Raven Beauty [b**m]

Chapter 1 — Tears of sorrows

Keira

Gabriel was angry—super angry. I could see an storm emerging in his eyes as he looked back at me. I scurried away from his killing glare and looked on the floor.

“You did what?” He exclaimed loudly. The veins on his necks were at the point of blasting. I didn’t want to repeat myself as I feared him.

“It was an accident, please, I was drunk as fu—hell and I didn’t know that the man beside me was Finn Barry.” I argued. There was no way out of this. I was going to loose everything, my job, my dignity, I was going to be embarrassed in front of the whole staff.

“You need to leave now.” Gabriel whispered as he slammed his hands on the table. I swallowed hard, questioning myself whether I should really leave or not.

“Now?”

“Please...Keira, leave before I do something. I’ll talk to you later. I have important meetings to attend.” Gabriel said as he picked up his phone and called his assistant.

“But what about my job?” I asked confusingly. I had no idea whether I still had it or not. This was the best job I had gotten in years and there was no way I was going to loose it. The salary was beyond what I could even imagine, the company gave me everything, healthcare, insurance, car, iPad and whatever I needed. I couldn’t afford loosing it.

“I’ll think about it, go right now.” Gabriel muttered a few curse words before exiting the room. Taking a deep breath, I left his office which was on the second floor. I took the elevator down to the ground floor and drove away.

My hands were sweating and I had no idea what to do. Should I go back to my job? Did I even have it? Gabriel was going to think about it. I’m sure he would kick me out, he wanted to do that since I joined. He didn’t like me at all and believed that I wouldn’t do anything but I did. I sold 12 properties in the past six months and made a whole sum of commission through that.

Unfortunately, 7 properties I sold were bought by an old man named Finn Barry. We accidentally bumped on each other last weekend and in my drunk state, I spilled a lot of bad things about my job and the next day, he cancelled all his property contracts and the money was returned back. He no longer wanted to business with me or the company I worked it.

“Hey, did you tell Gabriel about your little stunt?” My coworker, Amanda, asked me through the phone.

I stopped my car in front of a cafe and grabbed a coffee for myself. I was in too much stress and caffeine was able to put away a little bit of it.

“Yes, but he doesn’t knows that Finn Barry cancelled the contracts. I told him the whole bar story and he was pissed about it. I didn’t have the guts to tell him that one of his great clients cancelled all his contracts because of a sales promoter named me.” I sarcastically replied back.

Amanda was silent after that. “Oh, so, did you get fired?” She asked with hesitation.

“Nope, no idea know. Although, I’ll keep working until Gabriel gets to know about what Finn Barry had done. I still have many days, Amanda.” I said with a smile.

“Oh,” she didn’t seem to be happy.

Amanda wasn’t a really good friend of mine—we were barely friends. She had joined the company along with me six months ago. The company we worked in was Russell properties. It was a huge thing for both of us. We were sales promoters who worked at malls and collected leads so we can send them to the back office who’d reach out to the people who were interested in buying properties. That’s how we were able to get our commissions.

Our salaries were more than enough, along with that we got bonuses as well, it was the perfect job anyone would ever need. Unfortunately, there was six month limit. If we didn’t sell anything during the first six months then we would get fired.

I was able to sell over 12 properties but Amanda couldn’t. She barely reached out to people. We worked together in the same stand yet everyone came to me. She was sort of jealous but I shrugged it off, it was just luck, I wasn’t any prettier than she was.

The six months were coming to an end and Amanda knew she was going to get terminated—and so was I after the drunk-Finn-insulting-scene.

Amanda closed the phone call soon after I told her what happened between me and our manager, Gabriel. I drove around the streets of Denver for a couple minutes. Procrastinating about my job, whether I should go back to the mall or go back to sleep in my room.

After a couple minutes of overthinking and analyzing, I decided to go back to my room. I reached my apartment and jumped on my bed as soon as I could. My roommate, Molly was in home and I learned that when suddenly music erupted from the speakers.

“You didn’t go to work?” I asked her as I stepped out of my bedroom. When I came in, I thought she was gone but I guess she was in her room.

Molly’s eyes widened with surprise and she dropped the TV remote. “I thought you were gone,”

“I’m not sure if I have my job anymore so I came back. Gabriel isn’t happy with what I had done last weekend. He needs time to think.” I said as I plopped on the couch and stared at the blank TV screen. “What about you?” I asked.

“Oh, umm, well,” Molly scratched the back of her head and mumbled. “I just didn’t feel like going today. I got my periods and I don’t want to leave my bed.” She stated clearly.

I laughed. “Really? You don’t need to hesitate. This is your apartment as well. I won’t eat you if I find you home at working hours.”

“Yes, but I invited my boyfriend over.” She added quickly.

My lips parted open and I blinked, it took a moment for me to understand what she said. Before moving in this apartment, we clearly restricted allowing men or boyfriends in this place because I didn’t like boys and I didn’t trust them. Molly agreed then but now she seemed to not.

“What about no-boyfriend-no-men agreement?” I asked as I raised my eyebrow.

“I know, I’m sorry, I though you’d be at work and it wouldn’t be a problem.” Molly sat beside me and said. “Please...I already called him over and he’s on his way.”

“Fine, I’ll be in my room. Knock on my door when he’s gone and if any delivery arrives for me than bring it to my room. Also, say your boyfriend to keep his clothes on!” I exclaimed.

“Sure! Thank you, baby.” Molly said as she hugged me from back.

I stopped and turned around. “What about my job? What do you think I should do? Should I wait Gabriel to make a decision or should I quit?” I asked. Molly was the only one who could help me with this.

