Her Flaws

Chapter 18

At 11:59 pm, I closed my all work. Avlis was there, the night shift receptionist. I went upstairs to wash up. When I came down, Nephi was already waiting in the lounge. I asked Len for two cups of coffee and sat in the lounge.
“How was your day?” Nephi asked.
“It was okay.” I replied in a dull voice, “What about you?”
“It was busy day. Anyway, how have you been? Do you still think about ending your life?”
“No, not very often.” I said.
“Why don't you return to your family? They might be looking for you?” he asked in a clearer way.
“Well, the thing is.. I can't go back. The police..” I had not completed, a shrill sound of door opening came. Sheridan was walking out of the office but suddenly he pulled his brakes when he saw me with Nephi in the lounge.
“This is not a restaurant.” he said to me.
“Well, it doesn't happen everyday.” I said being calm but raising my eyebrows.
“Let me join you guys!” said Sheridan with a materialistic smile.
“Oh.. alright.” I said rather in a disappointed tone. I had decided to tell Nephi all my situation but Sheridan joined so my plan failed.
“You weren't expecting me. Are you not happy with me joining you people?” he asked looking straight in my eyes.
“It's nothing like that.” I replied in a low voice. Now I expected that he would go saying that he didn't want to be an uninvited guest. But instead, he sat till the end, even his eyelids were heavy and he was yawning every second minute. I didn't talk about my issue. I couldn't. And I can say, it was a waste meeting at the guest house. I had not thought about it that Sheridan could become so nosy and sort of over possessive even when we have nothing going on between us. If nothing wrong had happened in my life, and I met this same Sheridan, I would have been going crazy. But the situation I had then to with, I really didn't care if Sheridan really fell for me. I cared for him, and we can become close friends. But friendships were not priority for me now. Priorities change with changing age. The thing you loved five years ago might become unimportant for you now. That even happens in case of relationships, people get bored and change their partners. So it's nothing to worry about. I have changed a lot in the past years. The thing that hurts my heart is that I couldn't attend my graduation. Ah I want to cry about it. I will regret this till my last breath. I often missed Ashley too. I didn't even have any phone numbers. I only remember Hailey's and mom's phone numbers. I wanted to know how were they doing but I couldn't and this was the worst feeling.
Next day, I went to his office at the lunch break.
“I want a day off at weekend.” I said straight.
“Is this your school that you're telling me like this?” he said after staring me for two seconds, “But you still need to write a formal application of leave at school also.”
“Whatever.” I said.
“Do you actually have a reason or you can't handle the job?” he said in an annoying way.
“I have to meet a friend.”
“Oh, that Nephi? Right?”
“Why do you even care?”
“I'm not giving you a day off.” he said very coolly.
“I will not come so don't complain later. And don't even think about firing me. Bye. And Thank you.” I said all this without even having a break, left the office and slammed the door behind me.
I got a day off on the weekend and called Nef with the reception telephone. I asked him to meet me. Luckily, he was also free. We decided to meet at a cafe nearby.
“Ms. Smith! How are you?” Nephi waved his hand and sat on the chair in front of me as I had been waiting for him.
“I'm in a good mood today.” I said with a big smile, “I've been out to meet a friend after a long time. It feels good.”
“Well, you can talk freely here. I'm a friend. So you can tell me whatever you want to share with a friend.” he said.
“To be very honest, more than a friend, I need an advisor.” the cheerfulness disappeared from my face and I said this in a low tone with my eyes down.
“I'm here, I will help you to the extent I can.”
I explained the whole scenario to him about how I had a fight with Sybil and how she fell off, I told him since when I had been staying at the guest house and how I got a job, I told him everything in hope to find a sensible advice. For a moment, he seemed thoughtful. He took a long deep breath, stood up and walked towards the door and took out his phone to make a call. He went outside and I saw him walking to and fro outside. I got nervous and anxious. The moment I saw police arriving, I felt like my heart stopped working, my breaths disappeared, I started sweating and the very light hair on my arms got erect. With my eyes blurry in tears, I stood up, but then I found no way, and then I sank in the chair again with my shivering and sweating body.