Melissa: She has a story in her eyes.
"You. Are. Mine." He said, emphasising each word so that they carve in my brain.
"No. Stop it." A tear stained my cheeks.
His teeth grazed my neck, leaving angry marks. A soft whimper escaped my mouth.
"I won'...
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Work called on Friday afternoon, that week.
I straightened my hair and let the locks cover my forehead and side of the face. These are the times I am thankful for my thick hair. Obviously, I couldn't walk in the office with bruise on my head, these people will know immediately what type of bruise it was. They have seen it for years on other unlucky women.
I selected a black tailored pant and a baby pink Georgette shirt for the day, with black heels. As I walked inside the lobby of the office with my hand bag slung over my shoulder, I was being stared at. I could feel it.
"Gorgeous as always, Melissa." said Mr. Pastor, giving me a look of appreciation. I smiled and mumbled a thanks.
"Mrs. Evans, there's a meeting in the conference room in 15 minutes. Mr. Pastor and you are called in." The p.a for Mr. Pastor and myself informed. This was supposed to be a high hand meeting for which we were specially called in.
"What's the purpose of the meeting, Jen? I hope it's not one of those media house telling us to back out from our project." I asked curiously because if that was media house once again, the management knew how to chase them off.
"No ma'am. A new collaboration." Surprised, I looked at her. It was in a very long while that someone came up for a collaboration. Well, this meeting is going to be useless again, obviously the board will not sign any contract of collaboration. We are the free party.
"I see." I sighed. "I don't understand why these small companies want to merge when they know they will clearly get rejected."
"It's the Kingston Corp." Jen said. My eyes went wide like saucers. Now that's something new.
"What does a school owner want with a social foundation?!" Jen just shrugged and went on her way to the conference room to set up the meeting.
The Kingston Corp majored in many fields. They excelled in medical field and also engineering. They had medical and engineering schools and universities all over the world. It was those type of institutions where you can get admission only with a perfect 5.0 grade point average. It makes your future set as you step in for your first year in the campus.
Yes, Harvard and Yale were Kingston's siblings, you can say.
My smile faltered for a bit. Uneasiness tugged at my heartstrings. It was the familiar feeling that I used to feel five years ago but that time it was pleasure and happiness but now it was of anxiety.
_____________
The meeting went on for an hour and I wasn't listening from the beginning. The Uneasiness that I felt, disappeared now.
"We like the idea of RCO. What do you say, Mrs. Evans?" Rebecca asked. What were they talking about? RCO? What's that?
I didn't show the clueless expression on my face. Instead, I took my time to straighten up and scrolled down my tablet to find the topic of discussion with ease. Told you, the pills help!
I quickly scanned the page. "Rural Children's Organization is a brilliant idea, according to me. If we see, gentlemen, from the past few years our focus was on the women society. This collaboration would do us great in our second social aspect." I took a deep breath and smiled confidently. "I vote on for the signing of the collaboration."
"Very well." James Pastor, took the contract and signed it in each page and then handed over to me. I gave my signature as well.
"Congratulations gentlemen. It will be a pleasure working with you." James Pastor shook hands with Mr. Granger, the CEO of the The Kingston Corp. "Boss will be glad to hear about this new venture."
"Meeting dismissed!" Pastor ordered. Everyone shook hands with one another. Wishing luck for the new collaboration.
Granger shook my hand and I smiled. He stared at my eyes and that's when I saw the familiarity of facial features. But I couldn't place a prominent face to it.
"It was nice meeting you again, Ms. Melissa Black."
______________
Sometimes, I really hate taking those pills. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes it's not, like now.
I tried to place a face to the Granger dude but came up empty with memories. Memories of one person was only etched in my mind.
I didn't dwell on that unknown person anymore and graced myself for some healthy shopping. My car left me outside the Ralph and Russo boutique. It was my favorite designer shop.
Tomorrow was the ball at the Black Mansion. Trisha and Mahira already purchased their outfits from other designers. Trisha had good contact in the fashion world.
A masquerade was one of my favorite ball. Right now, I want to spend a bit from my account for one of the best gowns to wear tomorrow. I get the urge to look beautiful and pamper myself for once.
The mask should be perfect. It wouldn't be hard for me to choose though, it was a daily, normal, routine for me. Putting on an invisible mask on my face, I mean.
If I don't get a perfect one then I can request them to make one for me and deliver it next morning to Evans Residence. Money wasn't a factor.
I could feel it tomorrow will be different. Good or bad, I don't know. But different. What if it's bad... We will only understand its good or bad by living it in flesh. I reasoned with my subconscious.
"Melissa, after so long!" The sales lady cheered upon seeing me.
"Can you show me some ball gowns?" I asked with a smile.
