JEALOUSY IN DEATH

2.

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2. Desiree

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Desiree walked into the office at the end of the long week and immediately shut the door, she didn't want to be disturbed by anyone. She stood at the door and looked around her, her eyes landed fondly on the Aloe Vera plant on her desk, then she moved her gaze to the chair she'd picked by herself when she got the office and the desk...oh, the desk. Everything held her personal touch, she'd gone to the mall to find the green rug on the floor, and most times when her feet ached from being stuffed in high heels, she removed them and ran her toes through the fluffy rug.

The book shelf behind her desk had come with the space, but she'd made it her own by displaying her collection; tiny animal carvings were at the farther corners of the shelf, a bowl her mom got her when she visited China was on the top. The books were arranged according to their colors in a monochromatic order, and there were lots of greens and yellows. The desk, chair and bookshelf were in white because that was her favorite color, it meant purity and peace and those were attributes she held on to.

She walked towards the shelf and traced her fingers over the book spines, she moved and touched her chair then went to the window. She didn't have a good view, but that didn't matter because she'd found picture frames with lakes and green forest to decorate the office. When her eyes grew heavy from staring at the monitor, she oftentimes found herself looking at those frames.

This was her life, her heart and soul, her office was like her personal sanctuary and all her plans were going to be disrupted because a wrinkly, old man thought he had the right to her body. She sighed and went back to her desk, her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed fluidly. She pressed print after proofreading the letter then went to the small printer placed discreetly in the bookshelf. She got the single piece of paper and folded it.

There, it was done.

She left her office and went to her boss', and he smiled when he saw her holding a piece of paper.

"I knew you'd get it done," he said and took the paper as she placed it on his desk. He read through the letter and stood. "You're resigning?"

"I'm resigning, sir."

"Alright, I'll get Sandra on it since you botched the job. I hope you find a better place."

"I will."

"Yes, you will but not with my recommendation."

He couldn't be serious. "Sir?"

"You heard right."

How could he? She got him Christmas present every year, she asked after his family, she met every target, won best staff and best dressed every end of the year party and he was going to let her go just like that. And without recommendation no less.

"I can't believe this," she fumed under her breath and walked out of his office.

She clapped her hands and got the attention of the marketers working under her, they looked at her expectantly from their cubicle. They probably thought she already got the deal, too bad she was going to be telling them the sad news.

"Guys, I'm resigning."

A hush fell over the office as everyone looked at her, then they started talking at the same time.

"Are you crazy?"

"Why?"

"No, you can't."

"Stop joking."

"April's fool?"

Some were now looking at her like she'd gone mad and others dismissed the announcement as a joke.

"I'm serious," she said and walked into her office.

Jamal ran behind her and pushed into the office before she could shut the door.

"Why would you do that? We are about to sign the biggest deal of our lives and you want to fumble it by resigning."

"I just feel I've done my job here. I'm moving on to greater opportunities."

"What kind of opportunity is greater than this? We are talking about the largest construction company in the whole state."

"I know, but there are better opportunities and it's the right time."

"What exactly is happening? You don't even look excited."

She smiled to convince him and he smiled back.

"Okay, I'll get some boxes and help you pack."

Jamal left the office and the rest of her colleagues came in. They hugged and wished her well then hastily went back to work. When Jamal came in she'd cleaned her teary eyes dry, there was no point worrying him. He helped her arrange the artifacts and her book collection in the boxes and she took the picture frames from the wall and dumped them into one of the boxes. Desiree got her pot of Aloe Vera and added it to the box, she carried one of the boxes with Jamal behind her carrying two boxes. When they got to the underground car park, she remembered her car was still at the mechanic's. It had developed a fault the week before and she still hadn't gotten it back.

"Your car isn't here."

"Yes, it's still at the mechanic's. Give me the boxes and go back to work, I'll hail a cab."

"Why not take them to my car, I'll drop them at your place on a weekend."

"That's a better idea."

She held on to the box holding the plant as Jamal stuffed boxes into the boot. Desiree looked elsewhere when he bent and the material of his pants stretched to display toned ass. He was a dark-complexioned, attractive guy with nice butt, Jamal wasn't lanky nor muscular, just a little bit of both.

"I'll see you later," he said and she watched him walk towards an entrance she'd never walk through again.

She adjusted the box in her hand and shrugged one of her shoulders as her handbag strap slipped from it. She smiled one last time at the security guys at the gate post as she dropped her security pass and walked out. There were several 'No Loitering' signs stamped on the fence of the company' building so she walked far away from it. She looked around and waited for a cab to come along as she finally stopped at the front of a residential building.

Desiree was chewing on her bottom lip as she waited when she felt a drop of water on her face, she looked towards the sky and saw that it was still bright. It was unlikely to rain, it was the middle of April and the raining season usually started by May. As she adjusted the box close to her chest, it slipped from her hand and she heard the vase crack as the box made contact with the concrete sidewalk. She bent to check if the damage was minimal and started sobbing when she saw the vase broken into clean halves, the soil scattered and some of the plant loosened.

The sky opened to wash away her tears as she stayed bent over her plant. Her clothes got drenched and she shivered as the rain beat her mercilessly. Why today? It could have rained any other day but it chose to rain on the worse day of her life. Maybe she'd finally ran out of luck, she thought bitterly.

Cars sped past her as she continued crying and she stood with her now soaked box, the bottom was almost giving but she used both hands to hold the flaps together as it continued raining. Desiree moved backward when she saw a car speeding towards her but it was a tad too late as the water gathering by the side of the curb drenched her as the car sped past her. That was it, she flung the box she had been holding carefully aside and marched away. She was going to walk all the way home if she had to, but she wasn't going to stand on the sidewalk and keep crying. Enough was enough.

A taxi stopped beside her as she kept walking and she hurried in and quickly shut the door.

"What a wet day," the driver said in greeting.

"Abraham Adesanya," she simply called her address.

"Not a talker? Okay."

She listened as the driver sang along to the Fuji song playing from the radio station. It was a wonder how some people got happier as the weather got wetter. For her, the raining season made her moody. Wet shoes, umbrellas, raincoats, cold, catarrh and cough, hot liquid drinks and heat balms, all these were what accompanied the season which made work slower and the immune system weaker, it was all too much for her. It wasn't her best season and judging by how hard the rain beat against the windshield, it'd officially begun.

Her trip lasted for an hour and she passed the driver folded notes when he stopped at her destination. She got out of the car and ducked her head as she ran to her apartment.