Chapter 1

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I stared at my reflection a few moments longer in the mirror. I lingered for a while on the spot that had conveniently shown up this morning; I had covered it with some foundation so it blended better into my brown skin. My eyes stared back at me, dark and looming. I noticed how one was slightly swollen, making it appear bigger than the other. I kept biting nervously at my lips; I knew I was smudging my clear lip gloss, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. My anxiety was going through the roof and I hadn't even stepped outside yet.

"Muna, are you there?" I heard the voice of my best friend Amanda from my phone.

"Um, yeah. I'm here," I replied, clearing my throat and diverting my eyes to my FaceTime call with Amanda. She was still in bed and honestly that's where I wished I was right now, rather than about to head out to a new job in a completely new state.

The idea of being in an unknown territory, not knowing at all what to expect honestly freaked me out. It was clear that Amanda had picked up on that.

"Muna, you will be fine. Now please, for the love of God, stop stressing," Amanda said rolling her eyes at me, "I've got to go back to sleep. It's still pretty early and my roommate is kind of a light sleeper."

At this, Amanda glanced over to the other side of her room. She seemed to say something to someone, but it was muffled.

"I miss you. You've got this and I love you".

She hung up.

Once again I was left staring at my reflection in the mirror of my new apartment. I was wearing a white blouse and a navy-blue skirt-suit. I was vaguely aware of the ache in my feet from the high-heels I was wearing, and my braids were tied up in a ponytail. I felt so uncomfortable having to dress this official, but I guess it came with the job status. This was going to be my life now, so the sooner I got used to it-the better.

Okay Muna, you've got this. Just breathe. You can do this.

I sighed deeply, picking up my bag that was slung lazily over the chair, and began heading out of my apartment. I had barely unpacked most of my belongings and they just lay scattered around in brown boxes; I walked around them like I was in a maze before making it to my front door.

I stepped outside and was immediately flooded with noise and people bustling about. Only being here for a few days, I had already found that living in California was so different to back in Philly, I honestly didn't know if I could ever get used to this, but I had to. I had worked at Starlight Industries for the past two years and had recently been promoted, which entailed me having to leave my life as I knew it behind in Philadelphia and coming here. But I really, really needed the money. So what other choice did I have but to accept the job offer?

"Hey, watch it!"

Too late. I stumbled forward, lost in my thoughts, and collided with a young man holding a cup of what I presumed to be coffee. It sure looked like it all over my white blouse.

I gasped and looked down at my shirt. My first day at work was already morphing into a disaster. I tried to blink back the sting in my eyes from both the burn of the coffee against my chest and the overall embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry, sweetie," the man said hastily. He was barely even looking at me and he was off again. Moving on with his life, going his way. I mean, what did I expect him to do? I stood there for a minute longer, clutching my black bag tightly in my knuckles. I could feel myself slowly crumbling down and my breathing becoming shallow.

Just breathe Muna. Deep breaths.



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