Mirage

CHAPTER NINE

"Emily, I am sorry for being mean to you. I lost my cool, you were just trying to help. Pick up the phone please, I need to hear your voice. Forgive me?"

She clicked on a button to send the voice note. It was not their first fight, but it was the first time Emily shut her out like this. Gemini began to fidget, she needed a distraction to calm her ragged thoughts. A run around the block. She walked to her room for her running shoes. The clock on the wall read 19:15. She tried to clear her head and focus on the feel of her feet pounding at the pavement. Her thighs began to burn, like an itch. Fat. She could see her apartment a few meters away. Gemini pressed harder till she reached the concrete steps that lead to her home.

She staggered up to her door and unlocked it to see, Emily. Her apologizes froze at the tip of her tongue.
Emily was seated on a sofa waiting. It was a moment of pensive silence till she stood up to walk towards Gemini, where she stood with the door still open. Her tongue seemed to unfreeze.

"Wait Em, there's so much I have to say to you. I remember the time you told me, people don't value what they have till they lose it. You were right, Em. You are my best friend, you've always been my best in the midst of friends. In fact you are my B.O.A.T. My Bestie Of All Time. We promised to stand by each other and weather our storms together. You were doing just that, but I was ungrateful. You deserve all your achievements cause you fought hard for it. I am proud of you, Emily, and I'm sorry. Please..."

"It's okay, I forgave you long ago." Emily interposed. "It's all in the past now. Hearing you say those things, mean so much to me. Sorry I missed your calls, I got your voice message though. I didn't even realize my phone was ringing. I had a hectic day at work, so my phone was on silent. I came here as soon as I finished. I missed you though."

Gemini shut the door before wrapping her friend in a warm hug. Mostly caused by the summer heat.
She felt like she was forgetting something important. The gold card!

" You won't believe what happened today, Em. I got demoted. Don't worry... I have better news."
She retrieved the card from her bag.
"Guess who I got this from..."

Emily squinted to read the fine print.
"Twigy Lenardo, CEO of VENUS Inc."

She gaped at her friend.
"How did this happen? Wait, I need a cold flute of champagne to absorb my shock, or a whole bottle."

" I need a drink too, Em, but please don't exhaust my champagne stash. Anyways, I bumped into her outside my work place, after I got demoted for you know what..."

The pop of a bottle interrupted her narration.
"Listen close, Emily. Yes... She had been on the look out for me since the competition. She was one of the contestants. Shocking I know. Bottom line is... Ms Lenardo offered me a job as a fashion designer!"

"Didn't you say you are done with designing?"

Gemini grinned. "It's all in the past now, Em. I plan to contact her tomorrow morning."

Emily handed her a flute. "I have a suggestion, Gem. Why don't you pay VENUS a little visit tomorrow instead? To be sure this won't be another shell game. Perhaps a small talk with the CEO in her own turf; I mean, if she wants you on her team so bad, that shouldn't cause a hassle right?"

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Gemini stood straight in her favorite pair of black heels as the elevator opened to the CEO's floor. An immaculately dressed woman stood waiting for her in the lobby. It was obvious the CEO was aware of each move she made since she stepped through the doors of VENUS.

"Good morning, Ms Kanobe. I am the secretary to Ms Twigy Lenardo. She is expecting you. Come this way please."

Gemini followed her to a door at the end of the hall opposite what looked like the secretary's office. The lady in the big chair looked different, mature. So unlike the bubby looking teenager, Gemini met a week ago. She was brief and straight to the point, a living sharp shooter. Gemini was almost intimidated.

"Good to see you, Ms Kanobe. I had a feeling you'd drop by unannounced for a visit. I don't blame you. Anyways, I have a proposal ready for you. There is sum of 70 thousand dollars ready to be transferred to your bank account as a starting payment, should you agree to work for VENUS..."

Gemini sat up straight.
"70 what? Yes... I'd love to work with your company. When do I start? I work at Steil Bank at the moment but I can balance the two, I promise. Designing comes to me naturally so dividing my time wouldn't be a problem. I work 8 hours at the bank and I have 24 hours in a day so, it's easy peasy."

There was a ding sound on Gemini's phone. Her eyes bulged as she checked the message. A credit alert from VENUS Inc to her bank account. She looked up at Ms Lenardo in shock.

"How? I just agreed."

Twigy smiled. A smile that said, I'm the super colossal boss lady.

"My financial team was on standby, watching through the cameras in my office. Your bank details were provided with your information file. They sent the money to your account immediately they heard you say the word, yes."

She reached across the desk to envelop Gemini's limp hand in a handshake.

"Welcome to VENUS, Ms Kanobe."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you for reading. One more chapter and Gemini's story is through. I really hope you enjoyed it.

Fun Fact:

"Super colossal boss..." Is an adaptation from the cartoon BOSS BABY (2018)
(Lots of ❤️)