On Friday morning, we reported early to my brother's office to get everything underway. I had been forced to carry Sunbshine along after coming to terms with the fact that if left alone, my house would turn into a pigsty on account of my being utterly useless in house chores or anything remotely domestic. I admitted defeat on the first step, which was booking hotels. Turns out a lot more attention to detail was needed outside of just selecting an expensive hotel. With Sunshine there to focus on creating a wholesome, welcoming experience so the visitors would feel at ease, Mercy had enough time to collect the remaining folders from Joseph's laptop, which he had expressed no reservations about us getting. The man was grossly underestimating us, and he would, in the following months, come to regret ever meeting my family.
With both women occupied, I kept myself busy in my brother's office under Joseph's orders, following a request I had made. He saw it as sibling love, but I was using the opportunity to start my revenge plan for my brother. Step number one has him so paranoid that he gives you an opening. Brian was currently seated at his desk, scribbling angrily on a piece of paper. He occasionally looked up to glare at me, but quickly ducked his head as soon as our eyes met. My blood slowly filled with anger until all I saw was red within thirty minutes of sitting in the same room as him. Neither of us had offered any salutations, and neither one of us was ever going to. If he survived the ordeal that I was going to put him through, then existing in the same room was going to be an impossible task.
I took comfort in what I had planned for him, using the gruesome images to help my overflowing anger calm down. I was angry at him for many things, but what vexed me the most was what a weak man he was. The only reason he and his friends had the opportunity to assault me was because I was a young girl then, weak and defenceless. Now that I had leveled up and was no longer a scared little girl, none of them stood a chance against me. That realization opened another door to my world of hurt. They only abused me because they knew I lacked power in any capacity back then. They were not ready for the monster their evil nature had produced.
Although I wanted to use the pen I was holding to stab him in the eyes held back, opting to drum the table with it. Brial tolerated the noise for about ten minutes before standing up, anger cloaking his entire body. He took at most four wide strides, bringing him to my desk. As soon as his hands lifted from his side, I tried to use my desk to knock him down. The weight of the table slowed me down considerably, giving Brian enough time to swerve out of the way, missing the table entirely. While he took a moment to gloat, I crouched down and swung my leg across his, the motion causing my body to turn. Brian fell as his legs gave out under him. I was up and out of the office before he could get back on his feet. I had had enough for the day, and I did not want to rattle him too much; he needed his health so that I could personally destroy it.
I went looking for sunshine and found her in the conference room. She was surrounded by women who did not work there. She was scribbling on a pad, and one of the women scribbled back. This went on for the next ten minutes, forcing me to look for Mercy. I made my way to Joseph's office, which was wide open, likely a strategic move by Mercy to make it seem like she was not doing anything out of the ordinary. She typed away at the keyboard, pausing when I made my way in. As soon as she saw it was me, she went back to what she was doing.
"Any luck?" I asked, sitting down on the chair opposite where she sat.
She gave a hum in response without as much as lifting her head. With both Sunshine and Mercy occupied, I settled for roaming around the office. The office halls were empty save for the occasional lawyer coming out of their office for a drink of water. I hated being idle, so I settled down in one of the conference rooms with my laptop to continue writing my novel. I chose a well-hidden spot behind a banner, the table probably delegated to whoever was in charge of writing minutes. Thirty minutes into my writing, a bang followed by hurried shuffles halted my progress as people who were hidden from view by the banner made their way into the conference room
"I cannot believe Joseph's audacity. I get that this is his company and he can do whatever he wants, but how can he enlist the help of a murderer we had to help set free? I mean, Brian already got a job through his connection, and we have had to suffer in silence as he gets all the promotions for doing nothing. If we get another nbepo baby, then what are the rest of us supposed to do?" A voice ranted.
