She's The Boss

Twenty-One

BRIANNA'S POV

It was 5pm when I finished my work Jake had refused to do. The day was slow and wet and I wasn't feeling too well.  I dismissed every employee in my department and allowed them to go home since it was a Friday afterall. I had resumed my position as Manager and leader of the marketing team so i had every right to tell them to go home.

They stared at me as if I had grown two heads and i could see they were relieved but were too afraid to shout for joy like normal people would. Eventually, they packed their stuffs quietly and went home. I, on the other hand, had to go to mom's dental clinic.

"Hy mom," I said as I took a seat and dropped my bag on the next chair. She was looking elegant and classy in her new glasses. The way she kept her hands while tapping the keyboard was just too extra. She acted like she didn't see me come in and kept her eyes glued to the screen.

"Mother?" I called her again as I played with the fake denture on her table.

"How does it feel to be ignored."

I guess she was still angry that I didn't answer her calls. I sighed, "I'm sorry for ignoring your calls."

She removed her attention from the screen. "Good. Heard about your break-up. It must've been bad because you look...uhm, exhausted."

What a revelation, I didn't notice.

"Are you still a virgin?" She asked out of the blue.

"Ma?" I was surprised. Where did the question come from? Not that it was her business and please, i'm grown.

"What is Ma? I said you still be virgin?" She used her Nigerian accent.

"Mummy, yes!" I said out loud when she insisted.

She looked at me for like ten seconds making me feel like she was scanning my inside.

"Okay, I believe you." She said and placed her eyes back on the screen.

"Mom, how do you get someone to forgive you if you did something really bad." I honestly felt bad for what i said to Nathan. It just happened. I didn't mean it.

She removed her glasses, "Well, you have to apologise and make things right first. Let me guess, you made a complete stranger your fake boyfriend and when he found out you used him, he got mad because he liked you but the feelings weren't mutual."

"Not quite but i did something similar and terrible. Wait, how did you know?"

"I gave birth to you. I've watched you grow and I know the things you are capable off. You would do anything to win. Your A-game scares me. And i also found it weird that his face was blurred. You were obviously responsible for that."

"Wow mom, you should be a detective."

She laughed, "I'm good with being a dentist."

Then, she became serious all of a sudden. "Anna, i know you're still dealing with your fears and trauma and i realised that giving you five months off work was ridiculous because you would do as you please. Just promise me one thing. If love comes, you'll be open to it."

It was really hard to promise that. Love had turned my life upside down. It broke me to the point I almost committed suicide. I was done with it. The only thing that I had love for was my work. I didn't want to love someone that would end up leaving one day.

I had gotten pistanthrophobia.

"Mum, when you married dad, did you ever fear he would leave you?"

"Brianna, honey you cannot learn from my fears. Fears are there to be overcomed. You have to go out there and overcome yours. Now, you can choose not to love anyone at all or you can choose to have the greatest love story the world has never known but, you're not gonna know unless you put an effort."

"What if there was a guarantee you'd never get hurt? You'd never be treated badly or scorned."

"I was watching an old movie with your dad on date night and the actor said something to his daughter. 'The passion is in the risk. Trust in love.' You should do the same. Love is beautiful do not define it with one bad experience."

Later on, we talked about my birthday. She gave me some invitation cards to hand out and told me to be at the mansion on Sunday by 10 after service.

After i dropped her off, i drove back to my apartment. My temperature had risen. I was ill and looking pale. It was a miracle I maintained a level of concentration while driving.

Once I entered into the elevator, my vision became blurry. I sat on the floor throughout the ride up and waited for the doors to ding.

I was shivering and feeling dizzy at the same time. I removed my heels one leg at a time so I wouldn't stumble and slowly, i stepped out of the elevator while using the wall for support until I reached my door.

As I struggled to tap the last number on the keypad lock, the next door opened.

I followed a black flip flop to a gold and black silk robe. When I tried hard to steady my blurry vision to see the man, my knees failed me and I found myself hitting the hard surface of the ground. Then, everything went black.

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Or have I said it before?
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