The sonorous symphony of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker blasts through my ears as I awaken from my slumber. Goodness, that startled me. I rub my eyes as a means to wake myself up for the day. I wonder what time it is. I grab my phone on my nightstand and look at the time. 4:30am, it reads. Why do I even choose to wake up this early? Nevertheless, it's time to get up. Today marks another day of crunching numbers and my annoying coworker Noah trying to suck up to me. Why do I even entertain him and his nonsense? I feel as if God sent him just to test my patience.
I get out of bed and stretch my arms out. This song is way too energetic for an early morning. I have to change this song.
"Alexa", I whisper, "next song please."
"Ok." The music stops for a moment, then it starts up again.
I Can't Get Started, Bunny Berigan. Great music from the 30s, especially if you're a twenty-four-year-old hopeless romantic who wants to find love in his life but can't. Just the thing I need in the morning, spectacular. Maybe if God put her back in my life, things might get a little bit better. But until then, I have to stay patient.
After making my bed, I walk into the bathroom. As I stare at my complexion in the mirror, a sea of memories start to flood my brain. Memories of he, memories of she, memories of me. What happened all those years ago still messes with my head. It's like these thoughts won't go away. My best friend, turned into my worst enemy. I've let go and forgiven him, but it still hurts. I hate having to live with this trauma. The nightmares, the sleepless nights, the cutting. It sucks. But throughout the years. this very question has remained in my head. Why? Why did he decide to betray me and leave me with all this pain and turmoil? The answer never occurred to me. I can feel my hands shaking and my breath getting heavy. I immediately turn on the faucet and splash water on my face. No more dwelling on the past, gotta focus on the present.
"Lord, thank you for waking me up this morning. I pray that this day goes well and my coworker Noah doesn't get on my nerves. In Jesus name, Amen."
I walk into the kitchen where I'm being greeted by my cat, Lola. She rubs her head on my ankle and purrs.
"Hey Lola." This little bundle of joy is my emotional support animal, believe it or not. A black and white cat who likes to sleep, eat, and break things. I don't bring everywhere I go anymore, since I've been getting better. Plus, she doesn't really like people. I don't either. Despite being adorable and sweet, Lola can be a pain in my neck sometimes. Especially when she was a kitten. As much as I love her, she's horrible. I grab her and pick her up. "Ready to eat?"
She meows in response. I set her down by her food and water bowl. I open the refrigerator and grab Lola's food and pour it into her food bowl.
"Alexa, what's on my to-do list for today?"
"You have four things on your to-do list. Create budget for supply material, attend volunteer meeting, buy groceries, send email to Maya Bradshaw. Have a lovely Wednesday."
Dang it, I have to go to that volunteer meeting. Why would Gomez just put this out there without giving us any prior knowledge. Her actions really don't make sense, but neither does she.
I check the time on my watch. 5:00am. I gotta workout, get in the Word, then eat and get dressed. I got time.
Despite the effects of global warming, winter still has a way of making everyone miserable. Especially in New York. There is a crap-ton of snow, it's super cold, and you're got a bunch of white chunks covering your driveway. For me, driving in the snow is alright, but it can be aggravating. Whenever it's raining or snowing, there always happens to be traffic. This happened to me in New Orleans too. I pray that there is no traffic on my way to work.
As I step out of my house, the icy breath of winter blows in my face. Goodness gracious, it's cold. I carefully step onto the pavement and walk to my car without slipping. It's so icy out here, even my car has frost on it. Thank goodness I'm prepared for winter. Hopefully the inside of my cay isn't cold. I unlock my car and get into the driver's seat.
Dang it's cold. Ice cold.
After a long thirty-minute drive, I finally arrive at my workplace. I walk into the building with my backpack and computer bag. I check the time on my watch, 8:28am. Getting here two minutes earlier than planned. What a record.
I'm walking to the elevators and press the upward arrow button. As I wait for an available elevator, a familiar face walks beside me. She's absolutely stunning, gorgeous even. Yet has a familiar face that I can't remember. Her beautiful brown skin glistens in the sunlight and she has two gold-colored streaks in her hair. She's wearing a necklace, a red heart stone with gold chains. I definitely remember giving that to somebody. It was my gift to Kay when I asked her out on that date. Considering this is just a random girl, the necklace is probably just a replica. I shouldn't think too much of it.
DING! An elevator door opens. She walks in, then I walk in behind her. The doors slide together and close.
"What floor?" I ask the lady.
"Six", she answers. "What about you?"
"Seven." I press the buttons and the elevator starts moving.
Silence starts to fill the room. Maybe I should say something.
"You work in accounting?" The unknown lady asks me.
I nod. "Yes. You're in marketing, I'm guessing?"
She chuckles. "You guessed correctly."
A silence fills the room.