I didn’t have to worry about paying the apartment’s rent because it was prepaid for the next three months. While working in Russell properties, I was able to earn a lot and live a beautiful lifestyle. Although, I still lived in the rotten area of Denver but that didn’t matter, I spent most of my life here and I wasn’t ready to leave. Plus, I had Molly.

“I think you should wait. I mean...it isn’t a big thing that you drove away an important client but you even bought in so many. That’s a good thing and let’s hope your manager sees that.” Molly shrugged and replied.

“I hope so too,”

I returned back to my small room. Molly and I lived in a small four storey building. Our neighbors were amazing and the people who lived around us were really positive and caring too.

I jumped on the bed and grabbed my sheets. Worries invaded my thoughts as I laid down. I couldn’t afford losing this job. Maybe, I should consider calling Gabriel but he was busy. I had no idea what to do.

The sun was shining bright and it was still morning. I didn’t feel sleepy but I took a nap anyways.

When my phone started ringing, I woke up and grabbed it. I looked at the screen.

Trashy Boss.

“f**k,” I mumbled as I picked up the phone.

“Hello,” I said.

“When were you going to tell me that Finn Barry cancelled all the contracts and disputed all the transactions?” Gabriel yelled through to the phone.

“I didn’t know,” I lied as I squeezed my eyes close and hit my fists on the bed.

“You can come collect your termination letter tomorrow!” He stated before closing the phone. Before I could even say a word, the line went dead.

I kept calling him again but no luck. He blocked my number and deleted me from w******p. I was at the verge of crying and throwing a tantrum because I didn’t want to loose my job, worse of all, getting fired from such a big companies like Russell properties. It would ruin my entire career—my life.

—————

The first thing I did when I woke up was to get ready and run to Russell properties to meet Gabriel. He had an office in the building and he was occasionally found there. I practiced a few apologies to say when I would meet him, hoping I wouldn’t loose my job. It wasn’t my fault that Finn Barry was in the same bar as me. What kind of rich people go there anyways? And what was an old man doing in a bar the first place? I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t ready to accept that this all my fault—because it simply wasn’t.

Gabriel had no right to terminate me like this, especially over a phone call. I worked for him for six months, the least he could do was call me upto his office and the terminate me.

“Stop, Keira, it’s your fault.” I groaned and mummered to myself as I went inside the parking lot of the Russell properties. It was a huge company, spread all across Colorado but it was mainly located in Denver.

I stepped inside the elevator quickly and went all the way up. Looking at myself in the mirror, I fixed my black colored shirt and my white pants. I had to dress professional even if I wasn’t going to work.

Gabriel office was located on the second floor. The building was massive, and there were numerous people walking here and there. It wasn’t closed with separate office, instead, it was quite modern and open like shopping centers. Everything was made out of glass and I could see my surroundings while I was inside the elevator.

I had been to this building a couple times, when I was first interviewed by Gabriel, when he appreciated me for my hard work and now, when he’s going to fire me—or probably has already. Who knew?

The elevator stopped and I headed out. I was going to explode with the anxiety running inside me. I didn’t want to get fired. Gabriel’s office was also made up of glass so I was able to see whether he was there or not and to my surprise, he was.

Gabriel’s assistant, Claude, was inside with him and they were going over a few papers when I stepped inside.

“Oh, look who comes!” Gabriel exclaimed as he ran his hand through his hair. “You can leave,” he turned around and said to his assistant who walked away quietly.

“Your termination letter is here. Your last salary with be transferred to your account by the end of the month.” Gabriel said.

I shook my head as he handed me the letter. “I’m not taking it. You can’t fire me, sir.” I said as I straightened up my shoulders.

Gabriel scoffed to my response. “I have already done that so pack up delusional Keira and leave.” He stated.

I didn’t move even though he wanted me to move. I wasn’t going to give up so quick and I wouldn’t leave this job without a fight.

“Please, just give me another chance. I know I did a big mistake, but another chance isn’t going to hurt.” I begged.

Gabriel grabbed my hand and placed the termination letter on it before walking out. I followed him behind and stopped him.

“Come on, I didn’t even do anything big.” I argued.

“You drove away an investor. What do you expect? Me to shower you with gifts. Accept your mistakes and leave or I’ll have you gone.” Gabriel yelled.

There weren’t many people around the floor but whoever was, they could hear us—clearly.

“You can’t just fire me without any reason—”

“I have a clear reason, you drove away a client because of your toxicity or whatever. We don’t condone that, Keira.” He stated.

Tears crumbled around my eyes. It was the way he spoke to me frightened me. I hated working for Gabriel but I had no other option. I didn’t want to leave.

“Please...just give me another chance. I promise, I’ll get you more leads.” I begged again but he wasn’t understanding.

“Stop creating a scene and its better if you leave now,” He said.

“No, I don’t want to leave.” I stated. “Please...come on, you know I work hard, I put all my effort in this, you can’t just fire me like that.”

“Oh, I can. I can do more things too. Stop violating the atmosphere of this building and go. I had enough of children today.” He rolled his eyes by the end.

I wasn’t a child.

“I’m a grown up adult,” I gritted my teeth together and said. The tears were already flowing down my cheeks from the insults he had thrown at me but there was anger too. There were a few things that triggered my anger and being called a child was one of them.

“Kei—”

“Is this a place to throw an argument?” A strange man interrupted us both.

I turned away from Gabriel to look at the man who decided to pop in.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Russell.” Gabriel quickly apologized. I furrowed my eyebrows as I noticed his sudden change in behavior.

Oh, how he suddenly became a p***y.

But then I heard the name that slipped of his tongue.

Russell.

Sebastian Russell.