Chapter 12: Chapter 12

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People cry not because they are weak

but because they've been strong for too long

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Megan's POV

I couldn't sleep after pretty boy dropped me off, my eyes have refused to shut close for at least one hour. I got harassed today, I wonder what would have happened if pretty boy didn't show up when he did.

I smiled at the thought of pretty boy, who knew a rich guy could fight, I thought he made his 'James Bond' do every thing for him. I am indebted to him now, he saved me thrice. When we first met, he saved me from falling, then he saved me from drowning and now he saved me from Vince. Ah he also made me earn a one month pay for just today.

I opened my laptop, I've not been serious about my online college stuff, I don't even see finishing school important anymore, I mean what's the need. I've probably forgotten every thing I needed to know as a student. I checked the time, it was 5 am already, I got ready to go deliver my papers.

I came back home craving hot coffee like my life depended on it. When I entered in I saw the whole place scattered, cupboards where open, tables and chair turned upside down.

Oh my God, have I been robbed?

I heard a noise inside the bedroom, the thief was still here, fear immediately took over me. Something told me to run and raise alarm, another told me to teach the thief a lesson just like little Kevin in home alone, nobody steals from my house.

With the decision of going with the latter, I picked up the baseball bat that was always lying around near the door in case of an emergency, and I proceeded inside the room. I saw the person searching me cupboard and it wasn't a man, it was a woman, it wasn't just any woman, it was my mum.

"Mum!”I cried dropping the bat as she looked up at me shocked, I quickly enveloped her in a hug. "Mum you are fine, I was worried, I was so worried"

"I am fine Meg, now leave me before you squeeze the life out of me”she said, I quickly left her, my mum really isn't the touchy type.

"Mum where have you been, I looked everywhere, and what are you looking for”I asked picking up some valuables that were on the floor.

"Shut up girl, am looking for money, Meg do you have any money, am in debt with Vince, I owe him a lot of money, he has kept me trapped and if I don't pay him, he is gonna kill me”she asked pleaded.

"Oh my God mum, what happened. How do you owe him so much?"

"Gambling, it got out of hand, I regret it OK, but what's been done been done, now I need to pay up"

I quickly went and opened the bag where I stashed in my yesterday pay and some other pays of last week.

"Here, this is what I have”I said handing her the dollar bundle of notes.

She counted it, "this is not enough Meg, I need times two more"

I broke my piggy bank savings, checked all my pockets for any stray money, together we arranged the crumpled notes, gathered the coins and she took all of it.

"It’s still not enough Meg”she said.

"Mum this is all the money I have”I said tears threatening to fall off at any time.

"You are so useless, can't you be useful to me for once in your life, I need money, give me money Meg”she said pushing me.

"Mum I have no other I swear, that's all”I cried out.

"You are so useless, stupid daughter, it better not to have a child than to have you, I hate you, you made me stay in this stupid neighborhood, because of you, you you!! Am stuck in poverty, yet now that you've grown up, you can not be useful”she said dragging my hair and pushing us to the sitting room, by now the tears were flowing freely.

"Mum am sorry”I said choking tears out.

"Sorry for what?, for not dying when you were supposed to, or for putting me in more debt with Vince by breaking his face”She shouted.

"Mum he almost raped me, don't pay him any attention”I said.

"So what maybe if you let him, it would have reduced my debt!”She shouted then came to crouch down at me while I was on the floor.

"Meg go get yourself a rich man. You can't keep pinning over Sam, see he already got himself a rich lady, you were so worthless to him, the earlier you realize that, you can't keep being the good girl the better for you, maybe then you can be useful and get us out of poverty”she said then left the house.

You are so useless

Sorry for not dying when you supposed to.

I hate you, stupid daughter

I broke down in tears, mum was right, am so useless.

I felt a presence, I looked up and saw pretty boy standing in the door, he waved slowly and then entered in. And although he was wearing one of his beautiful suIt’s, he sat down on the floor with me.

I quickly wiped my tears with the back of my hand. We sat there in silence. I looked at him and I saw his fist clenching and unclenching, his lip were in a straight line and his jaw kept twitching as his muscles bulged out. He looked incredibly handsome and also incredibly Mad.

I don't know if he thought I didn't see the fact that he was raging mad, because he turned to look at me masking his anger and smiling at me.

"Hi”he said waving his hand, I waved too. Then he revealed the stuff he kept by his side: a smoking cup of hot coffee and a chilly cup of ice cream.

"I didn't know which you would like so_”he said rubbing his back neck.

I smiled as I picked up the hot coffee and took a nice sip, it was so refreshing, sweet and it warmed me up like never before.

"Thanks”I said as I continued sipping the coffee, I didn't want to cry anymore but curse whatever it was that is in charge of tears release. I felt so sad, the tears kept flowing don't silently.

"Megan don't cry”he said not even looking at me as his fist kept clenching.

