Consequences

The sobs of a 22-year-old young woman echoed across the four corners of the room having her disappointed mother beside her. Director Langston fidgets his fingers, thinking of resolving the case based on Mrs. Dixon's satisfaction.

"What are you waiting for Director? Delete those videos right now," Mrs. Dixon ordered in full authority.

"Yes, we'll do that for the sake of Ashlyn. But..." Langston turned to Ashlyn, "May I know your reason for bullying a student?" Director calmly asked the sobbing lady.

"I don't know either. Everything was so confusing. I swear I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry,"

"Stop apologizing young lady! Your sorry won't clean up the mess you've made. If it wasn't for my call, those videos may have a longer duration and might destroy me also!" Mrs. Dixon coldly replied to her daughter.

Ashlyn facepalms and continue crying. She's regretting her foolishness and felt ashamed of her actions.

"That wasn't me! I would never hurt anyone, they can hurt me but I'll never hurt back!" Ashlyn whispered, still crying. She knew she won't be able to revert the consequences of bullying, she can't also amend the pain it might cause the student. "Now, I'm really messed up! This is all my fault! I'm so sorry," she added.

"Continue blaming yourself as you should. You never learn Ashlyn, I'm so frustrated with you! Little by little you're starting to prove me wrong on having high hopes with your attitude, It should have been Natasha and not you!" Mrs. Dixon huffed while poking her index on Ashlyn's head.

"Mrs. Dixon, please calm down. Let's also understand Ashlyn's situation. Don't make her feel worse by shoving her mistake in her face. She has her reasons, let's hear her out." Langston interjects while pulling Ashlyn from her mother.

Mrs. Dixon scowls and stands up, glares at the director, "Do not interfere in the way I discipline my child. This is my business since I'm her mother!"

"Yes, I am acknowledging that but please, let Ashlyn breathe for a little while.", Ashlyn wiped her face with her hands then gave the director a weak smile. She sighed heavily and faced her raging mother.

"Mom, I'm really am sorry about the incident earlier. I never intended to hurt someone and to prove my sincerity I am willing to accept any punishment.", Ashlyn bit her lower lip to hold her tears.

Mrs. Dixon looks at her in surprise and shakes her head in disapproval, "No! I won't let you do that. You're the daughter of the mayor of this city and yet you'll suffer from such nonsense?! Ha! Well then transferring you to another school is a better idea!"

"Mom! What I did was wrong! Bullying is never okay and it will never be! The girl might suffer trauma and other mental issues because of me and that disgusts me, I don't want to hurt anyone. That's the last thing I want to do," Ashlyn's tears escaped one after another as she felt her chest tightened caused by her stress.

"Ashlyn is right Mrs. Dixon, and also if she leaves that means you won't support our university anymore." Director Langston added but Ashlyn disagrees with him.

"This isn't about money or stocks or whatever, it's about me facing the consequences of my actions. I should be held accountable for that." Ashlyn reasoned out but her mother just won't listen.

"Shut up, Ashlyn. Now you're talking back to your own mother?! Is that what I taught you?" Mrs. Dixon stands up and grabs her bag. She slammed a paper at the director's desk then lashed out.

The departure of her mother is the arrival of the man who makes her heart pound. She looked at him with humiliated eyes then gazed away.

Voltaire sat on the couch having his intimidating aura with him. He places the contract at the coffee table in front of him.

"These are your contracts, director. Didn't thought that I will personally give it to you," He then looked at the lady with worried eyes and said,

"Why did you do it?" Ashlyn bit her lips and gazed down to her feet. She can't look at the eyes of the man she loves, it's too painful for her.

"I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean it. Everything was sudden, its out-"

"And why are you apologizing to me?" Voltaire asked as he stood up. He gazed straight into the lady's eyes, letting his orbs send his words to Ashlyn. "Please be okay." Voltaire thought.

"Because I know that I look disgusting in your eyes right now, I don't want you to misunderstand," Ashlyn replied while trying to reach Volt. The latter shrugged and gazed away.

"Ashlyn, you have nothing to prove to anyone else but to the person you hurt. Stop apologizing because you disappointed them, apologize because you didn't mean things to turn out like that." After Voltaire said his words, he went straight to the door and left.

Only she and the director were left alone in the office. Ashlyn doesn't know what to do anymore. Volt's words bring confusion to her.

"What does he mean? His words were simple but why can't I understand him?" She thought.

