Chances Of Us

Part 6

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, my dear Luis, happy birthday to you," as I surprise him, holding a cake in its fondant blue color with a numbered candle on top of it, '4'.

He was still half awake, with his pajamas on, but he tried to open his small eyes, rubbing them while walking closer to me. He looked at me with a smile and wrapped his arms around my neck as I bent down to him. "I love you, mom," he said as he pushed himself against my neck.

I carry him with my left arm while holding the cake in my right hand as I put it down on the table in our kitchen. I take Luis to the seat in front of me and look at him in the eyes.

"I love you too, Lui," I said to him, as he smile and give me a kiss on the lips. Luis was my sweet boy. He just turned 4 years old today, and I can see how he is growing so fast day by day. but he will always remain my baby, no matter what his age.

He is everything to me.

We were having breakfast, as we had plans to celebrate his birthday, when someone doorbelled into our home. I can see how quickly Luis got up from his seat and how excited he was to open the door after hearing it.

"Uncle!" he exclaimed, jumping on his arms like he had not seen him for a while. I just smile as I can hear them laughing and playing when he shows Luis his new car toys.

"Wahh! You're the best uncle!" Luis shouted as he took the car and ran to his playroom. "Wait! Where is my kiss?" he said in disappointment when Luis left him to play it alone.

He stood on his feet as he shoved his curly hair that fell down on his eyes. "He's really growing so fast, Lauren." Tristan smiled at me as I gave him a cup of coffee.

"Yes, it feels like yesterday when I can still hold him in just both of my hands," I said as we both watched Luis so excited as he played.

"It's like the first time I met you, Lauren," Tristan said, as you can see the smile on his face.

I was 29 when I gave birth to Luis. It feels like everything that happened to me in the past was healed when I first held him in my arms. All the pain, sadness, and things that tormented me over the years just disappeared in front of my eyes, as I could feel how fragile Luis was back then in my arms.

My life felt like a grant for another chance, and this time it was all about him, Luis.



Flashback

'Click, click, tap, tap.' All you can hear was the keyboard when everyone was typing and sitting in front of their computer.

'zzzhh zztth' is the noise from the xerox machine and the non-stop printing of documents on all of the tables.

'Riiinnnng! ring!' the continuous call over the telephone at each of our tables. "Goodmorning, Accounting Department. This is Lauren. How may I help you?" It's like a broken radio. The words that I always say as I answer the telephone, I don't even see who I am talking to, but I always put a smile on my face, like I am liking everything I do in my job.

which is half truth and lies. I like what I do about my job. I didn't aim for a higher position; instead, I just wanted a quiet employee life. I go to work at 9 a.m. and I will go home at 6 p.m. It was my routine, without a change.

But the half lie is that I do not like my manager. 'Of course all of us in our department feel the same way as I do.' I can see everyone at their desk lower their heads as a middle-aged man in his 40s walks into our office.

Ms. Harry Beldez is our department head. In his formal suit, he walks into our office with a cup of coffee in his hands. His flirtatious smile is something you will not want to see. He walked, eyeing each of us at our cubicle table, and his eyes stopped. at me, and he smiled.

"Come to my office, Lauren," he said before he walked into his office. Everyone looks at me with those sorry eyes as I give them the look of, 'How many times do I need to do this? ' and Camille, who sits beside me, taps my shoulder and says, as he makes a sign on her hands, "Just go, do it like we always do. Okay?"

I just stand on my desk out of willingness and knock before I enter Mr. Harold's office. His office was spacious. His work table was in the middle, with large glass behind it where you can see the garage space outside of the building. There is also a shared table in the center with six wooden chairs around it.

"Take a seat," Mr.Harold said as he put a glass of coffee on the table and sat on the right side of it, I sit in front of him. As I thank him for the coffee, I can see how he fixes his eyeglasses before he takes a sip of his coffee and smiles at me.

"I really like how you always smile, Lauren." He started and sat comfortably on the chair. I could see, even though I didn't look at him in his eyes, that he was eyeing me from head to toe, which he always does, which we all hate. "Do you have plans on weekends?" he said, and the awkward and uncomfortable feelings began to hit me.

Mr.Harold is already married and has three kids. but he has ways to flirt with his employee, making us uncomfortable around him. We are eight in total in our department, and all of us are girls. They said Mr.Harold didn't hire a boy employee.

Someone already reported him for harassment, but as we all know, at a corporate company, he has his own connection. So if you want to stay working at the company, all you need to do is ignore him, 'like nothing happened'.

