Premeditated Pseudonym

6|Invitation Only

So there I was, in the midst of fourteen persons standing in a straight line waiting. I wish I knew what we were waiting on, but unfortunately, none of us knew. Suddenly the walls opened and we were on stage.

About a hundred rows of seats filled the rest of the room. Bright lights illuminated the stage, before this well-groomed, tailored suit, English gentleman walked on stage welcoming us. There was something off about him though, but I'm guessing that I was the only one who sensed it.

He then started with the phrase, "You're here to turn your relationship around!" Well, that got everyone's attention. As we listened to his speech, we were all becoming more excited by the minute. This was an invitation-only event, he told us. Which explains the handful of persons present.

After his speech and introduction, it was time to get to know each of us one by one. We were led to a room backstage by his assistants, where we would change into official uniforms. We were then stripped of anything from the outside since he didn't want anything hampering the training process.

One guy actually couldn't part with his watch. Apparently, he got it for his birthday from his wife and cherished it too much to depart from it. We were assured, the safe return of his possessions after the session, so he gave it to them upon hearing this.

I had a really weird feeling about all of this, but I put it off as watching too many of those stupid movies previously. As we entered the screening room one by one, we were interviewed thoroughly, once finished we were handed a colored band and an envelope.

We were to sit and wait again until all candidates were processed, filed and interviewed. Finally, the last person emerged from the room, envelope in hand and red band on the wrist. The gentleman then walked past us heading into another room, but before approaching, his wrist was grabbed by one guy who wanted to ask him how long the training would be.

He looked at the guy and snatched his wrist back from him, before answering, "as long as it would take for you to pass the final exam." Great, a test. If I wanted a test, I would have gone back to school, but I then simmered down, since I remembered tests come in many different forms, physical and theory mostly.

As the gentleman reached the room and closed the door behind him, we were escorted to another. Upon arrival, we noticed a room, filled with bunk beds and one clock that was stuck at 3 am. No one seemed bothered by it, so I didn't draw any attention to it.

As soon as we were settled, the gentleman's voice was projected through a loudspeaker on the walls. We would start training tomorrow, so tonight, we would rest in order to regain energy, but first, a meal was provided for us. After we ate the well-prepared food, it was time for lights out. We quickly fell asleep once the assistants left the room.

* * *

Morning came quicker than expected. I gained some well-deserved rest though. The first thing I did, was reach for my phone. Taylor still hadn't called or texted me and it's been two days. I rang his phone again, but it went straight to voicemail. I couldn't take it anymore, my mind began to race, thinking he had someone else besides me. I immediately started putting up and tagging him in some hateful statuses. What I didn't say was what I forgot, and trust me, I said a mouthful.

Under all of my hateful statuses. His friends just laughed but didn't comment. Suddenly I got a message in my inbox. It was his friend Unruly Sabina,

"Good day Chelsea, I know you don't know me but, I've heard so much about you from Taylor. I know you're his wife and all but do you think it's necessary to embarrass him like that on social media? I mean, I know ur upset for some reason, which I'm guessing is because he hadn't contacted you in two days." Unruly Sabina messaged.