Special Visitor

Garnet’s foray into the unemployment market was shocking and unexpected. She had been a fast rising star at her job and had gotten quite a number of offers from other companies so she had felt that getting a new job with her resume would be a piece of cake.

Unfortunately for her, the reverse was the case. It seemed that no one wanted to give her a chance any longer, when she got to their offices she was turned away and told that there were no vacancies. It all seemed very sinister and she could sense that something was at play.

Why would companies who had offered her more competitive offers than the one she had at her job just in order to poach her from her company suddenly turn her away and some even refused to let her into the building in the first place.

Feeling frustrated and beginning to wonder if she was carrying a stink, Garnet broke down at the last office when she was turned down without an explanation.

As she cried, Nola the HR officer who was an older woman that had admired Garnet and tried to get her to work with them in the past decided to take some pity on Garnet.

“Listen Garnet, stop crying.”

“How *sniff sniff* am I supposed to stop crying when I feel like I am being persecuted *sniff* for something that I am not even aware of?” Garnet cried and sniffled pitifully.

Nola looked around the room furtively even though it was just she and Garnet in the room then she leaned close to Garnet and whispered in a low voice.

“I have to tell you something.” She said and Garnet stopped crying for a minute and looked up with her tear stained face.

“I was warned two days ago to not give you a job if you came looking for one here.” She confided and Garnet frowned.

“Why? Who would want to do that to me?” She asked in confusion.

“I have no idea who it is but they must be extremely powerful because virtually all the companies around have been warned to stay away from you or risk getting investments withdrawn.”

Garnet looked blankly at Nola, unable to process the words she had just heard. Who had she offended that wielded such power that could threaten all the companies that she had visited.

She tried to wrack her brain for an answer but could not come up with a suitable culprit. She had tried her hardest to be on her best behavior at work because of incidents like this.

“Thank you for telling me this Nola.” Garnet said and wiped her face before putting on glasses and walking out of the office.

As she left Nola looked at her sadly and sighed. She would have really enjoyed employing Garnet because she would have been a very important addition to the company but oh well.

She shrugged and picked up her phone and dialed a number.

“Miss Woods has just left my office after I turned down her request for a job.” She said and waited but the other side remained silent and then the call ended abruptly.

Nola shivered as she dropped the receiver back in the cradle, she would not want to be Garnet right now because some really powerful forces were at play.

When Garnet got to the parking lot of the building she was just in time to see two men hitching her car to a tow truck and she hurriedly ran to them.

“What the hell are you doing with this car?” She screeched.

“What does it look like lady? Please just go away and let us do our jobs.” One of the men said and continued with what he was doing.

“Stop! You need to stop what you are doing! This is my car.” Garnet screamed and tried unsuccessfully to drag the man away from her car.

The man straightened up and sighed then reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper which he handed to her.

Garnet snatched it and opened it, her eyes surveying the page while her mouth dropped open then she looked up at the man.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The man rolled his eyes in exasperation and muttered, “You seem like you can read.”

He hated this job, people defaulted on payments or committed crimes then would act surprised when a tow truck was sent to pick up the vehicles. In the end he ended up getting assaulted or abused for just doing his job.

“This paper says that I violated some rules but that is not true, that can’t be possible. I have never even got a ticket while driving this car.” Garnet insisted, shaking the paper in his face.

“Then I guess some ghost must have been joyriding with your car.” The man muttered under his breath.

“What did you just say to me?” She asked as she took a step forward.

The man raised his hands up in surrender then said, “listen lady, I am only doing my job and i don’t know what all this is about. If you have some complaints then you have to go on to the regulations office and make a complaint. Excuse me while I go do my job.” He said and left Garnet standing with her paper.

“No, you can’t take my car!” She screamed as she ran after him but it was too late.

While she had been confronting one of the men, the other one had been hooking her car to the tow truck and they jumped into the cab of the truck and drove off while she ran after them the next few meters.

Unable to continue on her high heels, she came to a stop and bent over, panting heavily while staring as her car was pulled away.

She wanted to just fall on the ground and throw a tantrum but there was already a crowd forming so she braced herself and walked to the bus stop. It had been ages since she had had to take the bus and she could have taken a taxi but she did not have a lot of money left and needed to save every dime she could until she got another job.

Someone was definitely out for her but who could that be and why did they want to destroy her life when she had never done anything to them?

As she sat on the bus and looked unseeingly at the road, she wonder what she was going to do now that she had been turned down by everyone. She was still reluctant to let Bill find a job for her.

She grimaced as she contemplated a job, she did not want to but at this point she knew that she might have no other choice than be forced to consider it.

When she got back home, she had pulled off her heels and hobbled to the door while fantasizing about the delicious warm bath she would soak in for hours.

Immediately she knocked on the door and it swung open she saw her mother standing by and looking excitedly at her. Garnet rolled her eyes, she did not want to have to deal with her mother right then after the rough day she had had.

“Not now mom, I am exhausted and I just want to soak my feet.” Garnet said as she avoided her and walked towards her room.

“But I have some good news for you, someone special has come to visit.” Beth said brightly and Garnet stopped and swung around with her eyes narrowed suspiciously.