"You know", she says, "it's always good to see your own kind here once in a while."
I nod. "Not wrong about that. I'm Hakeem Jackson, by the way."
"Ma'Kayla Wilson."
Oh my goodness. I knew I was right. It is her! I mean, she probably doesn't remember me. But there's no way she could possibly not remember me, we've been through so much together. Since we were in middle school. I can't believe it's actually her. Wow, I've gotta-
DING! The elevator reaches my stop and the doors slide out to open.
"It was nice meeting you, Hakeem."
"It was nice meeting you as well." I walk out of the elevator and make my way to my cubicle.
No words can explain how happy I am. She's grown, and she still looks good. But I'm also upset. She doesn't remember who I am. Or she does but didn't show it. But there's no way Ma'Kayla couldn't remember who I am. We were best friends, ever since middle school. But that doesn't matter right now. After three years of loneliness, God pulled some strings and answered my prayers. I'm thankful that she's here, most importantly she's safe.
"Thank you Jesus", I whisper to myself, "thank you so much."
I sit down at my desk and log into my computer when all of a sudden I hear someone yell my name.
"Good morning Hakeem!" He calls out in a sing-song voice.
Normally I would be annoyed by Noah's voice, but right now, nothing could make me upset.
12:00pm, lunch time. An hour and a half for everyone to eat their stale packed lunches and gossip with their coworkers about the latest topics on the news. An hour and a half for the people to wait until the end of the day where they can go home and watch the newest episode of reality television shows. While everyone gets to do that, I have to go to the volunteer meeting for the Christmas gala. So that means I'm going to spend a third my lunch in that meeting, since it's only thirty minutes.
"Hakeem! My man!" Noah greets me in an annoying tone.
Even when I avoid him, Noah always finds a way to aggravate me. "Hello, Noah."
"Where are you headed?" He asks me.
I sigh. "I'm going to the volunteer meeting for the gala. How about yourself?"
"I'm headed that way myself! I didn't know you had offered to volunteer."
I walk towards the elevator, and he does so as well. I press the upward arrow button and an elevator's door open. We both walk into the elevator and Noah presses a button with the number "6" on it. The elevator heads down to the sixth floor and then stops. Then the doors open.
As the doors slide open, the fresh scent of French vanilla bursts in my face. The marketing floor appears about the same as ours, but this place looks livelier. It has more joy and happiness. I bet the employees here are just as nice and kind. I'm already starting to like this floor.
We step out of the elevator. I scope the area. This place looks pretty nice. I wish the accounting department looked like this.
"Where do you think the meeting is?" Noah asks me.
I shrug my shoulders. "I don't know, but it should be around here somewhere."
Noah and I continue to walk and look around in confusion until someone walks up to me.
"Hey, are you guys lost?"
I turn around. It's a blonde lady. "Yes, there's supposed to be a meeting here-"
"Oh yeah! You must be here for the volunteer meeting! We've been waiting for you guys. Follow me, please!"
Noah and I follow behind the blonde lady.
After a short two-minute walk, we arrive in front of a room. A grey room with a big circular table. There, another woman sits near the door. The same woman from the elevator. The same woman from my past. I still can't wrap my head around this. She's here.
"Welcome", Ma'Kayla greets us. "Please, take a seat."
I walk in and take a seat next to her. "Hi."
Ma'Kayla smiles. "Hi." She waves at me.
An odd quietness enters the room. Should I say something? Maybe.
Noah clears his throat. "Is Gomez coming to the meeting?"
"Yeah, she should be here in a minute." Ma'Kayla answers. "But in the meantime, why don't we all introduce ourselves?"
Sounds like a good idea.
"I'll start", the blonde lady says, "I'm Kylie Marshal and I work in the marketing department."
"Nice to meet you, Kylie. I'm Noah Blackwell, and this is my coworker Hakeem Jackson." He puts his hand on my shoulder.
I jolt and immediately shrug his hand off of my shoulder. I've always hated people touching me, especially when people put their hand on my shoulder. It reminds me of way too many painful memories.
"As my coworker stated before, I am Hakeem Jackson. We both work in the accounting department."
"And my name is Ma'Kayla Wilson. I am the chief director of marketing. I'm glad that we are well acquainted with each other."
My hands start to tremble and I feel a ball of sweat roll down my face. I still can't comprehend the fact that Ma'Kayla Wilson, my best friend, is here and safe. The Lord really answered my prayers. My childhood best friend and my crush just so happens to work for the same company that I also work for. The one who has been there for everything. For the past three years, I thought I lost her. But now, by the grace of God, I've found her again.
"Hakeem?"
I snap out of my thoughts. I was so in my head that I didn't hear my name.
Ma'Kayla asks me, "Are you alright?"
