'Mummy, can I go and play in the garden with my friends?' little jenny asked. She had just finished a dessert of ice cream and Chocolate chips, nanny was busy packing up the plates.
Mummy looked at her and smiled. Having a sugar rush, my dear?
'I think so, mummy, I want to go out and play'.
'Honey, you can't go outside, for safety purposes'.
Jenny looked confused for a split second and asked.
"Mummy, what is safety?'
All of a sudden, there was the sound of a loud gunshot.
Jenny screamed as mummy quickly held her to the ground.
"Lock the doors!" mummy yelled at nanny and nanny did so, hurriedly.
The gunshots continued and jenny gasped in horror as the sound of shattering glass and shot bullets reeked through her eardrum.
Finally, mommy yelled.
"Rita! take jenny to the emergency room!"
"Yes ma". Nanny replied and grabbed jenny by the arm, then took her down the flight of stairs to the emergency room. This was the first time she got the chance to come here. It was just an empty room locked away from all the rooms of the house.
Nanny laid the whimpering child down on an armchair.
"The fireworks came again" The child said, still shivering.
"Fireworks?". asked nanny.
"Yes, the fireworks, they are always after us". The child said.
Nanny smiled and used her hands to caress the little child's forehead.
"Don't worry, the fireworks won't get you here, you are safe here".
************************
Saturday morning, perfect time for Victoria to face her fears. Great, the only time she was completely free from work, she had something official to do. Let her just do this thing and get it over with. She couldn't even get why her boss suggested doing this. She was sure that the directors son didn't accept private emails. He would probably regard it as junk or even reproach her. She just knew that chief Richarf was doing this mainly to torture her for just one mistake. Bit unfortunately enough, she actually had no choice because chief Richarf told her that writing the letter was the only way she could get off the hook of getting fired. SHE HAD TO DO THIS.
She slipped into her cozy pink chair right I'm front of her study table. She picked up her laptop. I Just have to send an Email, she said to herself, no biggie, I hope.
She opened up the email interface and retreated. Where should I start from? I'm sorry I didn't attend attend your first important meeting with the workforce? geez....
Then, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?". She asked and walked towards the door.
"It's Rita". Said the person at the door.
With the sound of that name, Victoria's mind went down memory lane. Rita?
She had tried to cover up her past so much but this part didn't seem to dissappear. With trembling hands and a heavily pounding heart, she turned the knob and opened the door.
She let out a sigh of relief as she saw who was at the door. It was just her neighbour. she actually forgot that she had a neighbour named Rita.
"Rita....what a pleasant surprise, what brings you here?".
She smiled and answered. "Good morning to you too, vicky. My daughter, mini is having her one year old birthday next week and I would like you to be present, if its convenient, that is".
"Why not? I won't miss it". Victoria replied.
"Thank you, I'll be expecting you".
" Okay, I'll see you there". She said as Rita turned to leave but stopped abruptly.
"Oh, and one more thing?"She said.
"What's that?".
"Are you sure you are okay, vicky? you don't look okay at all and the way your face looked when you first opened the door showed that you are going through some things that you aren't opening up about, are you alright?".
For sure, vicky thought within her. For sure,she would have noticed that. She literally had a panic attack before opening the door. But all the same, why did the neighbour care so much? she should just mind her business.
She faked a convincing smile.
"I assure you,I'm fine, you don't need to worry".
"Okay, if you say so, but if you ever need someone to talk to, you can always call on me".
Yeah, she could already see what this lady was driving at, Victoria knew that she was an antisocial loser, she barely had friends, but it wasn't her fault, she was trying so hard to drive away the past, she had to.
"Thank you very much for your care, Rita, but I'm perfectly fine".
"Alright, fine". And she left.