Secretly The Hidden Gem

Four

My alarm rings and I wake up to see it's the next day. 

Just when I thought the night wouldn't end.

It's six o'clock in the morning. 

I should start getting ready for work. 

I pick up my phone and see over ten missed calls from my sister. 

She must be really worried. 

I had told her I was going to speak with her yesterday but after the day I had, I didn't even remember to do that. It's too early to call her now, she must still be fast asleep so I set a reminder to call her later in the day. 

I don't want her adding me to the list of her worries. 

She has too much on her plate as it is now. In truth, Tamara isn't really my biological sister, but we feel like blood.

I met her when I was forced to stay at a foster home after my dad's accident. 

We clicked on the first conversation and became inseparable after that. 

When I was finally able to leave the foster home, my dad fought for her adoption, when he saw how much I liked her and how much I wanted her to live with us.

It wasn't easy given his condition but the state was eventually happy to have one less teenager on their hands. 

She moved in with my dad and started to take care of him since I wasn't always going to be home. 

All these happened years ago and now nobody even knew that we weren't biological family. This is why I took it as my responsibility to take care of her. 

To me, Tamara is a true sister, she is my true blood.

We have been through so much together and I am working so hard so that I can make sure that she is able to get the life that she truly deserves.

To make sure that my family can finally get the life that they deserve.

I finally finish getting ready and quickly drink the last of my bitter coffee. 

I would have to find another supermarket to get groceries from today. 

Preferably, a cheaper one. 

I pass by an early morning pastry shop and the scent of fresh bread wafts towards me. I decide to stop by and buy a small loaf to eat during my break. The price is fair so it doesn't hurt me too badly to let go of the money. 

Besides, I need to eat something to gain energy for the work that awaits me today.

I get to work and everywhere seems busier than usual. There's a lot of bustling going on everywhere. I wonder what is going on as I make the early morning cleaning rounds. 

Everybody seems to be doing something. Even those who usually don't bother doing anything seem busy today. 

Very strange. 

I finish my cleaning rounds and I am carting the equipment back to the store when an announcement is made.

“All cleaners should report to the ground floor,” A voice says over the office intercom.

I leave my work station and make my way to the ground floor.

I get there and meet other cleaners gathered in a room. So there are other cleaners in this company. It's a wonder why none of them are on my floor, the work on my floor is too much for just one person.

One of the managers walks in and waits till the muttering in the room quiets down.

“As you can see and have been possibly wondering why, there's a hive of activities going on in the office today. The director of our beloved company here will be visiting,” he starts. 

A wave of excited whispering and murmuring goes through the room.

He looks sternly around the room, his eyes glaring around until all is quiet again.

“I do not know what you all are excited for but whatever it is, keep it until I am done with my announcement. While he is here, he will be carrying out a competition for upcoming designers. Whoever wins this will be given either a job or a promotion in this company. Now to the part you are all playing here. The office is to be kept spotless while he is here,” He says and there is a collective groan from all the cleaners.

“A lot of people are going to be coming in and out of the office in the next week and it is expected that the premises are kept clean all the time. At no point is any place in this office to be seen dirty or messy. You will also be resuming and hour earlier than usual meaning you all should be here by at least 7:05. Lateness will not be tolerated,” he says all in one breath. You're all dismissed. Get back to work,”. 

I head to the locker room in a daze to eat my lunch. 

This could be my big break. 

I have always been a wonderful fashion designer and this could be the chance to move up in this company. I quickly step out to see the banner for the competition being put up outside. It says anybody who thinks they're promising enough can apply. This is the best news I've heard in a while. I can already imagine the look I'm going to come up with.

From what I've heard, the Senior Director is a far cry from the other stuck up directors in the company. He doesn't discriminate. 

I quickly finish up my lunch and get back to work. 

Today is a far cry from how I felt yesterday. 

I honestly believe things are already looking up for me. 

I stop quickly at a small store close to my house and get a few basic groceries I need for the week. 

As soon as I get home, I gather art supplies - pencils of different colors and sketching paper and begin to work on a sketch. 

I keep working on several designs and making changes until I begin to feel sleepy. It's late already and I have to wake up earlier than I usually do. 

I quickly placed a call to my sister to find out how she and my dad are doing. They seem well so I hang up and reset my alarm to ring at five o'clock. 

I wake up at the first ring of my alarm and quickly get ready for work. I pack bag with the art supplies because I hope to finish the designs during break at work. As soon as I'm done packing everything I need, I head out in my car.

The roads are clear as it's still very early in the morning. 

The streets look beautiful and I admire them as I rise to work. It's been a while since I felt this happy going to work. 

On getting to work, I quickly go about cleaning the floor assigned to me. I do not even feel the strain of the work because I am in high spirits. 

