Amaya’s POV……
An invitation laid inside the box, it has a beautiful red design to it, and it was addressed to my name, the name I had forgotten about, the name that I thought I would never have to see again or hear of it once more, it was name that reminded of who I am and where I came from, a name that reminded of my past and one that I wish to always forget and to always bury with every feeling that I had.
A breath escaped my lips when I read the invitation, it was one that I can’t dishonor, it was one that came every five years, I thought this time it would be different, I thought this time I would not be forced to meet anyone, I thought this time I would not be forced to go there but with the way it seemed I didn’t have a choice.
The poor delivery guy has a no idea what he has just delivered, and he has no idea what is about to happen to him, he is the only witness of this package getting here except for me and I know what happens to witnesses in my family, I have always tried to stay away from my family, but they always found me.
I spent the last five years finding a good place to hide, changing everything so they don’t have to find me and I thought finally this time I have won, I thought I was able to create a life for myself but at the end; everything was just a hazy dream, you know the saying at the end of the day we all have to go back to where we came from, this invitation was a reminder of it.
I have to be there in two weeks and after that, I’m never going to see anyone again for five more years, I know that I have to work hard for the next five years, I need to get enough money to hide because this time I am not going to let them find me.
I could feel my heart racing against my rip-cage and a wave of adrenaline washed over me, a breath escaped my lips and a tear slipped out of my eyes; I felt like they were watching me with the package, I felt like I could see their faces imprinted on the package, a frown appeared on my face when I touched the package and a tear slipped out of my eyes.
My fingers shook against the package and I held on to it tightly before I headed into the kitchen, I looked back at the invitation that was inside, and I pulled it out.
‘Welcome Home’ it says, that was a funny sentence, the word welcome and home, there was nothing welcoming about it, I hated that my life is not happening the way I wanted it to.
First my boyfriend cheats on me, a video of me begging him he is viral, and my life is ruined, I don’t think I have a job again and if I don’t close that deal, I would have found a new job again and not only that, the word of it happened to me, the invitation, I never forgot about this, I always made sure to remember when it was coming.
Five years ago, I didn’t stay in the city, I had a roommate in another place, and she was the one who received the package, she opened it, and she wanted to come with me, of course I said no, she forced the way into the trip, and she didn’t make it, something bad happened to her, something that I would never forget and something that I always remembered; it gave me nightmares for years before I was forced to take her off my memory.
I shook off the thoughts and I turned on the stove, I lighted up the fire and I placed the package on it, the invitation was still in my hand while I watched the package burn, it continued for a while and the room soon started filling with smoke, I had realized what I had just done.
I need to stop this before the kitchen gets burned; I quickly turned off the stove and the package was still on fire; the smoke was much more than I had expected, I didn’t care about the safety of my hands as much as I cared about the safety of the apartment.
I picked up the burning package, I could feel my hand oozing with pain, but I know that I have even through much worse than that and I can handle it, a breath escaped my lips when I headed toward the other side of the house, the alley behind the building and I thee the package to the sky.
A loud noise filled my ear and the package exploded, causing me to fall to the ground and the remains of the package were scattered across the sky; falling to the ground of the alley.
I was stupid to think that I can burn it, I was stupid to think that I have spoke control over this when I knew that over and over again, I cannot do that and there is no way I could control that, I almost killed myself; if I was a minute late to realization I would have been dead, the stove would have exploded; people would have been hurt because of me and I would have to answer to the cops how it happened, and I know that mo matter how much I lie, they are going to find out how it happened.
A breath escaped my lips when I rested my head on the ground; a tear slipped out of my eyes, I need some freedom from my life, from my family and from every pain that I felt, I need to get this out of my mind and I need to fix the situation.
If there is anything I have learned over the years is that, I can’t cry for an ever little thing that happens and most importantly I don’t have control over every little thing that has happened, what I can continue what is going to happen after that, what I can control if my emotions and if I keep breaking down every after any little thing, it’s going to be worse for me, the world is going to be a hard place for me to be in.
I know that I have to honor the invitation in two weeks and I know what happens if I don’t do that, believe me, I made the mistake of not going there, and I paid for it badly, I just have to be there for three days, and I would be back here, and I don’t have to deal with this for another five years.
Every day I would think about did this is how I am supposed to live the rest of my life, looking over my shoulder and not knowing when they are going to find me, what if I have a kid, what happens when I don’t want my children to be a part of this madness, would they kill them too, or will they force me to be part of it?
I shook off the thought and I stood up, I headed into the living room where I found my phone ringing on the table, I reached out for it and I noticed some missed calls from Jonah, if he is calling to fire me; I am not surprised about it.
I shook off the thoughts and I picked up the call, a breath escaped my lips when his voice came through.
“Jonah.”
“Listen to me Amaya, Adam is going to sign the deal, I just got off the call with him, and he said he would not work with anyone except for you, this is important for the company and I mess to know you will not mess this up again.”
“Jonah, I- no more excuses.” He said cutting me off, “if you want that promotion and this job, you have to do as I say, and you need to make sure that Adam is comfortable, I don’t care what you do, you have to make sure he goes through with the deal, I need him to sign those papers and that’s the only way I know he won’t back out.” Jonah said, he didn’t let me speak before he hanged up the call, just like I had expected; he is rude about it.
I was about to send Jonah a message when I heard my bell ring, a breath escaped my lips when I headed toward the door to open the door, it was someone I never thought would come here.