When Love Happens

It was a busy Monday morning, the sky was clear, and no sign of rain was in sight.

As it had rained cat and dog the previous week.

Everyone was going about their business as it was the first day of the week, and the traffic was frustrating to those on their way to their respective offices.

The case was not the same for Sofia Cortez as she was just laid off from her place of work.

"Like I said we can't keep you here anymore, I'm only letting you go without involving external forces because of the friendship I share with your father," said Mrs. Bortlen the manager of Haute House Boutique.

"No! You are only letting me go because the CCTV cameras here don't function" Sofia fired back angrily pointing to the faulty cameras that stared blankly at her.

"Sofia, don't cause a scene here, take the letter and leave, please," Mrs. Bortlen said softly as she picked up the letter from her desk and handed it to Sofia. "

Sofia, let's leave, There's nothing you can do, their minds are made up," Camilla said tapping her on the shoulder.

Sofia had worked for two years at Haute House Boutique after she graduated from college, and getting to work there was very difficult as the requirements for application were very rigid but through the influence of her father, a vacant space was given to her as the receptionist.

And now she is getting laid off because of a confrontation she had with a customer who accused her of being rude to her and her boyfriend.

Sofia insisted that she was being accused of something she didn't do but like they say "customers are always right", The lady and her boyfriend reported her to the manager and insisted she should be laid off since she was stubborn and not remorseful.

Haute House was a well-known boutique situated at the heart of Pachuca in Mexico City, where the wealthy come to shop expensive designer wears and perfume with limited edition and the big men come to spoil their wives and mistresses with expensive gifts.

Sofia picked up her letter reluctantly and without saying a word she gestured to Camila for them to leave the premises.

As they were about to leave Sofia collided with a young handsome man in a suit, he was oozing sexiness, his blue eyes sparkled to the lights of the building, and his sense of fashion was top-notch.

Sofia was spellbound as she has never met such a handsome young man like that in her life, he looked vaguely familiar, like she had seen him on a magazine or a television commercial all that did not matter to her all she knew is that she had seen an angel on earth.

He was being guarded by two men in suits, who followed him closely behind carrying a suitcase each. "

Are you blind?" the young man shouted at her angrily.

"You just ruined my shoes" he continued as he pointed to his shoes which had been smeared.

"I..i didn't see you come..ing and you don't have to be rude" Sofia stuttered.

"Pardon?" "Who raised you?" "You were not taught to apologize?" the young man continued as he moved closer to Sofia.

"Apologize for what?" "After insulting me, you expect me to apologize to you?" Sofia asked trying not to make the young man notice she was a bit intimidated by him.

"Sofia you smeared his shoes, please let's don't cause a scene here" Camila whispered to her.

"I sincerely apologize, my friend didn't see you coming through, please..." Camila was cut short as Mrs. Bortlen walked up to them to find out what the fuss was all about.

"Good day señor Gustavo Alvarez" Mrs. Bortlen greeted with a smile on her face. M

"Please is there an issue?" Mrs. Bortlen asked.

"No there's no issue" Sofia replied.

"Sofia, I was not talking to you"

"She works here?" Gustavo asked as his eyes caught the name tag on Sofia's shirt.

"Yes señor, she used to work here, we laid her off today" Mrs. Bortlen replied as she looked at Sofia.

"And why is that?" Gustavo asked with a smirk on his face, which showed he was satisfied with the fact she had just been laid off from work.

"Few customers complained that she was rude to them" Mrs Bortlen replied.

"You see, I was not wrong, a wretched being like you can't even keep a job, and every time your kind are always the first to blame the rich for having everything".

"It's best you go home and let your parents teach you some manners" Gustavo said as he made to leave".

"I apologize if I smeared your expensive shoes and wasted your time, but I won't have you insult my parents in that manner," Sofia said softly as she was close to tears.

"Learn some manners, and have a nice day," Gustavo said as he walked out on her. Sofia stood there motionless, she regretted ever coming to work that Monday morning.

She could have just left when Mrs. Bortlen asked her to at least the chances of bumping into Gustavo were slim.

"I'm glad you were laid off earlier, do you know who that young man is?" Mrs. Bortlen asked with her eyes wide open.

"Well if you don't know, I'll tell you, Señor Gustavo Alvarez, is the son of Mateo Alvarez, who owns a conglomerate of businesses all across Mexico and the United States."

Mrs. Bortlen continued. Immediately Mrs. Bortlen said this Camila and Sofia's eyes widened and they were in shock, Sofia was sure she had seen his face somewhere but she couldn't recall where.

Gustavo Alvarez was one of the top young men in Mexico City who was among the most successful and richest men in their thirties.

He was the only son of Mateo Alvarez and he has an elder sister Victoria Pèrez, who was already married to her prom date from high school and who is the only son of the present governor of Hildago.

