Chapter 5 - Ma'Kayla

Today is a special day. Not in a good way, a very bad way. As chief director of the marketing department, I have to hold a meeting to discuss the Christmas sale, which I don't like doing. Since I haven't come up with anything, the team has to help. I feel bad for dragging them out of their lunch breaks, this is the one time where the employees get to relax. Plus, I really don't want to spend too much time in this meeting. I gotta end this meeting fast, I still need to eat.

"So", I state, "what do we have so far?"

Someone raises his hand.

"Yes Max?"

"I was thinking we could give out an updated version of one of our products? Like those touch-screen computers we used to sell."

It sounds like a good idea, but there are some faults. "That's an idea, but there's a problem with that. We would need a lot of money and get a survey of people about what updates they would like."

"Right", Kylie agrees, "it's going to be pretty time consuming."

I nod. "I agree, any other ideas?"

Someone else raises her hand.

"Whatchu got?"

"Selling out our current products and maybe pitching an idea for a new one. How about it?"

"Yeah, but that's pretty basic, no offense."

"None taken. But! There's a catch. Plus it would be a nice thing to do."

I'm confused. What would it be? Wait, I know what she's talking about. "A fundraiser."

"Exactly!"

I like this idea. The company will gain some revenue and give a good Christmas to the poor. Considering the poverty population in New York, this is going to be great for the community.

"Do you know what charity we're going to donate to?"

"Robin Hood, it's the largest poverty-fighting charity in New York. My cousin works for them, so I can ask her if we could help this Christmas. Can you run by Gomez?"

"That sounds like a good idea", I tell them, "I'll run it by Ms. Gomez. Good work, y'all!"

Everyone claps and starts packing up to leave. It's good that we made progress this time, things have been dry around here lately. I glance at my watch to check the time. 12:49pm. I have about 41 minutes before I get back to my desk, and I need to find a place to eat that's not too far from here. I could go to Blair's cafe again, but I need a meal.

"Ma'Kayla", Kylie calls out, "there's someone waiting outside to talk to you."

"Who is it?" I ask her.

Kylie gives me a signal to look towards the door. I look, and there he is. I didn't expect to see him here. He has two cups in his hands, and a folder. Hopefully the cups have coffee in them.

As I pass by her, she whispers in my ear, "He likes you."

No he doesn't, he barely even knows me. To be honest, I'd never expect him to show up.

"Hakeem, hello!" I greet him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something." He hands me a cup. "Here's some coffee."

I take a sip. This is really good coffee, it tastes like the coffee at Blair's place. Praise Jesus!

"Where'd you get this?"

"The coffee place we went to the other day."

I nod. I knew it. "Oh, thank you. This was nice of you."

We take a walk towards the elevators. "What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask him.

"Oh! I wanted to give you these."

Hakeem sets his cup on a nearby table and opens the folder that he was holding. It reveals papers with different kinds of graphs on it and spreadsheets. What is this for, and why is he showing me this?

"I made these on Sunday for the meeting tomorrow. I researched the companies that we might ask for their services, like catering, decor, etc."

Wow, this is pretty amazing. "Did Gomez tell you to make these?"

He nods. "Yeah. She spotted me at that cafe by the building, and told me to make this."

"Cool. This is some nice work. I can work on the decor. I'll ask marketing to help. Also, I have an idea for the gala."

"What is it?"

"It'd make more sense to make it into a fundraising gala. We can donate the money to assist in the poverty problem, I just have to see if Gomez is alright with it."

"I'm pretty sure she'll be ok with the idea, she's a philanthropist."

"I didn't know that, that's pretty interesting."

"Well, there's something new you learn every day."

He smiles at me, and time stops. I stare at his complexion in utter awe. The windows were open, and the sun shines down on his sepia skin. His bright face gleams brightly as a flash of light. In the light, Hakeem looks like an angel. The light, showing a halo on Hakeem's head, giving his kind smile to me. He looks beautiful.

"Ma'Kayla?"

I jump. I didn't even here him call my name. "Yeah?"

"I asked you if you had eaten yet? I can get something for you if you want."

I shake my head. "No, but I'll probably get something to eat later. But thank you though!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Despite my answer being 'yes', my stomach disagrees and makes a gurgle loud enough for both of us to hear. That's pretty embarrassing.

"I guess I'll eat something now."

I glance at the time on my watch. 1:10pm. I have about 20 minutes until I have to go back to my desk. Thankfully, I'm eating and I have a good idea of what I plan to do for this Christmas sale. Hakeem ended up getting me food since I hadn't eaten, which I'm very grateful for, but I still feel bad for making him do this.

Apparently, there's a barbeque place not too far from the office. It's a really nice place and the food is really good. I might eat from there again.

"Hakeem, thank you a lot for this. I'll pay you back la-"

"Ma'Kayla, you don't have to pay me. I already told you this, consider this a favor."

"Really?"

He nods. "Don't worry about it."

This guy is way too nice. I grab a napkin by my plate and wipe my hands. I take a sip of my water and get up to go wash my hands.

