Chapter 8 - Why did god bring me to this world?

NOTE:

- Back to italics for thoughts of the POV

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

POV: Nero

As soon as I saw Leonardo's side profile I clutched my head in pain, not only due to the hangover but from all the memories coming back in a storm. Oh well yeah, I remembered everything. INCLUDING THE MOMENT I TOLD MY FUCKING BOSS HE'S AN ASSHOLE AND TOLD HIM TO GET OFF HIS FUCKING HIGH HORSE! I froze in the most unclassiest and the most unsubtle way possible, right on the spot. I think Matthew said something about my demise being early but I couldn't process anything at that point in time. Everything in my body was trembling. My hands. My feet. My eyes. And I felt myself paling oh so fast and oh so white. Which cued my internal, mental breakdown in 3...2...1...

AHFEWLKFJNSDFNALJDSLNFL HOLY FUCKING SHIT OH MY GOD I'M GOING TO DIE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? MOTHER OF LORD KILL ME. KILL ME NOW. I NEED TO DIE. WHY DID I GO OUT YESTERDAY? WHY DID I DRINK, WHY DID I MOVE? WHY DIDN'T I KILL MYSELF WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE? I WAS MEANT TO NEVER GET THE ATTENTION ON ME LIKE EVER, ESPECIALLY FROM HIM. HE THOUGHT I WAS FLIRTING WITH HIM. WHY DIDN'T I JUST GO ALONG WITH THAT?

"Mr. Poston?"

MY EXISTENCE IS SHAMEFUL. I BRING SHAME TO MY FAMILY NAME. I AM SORRY FOR MY EXISTENCE GOD. I AM WORTHLESS. WHY DIDN'T I JUST FLIRT WITH HIM?

"Nerovsky???"

I CAN BET MY WORTHLESS LIFE AND MY BEST FRIEND'S USELESS LIFE THAT HE GETS HIT ON WHENEVER HE IS FUCKING FREE. HE'S USED TO THIS SHIT EVEN HIS BREATHING LOOKS HOT. HE'S JUST INHALING AND EXHALING AIR TO SURVIVE. I-"

"NEROVSKY POSTON!"

That broke me out of my reverie and soon, I was met with the eyes of my very concerned, soon-to-be-ex manager/boss. He noticed I've finally tapped into the real world and asked with a lot of concern,

"Are you ok? You just froze and paled snow-white as soon as you saw Mr. Covell. Did his beauty shock you that much? Do you need to go to first aid?"

I gave Matthew a blank look. The blankest of looks. I have lost everything except my pride. I have no reason to live or exist anymore. Actually, I'm going to move to Iceland and retire for life. Sounds like a good plan. Living with Alpacas and mountain goats.

"Oi Nerov-"

I'd cut off Matthew by putting my hands on his shoulder and with determination in my eyes, I told him very strongly,

"Mr. Williams. I'd like to hand in my resignation letter in now. I'm quitting my job now. Thank you for having me till now. It's been a great experience. I hope to use the skills learnt from the company elsewhere."

It was silent. Matthew was looking at me with puzzlement and surprise so I used the chance to straighten up, turn around 180 degrees and walk towards the elevator military/robotic style. Before I could take the second step, however, I felt a hard grip on my left hand, which spun me around and I was met with a semi-amused and semi-annoyed look.

"Now look. I have no idea what just happened in the last two minutes for you to complete flip and lose it but I am not losing my employee unless it's a valid reason and something tells me this is not a valid reason."

I shook my head vigorously and replied, "This is the most validest reason of all valid reasons. I cannot and will not go in there. I will not do that to myself. Going there will mentally fuck me up and cause major depression."

Matthew looked at me with a bored look, not taking my words seriously. "You're lying. It's not a big deal and you're going in there."

He then began to drag me towards the hell gate and I tried my best to squirm out of his grip without hurting him or activating my Oddity. It didn't work. Oh my god, I'm getting closer to the devil. Heh, that's ironic. Anyway, I cannot... I just...

"OK I'LL GO IN!"

The dragger got startled by the sudden outburst and I immediately apologised.

"I'm-I'm- so-so-sorry. Just... hide m-me as much as you can until I get to my seat... please?"

Matthews concerned/annoyed eyes softened up and with a resigned sigh, agreed to my terms.

"Fine. I'll take you to your sit but only under the condition that you tell me what the fuck happened."

"I- fine. I'll spill" Not like I'll be in this job any longer anyway.