I nod vigorously. Despite what I said, I'm in fact, not alright. How could I notice before? The two blonde streaks in her hair, the cross-shaped earrings, and that necklace.
"Oh! That just reminded me. Hakeem, I heard from a coworker that you're from New Orleans." Kylie states.
I nod. "Yep, born and raised."
"Ma'Kayla is also from New Orleans."
I already know that. But I'm not going to tell her that. "Um, that's good to know. What part of the city are you from?"
"Lower nine."
"I'm from Gentilly, Spain street."
"My mom grew up there! Her side of the family grew up over there."
Does she even remember who I am? "That's nice."
Noah chimes in, "I didn't know you're were from New Orleans! You don't really have an accent, so I just figured you were from Connecticut or Jersey."
If I'm from a certain place, specifically New Orleans, nine times out of ten I'm going to have an accent. I mean, this should be plain common sense. I swear, this guy lacks the mental capacity to understand social cues and general information.
I turn around and tell him, "I only speak like that when I'm upset and aggravated."
Kind of like how I'm aggravated right now.
The door opens, and here comes Margarita Gomez.
"Hello everyone." She says in a stern tone.
"Hello." We all announce in unison.
"As you all know this is your first volunteer meeting for the gala. Your objectives for today are to find a color scheme for the flier and find a venue to hold the event. I want this done by next week's meeting. Once you're done, have someone email me the details. Everybody got that?"
"Yes ma'am."
She walks out of the meeting room and slams the door.
"I wonder what she's mad about", Ma'Kayla says.
"Yeah", Noah continues, "so, what are you guys thinking about for the flier?"
Everyone pauses for a moment to think.
"I believe we should go with the basic red and white. That should go well for the gala theme." Noah states.
"Sure", Kylie chimes in, "but, like you said, it's basic. We need something that sticks out. Something that has life to it."
"True. How about we add green and a gold shimmer?" Ma'Kayla adds. "It would look nice and bring elegance."
"Hmm, I like that idea." Kylie agrees.
I mean, that sounds like a good idea. "It'll make the flier more interesting to look at. More 'appealing to the eye.'"
"I agree, Hakeem."
"But", Noah says, "we don't want to add too much to the flier. People might see we do too much. Plus, less is more!"
I really hope this man is not being serious right now. Why did he say that?
Kylie clears her throat. "Noah, with all due respect, you work with numbers. You figure out how much stuff is going to cost and how much profit this company is going to make. As an employee of the marketing department, it's best to add more that have the basics."
Goodness, she didn't have to beat him that badly.
"Although Kylie's words can be harsh, I agree with her. Adding more can be a good thing."
"I guess." Noah shrugs.
"Alright, so we all agree with Ma'Kayla's idea?" I ask.
Everybody nods in agreement, and now it's time to move on to the next idea. "Alright, now it's time to think about a place to hold the event."
Ma'Kayla asks, "Where do you think we should have it, Hakeem?"
"I don't know, I'm not really good at this type of thing."
"Oh, it's fine! I'm not either." She chuckles. "But I-"
"I was thinking we could host the event at the La Croix hotel." Noah interrupts.
A moment of silence occurs.
"Why the hotel", Kylie asks him. "It's pretty expensive."
"The place has a very historical significance and the place looks really nice. It's well-known for hosting events, plus it has really good reviews."
I take a moment to think. "It's good that it's well-known, but we have to take into account the cost."
"I agree. Plus, I've heard that their ballroom isn't that big and the service is pretty bad."
That's also something to think about. If people from other companies decide to come and they find the service, they might not want to work with us. I know for sure that Gomez wouldn't like that.
"But, I believe it's better at the La Croix. It's possible to come up with the money."
"Noah", Ma'Kayla counters, "we're talking about at least $20,000. And that's just to rent the place. We're a pretty large company, but we can't come up with that much money on the spot."
"Sure, but there's no other place to host this event. I mean, if you guys have a better suggestion-"
"The main lobby."
Everyone stares at me in confusion. Now, I'm kind of getting nervous. I shouldn't have said anything.
"You know, you have a point Hakeem."
Thanks for backing me up here, Ma'Kayla.
"It's free of charge, and it's pretty big. I mean, have y'all seen how many people were in there on Monday? It can fit at least 2000 people in there."
The women nod in agreement. This is a pretty good idea. Now the accounting department doesn't have to spend late nights crunching numbers and trying to come up with money to rent the place.
"Alright, this is a bunch of baloney!" Noah exclaims.
Sir, excuse me? "Noah, are you good?"
"No, Hakeem, I'm 'not good'. Throughout this half-hour long meeting, I have put out nothing but great ideas, but all you guys have done was refute them and dumped them in the garbage. I've had enough."
Alright, this man has lost his mind. "Noah take a seat."
"No! I've been ignored here. Why aren't you taking my side?"
