Before entering Titan’s office, Stephanie closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She was worried about the impending unpredictable events that might unfold as soon as she would enter the room.

But then, Helga surprised her by opening the door before she could. The door crushed against her, forcing her backward.

When she opened her eyes and pulled her face up, Stephanie saw a furious woman running outside in tears. Even though it was a tense situation, she couldn’t help but be struck by the Sandoval family’s exceptional beauty.

Helga continued to seem lovely and graceful with her black, straight hair dancing and her hips swaying with her sheer, bright red dress. She stood tall among the employees walking around her.

Stephanie was unsure of what had happened between her and her brother at the moment, although knowing that much of it was her fault. When she eventually found the confidence to sneak back into her boss’s office, she opened the door and entered.

Titan turned his head and saw her. But it didn’t take long for him to scream, “What are you doing here, Stephanie? I don’t need you. Leave me alone!” while raising his arms, shooing her away with the folders he was pushing from his table. His eyes were glowering, feeling enraged.

“I’m sorry for —” Stephanie’s arms were raised in defeat as she slowly wanted to go near him. In her eyes, Titan was her snooty, angry-looking cat.

However, as she stepped closer, Titan grabbed the folders on his table and threw them at her.

Her heart almost leaped out of surprise. “But, Sir Titan, you must calm down. I mean —”

“Didn’t you hear what I said or you simply don’t understand it?” he paused and stared at her, as he let out a loud exasperated sigh. “I don’t want to see you right now, Stephanie! Get out of my office right now,” he sputtered as he turned his back, leaving Stephanie suddenly frantic. “I’ve seen and heard enough from you. Get out!”

Regardless of the actual events that led to the pandemonium, she was the one who was to blame, so she chose to respond by taking her belongings and leaving Titan’s office without saying anything.

If that’s what he wanted, fine. Stephanie thought.

***

“You’re fucked, Steph!” Christine sputtered as she took the bottle of beer from the table. She leaned her torso forward, resting her elbows on the surface and chugging the liquid. “So, you’re saying that you’ve been working on the report the whole day? Like nonstop?”

“Yeah, I’m fucked. Pity me.” Stephanie took the bottle of beer from the table and gulped the liquid in. “You can’t imagine how it was for me today. It was a struggle to walk around and pass by that bastard and continue the work I should have finished earlier. Too much drama in a day, ‘Tine. I’m so tired.” She moaned as she winced and slapped her face, feeling bad for herself in this situation.

“Bastard? Who are you talking about?”

“Who else?”

“Who?”

Stephanie sighed. “You know this guy. My new supervisor is, unfortunately, Titan Sandoval.” Stephanie straightened herself, wincing with a beer in her hand. She shook her head in denial. “The heir of the ever-powerful The Sandoval Group.”

When Christine first heard Titan’s name, her eyes grew wide. Her best friend’s words caused her eyebrows to quiver as if she were unable to believe them.

“You mean,” she paused and muzzled her mouth with her hand, “That handsome-looking man I’ve seen on TV?” she sputtered. “I remember how handsome he was when I saw him for the first time,” she paused as she was patting Stephanie’s hand in excitement, “I couldn’t forget when he was interviewed for winning a car race back then.”

Stephanie refused to answer, seemingly irritated.

“Oh my God,” Christine slapped Stephanie’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you’re working with him. Oh my God. Really?” Christine’s voice was louder this time before she sighed as she realized it wasn’t the best thing to say in front of her friend who was scowling.

“But you just got there for a month, and you’ve got reassigned?” Christine paused in confusion, “Wait. You said you were under Big Mama. How did he become your new internship supervisor?” she almost stuttered.

“A lot of unusual things happened to me lately, ‘Tine.” Stephanie swallowed the beer and gulped. “Yeah, sadly, I’ve got reassigned from Ms. Gonzales to Sir Titan’s supervision.” Then, she slammed the bottle on the table. “From Big Mama to the Big Boss,” she paused and her eyes widened, shaking her head, “My working conditions with him were even way worse than you think.”

“Why?” Christine asked after she swallowed the beer in a gulp and let out a loud sigh. “Is he strict?”

“Yeah, a perfectionist, narcissistic, and overly demanding,” Stephanie paused all of a sudden when she remembered when she had run across Titan and had witnessed him changing into a cat for the first time.

She stretched her lips a bit as she kept replaying the events in her memory until she suddenly remembered the conditions Titan had agreed to in the contract. It was when she scoffed and grabbed another bottle of beer, cracking it open, and chugging it down.

Stephanie could only feel bad for herself, given the difficult scenario she was in. Who would have thought that she was living in the same house with the same man Christine was admiring?

Stephanie couldn’t help but sigh and looked into Christine’s eyes. “The Sandovals are well-known to all. The family is known in this nation. Their company is worth many billions of dollars. Entertainment, politics, and businesses. You name it. They are a strong family, and I assume they control every sphere of this country’s economy. Imagine the pressure I’ve been under the past thirty days as an intern.”

“If that’s how troubling the work is, why did you still decide to apply for a job there?”

Stephanie was caught off guard by that query.

She did it anyway, but why? And why would she sacrifice her life for the Sandovals?

Knowing she had already asked the same questions before without answers, she scoffed, dismissing the concern, as she flicked her head down and clucked. “It was my parents’ dream for me.”

“But you know, it’s been years since they passed away, Steph. It’s time for you to live your life to the fullest, now that you’re nearing thirty years old.”

“Come on, I’m just twenty-five. I’m still young.”

“Still, you’re already halfway there. And I know you have aspirations for yourself, too. You aren’t a robot, are you? Why won’t you try doing something else other than fulfilling your parents’ wishes? You have to have your own life, too.”

