Repetition Compulsion

13.

Sera:

It was 8:15 am on a Monday Morning, and Serendipity Seme was already having a bad day: she was 15 minutes late for her job interview and to top it all off, she had been rained on, so her clothes and purse were now wet, and her makeup was running, giving her a very ragged appearance. 

She ran through the marble floored building until she was in the elevator, where she pressed a button that would make the elevator take her to the 8th floor. As she got in, she immediately reached for her purse, so she could check if her her books were still okay. There was a little, red journal inside her bag containing her life's work, and fortunately for her, because it had a waterproof covering, it was still intact. Unfortunately for her, none of the other contents in her bag had survived the rough morning. This included a copy of the book 'Timeless Tribulations' which she had taken with her for comfort. She had lost her own copy, and so she had borrowed the copy she had from her school library. Now that she had destroyed it, she knew she would be charged ridiculous amounts of money to replace it, and that did nothing to lift her sinking heart. 

"I better get this internship", she thought to herself as the elevator door finally opened on the eighth floor.

Sera lifted her eyes momentarily and was immediately met by the eyes of three other people who she could only assume were there for interviews too. They were lined up just a few feet away from the elevator. But even from where Sera was standing, she could sense the stress and frustration radiating from each of their bodies. Sera felt the exact same way. For her, interviews were always nerve wrecking. But, add being unprepared and looking like a walking disaster to that, and Sera felt not only nerve-wrecked, but greatly discouraged. 

She stepped out of the elevator. And as she did, she was met with several pair of judgmental eyes, scanning her intently. Judging by their reactions, Sera guessed these were the other interviewees. Their eyes were filled with disgust, and disapproval, and knowing how rough she looked, and how late she was, Sera was not surprised by their reactions. But what hurt her the most is that their looks communicated to her that they had already concluded she was not a threat. 

Nonetheless, Sera kept her head up and headed to the reception desk which was situated a couple of feet away from the elevator.

"May I help you?", a petite, light-skinned woman with short, brown hair and square reading glasses asked Sera as soon as she saw her approaching the semi-circular front desk.

"I'm here for the interview?", Sera replied. "My appointment card says 8:00"

"Name?", the lady asked without taking her eyes off of her computer.

"Serendipity Seme."

The lady continued clicking away at her computer for a little while, before she lifted her head up again. "Alright, you can take a seat next to the other candidates."

Sera flashed the lady a friendly smile, and then headed over to where the others were seating. The fact that there were only three other people there made Sera feel a whole lot more nervous, because it meant that she had a lower chance of making it. To make matters worse, they all looked very prepared, presentable and less nervous.

There was a pink haired guy, who looked like he had a personality that was brighter than his hair, a curvy looking brown girl with flawless, wavy hair, and a magazine pretty, and petite blonde sitting at the end of the waiting area bench, chewing gum really loudly, whilst scrolling through her phone.

Sera took a seat next to the pink haired guy, and flashed him a smile, which he didn't reciprocate. Sera guessed that this was because of her appearance. She knew first hand that people had a tendency of treating others badly just because of how they looked on the outside. Instead of taking it personally, however, Sera decided to whip out her soaking wet book and continue reading.

'Timeless Tribulations' was an empowering book about a girl named Destiny Wyatt. Destiny Wyatt grew up in a Children's Home where she and the other children were severely mistreated. Later on in the book, she is adopted by the Fosters, who are a very close and happy family. But shortly after moving in with them, she suffers a terrible breach of trust and privacy from one of the family members. However, because the Foster family is quite close knit, she doesn't feel safe or comfortable enough to report the family member. She feels as though no one would believe her, and so she keeps the incident to herself and chooses to suffer alone. Most of the book focuses on Destiny's journey as a young adult in trying to overcome her traumatic past and forgive all those who wronged her.

The book was meant to provide Sera with some kind of comfort, but it did none of that. So, after waiting in line for her interview for about 15 minutes, Sera decided she needed a smoke. At least to calm her nerves. She had been late, but the guy conducting the interviews was even more late, and that helped her feel better. She made her way back into the elevator and followed a sign to the smoking zone. It was an open area overlooking the rest of the city, and it was surprisingly empty. Sera guessed that this was because it was really early in the morning and no one else was as nervous and anxious as she was.

She finished smoking and then went back inside, headed to the bathroom to retouch her make-up and use the hand dryer to dry her clothes, and then went back to her seat where she attempted to dig back into her book.

Abimbola:

Abimbola Blake paced up and down the elevator, waiting for Babakar Gray to finish screaming in his ear. He (Babakar) was upset, but then again, when wasn't he? Despite Abimbola reassuring him that he was going to have three interns working for the company by the end of the day, Babakar insisted on shouting at him like a little child.

Abimbola found this behavior to be demeaning and disrespectful. But then again, he knew he had to humble himself. After all, Babakar was helping him through a dry financial season within the company.

Abimbola pressed the phone away from his ear, such that he did not have to hear Babakar's shouting too clearly. As he did, he allowed his mind to wander back to the girl that he had met on Friday night: Serendipity, or Sera as she liked to call herself. He could not help but remember how perfect her face had been, how her body felt pressed against his, and how she moved, reacting to his every touch. Abimbola was convinced that she was a goddess. To some extent, he had even convinced himself that she was non-existent...a figment of his imagination, because she was too perfect to be real. It made sense, because one minute she was there, and the next she was not. It amazed him how quickly she had managed to disappear out of his life. 

Abimbola had organized an interview with her the day after the night they met. But the meeting was purely professional. Abimbola was fascinated by Serendipity's professional potential, as well as the way she seemed to be holding back from fully using her abilities. He knew she had the potential to be a great asset to the company.  But he definitely was not mad at the fact that he would get to see her again.

He wondered how she would react once she realized his true identity. Would she stutter? Stare at him with wide eyes? Or would she play it cool?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Babakar barking at him through the phone, asking if he had understood the message.

"Yes. Yes, sir", Abimbola replied even though he had no idea what he was agreeing to. He fought the urge to punch the elevator wall and instead convinced himself to compose himself. After all, he needed this partnership more than Babakar did. Therefore, he had to suck up more. He had made a promise to his mother that he would keep her company running even in her death, and so far, it was looking like sucking up to this man was the only way to keep his promise. Babakar Gray was a disgusting pig. A bully of a man.  Abimbola hated bullies and pigs, but unfortunately, he needed this particular bully-pig to save his business.