"Thank you, Hakeem. Thank you so much."

"No problem!"

I get up and leave. I gotta get back to work. Thank the Lord for men like him. I'm making my way back to my office when all of a sudden I hear someone whisper my name.

"Ma'Kayla!" Someone calls my name.

I look around to see who called me, but no one is there. But the voice is familiar.

"Ma'Kayla!"

"Who's calling me?" I say to myself. "Am I going crazy?"

I scan all around the room and I still find nothing. What is going on? That doesn't matter, I have to get back to work. I have to prepare for the Christmas ad and I have to find a decoration company for the gala. Then, I have to get groceries before I go home. That reminds me, I have to make a shopping list for that. There's way too much stuff to do in such a short amount of time. I have to make a to-do list.

I arrive at the grocery store and I take out my shopping list on my phone.

Chicken

Salmon

Vegetables

Fruits(grapes especially)

Crackers

Seasoning

Dog food

I walk to the fruits and vegetables section and I think for a moment.

Why aren't there any green grapes? They had some a few days ago. I keep walking and scanning the aisle looking for the grapes. I keep walking and vigorously looking for them, but no sign. That's pretty upsetting, I really like green grapes. I might as well move on to the next item on my list.

As I'm looking, I still hear someone saying my name, but now the person is yelling my name.

"Ma'Kayla! Help, please!"

It sounds like a man. But, who is he? I need to find out who this person is.

"Ma'Kayla! Ma'Kayla, please!"

I look around to see who's yelling my name, then my vision starts getting blurry. My head hurts and the room begins to spin. What's going on, why is my body acting like this? I blink for a moment, but all I see is a run-down park building. I look around and people are holding me back. I don't know what to do, I'm scared. I look ahead of me, and I see him. Covered in blood and bruises. My breathing starts to quicken and I'm losing my breath. I fall to my knees, weeping. I'm horrified, and I can't do anything to stop it. Then, suddenly, everything goes dark.

"Ma'Kayla?"

My eyes flutter open, everything looks white. I hear constant beeping sounds and talking amongst different people.

"Ma'Kayla!"

It's Kylie. "What's going on?"

"They said you fainted in the grocery store on Manhattan. What happened?"

I shrug my shoulders and sit up in the hospital bed. "I don't know, my head started hurting and I couldn't breathe. I don't know what happened."

"Well, I'm glad that you're alright."

A doctor opens the door with a clipboard in hand. "Hello, Ms. Wilson. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

I nod. "Sure."

"Do you know what caused you to faint?"

I think for a moment. I don't know. The last thing I remember is seeing him...could that be the reason? "The last thing I remember was that I saw someone covered in blood and somebody was yelling my name."

"Can you describe what was happening?"

"Ok, I was in the fruit section of the store looking for grapes, then I heard someone calling my name. I look around and my vision blurs and I get a huge headache. Then the store wasn't there anymore, all I saw was someone getting beaten up and me being held back. That's what I remember."

The doctor stares at me with intent. "Has something like this happened to you before?""

I nod. "Yeah. But it's been occurring more recently, but I've never fainted before. I would have these random flashbacks from years ago. But I don't remember them."

He nods and writes something down on his clipboard. "Do you remember the last few years of your life? What about high school?"

I think for a moment. I don't remember anything from a few years back. I don't know why though. "I remember some stuff from the last few years of my life. High school is kind of a blur. Whenever I try to remember something, it goes away. In college I had to remember stuff or else I wasn't going to pass."

"I can relate to that." The doctor replies. "But I'm going to have to recommend you to a therapist."

I'm confused. "Why? I'm not sad or anything."

"Based on what you've told me, you might have Dissociative Amnesia. "

"What's that?" Kylie asks the doctor.

"You don't remember specific details about your trauma, yet you have flashbacks and nightmares about them. I need more information to prove that theory, but in the meantime, I'm going to give you a list of therapists. I'll follow up with you in a few days."

"Can I go home though?"

He nods. "Yes. I'll have the discharge papers ready for you." He leaves the room.

Right now, I don't know what to feel. I don't even know how to feel at this point. I mean, I should feel some sense of relief since I know the answer to my symptoms. But, I don't. I have trauma that I don't even know about. That's terrifying. How do I even react to this?

"Ma'Kayla, are you ok?"

I turn to look at her. "No, not really. I just wanna go home."

I open my apartment door and set my stuff down. St. Roch comes running up to me, but I ignore him and head straight to my room. I open the door and flop on my bed.

My brain needs to take a break from life. Today has been a series of unfortunate events. I faint in the middle of a grocery store, I find out I might have dissociative amnesia, and I have trauma that I don't even know about, which is absolutely insane. Why did this happen?

St Roch walks into my room and jumps in my bed. I'm pretty sure he can tell something's wrong, because he's laying beside me with his head on my chest. I pet his head.

"Abba, I'm scared. What do I do? Normally, I would know what's going on, but right now, I haven't the faintest idea. Help me, please. Show me Your ways, teach me what to do."