Chapter 4 The weight of expectations

"How dare you leave the office when I didn't ask you to?!" Isabella yelled. "You had the nerve to relegate an assignment I gave you to my secretary. A secretary who was more useful than you are. Was I not aware of her presence at work when I asked you to make the photocopies? I only wanted to make you useful for once but see..." She spread her arms as if what she wanted him to see was right there in the kitchen "... You flopped once again"

"I'm sorry," Henry said silently

"There you go. The only thing you do right is say sorry. How pathetic"

Henry made to touch her shoulder, a ploy to calm her down and prevent her from lashing out at him in front of her sister but she slapped his hand off.

"Don't you dare touch me, you fool. Tell me, what business do you have in the kitchen? Have you been promoted from being a cleaner to a chef at the hotel?"

"I'm not a cleaner Isabella, I'm a housekeeper," He said softly. Michelle chuckled.

"Ohhh. I see now that you want to educate me. Where did you even study? A nameless college in the middle of nowhere because that's where nobodies like you study trash."

"He was making dessert for you. A romantic husband" Michelle chipped in.

"Dessert for me?" Henry nodded. For the first time, he was grateful that Michelle had brought up the dessert because there was no way he could have brought it up. Isabella stared at the mixture in the bowl and the baking pans ready for it. She glanced at Henry then carried the mixture and poured it over his head.

Michelle cracked into a loud throaty laughter as the thick sticky dough dripped down Henry's hair.

Isabella walked out of the kitchen mumbling inaudible things.

"Romantic husband in the mud" Michelle commented and followed her sister.

As Henry got into their bedroom, it took him all the virtue in him to keep still and calm without yelling at Isabella who was busy with her skincare routine.

"I told you to move out of this room, didn't I?" She asked. He ignored her and went to bed. He was even more determined to ignore her in the following days. He went to work and minded his business but he didn't escape the constant insults from Isabella, her mum, and her sister. However, he did a good job of ignoring them all. He didn't have the time to worry about what they said about him because he had a new boss at work.

Mr Richard was a stern manager, newly transferred to the hotel. In the first two weeks of his arrival, he successfully fired six employees over trivial issues. He was a perfectionist and expected nothing less than excellence from the employees. Because of this, Henry was occupied with thoughts of how to do well at work and earn a promotion.

"I heard you're married to Isabella Micheal" Mr Richards stated one day.

"Yes sir" He answered, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

"That's quite shocking. Isabella Micheal is smart and is known for her success in the business world. I'm surprised she is married to someone like you" Mr Richard was looking at him with disdain in his eyes making Henry uncomfortable and unsure of what response to give.

"We love each other" He blotted out. He loved Isabella but was not sure she still loved him. He was not going to show he was unhappy in his marriage to his colleagues at work no matter what.

Mr Richards's brows crinkled into a frown. "Just get back to work. You are just a dumb ass" Mr Richard was laughing and so were two other employees around.

Henry had never felt more embarrassed in his life. He was so tired that he retired into the restroom and there, the manly tears he had been suppressing began to flow. He wondered where his parents were and blamed them for his ill fate. Right from the orphanage where he grew up, people had always disliked him. Even through elementary school and high school. He was popular among the girls in college because of his looks but that only made the guys hate him more. He just got out of the restroom when he got a call from Jimmy.

"What's up, man?" He said into the phone.

"Is this Henry James?" A female voice came on. He took a quick glance at the screen of his phone to make sure the call was from Jimmy.

"Yes. Henry James speaking. May I know who I'm speaking with?" He replied, his voice fiilled with apprehension.

"I'm Rachel Smith from the emergency unit of Central Health Hospital. Seeing that you're Mr Jimmy's emergency contact, I'm calling to inform you that he's in critical condition."

"What? Critical condition?"

"We will fill you in on the details once you get here Mr Henry" The lady replied and dropped the receiver.

Henry could not think straight. He was so agitated that he rushed out of the hotel without any proper documentation of his leaving during work hours which was against their work ethics. He was supposed to sign out and state a cogent reason for it.

Jimmy was an asthma patient and he had an attack at work. He worked at a bar and he was serving drinks when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He struggled to catch a breath but it became almost impossible. Panic was surging in him as he heard customers calling for him, to be served. He could not speak or reach out. He struggled frantically to get to the employee's room where his inhaler was lying in his locker. He could hear the bar manager angrily calling for him and appealing to customers he was supposed to attend to. Slowly, his voice became faint and faded away. He tried to open his locker and reach for his inhaler but he could not. He slipped into Oblivion

He was lying on the floor when his colleague, Abel came in to call him. He screamed in horror.

"What's wrong with him?" The manager asked on getting there

"He must have had an attack" Abel responded.

"An attack?! Holy crap. Call the ambulance"

That was how he landed in the hospital, I was in critical condition.