The white Audi A7 tires gnawed on the gravel with a low groan as it came to a slow stop outside LION PUBLISHING HOUSE. The bold black letters were engraved strongly on a boulder above the small building. The fierce jaws of the carnivore beside it sank viciously into the last letter. The ocean blue and white exterior always filled me with calmness. It was a small warm place surrounded by love.
"Ma'am." My door was pulled open, and Carl offered me his hand as usual. I stepped out, and the cool morning breeze swatted my face like small needles. I threw my head back and inhaled the cold air deeply until my lungs expanded painfully before breathing out. Carl pushed the front door open for me. Today was gonna be a busy day, and the millions of emails on my office laptop said it all. Carl left for the security room as usual to watch the CCTV footage. My secretary Jessica sent me my day's schedule and meetings, and brought me my coffee. Her thin shoulders squeezed through my wooden office door before she pushed it open and walked through.
"Happy birthday, boss." Jess chirped in a feminine voice and sat in the chair across my desk. Jess was a nun in her late twenties, and she was as chaotic as a swell swindler. She always made jaws drop whenever she passed. She was one of the 'daughters of charity.' She had started working for me right when I started two years ago, and she was my biggest blessing and curse. Her salary went to charity and to help the needy. She, however, was nothing like her heart. Her heart was pure, but her actions always had my pants in a twist. At least she remembered.
"Thank you, Jessica." I placed my elbows on my desk and rested my head on my hands. "Where is my gift?"
"Ooh, girl, please." She threw her arms in the air and rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'd forget to get my best girl a gift? I'm a diva," she pushed an imaginary strand of hair out of her face, as her hair was tightly hidden in her veil.
"I'm sorry, Jess, you know I know you are the best, now where is my gift?" I whined.
"It's a surprise, you better be patient," she blinked rapidly, and my curiosity escalated. Jess always blinked rapidly when she had something naughty up her sleeves, or should I say up her traditional nun habit cloth.
"You better not spray me with paint this time, Jess," I panicked. On my twentieth birthday, Jess and her nun friends had sprayed my whole body with paint. It didn't help that I was wearing a white dress. It took me a whole week to wash the mixed colours out of my hair. I didn't wish to go through that again. They also made me walk down two blocks and sang me happy birthday songs. And of course, Jessica invited a singing band to aid me in my walk of shame while strangers and bystanders cheered and took photos for their Instagram accounts. They could have walked me another block if I hadn't literally run away from them. I'd say 'the daughters of charity' had too much freedom.
"Ooh, please, a diva never does a trick twice. Today's gonna be better, honey." I literally didn't like the sound of that, and a chill went down my spine. Ooh God please, was she gonna spray me with worms this time or invite clowns? Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I shrieked.
"Later, girl." Jessica literally cackled as she slithered away and shut the door behind her. Son of a bitch. I was gonna fire her ass, I fumed, even though I knew deep down I'd never fire wicked but sweet ass. My phone vibrated again, and Mommy flashed on the screen. I swiped it and put it to my ear.
"Hello, honey, happy birthday, princess." My mom's voice chirped from the other end, and I instantly felt calm.
"Hi mom, happy birthday to me," I whispered. It'd been a long time since I heard her voice. I missed her so much. She was on a sabbatical, travelling the world with her friend Lisa.
"Are you okay, honey? Is everything okay, honey? Is it your father… that good-looking bastard? Am I gonna talk to him? Is he asking you to go back to the manor? Again? Is someone bothering you…"
"Mom, I'm fine, I just missed you." I cut her off. She was so hysterical, and she worried too much about me. She was always so softhearted.
"Ooh, okay, darling, a little birdy told me you are publishing your book today. I'm so proud of you, honey."
"Thank you, Mom. I'm ecstatic." I twirled around in my seat.
"Ooh, my baby, you've grown so fast." She cried. She sniffled, and I rolled my eyes. My mother is an emotional wreck. She always cried whenever I got hurt or came in first place in class, which was always. I wasn't a nerd, though. Just brilliant like my parents. We talked for another hour, and she said she was gonna fly back the following weekend to visit us. I laughed a lot, and all the tension about my following meetings melted.
After two meetings with the clients, it was finally lunch time, and I was not even hungry. Or was I scared Jess would dump a snail in my food? I pulled out one of the many manuscripts from my drawer and started reading it. It bored me just with the first page, and I had the urge to dispose of it, but I decided to read further. Amazingly, it started getting better in the second chapter, and I understood why my editors forwarded it to me. It was a really good book. The humor in the third chapter made me laugh hard. I choked on my breath. Especially when the valet of the mean boss cut off his brakes intentionally so he could lose control and drive off a cliff, then the mean boss driver fell ill, and he asked the valet to drive him to work, it was getting juicy. Before I knew it, I was lost in the book until a knock on my door brought me to the present. Of course, it was Jess.
I thought nuns were only scary in horror movies, but that was before I had one as an employee.
I planted my feet so as not to move, and she basically dragged me to the lobby. But as soon as I stepped into the lobby, my jaw dropped. All my employees were gathered in a semicircle. Each with a copy of my published book. My knees went weak, and they almost buckled as tears pierced my eyes. I almost lost my balance if Jess's hand was not keeping me steady. In the middle was a cake made in the shape of my book, and with my face on top, and the letters DEADLY PROTECTOR slithered around the cake. Everyone sang in unison at the same time. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOSS, AND CONGRATULATIONS." I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life, and I burst into tears, and my legs gave out as I fell to my knees. I didn't know whether they were tears of joy or happiness, but I just wanted to hug every one of them. And that is what I did. I hugged Jess the tightest. I knew she arranged all this for me. I didn't want to let go of her until she forcefully pried me off of her for the cake cutting.
"Come on, girl, I'm hungry, and you better cut the cake before I spray you with paint." She threatened jokingly. I pulled back and glared at her. She wiped a fake tear and pushed away to cut the cake. I popped the champagne, and we danced afterwards. Even Denise, the weirdo, danced, and everyone joined in. She was my best editor; she might have been weird and shy, but she was good at her job. My company only has female employees, excluding Xavier and Carl, who have stayed with me since I was fifteen. They were more than just employees to me. Before I knew it was 6 pm and I had promised to take Carl and Xavier out. I said bye to everyone and called them to take me home to get changed. I called Tanya on my way home and informed her about the party. She basically screeched. I had to cover my ears so as not to lose my innocent eardrum.
"I'll meet you at yours in twenty. I'm so sorry I didn't remember it was your birthday. I was out last night and got drunk out of my head. See you soon, let me lock this place down…, 'everyone! get ya ass out, I'm closed," I heard her yelling in the background before the line went dead.
"Yeah, bye, Tanya," I said more to myself and placed the phone on my lap.
"It's gonna be a great night." Carl flashed me his white teeth. I rolled my eyes and shoved his face forward. He was driving and looking back at me. Xavier smirked at Carl's pouty face when I shoved his face, and he shook his head.
"Focus on driving, princess, you don't want us all dead because of your unhealthy crush." Xavier criticized. His deep chuckle filled the car.
"Haters," Carl snickered with a fake frown and stepped on the brakes hard, making us fly over our seats.
"Fuck man!" Xavier cursed as his hand flew out to hold me from flying into the front seat. Carl laughed like a maniac, and we both glared at him with rage.
"So mature of you, Carl." Xavier scoffed and glared at the road angrily. He and Carl always got on each other's nerves, and it was always fun to watch Xavier get angry.
And Carl scoffed like a baby.
The rest of the drive went fine as I chatted away on my phone.