now on. It's for your best."

I gave him a curt smile and turned around. As I was about to close the door behind me, I heard his shout, "Its James!!" Smiling to myself at his flustered state, I walked towards the elevator in the fancy hallway. As the doors to the elevator opened, I went in and heaved a sigh of relief. One more night passed successfully.

Opening my phone, I decided to check my mail for any work-related information. The first unopened one caught my attention. It was sent not too long ago, just at six this morning.

"To Miss Lockewood,

I'm sorry, but I can't do it anymore. I wouldn't have written this to you, but since this is one of your 'rules', I'm doing this directly. I quit. I'm sorry.

Yours truly,
Asher Taylor."

~♤ ▪︎ ♤ ▪︎ ♤~