Restraint And Denial (On Hold)

Chapter 2.

Chapter 2.

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Once I parked my car in the garage, I released my leg from the brakes, and almost immediately I felt like I was stepping on something solid. When I bent down to check, I saw a wallet on the floor of my car. I picked it up and checked its contents and Ya Salaam! It was Mr. Zaid's Wallet.

I scrutinized the wallet to see if there was any way I could reach him. Maybe I could find his phone number written somewhere, perhaps on a business card. The wallet contained his national Identification card, credit card, international passport, and some cash.

Those were very important items, there had to be a way I could return the wallet to him. I heaved a huge sigh and tossed the wallet inside my handbag. There was nothing there I could use to trace him, not even a social media username.

I alighted from my car and sauntered across the lawn towards our backyard, I had to use the back door because I didn't want anyone asking me pitiful questions like how was your day? How did it go? Such irritating questions instead of making me feel loved and cared for only reminded me of how pathetic my life was. I tried to avoid my family because of those pitiful remarks I always got from everyone.

Today was my fifth interview in just one month. I hoped that things would turn in my favor this time because my family was worried about me. Their fears were becoming more apparent each day that went by. They feared that I may become jaded and frustrated for I had lost interest in almost everything. I feared this too for myself because nothing seemed to be endearing to me, not even the books that used to keep my soul alive. Often there were times when I used to get lost in a novel, reading from start to finish like it was the most interesting thing to do but recently my books were mostly covered in dust. I did more dusting than reading them.

All I wanted was to become a field engineer in one of those large Petrochemical firms in the city. After all, what was the point of wasting five years of my life studying petroleum engineering at a prestigious university such as Keystone? I went to college from start to finish on a full-time scholarship and wow! I graduated with an awesome degree, First class for that matter. Everyone was proud of me, I was proud of myself. Yes! What a great life I was living then until things went out of hand when I couldn't even secure a teaching job for myself after two years of graduation.

There wasn't any employment for me even with the excellent grades I had acquired. That was because of the high level of unemployment in the country. Everything just sucked in this part of the world. Whether you have a good certificate or not, the bottom line is that you have to know someone or at least know someone who knows someone to get employed. Getting a job and a good career life was like network marketing in this part of the world. In the end, the reward for your success all boiled down to how strong your connection was.

At twenty-three I couldn't buy myself a nice phone, I had to rely on my brother for almost everything. He had his own family to worry about, his wife and kids were humans too. They needed his money and attention more than I did but yet he continued to relentlessly sacrifice for me even with all the responsibilities on his neck. At that age, I should be able to fend for myself but circumstances happened, my brother was my backbone.

My mother on the other hand wanted me to get married and have my own kids. She thought maybe after marriage my life would turn around like a chrysalis emerging into a beautiful butterfly, at least that was how she painted everything but I didn't give a damn about that.

I didn't think any man would want to be with a petite figure like me that always went around in large glasses and looked five years younger than her actual age. I'm not even trying to underrate myself, I just didn't have anything interesting going on in my life at that time. It was just me, my thoughts, and the thick books on my shelf that were a part of my daily routine, nothing else. I was not even a social media person.