After cleaning, I head back into the locker room to continue working on my design. 

My design is almost finished now, just a little finishing touches and we are good to go.

I bend my head as I finish up, I only take pauses to take bites out of my packed lunch. 

A call interrupts while I work and I see Bruno's name pop up on the screen. 

“Oh no! Not today,” I say out loud, visibly groaning.

I quickly pick up the phone and answer, “Hello?”

“Get into my office now!” Bruno yells at the other end of the phone. 

What could he possibly want now, I think to myself.

“Alright sir,” I say out loud, I feel sick to my stomach as I say it, I am dreading going to his office.

I know that all I see when I’m in his office are him and Oceana.

My mind wouldn’t be able to stop recreating that sick memory.

I am worried that I will not be able to curtail my anger and I will get fired.

“Come with the sketches in your hand,” he adds suddenly.

And I freeze in surprise.

How did he even know I was sketching something?

Is he spying on me? 

“Okay?” I reply, tentatively. I wonder how he knew I was doing this. 

I suddenly look up and see the CCTV cameras in the room. 

But what kind of joblessness would make him watch me so closely. 

I gather up my things and head to his office. As I approach his door, I hear another voice in the room. 

I really hope Oceana isn't there today. I can't stand to be in the same space as her. 

I listen closer and realize it's a man's voice. It sounds like Zente Lotte, a man like Bruno himself, who didn't fail to make life a living hell for me too. He is one of the Associate Director here. And just like Bruno, a snap of his finger can put a stop to my stay here. That's to show how important he is.

The apple didn't fall very far from the tree. That sentence would have made sense if only they're blood related, but no, they are work partners. 

I knock and one of them asks me to enter in a grumpy voice.

I open the door and step in to see Bruno and Mr Zante both standing. Bruno then moves over to his desk and sits. 

“And just what do you think you're doing designing that?” Zente asks, his face is in a tigh scowl as he looks down at me.

“What made you think you could participate in this competition?” He asks me, his eyes hard as they glare at me.

“I read the banner sir, It said that anyone who was interested could compete,”

“Oh you think you're smart right? Your plan is to submit that and take our jobs, right? Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you'll have to submit it to us. We found someone of more befitting status who will submit the design as his,” Bruno says. 

“But it's my work. I designed this myself!!!” I plead. 

“None of that matters now. Just hand it over. Lucas Evans will be a better representative of this design. Hand it over,” He instructs mercilessly.

My mind is racing as I think of Lucas, he was my colleague or rather senior in the office, during the short period that I had worked here, all he had done was to make my life more miserable than it already was.

“No you can't do this. It's wrong!!!” I scream, thinking of the smirk that Lucas will have on his face when he gets my designs, I couldn’t let that happen.

“I'll make sure you both don't get away with this

 I'll expose you to the world,” I threaten them.

“Oh and one more thing. One word of this outside this room and you're going to lose your job. Then we'll let the whole world know that you stole this design. You're just a simple cleaner. No one is going to believe your word over ours. Look, you can make it easier for all of us. You give up your job or you give us the design,”Zente says, advancing towards me.

“Well, I choose to lose my job if it means not giving up this design. It's called intellectual theft,” I bark at them angrily.

Bruno only smirks at me.

“It seems you've made your choice. You're fired! Get out of my office now!!!” Bruno shouts, his face is in a satisfactory grin, like he has been waiting to do this for a long time.

They can't possibly be doing this to me. 

This is wrong and they know it. 

I would have thought things like this were way beyond them. 

“You can drop off all company property at the security desk on your way out, and yes including the company car. You made this too easy for us,” Zente says and he snatches the design from my hand.

I can't believe they are still taking the design. 

“You can leave now, or we would call security to throw you out,” Bruno says and I think back to yesterday when that supermarket had flung me out to the streets.

I leave Bruno's office holding back tears. 

What have I ever done to him to deserve this kind of treatment? 

First he took my girlfriend, then he snatched my design and still fired me for standing up for myself. 

I head back to the locker room and meet two security officers waiting to escort me outside. 

Bruno must have called them to let them know of my dismissal. 

They stand silently as I pack my things and follow me as I walk to the security desk to drop the keys I have in my possession. 

It all seems like a dream to me as I walk out of the building. 

I really just lost my job. 

What am I going to do about my rent? 

My sister's fees? 

My dad? 

I begin to walk home. 

The tears begin to fall down my face and I can tell people are looking at me but I just don't care. 

I am at my lowest.

I have never felt so dejected in my life.

When I get to the last turn before my street, I see a bar I had never really noticed before. 

I look between my street and the bar and finally decide on the bar. 

I might as well drown my sorrows in something.