Gustavo Alvarez was admired by every woman in Mexico but he paid little or no attention to them. All he cared about was the chain of businesses his father handed over to him after he fell ill.

"Is there a way I can go and apologize to him?"

"I didn't mean to talk back at him," Sofia asked remorsefully.

"No Sofia, that won't be necessary anymore, I will apologize on your behalf so I suggest you go home now" Mrs. Bortlen suggested as she excused herself.

Sofia stood there for some seconds regretting her outburst toward Gustavo, she felt remorseful and knew she didn't handle the situation well.

"Let's go Sofia before you cause more trouble," Camila said as they made their way out of the boutique.

Sofia went back home with mixed emotions.

She felt she was cursed, this was the only job she was able to get and now she had lost it and now she was without a job.

She lived with her father David Cortez who owned a farm in the countryside.

Her mother died when she was Ten years old leaving her with just her father.

She could barely remember what the cause of death was, and when she asked her father he said she was sick and died.

She missed her mother so much and wished she was alive to comfort her.

The thoughts of Gustavo insulting her parents made her cry because he insulted her dead mother. She went to her room and took out her old laptop from the drawer.

She plugged the laptop and typed in his name on the search bar. His name popped up and she smiled, she looked through his pictures and appreciated the way he dressed and how good-looking he looked in those pictures.

She could remember vividly what he was wearing when they collided, his suit was from Kiton K50, and his shoes were Tom Ford. And his cologne smelt very expensive, she was not sure she had perceived such an expensive perfume in her life before.

As she went through the pictures on the internet, she came across a picture that made her frown.

There were rumors around the city that he was engaged to a minister's daughter but he hasn't come out to the public to refute or acknowledge the rumors.

Sofia looked at the picture with jealousy, the Lady was pretty with her beautiful smile and clear skin, and everything she wore was clearly expensive.

She wished she was the one in the picture standing in a romantic position with Gustavo. Sofia was so lost in thoughts that she didn't realize that her phone was ringing, she looked at it reluctantly, the call was from Camila.

"Are you home?" Camila asked over the phone.

"Yes, got back twenty minutes ago" Sofia replied. "Hope you are better now?" Camila asked.

"Yes, I'm good, I'm just ashamed of myself right now, How could I do that to Gustavo Alvarez of all people?"

"Are you remorseful or you are just pained that you crossed paths with him on the wrong foot?"

"Camila I don't care, I just wished I was a bit nicer and that's all, maybe he wouldn't have insulted my parents," Sofia said.

"Hmmm, Sofia I don't think so, Gustavo is always arrogant and proud, don't blame yourself for anything please, you just have to think about the way forward right now".

"That's true, I just hope I don't come across him anymore".

"I know you don't mean that but that's by the way, I will let you know if there are any openings anywhere, all I want you to do now is to forward your resume to me through Email".

"Oh Gracias Camila" Sofia thanked her. "It's nothing, before I end the call, I was thinking if we could hang out tomorrow with Noah and Jason" .

"Yes I'm down" Sofia replied with a smile on her face.

"Ok, talk to you tomorrow," Camila said as she hung up. Sofia was a bit relaxed now.

Camila was one friend she never regretted letting into her life.

They became friends since her first year in college, Camila was different from other girls in school.

Camila was from a wealthy family but she never used because of her family wealth to discriminate against Sofia.

Sofia slept off on her bed, but a knock on the door of her bedroom woke her up, when she looked at the clock it was six in the evening, and she reluctantly got up from her bed and headed toward the door.

"Good evening Pa" she greeted her father.

"Good evening bunny" David Cortez replied.

"What happened, I got a call from Mrs. Bortlen, she said you got laid off, what did you do?" David Cortez queried.

"Pa, I didn't do anything, I was accused of being rude to customers" Sofia defended.

"And the young man you bumped into and ruining his outfit?".

"Pa, that was Gustavo Alvarez and trust me I didn't know, he just looked different today".

"What did you say?"

"The young man you bumped into was Gustavo Alvarez?" David Cortez asked trying to make sure he heard the name correctly.

"Yes Pa, he was the one and he was just rude and arrogant, the rumors were never lies," Sofia said disappointed.

"Well I'm glad you didn't have any further confrontations with him, Mrs. Bortlen said she handled the situation professionally".

Sofia noticed the shock on her father's face when she mentioned Gustavo Alvarez's name, she wondered why he was shocked.

"Pa, why do you seem surprised?"

"Your countenance changed when I mentioned his name"

"Yes bunny, and that is because they are not good people," he said quickly as he made to leave her bedroom.

"Everyone says that but I don't seem to understand why"

"Bunny, with time you will understand what I'm saying" "

I bought dinner, freshen up and join me at the dining" Sofia watched her father walk out of the door as she wondered what her father was hiding from her, he was always fond of keeping things away from her and telling her with time she would get to understand.

