EMMA

"Are you ready to order?" I asked the young couple sitting at the table by the window.

"I'll like a cup of latte and a butter croissant," The boy, who looked like he was still in college, replied as he looked at her girlfriend. "What will you like, sweetheart?"

Sweetheart! Do you really think I will apologize?

My heart jumped a beat and my breath fastened as my mind instantly went to his words from yesterday and once again, those icy blue orbs of his followed by that mocking smirk playing around his lips flashed through my mind. I wanted so badly to punch his smirking face even though it was just my mind playing the yesterday's events but that's how much I hated him. I knew it's said that hate is the opposite of love but I believe it's awfully a lot similar to love. Your heart beats fast, your nerves jump, and your breathing quickens. Only the difference lies in the next step. In love, you wanted to kiss the one standing in front whilst in hate, you wanted to punch the one standing in front.

"Is there?" The girl asked pulling me back from my thoughts.

"I am sorry?" I asked. I didn't hear what she said but the way she was pointing at her menu card, either she was asking for a particular dish or giving me her order.

"I asked if there is a low-calorie section?" She inquired.

"Yes! You can find all our low-calorie servings under the section, 'Healthy Delights'." I smiled whilst she looked through that section. "I will like a plate of these waffles and an orange juice then."

I nodded and noting their order, I went to the next table. I noted three more orders and handed the notes to the kitchen staff. I'd pick up the order once they'd ring the bell indicating the order was ready to be served. Although our weekdays were busy but at weekends, the cafe was bustling with more customers and that means more orders, and more work.

Alice left for Britain in the morning and as soon as she was gone, the whole place looked empty, lonely, as if showing me what I was feeling. Although Kate would be coming in the evening with her stuff it felt like Alice took all our happy moments with her. The moments that I felt once again after moving here. She took our crazy laughs, long movie nights, and bickering fights with her. I never thought I would admit this but I think I might even miss her dragging me to malls. She was like a sister to me and more. She was a friend I didn't know I needed.

This made me wonder, did my parents feel the same when I left? Did they miss me? Did they want to stop me like I wanted to stop Alice? But again, I never was like Alice. Over-energetic, wild, outgoing, crazy, beautiful, sweet, or kind. I was never any of these and even if I was, at some time, that part of me was buried deep enough now. Buried and lost to be remembered again.

The bell rang followed by the order number displayed on the small LED light. I took the tray and served it to their right table. The third month was already passing by with one week almost gone and still I hadn't been able to secure any job. I didn't get it. I studied at a good university, my grades were good enough, and I took part in different extra-curricular activities as well. The only thing I lacked was professional experience but how did they expect me to gain experience when they weren't even giving me a chance? It was like they expected me to be born with it. I admitted my resume wasn't that magnificent but it wasn't bad as well. At least give me a chance.

I opened my phone and checked my email. I opened the email I received yesterday and read it again. My lips curled up in a sneer. I had another interview scheduled on Monday and some would say I should be excited but I wasn't. I couldn't. Interviews didn't thrill me now. I had given enough interviews in the past months but none secured me a job. I wasn't even shooting for a top position. It was just an entry-level position but I was a failure.

Still a failure. A disappointment.

I sighed and dropped the phone back into my pocket.

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The weekend flew in a blur. Sometimes the weekend didn't even feel like one. Maybe because just like other days, my weekends were also spent in Cafe taking orders and serving customers. Kate moved in with her stuff on Saturday evening and we spent the rest of the weekend - apart from our cafe hours - settling all her things in new places. With her now settled in the apartment, the place looked less empty but it was still different. Instead of Alice's colored-filled abstract photos, Kate's landscape photos hang on the walls. Instead of Alice's collection of clothes lying around the apartment, Kate's clothes hung in her wardrobe. The apartment looked cleaner. I guessed that was a good thing.

I clutched onto my file as I stared at the tall building in front. I stepped through the revolving doors and towards the receptionist's desk.

"Hello! I am here for an interview. Emma James," I said as I watched the brunette move her long perfectly manicured fingers on the keyboard. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail and her black eyes staring at the screen. "For the position of HR Assistant?" She asked, looking at me and I nodded. "Yes."

"Here's your visiting card. Wait up in the visiting area and we'll call your name."

"Thank you." I smiled and taking the card in my hand, I headed towards the room she pointed at. I opened the door and as soon as I stepped in, my breath quickened. No matter how many times I had done this in the past months but still I wasn't entirely used to it. My nerves acted up the moment I looked at the potential candidates in front. Some of them were my competitors fighting for the same position. Better than me. More qualified than me. More promising and experienced.

