But My Case Is Different

"My master has been giving some kind of preference from the day I started working. You know when the opposite sex wants to always be there for you. He was so kind from our first encounter. I felt at ease whenever he was around me and I was not afraid of telling him anything. When I told him that I needed money for my mum's health, he paid my three months salary ahead. The way he does it, made…" She paused.

"Made...what?" Sophia was eager to know.

"Made his fiance jealous."

"That wasn't your fault."

"It's my fault. Let me land." Elisa replied.

"Then go on, are you hiding something from me?"

"No. Just this morning, I was arranging their breakfast on the dining table. What I felt was a splash of water on my chest." She touched her breasts and stood up to demonstrate how it actually happened.

"What are you looking at? His fiance asked my boss. I was so shocked. I was the one she poured water on. I never expected it. You know, when you bend your body, someone could see your breasts. Next thing she asked my boss, 'What are you looking at?' I never knew he was looking through in between my breasts. I never exposed my breasts. My boss said he was looking at my necklace. The next thing she did was to stand up, hold my necklace and drag it and she spoiled the necklace. As I was agitating for her to give me the pendant of the necklace, Mr. Alex became angry and took me to a different room to repair the necklace. It was at that point, he told me his dad was a blacksmith. And… I fooled myself with his emotional words."

Elisa hit the concrete bench with both hands and Elisa looked very worried.

"I hope it is not what I'm thinking?" The way Sophia opened her eyes, Elisa immediately knew what she was thinking about.

"We didn't do anything, but he kissed me. And he told me how he loved me and took me to his art gallery that he said he had not taken anyone to. But what happened next showed all his words were lies. He told me he was breaking up with his fiance and making me the woman of his heart. I was having great doubts and what I was thinking came through. Because I repeatedly rejected his love for me, but he kept reassuring me as the master of the house and I believed him completely. Sophia, I messed up full time." She touched Sophia's right shoulder.

"I can't sense how you messed up."

"Listen, he left me on the upper floor, in his art gallery. According to him, he said he was coming back. He left in excitement. Then I waited and waited. But he did not come. After a long time, I decided to go to his room to check what he was doing. To my disbelief, but I was a reality, he was busy having sex with his fiance. I overheard his fiance saying, 'she will throw me out in due time."

"What? When did this happen?" Sophia didn't know when he asked that question.

"Today…how many times will I tell you. Why am I so disturbed. I don't know what to do right now. They both tested me and in my presence, my boss took away the engagement ring from the hand of his fiance. He later told me upstairs that he did it because of me. Sophia, What will I do? Assuming I have the money he paid me, I would have gone and given him back his money and just walked away. But I have sent the whole money to my mum."

"What about your dad? Does he not know your mom is sick?"

"Please, and please. I don't want to hear or say anything about him. Imagining him will complicate this issue. I'm asking you, what will I do in this situation?" Elisa waited for Sophia to process what she just heard.

"I will suggest you act as if nothing happened. Then if you cannot bear his fiance's behavior, after your three months of stay, you can leave. If you leave now without working for the three months he has paid you, he might call the friend of your former boss. Then that man will tell your former boss your attitude. Your former boss will feel right that he fired you."

"Sophia, it's easier said than done. How will I pretend it never happened? I'm ashamed of myself. Both of them will just be making fun of me. I hate such feelings. Before now, his fiance hated me, coupled with this, she would taunt me to hell. With her looks, smiling and words of mouth. I wouldn't have agreed to his words when he was saying them." Elisa waited, wanting Sophia to say something, but Sophia allowed some seconds to pass.

"Something like this has happened to me before." Sophia lowered her voice.

"Like this? How?"

"Hmm… When I was in high school."

"What happened?" Elisa adjusted herself and was looking at Sophia's lips and eyes.

"I was embarrassed by a guy I was having a crush on. I was surprised when he told me he has feelings for me. I never knew he was recording what I have to say. I poured out my entire feeling on him and told him I do see his face when I was watching soap operas. Instead of the actor's face, I was seeing his face. Guess what, the next day, my classmates started calling me soap opera. At first, I didn't realize why they were calling me that name until I heard the audio recording of my voice. I felt embarrassed to the point that I didn't want to go to school the next day. I told my mom. Guess what, she laughed about it and she told me to laugh with her. At first, I thought she was mocking me, but after I laughed with her, I felt free. She said I should join them to smile and laugh over it whenever any of my classmates brings up that matter. I never saw the relief behind it until I got to school the next day. I summoned courage and joked about it whenever my classmates called me soap opera. I even made jokes about it and we laughed over the incident. Do you believe me, that issue died a natural death. As soon they saw that it wasn't causing me emotional pain, it killed their desire to keep saying it. Days later I thanked my mom."

"But… My case is different. I can't laugh or joke with my boss and his fiance."

"Just smile whenever it comes up. It will ease you."

"Smile? Who will I smile for? My boss or his fiance?" Elisa asked.

"I mean, if you have any opportunity to express yourself. The more you feel that you are being tormented, the more hurtful it will be."

"The two scenarios are different, though they both have an embarrassing end. I will try to bear the tormenting words his fiance will tell me, but three months later, I'm leaving that house. Thank you so much Sophia. I feel at ease, thinking less of my hurtful feelings." Elisa embraced her and she looked at her wristwatch and continued,

"It's time to go. Please, I want you to look for a job for me. I need to keep buying those expensive drugs for my mum." They both stood up and were walking towards the gate.

"I will do that. What are friends for?"

When they got to the gate, they embraced again.

"Thank you," Elisa whispered into her ear. "I felt very relaxed with your words.

"You are always welcome."

Sophia watched Elisa as she entered a cab and drove away after both of them waved their hands at each other.

It was twenty minutes later, Elisa came down from the cab and briskly walked into the compound. When she got to the door, she held the handle and tried to open the door, presuming it was not locked. The locked door was the first thing to lift up her heart. She quickly took her phone and called James. The phone rang and rang, but James did not pick up his call. She called him the second time, the same thing happened. She looked at the time, it was 12:12 PM.

"Who locked this door?" She hadn't finished expressing her thought, when she noticed someone unlocking the door from inside.

"You came back?" Loveth gazed at her with the striking glass of anger. Elisa could not say anything. She quickly bent her face to the floor and her heart was pounding.

"I thought she ran away," Loveth thought and was looking at her from head to toes.

"Look at me, am I not talking to you?" She continued to take advantage of her eyes in infringing fear on Elisa.

"You left home without informing anyone. I want you to go back to where you came from. You went to meet one of your boyfriends, to have sex with him, right? When you were unable to seduce my fiance to have sex with you. You failed, I have satisfied my fiance sexually.

"No, I didn't see any man." Elisa shook her head. "See what Douglas has caused. I would have been in my office by now. Oh my god," she thought.

"The only way to go inside this house. You will have to call that stupid boyfriend of yours and I will talk to him." Loveth said.