I whisper, "Because you're acting ridiculous in front of these women and you're embarrassing yourself. So stop."
"No, I'm not gonna stop! I've been ignored this whole time and nobody even payed any attention to my ideas."
"Hey", Ma'Kayla interferes, "how about we just calm down-"
"Well how about you just shut up, Ma'Kayla!"
Alright, this is enough. I put my hand on his shoulders and push him down in his seat.
I whisper to him, "I already done told you to chill out, now you're just being rude. And the next time you ever decide to yell at these ladies again you're going to pray that I never worked here, you got that?"
He nods.
I turn to the ladies. "I'm sorry for my colleague's behavior. I promise it won't happen again. I'll email Gomez the details."
"Oh, you don't have to-"
"But I insist."
"Alright. Kylie and I will start working on the flier, we'll have it done by next Monday."
"Sounds like a plan."
A loud silence enters the room. Finally, this meeting is over. Now that this is done, I have about an hour to eat and take a break from this mess. This man's attitude is going to make me punch him.
'Don't'. A voice tells me in my head. 'Don't fight fire with fire'.
Right now, I'm in the break room. After the whole incident in the meeting, Noah and I made it back to the accounting department and I went to the break room to calm down. I don't know where Noah went, nor do I care.
I feel weird about how I handled that situation. I feel as if I shouldn't have handled it that way. But still, Noah was absolutely embarrassing himself and me. I just have this guilt over my head. The meeting wasn't supposed to end up like this. We were just supposed to get through the objectives and go back to lunch. It wasn't supposed to end like this.
"Lord, how do I deal with this? I didn't handle that situation right."
I take a sip of my coffee. What do I do? I mean, I can't just forget about it. But as much as I despise Noah, I can't really hate him. He's my coworker, so I can't really do much about it.
As I'm pondering these thoughts, I hear a knock at the door. It's Noah.
"We need to talk", he states.
I wonder what this is about. "About what?"
"About the meeting. You were quiet the whole time. Plus, you kept taking their side. I kept putting good ideas out there but nobody paid any attention to them."
I nod. "Mhm."
"And what you said to me, like what was your deal?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what was your deal? You kept defending those girls as if you liked them or something."
"Well, for one, I don't even know them. So how would I like them. Two, you were acting ridiculous and raising your voice. Also, you shouldn't have been talking to those women like that, you shouldn't be talking to anybody like that for that matter."
"I was not acting ridiculous; I was trying to get my point across!"
"You can get your point across without yelling."
I really don't have time for pointless arguing. I don't want to do this.
"But still-"
"Noah, I really don't want to go back and forth with you. I'm going back to my cubicle."
I stand up and try to walk out of the door, but Noah gets in the middle of the doorway.
"We're not done talking yet."
I take a deep breath. What is he doing? "Noah, what are you doing?"
"We weren't done talking, so I'm not letting you leave until we are."
"Noah, I hope you know we gotta get back to work. So please, get out of the way."
Noah shakes his head. "Work can wait."
Is he using his brain right now? "Noah, I'm serious. Let me go, I have work to do."
"But we're not done yet, why would you leave in the middle of a conversation! Like come on."
"Hey, what's going on over here?" Someone asks.
A few of our coworkers are standing in front of the break room. They all look at me and Noah with heavy concern.
Noah storms off to heaven knows where. Hope I don't get to see him any time soon. I walk back to my cubicle to get back to work. Today has been very eventful, I wonder why.
I pull into the driveway of my house and turn off the engine to my car. Deep breath, in and out. I need to reflect about my day. Things were hectic today. I saw Ma'Kayla again, Noah made a fool of himself during that meeting, and Noah tried to keep me in the break room against my will. I can't even comprehend the events that happened today, nor why they happened. Maybe if I'd said something in that meeting, Noah wouldn't have been on me about not taking his side. Since we work in the same department I should've taken his side. But at the same time, he was acting like a child in that meeting. Yelling and screaming as if he was a kid. Despite him being a pain in my neck, I still care for him and I hope he can get over this. I gotta stop thinking about this, it's making my brain hurt.
I exit my car and go to the door of my house. As I open the door, Lola greets me at the door.
"Hi Lola." I put my work bags down and pick her up. She purrs in my arms and I shut the door behind me.
As I walk toward the kitchen, I wonder about what I should eat tonight. That fish has been sitting in the fridge for two days now. I should eat that.
I put Lola down and open the refrigerator. She rubs her head on my ankle. I think she might be hungry.
I grab the fish out of the fridge and my phone buzzes in my pocket. I wonder who it is.
I pull it out and look at the message.
Hakeem, it's been a while since our last encounter. I hope you remember me, because I definitely remember you. How's life been since I took it from you?
My hands begin to tremble, and my breathing quickens.
"How did he find me?"