The Golden Brooch

I

The subtle rays of the sun had just begun to slowly creep their way in, yet Keiara's eyes remained firmly shut. There were still a few more minutes left for her alarm to raise hell. But it was not to happen today. Her roommate, burst into the room with tears in her bloodshot eyes, calling out for her friend.

"Umm Kei... I think you should see this. Kei!!Kei!! Wake up!!" called out Tanisha. "I'm so sorry.

Really, really sorry, Kei.I didn't mean to...but I lost control just for a sec and... Kei please wake up and tell me that it's okay."

"Where the hell is your snooze button Tan?" moaned Keiara in her sleep.

"Keiara get up! It's your... it's your car! It kind of bumped into a... Just get up please" continued Tanisha now sobbing.

Keiara did not move for a minute. It took her drowsy brain a little while to register what her roommate had just said. The next minute, she shot up from her bed and ran to the garage to find her midnight blue Volkswagen Polo Vivo dented on the bumper and the left head lamp smashed. She stood there staring at it like a corpse. With a heavy sigh, she walked inside the house to find Tanisha sprawled on the sofa, looking miserable with her mascara spread all over her face. She had started weeping uncontrollably now. Great, lashing out on her now would make Keiara a monster.

"God, Why bless me with so much drama so early in the morning? Couldn't you have waited until I had woken up properly?" Keiara thought to herself. She had to get out of the house, away from her roommate who had suddenly transformed into the victim; away from this horrid reality. Ironic, how reality is an element that works so well in fiction, yet in real life we all desperately want to escape it.

Her day had just started and it did not look any more promising than yesterday. So getting dressed at an inhuman speed, Keiara turned for one last look into the mirror fifteen minutes later. She examined the cadaver that reflected in the mirror. Where had the glow on her face, shine of her hair and twinkle in her eyes disappeared? The reality of how much she had changed didn't fail to startle her to this day. All her dreams and hopes had been stripped off from her in an instant. Time is supposed to heal all the pain, but even after months now, she was hurting as much, as if it had all just happened yesterday.

Feeling trapped and helpless, she blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. Dejected, she just grabbed her bag and set out to work.

She drove to work in her damaged car. She wondered what worse could happen to her. It was autumn already here and the normally picturesque town of Hylton looked even more beautiful. The roads were bordered with different coloured maple leaves and bare tree branches everywhere around gave the city a very immaculate look. But to Keiara, the world seemed to be mocking her. The beautiful weather showed her, how the rest of the world had moved on without her. Time had not stopped ticking away.

She was the first one to reach office. Switching on her laptop, she stared at the screen blankly. E-mails had piled up over night and so had the reports that she had to submit.

"Will I be lucky enough to get your reports before Christmas Keiara?"sighed her boss, the previous night . She had told him she was working on it and it would be done by the next day.

"This is your last chance Ms.Williams." he had continued coldly and walked away. She could not afford to miss the deadline for a second time that month. So she had slaved away all night on the report.

After ensuring that the report was finished and sent to her boss, She sank in her chair trying to figure a way out of this situation. She thought about how quickly circumstances had changed. There was this time when this job was more valuable to her, than her life. She looked at the 'Best Employee of the Year' award sitting on her desk. The award night seemed so fresh in her memory. Sharing the table with the love of her life Stefan, she had never been as happy as she was on that day. Everything one could possibly wish for had been hers for a while - a great job, fabulous friends and a gorgeous boyfriend. Funny, how things get snatched from you in less than a blink of an eye. One minute you were on top of the world and in the next, you stand listening to your boyfriend list out reasons why he's ditching you. All in the name of what's good for you.

In a desperate attempt to distract herself, she logged into Facebook, only to find Stefan's pictures all over it. He seemed to have become all the more attractive now. His smile seemed wider and ever so genuine. His gorgeous blue eyes twinkled on her screen, as though they had life of their own. Standing beside him was a girl who looked pretty tiny compared to him. His personality overshadowed her so much that it took some time for Keiara to even realize that she was a part of that picture. They stood next to each other hand in hand; fingers intervened looking dazzled by each other. The picture ripped Keiara's heart apart.

'Why the hell is his face glowing like he is pregnant or something' thought Keiara herself trying to find comedy in tragedy.

The figures on the report, the photos and her own empty stomach, gave Keiara a headache and she went out to get a cup of coffee for herself.

"Hey Kei! heard what happened with the boss." Came an annoyingly familiar voice from behind. "But do not worry love; you know you can always come to me for support. You know how I'd be there for you" A beaming Dylan came seemingly out of thin air and stood in front of her.

"Buzz off Dylan" she said haughtily.

"Now, now! That's not a nice way to speak to your senior." He chuckled at his own joke, but he left her alone nevertheless. Thank god for small mercies. She was weary of Dylan flirting with her all the time. At first it had seemed like a novelty; especially in the early days of her break up. But now --.

Feeling exhausted and in desperate need to be cheered up, she decided to call up her best friend. Chanel and Keiara had been friends since preschool. She was the only one who seemed to understand her. She was the family Keiara never had. But lately even Chanel seemed a little under the weather.

She was directly connected to Chanel's voicemail. "Nel Babe, I really need to talk to you. I feel like I'm going to choke if I don't. Call me ASAP".