Christine paused when she noticed Stephanie was getting teary. She let out a sigh and pressed her friend’s shoulders, squeezing and tapping it. She pressed her hand and looked at her. “Listen, Steph.”

When she heard Christine’s commanding sentence, Stephanie pulled her face a bit up and looked into Christine’s eyes. Her tears started to fall when Christine said something she wasn’t prepared for.

“If something blocks you to reach that dream, the smaller dreams lying there in your heart will keep finding you. No matter how tough the circumstances are, you can’t stop dreaming until you die. Can you promise me that, Steph?” Christine raised her hand with her pinkie extending to reach Stephanie.

Stephanie nodded and did the same. “Yeah, I promise,” she answered, despite feeling anxious about her future. Aside from wanting to keep her internship, she has nothing else in mind that she might want to pursue later on.

Her life was boring. She lived most of her young life in poverty and was left alone because her parents had to work. They kept working to such an extent that she barely saw them at home. The only person she counted on for support was Christine and her old cat, Titan.

Stephanie’s haunting past continued reeling in her head as they locked their pinkies together and looked into each other’s eyes.

“You have to take care of yourself, Stephanie. With your situation right now, I understand why you can’t visit the cat shelter lately, so stop beating yourself up, feeling bad for not coming that frequently as you did before.”

“But, we’re supposed to be running the cat shelter together. We built it together, ‘Tine.” Stephanie’s face was dampened by her tears as they continued to gush out from her now bloodshot eyes. “I feel so bad that I couldn’t even spend time with what I want to do because of this fucking job.”

“You’ve got a choice, Steph. Even if you won’t believe it yourself, you’ve got the power inside you, and that’s unique to you. It’s up to you to use it for your advantage and live the best version of yourself.”

“What power are you talking about?”

“What I mean is you have the power to make a decision for yourself and your life. It’s nobody’s business. Not even your parents or me. It’s your choice to live a life you truly wanted. The question is, what are you going to do with the power that you have?”

Stephanie was about to grab another bottle, trying to dismiss what her friend said. But Christine tried to snatch the bottle away from her, however, Stephanie was stronger than her.

“Don’t stop me,” she sputtered and grabbed the bottle away from Christine. “They said it’s my fault for having caused all of Sir Titan’s problems. But it wasn’t my fault at all. I did it all for that bastard, and this is what he did to me in return. I took all the blame instead.”

“You will never know what he was thinking, Steph. So, you can’t judge his motives without hearing his side of the story.” Christine’s eyes winced as she was watching her friend almost lose her balance on her seat. She looked up to the skies and realized it was near late evening, and her best friend was wasted.

Christine tried to keep herself from asking additional questions despite wanting to. The more she observed the depressing sight playing out in front of her, the more she started to picture Stephanie’s difficult life after all these years.

Despite that she had known Stephanie since middle school, Stephanie frequently shied away from sharing her side of the story. She never spoke up for herself or took a stand even when she has the right to do it.

Even though their friendship had grown closer over the years as they older, Christine couldn’t help but feel concerned about her. The longer Stephanie remained alone, the more desperate she was.

Christine clucked as she looked at Stephanie once again and tapped her friend’s shoulders, shaking her in an attempt to wake her senses up. “Hey, Steph,” she paused and let out an exasperated sigh while she looked at Stephanie, closing her swollen eyes.

But then, Stephanie shoved it and leaned her weight on one side with her elbow on the table. She wanted to grab another bottle but Christine stopped her as she snatched the bottle from her friend.

It didn’t take long for Stephanie to cry in desperation. “Why do you want me to stop drinking, ‘Tine?”

“You can’t continue living like this, Steph. I don’t want to force you to tell me everything. But, I’m your friend. You can trust me with your problems. You can’t keep them all to yourself.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Stephanie answered. That was the only thing she could say.

While feeling bad for herself, her cries became louder and louder the more she was thinking about her situation. All she thought was that she was fucked up and nothing else.

She wanted to tell Christine the whole story. But she signed Titan’s contract. That means, she agreed to the clause of confidentiality Titan wanted her to do. The clause forbids Stephanie to tell the truth about her situation until the contract expires.

Stephanie shook her head as she tearfully said, “I hope you understand, ‘Tine,” she paused as she grabbed Christine’s hand and held it tighter, still shaking her head. “I can’t tell you. I’m truly sorry.”

Christine nodded, respecting her friend’s decision. She sighed and placed her hand on top of Stephanie’s hand. “I understand, but please, take care of yourself, Stephanie. If you like, you might want to hang out with the cats tomorrow. It’s the weekend anyway. And I guess that’s better than just drinking a lot, Steph.”

“What’s wrong with my drinking? I’m not even half of the case.”

“Not even half a case?” Christine repeated in a louder tone. Her eyes widened out of concern. “This is concerning me already. You know you can’t go back to your old habits,” she paused and looked at her friend, closing her eyes and snorting while she was losing her balance. “I don’t want you to do what you’ve done when we’re in middle school ever again.”

“I know, ‘Tine. But what else could I do to escape my reality? I don’t want to smoke. I don’t want to take drugs. I’m not a gamer or a gambler. What else is there other than drinking?” Stephanie took the bottle she wanted to take earlier.

“But it isn’t the best way to solve your problems, Steph.” Feeling defeated, Christine let out an exasperated sigh with concern on her face. Yet, the more she was looking at her, she noticed Stephanie was getting thinner and looking pale.

No, Stephanie. You’re not okay. Christine thought as she exhaled another sigh, feeling bad for how Stephanie appeared. She looked dead.