I sat on the empty spot on the couch waiting for my turn. The seconds flew by followed by minutes and then hours. I looked at my watch now showing that two hours had already passed. With every passing minute and one less candidate in the room, my heart sped up a beat.

"Emma James?" The girl in the doorway called whilst looking at the file in her hand. "Here." I stood up and walked towards her. She walked down the hall and towards two large black doors at the end. It was surreal how the first thing that came to my mind was him. I hated how the black color now reminded me of him.

The devil in black or in my case, the jerk in black.

"Best of luck," she smiled and despite me being this close to collapse due to nervousness, I managed to mutter a thank you. I took one last deep breath and stepped in.

Let's do this!

"Hello!" I smiled, hiding my nervousness behind it as I walked towards the three people sitting behind the brown wooden table. Two men who seemed they were in their late sixties followed by a woman who seemed a bit younger sat there, observing me, evaluating me, judging me. I handed my file to them and sat back on the seat in front.

"Emma James." The woman said as she assessed my file. "Tell us a bit about yourself."

The same question, the same start. I have answered it enough now. I started answering. I was halfway through when a phone rang. The man sitting at the right answered his phone and I stopped talking waiting for him to finish his call. He looked at me for a moment while talking and then end his call. I watched them as they discussed something among themselves and then looked at me.

"Thanks for coming, Emma. We'll let you know." The woman smiled and I stared at them. That was it? That was the interview? They didn't even ask the next question. Did they not like my resume? Right. Again. A failure.

I didn't say anything and just nodded. I walked out of the room and out of the building.

They say when the universe closes one door, it opens a thousand more but all I had ever met till now are not just closed but locked doors. Where was my open door?

I heaved a sigh and walked down the road toward the subway station. My phone vibrated in my purse and I took it out to see the unknown number. "Hello?"

"Miss Emma James?" The woman on the other side inquired.

"Yes."

"I am Lizza Wang speaking from the HR department of Wilton Co. You applied for a position here last month." My heart sped up a beat with every word as she continued to speak. "Unfortunately we couldn't hire you as HR Assistant," she paused and my heart dropped down in my chest. Another rejection but they didn't need to run it on my face with a call. They could have simply ignored me like the others.

"But..." she continued, "we are offering you an assistant position in CEO's office. After working there for a year, you can again apply for an HR position, and will be preferred by others. If you are interested, you can visit the office tomorrow at nine." She stopped talking. I knew I should say something. I knew I should ask questions but my mind wasn't working straight and if it was working, my tongue surely wasn't.

"I-I-" I stuttered trying to roll the right words off my tongue. I took in a deep breath. "I... I will let you know." I tried to compose myself but the way my words came out a little too fast, I knew she must have guessed how shocked I was.

"Hope to hear from you soon. Have a nice day." With that, the call disconnected. I stood in the middle of the pathway still holding my phone and staring in the air. Her words from earlier registered in my mind one by one and with that, my lips curled up in a smile which turned into a grin.

I found my open door.

EDAN

"Sir, it's done." Mr. Daniel informed me on the phone. He was one of the oldest employees who had been with our company even before I became a CEO. I knew he was quite competent to pull this off and trustworthy enough to not tell a soul from where the original order was coming from. Upon my orders, Mr. Daniel happened to set the cards right for me.

Created the need for another personal assistant, a new position, and then recommended Emma on his behalf to make sure she was selected. That's why I love this. Authority. Power. Control. Ability to create and destroy.

"Did you make sure she will come here at all costs?" I inquired.

"Yes sir, I have let all those companies know where she applied. I have clearly warned them that she was an employee of Wilton's now."

I smirked. Perfect.

I came to know she had been searching for a job for three months now and went to some interviews as well but didn't secure one. Well now, that was a bit of bad luck at least for her. She had one more interview today and I just had to make sure to add a bit of my touch to her today's bad luck, and I did.

I cut the call and stared at her picture opened up on my laptop. It was a simple picture one would take for their resume where she was staring back at the camera, her lips in a thin line, her brown hair resting on her shoulders whilst her grey eyes staring right back at me.

Emma James. There was only one place she would be working now and that was here, close to me, beside me - where I would let her know with whom she messed with. I get what I want and this time, my eyes were on a specific someone and unless I was done with her, she won't be going anywhere.

"So, Kitten," I smirked looking at her picture. "Let us start the chase. Shall we?"

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