To me, Mr. Harold didn't even dare to touch me like he did to others here. He just flirted with me, asking me to go out and have dinner with him, and he even told me that he would drive me home. But I smiled at him, saying, 'My boyfriend will pick me up today, 'I have a date with my boyfriend, and 'I had plans with my boyfriend this weekend.'

'My boyfriend' was my greatest excuse of all time. My contract will end in just three months, and I am trying my best to ignore him as much as I can. At all, I just wanted a simple life as an employee.

"Wow! How can you really make that nasty old man stay away from lingering on you?" Maddie said as we had lunch outside the company.

"Lauren, have her imaginary boyfriend, that's why Mr.Harold is hesitant to approach her," Camille said as she took a bite of her meal.

"I already have a boyfriend."
"I have my husband!"

We all look at Maddie and Kath as they both say that before we all laugh. "You two are too gorgeous to ignore," I said in between my smiles, as I could see them smiling and liking what I just said.

"We will have a new trainee next week," Kathrine said, breaking the laughter between us. "I heard it too, they said it was someone with a connection to the company," Maddie started before looking at us, like saying, 'You need to listen to me'.

"There is also a rumor that we will have a partner execute this month," she continued, saying everything details she heard on us.

But who really cares? We just talk about it now, and later we will talk again about other things. It was just like a past time, entertaining ourselves as we worked an 8-hour shift. because after work, we all had our lives to deal with.

I started working after I graduated college at the age of 24. It has been 3 years now, and I am just waiting for my contract to end and to start my plans with Riza. 'right Riza,' my best friend. Everything is already set for our soon-to-open coffee shop, we plan to open it next month, and we were so excited about it. We always meet on Sunday to finalize every detail, and soon we will finally have it.

all of our handwork through these years, I can see it now.

I can feel that something big will happen to us, and I can't wait to grab all the opportunities that will come into my life.


"I came to pick you up later, okay?" Riza said over the phone as I was waiting for the elevator going up to our office. "Okay, I'll wait for you then." We just simply said our goodbyes before I heard the elevator door open as I walked in and pressed the 9th floor button.

It's exactly 9:00 in the morning when I get to the office. It's usually not late for us since the others came to work before 10:00 in the morning. But maybe today was different, 'a little different? '

As I see Katherine and Maddie standing in front of the door with their bags, Camille in the other hand is eyeing me from her seat, saying, 'Come here quickly'. I open the door quietly and stand behind Maddie. Everyone is silent. The atmosphere inside the office was kind of heavy.

"Mr. Jefferson, would you like a cup of coffee in my office?" Mr. Harold offered to the tall man in his formal navy blue suit. 'He is the Managing Director of the company.' You can't hide from the way he dresses and his looks that he is someone in a higher position.

"Thank you, but I have a meeting early this morning. I just really want to drop off and introduce my niece," he said without a change of expression in his face. "Don't be hesitant; just treat him like no other but an employee here," he continued, referring to the man who stood beside him.

I was stunned for a moment when I saw his curly hair. 'It's been a year since I last saw that kind of hair' the way his clean cut curly hair perfectly suits his small face, with a friendly smile and those small black eyes that you can't barely see when he laughs.

"Nice to meet you all," the man said as he looked around him, studying all the faces that he will work with from now on.

In a second, I see myself surrounded by no one but my office worker. I shook my head as an answer to their look. I know what they meant to say to me "Come on, Lauren! Your contract will end in a few months. You should be the one who trained him," Camille said, like pleading when she offered me to take my seat.

Katherine wipes my desk, and Maddie opens my computer, trying to bribe me. They even make me coffee, which I find so funny as I laugh at them. They give me the look of 'Where serious, Lauren'.

'Ringgggg' the phone in the office ring that steals our attention. The call is coming from the Harold Office, and everyone looks at me and says, 'Please answer the phone.' I smile before I stand on my seat and look at them as I answer the phone.

"Don't forget my coffee every morning," I point at them, like sealing the deal, as they all nod in agreement.

I didn't expect anything, and to be honest. like them, I am also worried. I never imagined that I would work with someone who has a connection to the company; moreover, the rumor says that he is the son of the major shareholder. I just think that even though I messed up in my job, My contract is just around the corner.

I will treat him like others, without special treatment like Mr. Jefferson is expecting us to do. simple as that. 'Right? '

'Nothing can really go wrong.'

I believed in myself at that time.