Emma could not believe her eyes. Sitting in the front, at a corner table, were April, Joel and Nathan. She could not read Nathan's expression, but Joel looked sympathetic and April looked curious. She averted her gaze and served her remaining customers.
As she cleared her last table Alexei got up from his chair and followed her to the kitchen. He waited for her outside the kitchen door.
When she came out he motioned for her to stop.
"Yes, Mr. Popov?"
"I want to see you before you leave, come to my office."
"Yes, Mr. Popov."
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Half an hour later, Emma knocked on "the door of death". The staff nicknamed it like that because, once staff were summoned in there, they never returned.
"Come in, Emmerentia," Alexei commanded.
Emma took a deep breath before entering. She was tired of the horrible day she had, but even if she did have some energy left, she could not win against this man. She was not even a permanent employee, so she did not have a foot to stand on.
Alexei was sitting on the other side of a wide mahogany desk. He motioned for her to take the seat in front of him. Emma sat down and waited for him to speak.
Five minutes passed in silence, whilst Alexei's fingers glided across the keyboard of his laptop. Emma was a puddle of sweat and a bundle of nerves.
"What is the name that the staff call that door?" Alexei asked.
"The door...door of...of death, Mr. Popov," Emma stammered.
"Why do they call it that Emmerentia?"
"No-one who's been summoned in here, re...returns to...to their job, Mr. Popov."
"Good, atleast you know what to expect."
"I...I'll clear my locker and return my uniform tomorrow, Mr. Popov," Emma said, getting up, "Thank you, f...for gh..giving me this job, Mr. Popov."
"You're going to leave just like that?" Alexei's right brow was cocked.
Alexei motioned for her to sit down, she obeyed.
"Don't you want to know why you're being fired?"
Emma remained silent, looking at her fingers in her lap.
"I asked you a question!"
Emma hopped in her chair, but remained quiet.
"If you're not interested in knowing then I'm not interested in telling you. Go! The staff transport is waiting for you."
"I'm ss...sorry for disappointing you, Mr. Popov," Emma said, before closing the door behind her, but Alexei already had his back turned to her.
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The ride in the minivan taxi was unusually quiet. Emma's co-workers did not know how to broach the subject about "the door of death". Some were curious and other's pittied her.
It was just after 01:00 when the taxi stopped in front of her residence, she was the last stop. Emma greeted the driver and got out of the empty taxi.
Emma took a quick shower. Her tears and silent cries mingled with the water.
She set her alarm and put her earplugs in, where she lived that was a dangerous thing to do. However, she did not care if a killer snuck up to her and took her life. Her life felt like a waste at that point.
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"I felt so sorry for that girl last night," April said, sipping a banana smoothie.
Nathan sat down next to her and Joel at a table of the hotel they were staying at. They were sitting in the dining hall with a full continental breakfast spread out before them.
YOU ARE READING
Illusion of love
General FictionEmma watched as her dreams ebbed away. The only man she ever wanted, the one that she had saved herself for, was getting married to another woman. She watched, but everything seemed dreamlike, like an out of body experience. For her it was a living...