Director Langston clears his throat to get the attention of the girl. He sighed deeply before announcing his decision,

"Ashlyn, you mentioned earlier that you'll accept your punishment right? To be fair with every student on this campus, you won't come to school for two weeks. With that said, the campus will provide for your needs so don't worry. Are you going to join in any categories for the upcoming event?"

Ashlyn let herself absorb the said information. She then thinks of the director's question, 'Participate in the event?'. She recalled the categories and a small smile flashed on her face.

"I want to join the beauty pageant,"

~~~~~

Laughter and murmurs surrounded them after a voice called. The audiences pointed their fingers at the embarrassed Jelena, laying on the floor having Aki to protect him.

A woman in her late 40s approached the scene, glaring at the lady who hurt Aki's friend. She gripped the lady's wrist tightly, causing her to regain herself again. The old woman whispered something to her then covered her face before pulling the crazy lady out of the scene.

"Jel, are you okay?" Aki asked the sobbing lady.

Jelena shakes her head in response causing him to be more worried. He helps her to stand up and used his coat to cover Jelena from the people seeing her in that current condition. Jelena was scared and trembling but because she's feeling Aki's presence, she felt assured.

The two went on their way to the restroom. Every person that they'll encounter can't help but to have a glimpse of their behavior but because of Aki's deadly stares, they tend to look away.

Jelena felt insecure about her appearance which made her tears flow down from her lids. Aki noticed her anxiousness then whispered again,

"Don't worry about what they'll think. You're the prettiest among the girls here on the campus. No one can change my mind," Then Aki assured her with his rare genuine smile.

After a long walk, they finally reached the restroom where Jelena went straight inside to clean herself and Aki takes care of her extra clothes. Jelena was struggling on removing the icing in her hair, so she decided to call her best friend for help.

"Uhm, Aki?", Aki hummed in response to the girl. "Can you help me? Again? hehe."

"What seems to be the problem?", Jelena pointed to the back of her head and there Aki saw a bunch of dirty icing on her hair. Aki told her to bend her head on the sink while he will rinse her hair which Jelena obeyed.

It took twenty minutes of cleaning when Jelena had herself done. Aki gazed at the unusual sad eyes of his friend. He knows that she's feeling so insecure after that incident. The two of them are now heading to the cafeteria, Aki wants to feed Jelena and decided on not attending their next class.

Aki ordered food for them, noticing how anxious Jelena is around other people, he takes out their order and will eat a the field where there are fresh air and fewer students.

"Penny for your thoughts," Jelena came back to reality when Aki started to talk. They both are eating their own food when random memories flashed back to Jelena's mind.

"Having me bullied isn't new actually," She turned to Aki and smiled. "You know that, Aki."

"I remember my middle school days, I was also bullied that time, but a different case. Just because of how I look. Those girls and boys look down on me because I have a different face before, having acne, tan skin, a weird way of speaking, for not being able to catch up on lessons because I wasn't smart like them and of course, I'm an orphan who was abandoned when I was at the age of four." Jelena couldn't hold back her tears as she opens her partially healed scar of yesterday. Aki remained silent as he listened attentively to her rants.

"Constantly shoving those facts about me, being an orphan and ugly looking also dumb. Because of them, I hated myself almost all of my life. I always blame myself for being not enough to anyone-"

"Don't say that." Aki interrupted her having a serious face. He lends his handkerchief to her to wipe her tears. Aki hates seeing her hurt, she deserves more than the world as she is too precious for her.

"What? It's the truth. I'm not pretty enough, I'm not someone who can be proud of, I'm not good at anything besides causing trouble for others. Maybe my parents knew my future would be like this that's why they abandoned me early." She takes a bite of her bread while letting her tears flow.

"For me, you are enough, Jelena. More than enough actually. Having you beside me gives me comfort and rest." Aki put her loose hair behind her ears then continued, "I know that you feel insecure whenever people tend to forget your presence. You are afraid of getting rejected but honestly, you shouldn't be. Learn your worth and for sure you'll understand what I mean." Aki pats Jelena's head and caresses it.

His words gave comfort and confidence to Jelena's heart. She felt grateful despite the burden of the past that she's carrying in her shadows.

The sudden ring of Aki's phone interrupted their conversation. Aki checked who it was and his eyes grew wide in surprise. He distanced himself from Jelena and answered. After hearing his boss's orders he quickly made a scheme to distract Jelena.

"Duty call."