I was in my office, busy engrossed in doing my job that I did not hear the door open or hear the heels that approached my table. I only heard Melissa clearing her throat, her eyes uneasy and a strained smile adorning her face.

I raised a brow in question.

"Oh... Umm, Sir. You see, t-the... Mr. Hughs requests to see us all in the ground floor," she said, her cheeks tinted red.

That is unusual. For the past year that I've been in this company, there was never a meeting like this.

"Right now?" I asked. She nodded her head so fast I thought it was going to detach from her body.

I closed my laptop and grabbed my phone from all the pile of files and papers on my table. Melissa left my office, her actions jittery. I don't know what made her act nervous or suspicious. Maybe she already knows what the meeting is about, and she's scared to tell me.

Making my way to the elevator, I passed the empty cubicles that were usually occupied at this time of the day. The moment I made it to the first floor, it was flooding with people. The ground floor usually had a wide space, but now there was not even space to breathe.

I squeezed myself among the bodies and finally managed to be on the front line. As I guessed, there were only three departments. The marketing one, then the production and the IT department. What could they have called us here for?

The old man, or the 'boss', was here, looking at all of us. He was in his late sixties, but he looked a few years younger. I guess having money and swimming in luxury can do wonders for your health and skin.

The head of the IT department was on my right, whilst the one for production was on my left. I don't even know them personally. We just met during meetings. John Male, the one on my right, was a little stuck up and thought he was better than us because he was on the sixth floor and related to Mr. Hughs.

"I know this is short notice, but I've got an important announcement to make," he said, his voice rough around the edge, but confident and commanding.

I was all ears, just like all the people around me.

"I know you've all heard about my retirement. It's no surprise. As you all know, my son will be appointed the CEO position and I'd like you all to welcome him with open arms. He will do things way differently than how I did them. I'm just telling you to expect the unexpected.

It's been a pleasure working with you all for all these years. You've shown me how dedicated and passionate you all are about your jobs. So, I'm saying thank you for working for this company. This is my last week being here. Next week you'll be having a new CEO. Thank you," he finished, leaving us all in despair and confusion. Well, I was confused because he said his son would be doing things differently than he did them. What he meant by that was a mystery to me.

I was making my way to the elevator when a lady, a beautiful one at that, stopped me. She had on a smile that could sweep me off my feet, but I was not interested.

"Hey, Jay. Just wanted to ask you if you'd like to go out tonight with us to get drinks, you know. Since it's a Friday night and all that," she said, the smile never wavering. Her brown skin so flawless that I was kind of jealous. Not that my skin was not flawless or anything. It was, but I had bags under my eyes, and they were not pretty. I showed that I did not get enough sleep.

I was surprised she knew my name because that's the first time I'm seeing her.

I tried to smile. I really did, but I'm sure it came out as a grimace because I saw her visibly flinch. She already guessed my answer before I even replied. The look on her face said a million words without speaking. She was too easy to read.

"I can't go. I'm sorry, but I got a lot of work that is due next week," I said, the lie slipping easily through my lips, even though I hated lying.

"It's okay. I understand. Have a good day then," she said.

"Have a nice day too," I whispered, but I'm sure she did not hear me.

By the time I reached my office, I tried to finish my work for the day, but I was too distracted to even do anything. All I did was stare at my laptop screen aimlessly.

The fact that I haven't been answering Mom's calls was eating me alive. I always assumed that she was going to ask me how I was doing, if she could come over to take care of me and all, as if I was a baby!

It wasn’t an easy decision to call her back, but I thought it was going to be worth it.

She picked up on the first ring, surprising me.

"Oh, Jay honey, thank you for calling back. I was about to call you. What's wrong, honey? Why aren't you picking up?" she asked, her voice caked with worry that was making me worried.

I sighed. "Mom, I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about. I've just been busy these past few days, hence I couldn't answer your calls. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Love. When can I come to visit?"

I rolled my eyes. She was so predictable. Before I could get a word in, she continued.

"I know you said you are fine, but I'm just worried, Jason. I'm worried about your well-being. Stephanie said you haven't been to her in months. You haven't been coming to take your medication. I'm just afraid that you might be slipping back into your old self an-"

"Mom, I'm fine. I've been taking my medication. It's just that... I'm buying them at a chemist next to where I work," I replied.

"Are they prescribed medication?" her voice was firm and suspicious.

I sighed once again and said, "No."

"Jason Jones! Are you crazy? Who is selling you drugs?"

Here we go again.

"Mom, they are not drugs. Anyway, I'll call you later. There's something important I need to attend to. Love you. Bye," I hung up before she could chastise me.

I will not be surprised if she comes barging into my apartment any day from now on. That's how predictable she is. And I am not doing drugs. That's one thing I would never do.

After a day of doing nothing but working, I was finally heading back home. I was in the parking lot and heading to my car that was parked next to a black Audi. When I reached my car, I opened it and got in. I stayed in it for a while, just collecting my thoughts before driving out of the parking lot.

When I reached my apartment, I headed straight to the bathroom and opened the cabinet. The bottles of pills were the first thing that greeted me. Some were empty whilst others were still full and never opened. I took the empty bottles and threw them in the bin, then went back to retrieve the sleeping pills. I popped open the lid and took out four pills. I closed the bottle and put it back into the cabinet.

My apartment was not too fancy because I didn't want to spend a lot of my money on an apartment. It had one bedroom, a kitchen, bathroom and living room. It was a little dull with grey walls and not much of a furniture. My living room had only an L-shaped couch, a loveseat and a flat screen TV attached to the wall. It was void of life and very cold. If you'd walk in, you'd think that no one lived in here. I walked into the kitchen and took out a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. I swallowed the pills with water and put the glass back in the cupboard after rinsing it.

Before the pills could take effect, I aimlessly tried to tidy up the apartment. Since tomorrow was Saturday, I wanted to sleep in and not worry about cleaning. Food was the last thing on my mind because I was just so tired and wanted to sleep.

After a while, I felt the sleeping pills take effect. I stopped what I was doing and went to the comfort of my bed. I snuggled in and let the pills do what they were famous for. I knew that I would sleep like I was dead because I was so tired from all the day's work.