"They run in the same circle, and their parents are friends. People like us, who don't have connections, will work harder than anyone but only make half the progress." A second voice chimed in
"Did Matthew even study law, or are we to teach him while he is still our boss? It is company policy that any new hire, regardless of previous experience, has to start at the bottom and work their way up. The money is great, even for a low-level position, but money was also good at my other job, where I was poached. I only joined this company to further my career. I can't believe that after all these years of hard work, I will have to answer to people who don't have half the qualifications that I do. I mean, their parents are already filthy rich, and they have generational wealth. why would they come here and mess with hard-working people who are trying to make a living?"
"There you are," Brian's unmistakable grating voice joined. "I was looking everywhere for you guys. I need help with this case file. Have the summarised copy at my desk in the next hour," his sentence was punctuated by a thud.
I peeked from behind the banner, eager to see if the thud was from his body falling to the ground, but was sorely disappointed by the huge stack of papers, which were now scattered all over the floor.
"What the hell, man, can't you even hold a stack of papers without dropping them to the ground?" Brian admonished a man who was on his knees gathering the papers. I felt my blood boil as Brian pushed one of the men who was still standing next to him, causing him to topple to the ground, scattering the papers even more. This was Brian in his element, a bully and a coward who disrespected anyone he thought was weaker than him. The men held their tongues even though they could have easily pummeled him to the ground. Although weaker in stature, he had more power than they did if their previous conversation was anything to go by. I originally intended to remain hidden, but my anger blindsided me again because the next thing I knew, the banner was on its way to the floor, and the other occupants of the room were staring at me, shocked by the unexpected intrusion.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the big man himself."
I watched the faces of the other three men fall as they realized I had been listening to their conversation. The one on the floor trembled in fear, the papers in his hand rustling along. The other man, who had fallen quickly, got up, his eyes never leaving my face, a naked plea on his. I made my way to them and snatched the papers from the trembling man's hand before shoving them at my brother, who did not have time to catch them before they floated to the floor, creating an even bigger mess.
"What are you doing here, Melissa? you didn't work here, so you can't just be all over the place."
"Hmm, I don't know about that. I am pretty sure Joseph said I could go wherever I wanted, provided I wasn't intruding in anyone else's office. He also said I can get help from anyone, and these three men were running an errand for me."
"You can get the other casual workers to do your errands. They are lawyers, not your maid."
"It's funny you actually know their roles, the way you were going off, I thought maybe they were your kids. Wait.. paused for a more dramatic effect, its not like your gay ass will ever know what the joys of parenthood."
"I am not gay and you know it!" he stomped his foot on the ground
"Oh, there, there, baby, don't make a fuss," I cooed in a childlike voice, "your mommy isn't here to help." I finished in my normal voice. The presence of the other men must have emboldened him because he took several steps in my direction. I counted to five, announcing each step he took until he got to me. He was six feet tall, while I stood a measly 5 feet 9 inches with high heels on. I was by no means small and dainty, but his above-average height had him towering over me. It silently counted to ten, giving the extra ten seconds to think about what he was doing. He remained rooted in front of me, throwing away my kind gesture.
I turned my body to the right, and just as I expected, he reacted, moving his left side. I turned mid-motion and plowed my shoulder into his ribs as hard as I could, sending both of us crashing into the ground. His body cushioned my fall, and my added weight left him groaning in pain from his side and his back. Ever since I came back into their lives, I had seen Brian more times on the floor than I had in my entire life. His continuous display of weakness added to my irritation to no end. How could this useless excuse of a space alter my life like that when he wasn't strong enough to fight me or smart enough to fool me?
"Dearest brother, pick a struggle, you are either strong enough to beat everyone into submission or smart enough to outwit everyone in the room. You are neither strong nor smart despite every genetic and financial advantage. You have never really applied yourself to anything, and yet you expect the world to grovel at your feet because mommy and daddy have money. Pathetic." I concluded before storming out of the room after yelling at my laptop at the three flabbergasted men who had moved to the side. One man went for my laptop while the others followed closely.