A Feud With Mr CEO

Chapter four

Monday came around too soon. The stares that I received at the office were the worst.

They stared at me like I was in a bar fight or doing boxing.

When I passed my PA's table, her eyes widened like saucers. She hastily stood up and rounded the table to get to me.

I flashed her a smile and said, "Good morning too, Melissa."

"What happened to your face, Mr Jones?"

She was about to caress my jaw, but I shied away and muttered, "Still sore."

"What happened to you?" she asked again, as if I didn't hear her.

"Nothing to worry about. Any meetings today?" I dismissed her question because I couldn't say that I got punched in the face by an asshole.

She flipped through her files elegantly, then turned to me.

"You have a meeting with Mr Hughs at twelve o'clock," she said, a grin on her face.

I was confused beyond reason because why would the CEO request a meeting with me? I mean, I've worked here for a year and I've never, ever had a meeting with Mr Hughs.

I heard her chuckle, then said, "You do remember that Mr Hughs, has retired, right? This one is his son that was appointed as the new CEO and he wants to meet all the bosses of the department's."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And I put your files on your table,"

"Thanks, Melissa," I said, then entered my office.

If I'd known that I'd get assaulted in the restaurant, I wouldn't have went. Now I will probably look like a badass when I enter the boardroom with my bruised jaw.

Just great!

The only time that I've gotten in a fight was when I was 16 years old and my father had died. I lost my sanity there and I was a mess. The guy in my class took my chair because his had broken down. I didn't listen to reason and just full on attacked him. I had lost my sanity and ability of judgement.

My father had leukemia, but it was treated. We thought that it was gone, only to find out that a small portion of it was left. It was detected too late.

I thought that he was going to survive due to being hospitalised for five months. Before he died, he was somebody that I didn't recognise. I knew that he was still my dad, but the way his body had given up and lying on that bed whilst breathing his last breath, it was traumatising. The worst part was that he died in pain. He was in pain when he died, and there was nothing I could do about it.

That day, I told my mother that I didn't want to die like how my father died. I told her that when I die, I wanted to be in the best condition. I wanted to die being somebody that they recognised.

I told her that if I had a chronic disease like diabetes mellitus and it was getting worse, or if I had a life-threatening illness like cancer and it was reaching its peak, I told her to kill me or I'd do it myself.

I'm a coward, I know. A big one at that. I'm afraid of pain. It could be emotional or physical. The fact is it is still pain and I'm freaking afraid of it.

And I'm afraid of getting old. I hate the idea of being dependant on someone. I hate the idea of being a burden. The idea of being all old and having wrinkles all over my body scared and repulsed me.

Twelve o'clock came too soon because I swear, it was just seven o'clock a few minutes ago.

A knock sounded on my door, then it opened to reveal Melissa.