Do what you have to
SOPHIE’S POV
After Karl kicked me out of the office, I walked away, apprehensive about what to do next. I did not have a house and I had wasted a lot of money to carry off these antics with Karl, but he had just put me out like a piece of garbage.
” Who did he think he was?” I growled in frustration as I boarded a cab back to the mall. I did not have enough money for a motel, so I was at a loss as to what to do about my kid.
My mind worried about as her as I headed back to the mall. I hoped she has something to eat as I had given my collegue some money to make sure of that. my life was a mess and my last options had just thrown me out of his office.
” What am I supposed to do now?” I whispered as the car came to a halt. The mall was about to close when I got there, and I had no idea where we were going to stay the night. As I got off and paid the driver, on my way back to the mall, an idea occurred to me. I really hoped it worked out.
My colleague, Sonia, was already packing her stuffs, and I thanked her for keeping an eye out for Selene on my behalf.
“I sincerely appreciate you watching her.” I said as I thanked her for her wonderful gesture. Selene seemed to have had a great time and I was happy about it.
” I hope she was not a bother.” I said as I called for Selene to come over.
” She wasn’t, and I relished every moment of having her here, you arrived just on time, and I was ready to phone you because I wanted to go home.” Sonia spoke as she continued to collect her things.
“Oh yeah, I am sorry for coming back so late. I got held up.” I told her and embraced Selene, who did not seem to miss me very much.
“How are you, my girl? I apologise for returning so late.” I asked her, and we both sat down. I gazed into space, pondering how to approach Sonia about staying at the mall.
” I am fine mummy, Sonia took good care of me.” Selene grinned as she told me how Sonia had gotten her caddy and how much she enjoyed playing the games on Sonia’s tab.
“What did I say about Candy, Selene?” She faked a pout as she sprinted away from me, pinching her cheeks. Sonia and I giggled as she went away.
As she finished parking, I realised I did not have much time left and that if I wanted to avoid spending the night outside, I needed to speak up. I got up and roamed around for a bit before saying anything.
“I see you are about to head home?” I pretended to be unaware that she was about to leave for home. As I talked, I yanked my hair and agitated about.
“Yes, I am; Is there a problem?” She questioned, peering at me suspiciously as I was acting strangely.
” The thing is, I do not have anywhere to stay and I was wondering if we could stay the night at the quarters?” I stuttered as I looked away from her, hoping she would say yes, but she seemed hesitant to agree.
“I would not know; I believe we would have to ask security about that.” Disappointed by her reaction, I told her it was OK, and after she was ready, we went out to the mall’s gate to meet the security officer while Selene waited, and he stated he was not sure whether allowing us to stay was possible.
I regretted turning down Karl’s proposal at first even though I had reasons too as I knew I could not put my daughter through this much stress, so I decided then to pull the last string to ensure Karl had no choice but to follow through with the agreement.
After much convincing, he finally agreed to let us in, but only if we left before the other staff came, so no one would know we were there. That was just great with me.
I and Sonia dashed back to the mall, where she locked up and handed us the keys to the quarters where we would spend the night.
I got the keys, and Selene and I said our goodbyes to Sonia before heading to the quarters. It was warm and cosy, and while it was not as nice as our house, we could still rest our heads.
When we went inside the quarters, we quickly settled up and had our baths. Selene dozed off quickly enough, and I regretted my decision again.
Unlike Sophie, she did not ask any questions, but I could see she was hurt with everything going on and it saddened me even more. I wept myself to sleep, and when I awoke late that night I picked up my phone and sent a message.
Satisfied with what I had done, I remained certain that I could change the narrative. I slept off, forgetting I had to vacate the premises early.
The continuous knock on the door stirred me from my sleep and Selene taps jilted me finally and I realized it was morning already. It was the security yelling at me to vacate the premises.
“You should be out of here in less than thirty minutes.” The security man yelled out when I was not answering the door.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“Okay,” I said, still groggy, and hurried Selene to take a bath. I took my bath in a hurry after she was done and we headed to Selene school. I thank the security as we left but he was already angry we did not leave early as we had promised.
I barely had enough money with me so I ended up giving Selene almost all of it for lunch money.
I took the bus and headed to Karl office. When I arrived his car was not in the parking lot. Soon enough he arrived and I smiled at him but he just looked at me blankly and headed to his office.
I dialled the number I had messaged the night before and luckily he answered and I was ecstatic.
“Hello, who is this?” the caller on the other end said as he picked up.
“It’s Sophie, I messaged you last night. I promise you that it is authentic. Do what you have too.”