With a small nod, Matthew dragged me into room 4 and boy was it bustling and noisy. Newbies were either talking to each other or to the long-time employees. There was even one new female employee talking comfortably with Mr. Covell, something no one else dared to do. I slumped in depression once again when his presence reminded me of last night. I was walking side by side with Mr. Williams on his left side, so he blocked me from the front, where Mr. Covell was talking. He looks distracted enough to notice me without my human barrier anyway but better safe than sorry. For once, this midget height is one hell of a blessing. We finally reached my seat and I sat down so fast, that I could challenge Flash. I immediately put my head down on the paper that was currently placed in front of me and began internally sobbing.

I could feel Matthew's gaze on me, probably out of worry because he asked in a quiet but serious tone,

"Are you sure you're ok? If it really is that serious, you can leave. I'm sorry if I pushed you too far..."

I gave an exhausted sigh and looked up to my soon-to-be-ex manager and said with a somewhat reassuring tone,

"It's fine Mr. Williams. I might have been exaggerating a bit of the seriousness of the issue. I still might get fired after today though. I am just coming in terms with my fate."

Matthew looked a bit confused and I'm sure he was considering calling up the psych ward but gave me a small, entertained smile anyway, patting me on the back twice before going to the front to talk with the other organisers. I resumed sobbing internally head down and all for about 3 minutes and would've gone for longer but some guy cleared his throat and interrupted my sob fest quite rudely. And for what reason? To introduce themselves and everyone else.

"Nice to see everyone settling down in their chairs. As you all should know by now, I am Leonardo Covell and I am the founder and CEO of MegCorp. You may call me sir or Mr. Covell"

Everyone applauded and I lifted my head to applaud shortly before getting the random paper and putting it up to my face (creating a physical barrier between us). I didn't even risk looking over the paper, just in case he could recognise my eyes or something. Not that they're anything special like his. God, I could drown in those eyes. I was just going to assume all the important people were at the front of the room near the projector and the newbies/interns were all near me.

"As you're well aware. We're a relatively big company and we have many successful apps such as WeChat, SNSocial and many others. Because of this, we expect the best behaviour out of all of you as well as..."

Leonardo continued to brag, preach and set rules but I zoned out. More because I exhausted myself out from the mini melodramatic panic attack than because his words being boring. I could usually pay attention if I wanted to, especially with that orgasmic voice of his. But alas, I was too gloomy to care. Gonna be fired anyway. Why should I listen to the rules? Did he explain what this paper is? Well, why should I care anyway?

"... with all that being said and now out of the way, I am quite looking forward to everyone's introductions. I would absolutely love to know the names of all my employees... even if there is a lot of them. Oh and do please say one interesting fact about yourself. Let's start from the left and go around shall we?"

With that being said, I heard the first person (still refusing to peek) stand up.

"Hello everybody. I'm Leah Grove and I will be joining the advertisement department as a new employee. A fun fact about me... me and Leo here grew up together."

God, you can just hear the simpness in her voice. Bet she's showing heart eyes to the damn guy. Wait can girls simp? Is there another term for it when girls do it? I need to know now. Well, I'll have enough time research after I'm unemployed.

We moved on to the next few ones. One of them was working with the app developing team, another in advertising as well and some dude had a huge blister on his toe that he wanted to burst. The latter information got everyone to groan out in disgust. Everyone except me because I've heard worse. When you have Aiden as your best friend, you become desensitised to simple things like intestines coming out of your throats. Eventually, we got to the person next to me and I felt them standing up to repeat the same but different mantra. Oh fuck I'm next. Should I run now? No too much attention. But if I stay here, I have to show my face to him and annoying the asshole in the short period of time taught me that he is gonna be looking so smug and I'm just going to die on the spot because I can't even do anything. It hurts my pride so much oh my god.

My neighbour sat down and then silence. It was my turn but I made no move to put the paper in front of my face down on the table or made no move to stand up. I just... sat there. Maybe if I just sit here silently, I'll disappear and they'll forget about me and then we can just move onto the next person. I then heard throat clearing and then Matthew speaking on the behalf of his boss.

"Um, the person next to Ethan... 7th seat from the left... it's your turn to introduce yourself..."

I'mgoingtokillhimI'mgoingtokillhimI'mgoingtokillhimI'mgoingtokillhim

With a huge sigh of resignation, I put my paper down but I still kept my face down and stood up. I immediately looked at Matthew and gave him the darkest glare I could muster up and then closed my eyes and faced where MegCorp's CEO was seated. I heard a pen drop on the table and I took it as my cue to open my eyes and make eye contact with a pair of genuinely shocked (but... delighted?) golden eyes. The expression then quickly morphed into utter smugness and playfulness. Smirk and all.

Fucking. Called. It.