She wondered if her father knew the Alvarez family personally but considering how poor and irrelevant they are in the community she concluded her father was talking based on rumors he must have heard, read on papers or watched on the television.

The next day came and Sofia was out of bed, she opened her window which made the birds that came to sing to her every morning fly away.

She decided to do her laundry, she was sure her father was already off to the farm, her father decided to go into farming when they moved to Pachuca, he went into farming so they could be able to have a roof over their heads and food to eat.

Supporting her dad was her main goal, but due to the system of the country, she found it difficult to accomplish that goal.

She was still sorting out her clothes when she heard a voice call out her name.

"Sophy!" the voice called out again.

She quickly abandoned the clothes she was sorting to go check who was calling out her name, she opened the door and it was her boyfriend James.

She was not surprised, she knew he was the only one who called her "Sophy" but she was surprised to see him again at her house.

She opened the door and she let him into the living room.

"James what are you doing here?" she queried.

"Are you not happy to see me?"

"Not even a hug?" he asked with open arms.

"James I've not seen you for the past one week, no calls, no texts and you show up at my house and you are demanding a hug?"

"No baby! I went on a business trip" James said as he pulled her over to him and kissed her passionately.

James made efforts to unbuckle his shorts as he kissed her passionately, Sofia noticed what he was about to do and she pulled herself away from him.

"What do you want to do?"

"Sophy I've missed you, didn't you miss me baby?" he asked as he looked into her eyes passionately.

"I do but why do you reek of alcohol?"

"Have you gone back to drinking?"

"Sophy, that's not important right now, I need money," James said barely looking at Sophia.

"What do you need money for and what about the three hundred dollars I lent you last month"?

"You haven't refunded me that money and you are asking for more," Sofia asked peering into his eyes.

"I....I know Sophy, I know but you know mum is sick and she needs this now, I can't afford to lose her, or do you..." James stuttered rubbing his fingers.

And she always melted anytime he called her "Sophy"

"No no don't do that James" Sofia caught him in.

Sofia knew what James was up to, he always loved playing the emotional blackmail card and of course, it always worked.

"So how much do you need?" Sofia asked

"Well just a thousand dollars" James replied

"What! A thousand dollars, James I do not have that kind of money, do you how much I earn from Haute House?"

"And besides i've been laid off"

"What?!" James exclaimed with his eyes open.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it, just maybe if you always called and cared about me, you might have known what happened," Sofia said as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry babe, I've just been busy," James said touching her face.

"James, that amount of money is huge, it doesn't even sum up my savings".

"I know Sophy, the hospital bill cost a lot but I'll still add some of my money to the one you will lend me to make it up".

" Ok, let's do it this way, I'll give you eight hundred dollars right now and try to see if I can make it up later".

"Oh that's fine, I'm cool with that".

Sofia couldn't say no, she just had to give him the money.

James had been her boyfriend since college, they were both art major students and they did excellently well in their academics.

Sofia had always rejected his proposal every time he approached her until the day he rescued her from the college tyrants to show appreciation Sofia accepted to go on a coffee date with James, and the rest was history.

Getting up from the single sofa he was sitting on and moving closer to Sofia, James gave her a quick but light peck on her cheek.

Sofia got up and went into her room and came back shortly with the money.

"Thank you Sophy this means a lot to me, I'll have to be on my way so I can see the doctor and tell him to commence treatment immediately," James said.

"Yeah, you should I'll come to visit maybe tomorrow morning" Sofia responded standing up from the arm of the sofa she sat on facing James.

"Please babe this is my savings, but life first, and remember the last one I lent to you. Please I need it".

"Don't worry Sophy, I'll add interest when I'm paying back"

Sofia deliberately ignored the last sentence James said because ever since she started dating James he found it difficult to gift her anything.

She was only concerned about him paying back all the money she lent to him first.

"See you tomorrow then," James said barely looking at her as he made his way to the door.

Sofia sank onto the cushion resting her back against it and her eyes rolled up to the ceiling, she was deep in thought.

The only money she had she had given out to James, it wasn't a bad thing after all but James had the habit of being reminded to pay back the money she loans to him.

" I need to get a job," she said not aware she was audible.

But how could she get her a job when all people do is talk bad about her customer service to them. She felt really bad and broke.

Sofia decided to go job hunting or better still look for job openings on every newspaper she gets, but on a second thought, which money would she use to buy a newspaper. She just have to wait till whenever her father buys one.

She wished she had been nicer to Gustavo Alvarez, maybe he might have pleaded on her behalf. Even though he seemed rude and she didn't like that.

But then, she might just had retained her job at Haute House Boutique through his help influence.

Thinking about this, brought more memories to what had happened at the Haute House Boutique the previous day.

Sofia didn't know when she started smiling again at the mere thought of the events.