Trapped

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One:

A good news or not?

»»—♡—««

you are stronger 

than you know.

your heart may

break from pain

but your soul

is made of love

and it will find

new pieces

to build stronger 

walls with.

― c. r. elliot

»»—♡—««

You are stronger than you think you are.

I have always embedded that thought in my mind. For some reason, it has been my mantra throughout the years. It had never left my mind. It’s in my mind living rent free and I never intend to dispose of the thought away.

It is one of the many reasons that keeps me sane.

Because as time passed by, instead of just telling myself about it; I was slowly embodying it. I could feel that I am strong. Actually much stronger than I had thought I was.

All of the self doubt that had settled inside of me, that was the cause of my demise; was vanishing away. Not entirely, but I could feel the improvement.

Maybe because I have people in my life that have believed in me and continue on believing in me. The support that they had showered me with, were enough to simmer the self-doubt inside of me.

I am strong and I wouldn’t let people tell me otherwise.

 »»—♡—««

[Five months earlier]

I knew that I had to expect for the worst.

Even on the day that I had finished my project, I should’ve marked in my mind that there are times where things don't go according to my plan.

The moment that I had stepped inside our office, I didn’t expect for something drastic to happen.

Maybe I should’ve. 

In that way, I didn’t have to end up being disappointed.

My heels clacked as I walked towards my desk, managing my wobbly feet that’s making it hard for me to walk. Despite having the confidence of finishing a project that I spent a lot of time on, it was still nerve racking especially when I’m going to submit it to my manager. Although my feet were wobbly, I kept my composure as I stride towards my desk.

Upon settling in my seat, I peeked through the glass window, scanning if our manager had arrived already but by the looks of it; she was once again coming in late.

We all know that as a leader, she must set as an example to each and everyone of her subordinates. That should be a given. However, a co-worker told me that once she had become a manager, she had become tardy and lousy. She’d always let her team do all the work, without helping nor even just guiding them.

However, no one had the courage to call her out on her unprofessional ethics. Probably because she knew that the higher-ups would believe in her rather than her subordinates.

I didn’t even need to not believe the tales that were passing since I had experienced it first hand. Not long ago when I had joined her team. She did not even seem to mind after knowing that I was the founder’s granddaughter. It’s not that I told her but since the gossip had already spread, everyone knew who I was just on my first day at work.

As a part of an AI company, every employee must be efficient and knowledgeable in this set of fields. Something that is already given before one even applies in that company. However, not all knowledgeable and skilled employees have a human decency and work ethics that are needed to be followed.

We are developers, and one of our jobs is to see to it that in everything we do; we must make sure that if there are errors, we only need to improve them and make sure that that error shouldn’t repeat. Along with that, we must be professional to one another since we are inside a workplace. Employees go to the office, to work; not just to sit around and do whatever they want without helping their team.

Honestly, I was so tempted to tell my grandfather about it. It was hard going to work if the environment wasn't healthy. However, I managed to just focus on my job. As long as I was doing my job; I know I’m doing my part.

Dianna, my friend in our team waved her hand at me when she noticed my arrival. I offered a smile at her as she gulped coffee from her mug.

“Too early for caffeine.” I teased her.

She scoffed, “It’s never too early nor too late for coffee. Coming from someone who’s a coffee-addict.” Dianna pertained to me, pointing at the tumblr that I was holding and she knew well enough that it’s a cold brew coffee that I had prepared everyday for work.

I laughed as I placed the tumblr and the hard copy of my project on my table, “In coffee, we trust.”

Dianna laughed at my words as we both share the same love for coffee. Her eyes then scanned towards the file that I placed on my desk. Then averted her eyes towards me, “What do you have there?” She looked at me with much curiosity. 

Being her friend ever since we started working here. We shared most stories of our lives whenever we had free time. We both started working in Luciano Corporation at the same day and I was grateful enough to have a friend on my first day of work—in which I didn’t expect since I was anti-social. However, she was the one who had initiated a conversation when we found out that we were on the same team. There were three of us that were added to the team. The other one was a guy but we had never really had a chance to be close even though we were already working for about half a year.

Sometimes people just don't click.

I stared at Dianna, thinking if I should tell her about my project proposal submission or just tell her when I’m done submitting it. It’s not that I didn't want to share it with her. It’s just that if my proposal gets rejected; I would feel ashamed of the result and I didn’t want her to look at me with pity. But then I remembered that Dianna isn’t something like that.

As far as I could remember, she had always been nice to me. 

I looked around the room then noticed that my other co-workers were busy staring at their screens so I leaned closer to her and whispered, “I’ll be submitting a project proposal for this month’s selection process.” Even though my voice was hushed, one could notice the excitement in my voice.

Dianna almost screamed but managed to suppress it. So instead she had screamed with no sounds emanating from her. I laughed at her reaction.

Yes, Dianna is a good friend.

“Oh my gosh, Chandria. I didn’t even know you were going to try for it.” Dianna admitted as a shy smile appeared on her face. “I mean I know you’re talented and skilled enough but were still coined as ‘newbies’ here. I wish I’m determined as you are.” Her voice was laced with sadness. Something that I noticed but she was quick enough to flash a smile. “I’m so happy for you! You’re going to do well.” She beamed at me and I instantly shushed her when her voice came out loud. 

I even noticed some colleagues throwing us some looks. 

Some rolled their eyes and some just instantly went back to what they were doing.