“R.I.P to the girl you used to see. Her days are over. Baby she’s over.”

I just took a doze of some cough syrup. Horrid horrid taste, in case you’re wondering. The syrup is meant to put me to sleep, so before the drowsiness kicks in let’s see how much I can write.

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Last week I was at work, and had just started my shift. I was positioned on the Sales floor in the Toddler/Baby section and there was a LOT of work to be done. New shipment had arrived early in the morning that day, so all the boxes had to be busted open, and the new stock had to be put out. That doesn’t sound so hard does it? Well, the rule of law is that whenever there is new shipment for the new season that  whole part of the shop has to change. That means, that I was supposed to rearrange the whole Toddler/baby section according to the picture sent to me by the Corporate Gods chilling on their Italian Leather sofas with their cigars lit up in the Company’s Headquarters down east. To make matters slightly more interesting, there was a HUGE sale going on in the store that week specifically on Toddler/baby merchandise to get rid of the Summer wear, to make room for the Fall items packed in those HUGE cardboard boxes just staring at me. You would think, the Head office people would have thought this through, yeah? However they failed to realise that the ‘Sale’ they had put on attracts the average shopper to the store like Dogs. Once the store puts up those BIG red sale signs, it gets bombarded with Shopaholics looking for the cheapest priced items in the most disgusting, unorganized, and rude manner. Complete chaos.

At the start of my shift, I decided to take a look around me at the shop and how the merchandise was organized at the moment, then look at the picture and see what had to be changed around. The shelves had to come down, and replaced by hooks and rods. The posters had to be changed, the manikins had to be undressed and redressed and so on. Without wasting any time I decided to grab a ladder and begin with the display manikins sitting on the top shelves. This required a lot of patience, since the ladder was BIG, and a bit wobbly, the top shelves were WAY up top, and the cherry on the ice: I am a wee bit scared of heights. As I carefully brought the ladder out and made my way through a crowd of people shopping and walking about, I gently placed it against the wall and locked it in place. Carefully climbing up the ladder, trying not to look down, I grabbed a firm hold of the manikins, which were quite small and light compared to the bigger ones that are used to display Men's/Women's clothes. As I was climbing my way down the ladder I felt a slight poke on my back. “Excuse me”, I heard a small voice behind me following the poke. Though I couldn’t see her, I thought her voice was very familiar. “Yeah. Just a second”, I answered politely. When I finally reached the the floor I placed the manikin on the floor and turned to look at the person who’s voice sounded so vaguely familiar.

Familiar she was. Alicia Demetre. My primary school friend. I went to school with for four years, but fate had other plans for us. After primary school I moved to the other side of town and we never saw or spoke to each other again. I took a good look at her and saw that she hadn’t really changed much in terms of her hair and style. But her eyes. They looked different. Ironic as that sounds, but eyes are one part of the Human body that remain the same since the day we are born to the day we die. So why did her eyes look different? Then, I realised it was really the look in her eyes that was one I had never seen on her. Back in Primary school she was always perky, loud and energetic, and the best quality in her: She was kind and simple; Always forgiving, and not one to get into trouble. I liked that about her. Now she looked concerned, scared, and as I took in the view of her full face, a bit ashamed as well. I wasn’t sure if she remembered me all that well, since it had been 7 years so I decided to remain in my Sales Associate role and treat her like any other customer. “Yes. How can I help you?”, I offered. “I’m looking for the Maternity section”.

As my eyes took a slight glance on her round belly sticking out, I was quite startled. Ms. Alicia Demetre. The super duper smart and clever student, receiving one award after another on her marvellous achievements in school. Ms. Class president going home with straight A’s at the end of every term. The one girl who truly knew the meaning of modesty while the others tended to be egotistical, looking for Maternity clothes?. At the moment I didn’t have time to think about how in the world she had ended up in this state, so I quickly answered her question, “The maternity section is straight ahead to your right.” When I looked her in the eye for the last time, the look changed from scared to shock. She recognized me. Her cheeks began to flush a red color, while I found myself constantly staring at the ground. “Can I help you with anything else?”, I offered in hopes of putting an end to this awkwardness. “No thanks! That’s all I had to ask”, she said politely and quickly walked away.

How, why, what or who got in to this mess, I will never know. Nor, am I going to judge her about the decisions she made, or her fate made for her.Surely Allah(swt) knows best. I merely wish her all the best with all the challenges she is facing, and is about to be faced with in the near future. =/

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Anyways, the sleep is knocking at the door, and I shall answer. Hope you lovelies are having a beautiful Summer full of loads and loads of sunshine, and I will leave you with this cute randomness…

 

Haha!

 

Yours Truly x

 

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Title: I’m ready for you – Drake.