Starting Afresh

[this chapter is 14+ because of some really bad jokes… suspense…]

Ah, its the all too familiar silhouette of Tina I see nearly ev ery time light floods into my eyes.

”Tina, where am I? ”

”Sylvan Cemetery. ”

”where am I lying down on? ” I asked, hoping it was not Joes grave.

”Joseph armadillos grave. ”

… an awkward silence continued for a while, before my eyes fully adjusted the the sudden change in brightness.

I got off of his grave and wiped off the back of my suit.

I turned myself to the general direction in which Tina was supposed to be in, but I saw someone who I didn recognize behind her.

My eyes were starting to blur again, so I couldn see who it was, but I know Ive never seen that person before.

”Tina, who is that? ”

”she was here when I arrived. She was probably here to see Joseph Armadillo. ”

Is she Joes friend? Could she be the one who tended to his grave every year? I know Joe was some kind of a womanizer, except he never got together with any of the girls he became close with. Something about it being too awkward if he were to do anything with someone hed known for a long time.

I guess hed have become one of those people who have one-night stands and get married to whomever he did it with.

”are you Joes friend? ” I asked her casually.

”hmm… ” she clutched her head. ”I got it! You
e that kid Joe always hanged out with! Alexa, was your name, if Im not mistaken. ”

Why does this woman sound like she said something impressive? Is she seriously bragging about remembering something that happened 34 years ago? Even though she remembered wrong.

”well its something like that… ”

”well, since the two of us have met by a twist of fate, how would you like to join my self-made religion? By the way, my name is Mandy Miller. ”

”sorry, Mandy. I don partake in suspicious cults and such. ”

”of course you don . It was a joke in the first place. I actually wanted to invite you and your girlfriend — who is probably a compensated dater — to come to my house. Im having a housewarming with some old friends from school. ”

Well, its not like I have anything better to do. Might as well see my old classmates.

”okay then. Should I go with you, or go there later. ”

”nah, its fine. You and your girlfriend can share a cab with me, if ya don mind. ”

After that, I helped Mandy clean Joes grave. I guess after doing it for 33 years, she mustve gotten really good at cleaning it.

His grave looked brand new in just a few minutes. Well, as brand new as decade old grave get.

When we finished cleaning his grave, we took a cab to Mandys house. The ride was pretty good.

Sure, my chauffeur would have a stroke if he knew I got into a cab with someone I barely knew, but Tina was to cover for me.

I also told Mandy that Tina was my secretary and not my girlfriend, but she said that all secretaries are whores and always end up in their boss bed. She emphasized this point a lot more when I told her I was the CEO and technically not her direct superior.

(CEO ≈ owner >> director >>> branch managers > secretaries > worker)

I don know if she learnt that from porn or something else, but the cab driver seemed uncomfortable as hell. Of course I compensated him with a very generous tip. All I just hope is for him to keep his mouth shut with that money.

Anyways, the three of us made our way into a high-class apartment. I never thought someone I knew — who was not a high-profile client or lawyer — could actually afford a place like this.

”I thought it was a housewarming? ” I asked.

Listening to her response, I guessed that she understood what I implied, seeing as she said, ”well, even apartments count as houses these days, don they? ”

Honestly, not true at all. But for the sake of argument, Ill just agree.

As I busied myself with whatever, Mandy whipped out her keys and shook them with all her might for the world to hear.

”I need to telp everyone Im home. ” she clarified.

What a weird person. No wonder she was Joes friend.

”hello cruel world! I is here with Joe old friend! Literally… ” she screamed while continuing to laugh at her own joke.

I wouldve been traumatized and scarred beyond recovery, had I not known of the great soundproofing these kinds of apartments come with. Well, that, and because she closed the door behind her.

”seriously, Mads, you can just shout like that. What if someone hears?! ” came a feminine voice from the far corner of the apartment.

She sounds oddly familiar though. Not like Mandy, who I haven seen in so long. Someone much more… recent.

I looked at Tina, who also seemed to be clueless.

We both followed Mandy who started stripping Tinas and my coat off and throwing them wherever. Clearly, she was the kind of person who left everything to room service.

We followed her out of the living room (?) into a long but wide corridor.

Its quite a unique design, since most of these high-class apartments I frequent are more open and have less walls.

We walked into the second to last door on the left side of the corridor, and were greeted by around half a dozen girls, three of which I recognize as frequent visitors to the firm.

Those three are always divorcing or having an affair. Luckily, I never had to be the one defending them.

Once, the second of the three, Suzanne. She had an affair with some man and got pregnant for three months while her husband, who is a famous CEO, was away on business.

She pretended to get pregnant with his child after one month, when he came back.

The child died after three months of being in the womb (publicly announced as two), because she was drinking too much. There were also the talks of an abortifacient, but they were brushed off as rumors. Rather than abortifacient, she claimed to be on drugs such as weed amd cocaine. Some heroin was later found in her system along with said cocaine and weed.

When the fetus died, the gynecologist who examined her revealed that the baby was the result of an affair, one month before the CEO came back from America.

She was divorced faster than she could even pay off all the judges and investigators.

The father was found to be a drunk on the road. I guess she just did it with him for the thrill and never expected to become pregnant with his child.

Luckily, Ive never met any of those three woman who seem to appear in our firm every few months.

Not that Im complaining, of course. They
e really good business and have a knack for extending court cases significantly longer than it should last.

”hey Mads, who are they? People you know? ” asked one of the three that I am unfamiliar with.

”yeah. The dude is Alex, the guy who stuck to Joe like glue, and the woman is his bitch and **-buddy. ”

”as I said before, shes my secretary. ” I said trying to defend Tina.

”well, we all know what secretaries are for, don we? ” she said as she turned to her friends who seemed to give a knowing glance.

Seriously, how perverted are these people? We
e nearly 50, and yet they act like they are teenagers.

I sighed and made my way over to the coffee table which was absolutely stuffed with snacks and chips packets. I was afraid just touching it wouldve been enough to drop all the food onto the floor.

I carefully took a chips packet from some brand I never even knew existed. Clearly, it was the expensive kind, looking at its cover.

I settled myself far away from the six women who were happily chatting away with Mandy.

When I opened the chips packet, I entered the same dark area. At this point, Im quite tempted to call it a domain of sorts. Ive seen a lot of these kinds of things in manhwas. If I wasn experiencing it for myself, itd be so much cooler.

Anyways, I started moving my hand in the usual motion I did whenever I lost my vision to signal for Tina, who did not seem to notice?

I tried moving my body, but it didn feel like I was moving. It felt more like I was… being moved?

What a confusing concept? Not moving but being moved. Is there even a difference?

If Joe were here, hed probably say something like, ”what a stupid question. Its basically the same thing, except when you
e moving, you do it yourself, and when you are being moved, someone else does it for you. ”

Then, hed probably find a way slip in a dirty joke.

*whoosh*

~the end~

[and here we go again: bad formatting]