And another stupid thing the universe made about me is that I do the exact opposite of what am supposed to do.

Meg, don't laugh and I laugh. So you can guess the rest. So I basically broke down in tears.

"I__ don't want to__ but I can't stop”I said mid heart wrenching sobs.

He moved closer to me and wrapped his hand around my shoulder, making me relax into him as I cried.

"Should I tell you a story?”He asked, I nodded.

"So once upon a time, there was this colony of ants, all the ants were very hard working, doing different things everyday, but there was one ant, he didn't do anything all day he just lay at a corner of their home eating and getting fat everyday. Soon other ants started complaining, they did all the work, while he sat there being useless everyday, they had a group meeting and as was agreed in the meeting, the useless ant was kicked out of the colony. A day after he was kicked out, some giant zombie worms attacked the colony killing so many and bringing down their home. It was later found out that the lazy useless worm wasn't useless after all, all these while he has been using his special herbs to repel the worms away and his fat big body to scare them. Some of the ants who survived that attack looked for the lazy ant but couldn't find him, then they found out that when the threw him away, the Royal palace of ants saw him, took interest in him and now made him the chief head of the security_ the end”he said.

By now I had stopped crying and was trying to fully understand the story.

"So what lessons can be learnt from this story?”He asked.

"That no ant is useless?”I asked and replied at once.

"Yes, that nothing on earth is useless and that people and animals would always talk and complain, but It’s when they talk, rebuke us that things get better, if the fellow ants had not insulted and pushed out the fat ant, he would not have found himself in the palace, and the other ants wouldn't have envied him”he explained.

I smiled, I knew the story was made up but I felt so much better now and I also felt like the fat ant.

"Have you ever been like the fat ant?”I asked.

"Ofcourse, while I was in school, I didn't do anything, I let people do my assignments for me, I was just a rich spoilt brat, then there was this girl Griselda, I like her then but she was a sister to the school bully, she was so intelligent and beautiful so I asked her out, she teamed up with her brother to make fun of me, she called me lazy, stupid, mummy's boy, spoilt brat. I argued back and got myself into a dare, if I could beat her in a quiz and win a fight against her bully brother then I could go out with her, all I had was one week to prepare”he said, I was completely captured in his story, who knew pretty boy had a soft side.

"I prepared hard for it, and on the D-day I beat her in the quiz scoring two points above her, I also beat up her brother but broke my arm in the process”he explained. I resisted the urge to squeal and shout, he won, he won.

"Then i went to her and kissed her right on the lips, and she didn't protest, then i broke up with her right there saying she was a sloppy kisser. Then I asked out our the principal's daughter right there and she said yes”he explained while laughing reliving the memory "nobody dated sloppy Griselda after that"

I laughed too, I felt so good any memory of my mum's little incident was gone. I saw pretty boy at a whole new level now.

"OK so we should probably take this ice cream, wouldn't want it to go to waste”he said as he opened up the vanilla ice cream, took a large scoop and ate it.

"Ah brain freeze!”He shouted holding his head.

I laughed till my tummy hurt. Cue to us taking scoops of ice cream at intervals and shouting 'brain freeze' almost immediately.

I wanted to ask what he was doing here, but I didn't, I loved that he was here, I wanted him here, I needed him here.

~~~

"I wonder why Conner is calling me”I said rubbing my hands together as the car drove, heading towards the hotel.

While I was getting ready to go to work, with pretty boy waiting for me, I received a call from Conner urgently calling me to the hotel.

"Yeah I wonder why, maybe there is an emergency”Pretty boy said driving the car.

We reach the hotel in no time, and we went in, something told me, pretty boy knew what was going on, but he didn't tell me.

We met Conner and some other maids soon and after they had all greeted Pretty boy, Conner explained.

"Meg, we need you to become personal maid"

"What?!”I asked surprised looking at pretty boy for help as he put on his billionaire stone face and looked everywhere else but me.

"Conner I can't do that”I said to her, she knew very well that am not a graduate and so therefore I can't be given such a job and a perfection required one at that.

Conner pulled me aside, "yes I know Meg but the person has specifically required you and has threatened to make us all lose our jobs, if It’s not done"

My jaw about to fall off, why me?, and who the hell was this person? I signed and agreed, this is good, a personal maid, means full time worker at this mighty cooperation. Stable work, stable salary.

"Who do I work for now?”I asked.

"Mr Altamira”Conner said motioning to pretty boy who was currently sitting on an arm chair, legs crossed, answering a phone call.

My mouth hung open.

"What? No why does she get to work for him, we are the permanent workers here, the graduates!”Beth another troll like Bianca said.

I hated her too, I was about to talk back when pretty boy came and motioned for me to follow him, then he pointed at Beth and snapped his fingers.

"Beth am sorry to say but you've just been fired”Conner said, as I quickly followed the fast moving 'Javier'.

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