Over and Over

Safron

EL-BAAZ EMPIRE,
KANO,
NIGERIA.

NARRATOR'S POV

Mornings at the El-Baaz Empire were always a chaotic mix of routine and power plays.

The huge marble lobby buzzed with the sound of ID cards beeping against scanners, as employees of all ranks filed in to begin their day.

This morning, however, was different.

As the staff gathered to sign in, Sakina pushed through the crowd with an air of entitlement.

The notoriously sassy and sharp-tongued head of the civil engineering department.

She strutted towards the entrance, her heels clicking with an authority that made everyone else instinctively step aside.

Her cold, dark eyes remained hidden behind designer shades, and her lips curved in a slight smirk as she ignored the polite greetings thrown her way.

She had no time for pleasantries - she thought she was a queen in her own right, and the subjects of this empire were beneath her notice.

Without so much as a glance at the queue that had formed, she marched up the stairs, her long coat flaring behind her like a cape.

When she reached the security checkpoint, she simply held out her ID card, confident in its power to grant her passage.

But when the machine beeped in protest, her smirk faltered.

"Move," she hissed, her voice as icy as her demeanour.

She shoved aside the startled junior staff who had dared to stand in her way.

She swiped the card again, this time with more force, but the result was the same: Access Denied.

The beeping echoed ominously in the now-silent lobby.

Her eyes widened, the confident façade on her cracking.

She ripped off her shades, revealing a flash of panic that she quickly tried to mask.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she grabbed the ID of the nearest employee and tried it.

The machine chirped in approval, Access Granted.

But when she tried her own card again, it was the same infuriating denial.

A murmur spread through the crowd behind her-a low hum of disbelief.

There was only one reason for an ID card to be rejected like this. She had been fired.

Before she could fully grasp the situation, the guards were at her side, their expressions were a mix of pity and professionalism.

"Ma'am, you need to leave immediately. The president has instructed us not to allow you inside. Your belongings will be sent to you."

Her world tilted on its axis.

Fired? Her? The thought was inconceivable.

She was Sakina, the woman who had built the civil engineering department from the ground up, the woman who ruled over her domain with an iron fist.

This couldn't be happening.

As the guards moved to escort her out, Layla entered the lobby.

She watched the scene unfold, she felt a swirl of emotions.

"Did Hakeem do this because of what Sakina did to me?" she wondered, recalling the harsh words Sakina had flung at her not too long ago.

But now wasn't the time to intervene.