Eyes Of Muniz

Chapter 11

Michael had arrived early in his office. He concentrated for an hour in the board meeting and the other hour he had been destructed. He kept thinking about how things had turned out between Marisa and him. He hated the fact that she had been innocent and he had ripped that off. He could survive that but she wasn't going to survive it. She was going to regret it for the rest of her life because he was not the man any woman wanted. Michael knew he had to do something about that. He stood up and left the office. He was going home to fix this.

Michael hadn't knocked Marisa's bedroom door when it opened and she came out. He noticed her eyes were swollen and he knew why. He knew what he was going to do had to be done.
"We need to talk, Muniz" Michael said. Marisa's heart dropped. She knew he was going to tell her to forget last night ever happened. He would tell her it was a mistake and it would never happen again.
Michael waited for her to say something. She didn't. He saw that she wasn't going to say anything.
"I need to let you go" he said surveying her reaction as he broke the news to her. She kept sane. Marisa had gone over all of this in her head. She had seen this coming, cried about it and accepted it was her fault.
"Okay", that was all she could say. He was firing her. She didn't know how to react. If she cried he'd think she wanted to be close to him.
" I'll have someone deposit your salary and an additional amount for the abrupt dismissal" Michael told her. He wondered why she did not ask the reason for her abrupt and unfair dismissal.
"Okay" Marisa knew if she said more she'd break down in front of him. He was heartless she wanted to punch his chest in a fit of rage but she kept calm.
"I want you gone by tomorrow" he said. Michael walked away. He knew he had been unfair but he believed it had to be done. If she'd stay around she'd possibly fall in love with him and he didn't want that. He had fixed it.

*. *. *.

Marisa did not wait for the next day. She had moved out by the and of the day and checked into a tawdry hotel. Marisa checked the amount Michael had deposited into her account and realized she could get by for almost five months even if she wasn't employed. She knew he had done it out of guilt. Marisa did not care. She went to the bathroom and stared at her reflection on the mirror, she looked terrible. She dashed out of the bathroom and threw herself on the bed. Marisa cried for a long time and then it hit her. She dragged herself to the phone and called room service.
" Hello... paella, tortillas and tacos...oh and vodka..bring the ice too. Room 209".
She slammed down the phone and went back to the bed.
The room service lady came after ten minutes. Marisa stared at the food and avoided the bottle. She wolfed down the food. She took the bottle and poured the vodka into a glass. Marisa had never drunk vodka before. She had had a couple of beers at high school parties but never vodka. She took the glass and brought it up to her lips.
" Oh God what am I doing?" She said to herself. She went to the bathroom and poured the drink into the toilet and flushed it. Marisa didn't want to turn into a depressed mess that soon. It would not help her. She made up her mind that tomorrow she was going to go job hunting and by the end of the week she would have found an apartment. Marisa went to bed, thinking.

Marisa had lost hope when she walked into a small restaurant. It was beautiful inside. She was sent to the manager's office. The lady was busy working on her papers. Marisa produced her resumé and qualifications. The lady scanned them and put them back on the table.
" I'm afraid we have no vacancies here" lady said. She appeared to be in her forties. She was petite and beautiful. Marisa read her name tag, Daisy.
" Mam, I..."
" Daisy", the lady corrected.
"Well, Daisy...I need this please" Marisa begged.
"Yes but there are no..." a red head teenager stormed in. She threw her apron on Daisy's table.
"I can't take it anymore. I'm getting overworked here and if I keep on working like a bull I'll never be signed as a model. I quit!" She went out. Marisa did not know what had exactly happened but she felt that whatever it was, it was a good thing. Marisa turned to look at Daisy with a 'well?' look. Daisy sighed.
  " She was a waitress, that is the only vacancy there is"she said.
" I'll take it" Marisa said. She just wanted a job. She just wanted to keep busy.
   " We're open 7 days a week and an average employee works five days a week because there are shifts. We're open from 9 am to 9 pm, workers can break, go to lunch and then home. Is that good to you?" Daisy asked Marisa. She nodded.
  " Yes, it's good".
" Twelve hundred monthly salary" Daisy added.
  "Still fine" Marisa beamed.
" You're hired" Daisy told her. She took one final look at Marisa's papers.
  " When do I start?"
" Tomorrow" Daisy replied still studying the papers. She filed them back and handed them to Marisa.
   " Thank you" Marisa said and turned to leave.
"It's busier here compared to the Howard mansion!" Daisy called out. Marisa's heartbeat increased when she heard the name 'Howard'. She knew Daisy had read her employee record. She raised her thumb without turning back.

Marisa had spent her first day at work keeping busy and covering for other waitresses who had took forever to finish their lunch.  She was so happy to go home. She took of her apron and went to check out.
The taxis were hardly available. She waited for almost twenty minutes. An Aston Martin pulled over. Marisa knew the car, Michael had the exact same car.
  She thought of running back to the restaurant but then she remembered it was closed. She gathered her confidence, she didn't not want Michael to see her at her weakest.
The car door opened and Marisa kept her cool. She avoided looking up, she doubted she was ready for this.
  " Marisa......"

Sorry for the late update 🌹
Enjoy, vote and stay tuned for 12..