Stand by me

26. Does patience have a limit?

Kate waved at Safiyya with a grin and Safiyya returned the gesture. She never expected the visit. 

"We met once but I already missed you," Kate smiled as they came before each other. 

"Thanks for coming," Safiyya said and glanced at the yellow and black uniform. 

"You guys passed. Congratulations Kate," 

Kate waved her hand and said, "I am sure that you passed too but then…" She frowned and added, "Miss Fernandez said that she's taking you somewhere better but who knew it would be this office? I'm still confused." 

Safiyya forced a smile and replied, "It's not a big deal. Miss Irene wants me to have some experience first, " 

"We all don't have experience too," a voice came before her, startling the young lady. Kate slapped her forehead and glared at Jerald who smiled sheepishly and came beside Safiyya. 

"Sorry about that," he said and she shrugged. "Speaking of, this office is good for experience. If you can get used to the workload here, working with numbers won't be as stressful." 

"Right," Safiyya nodded and walked to her desk. She wondered where Gab must have gone to and left all these works. 

Kate scanned the office and said to Safiyya, "Even with the experience, the work here is too much for a single person to handle. How about this? Jerald and I will come here every day on our lunch break and help you while you rest." 

"You and who?" Jerald eyed her. 

Kate folded her arms and told him, "Dont tell me that you came down here just to gossip around," 

He rubbed his nose and sighed loudly. "Alright, Alright. We come here until you are promoted." 

Even though Safiyya was touched by the gesture, she shook her head and uttered, "I don't have lunch break with everyone. Mine is by 3.30," 

"That makes it better, " Kate said. "We'll help you reduce the work and that way, you can go on your break even faster." 

"Thanks, guys," Safiyya said sincerely and they got to work. They had like 20 minutes left and as they say, three hands are better than one, Safiyya reached the number she was expecting before 3. 

This went on for two days but on the third, Kate and Jerald were nowhere to be found. But even though Safiyya was perplexed, she went on with her work. Old Xav had been taking her home and she heard messages from Yousef which made her glad. 

But then this day, when she started recording the new files in the system, it stopped working. She tried several times but still negative.

"Gab. The computer is not working!" she complained to Gab and he came over to check but to no avail. It was like the system was hacked or something. 

"This is strange," Gab muttered because this had never happened before. How can a system in Hill Corp malfunction all of a sudden? He looked at Safiyya and said, "I will go and get someone from upstairs to check on the system. In the meantime, you can start arranging those files." 

Safiyya nodded and watched him leave. She couldn't help but feel that someone did this. Gab came back later and shook his head. Apparently,  no one wanted to do it and even the security management shunned him. Immediately, they got a call and it was for Safiyya. Her mood dampened even more after hearing Lando's voice. 

"Hi miss Sofiyya. Madam Irene, being so generous said that you don't need to do any delivery and she better not hear that you went upstairs again. And for more consistent work, she wants the filing office to start recording everything in journals. Also, no one is allowed to help you. Byee," he ended the call and Safiyua froze, not knowing what to think. 

No wonder Kate and Jerald disappeared and the system stopped working. What consistent work? The computers were advanced and accurate. This was just punishment. 

She turned around and told Gab what happened. Gab was flabbergasted but just sighed. The time they spend will be longer now because of writing. Typing was already tiring, talk more of writing. Later, when Safiyya was performing ablution for dhur, she could feel her fingers shaking. How long will this continue? 

When it was almost three, Safiyya suddenly dropped a heap of files and exhaled frustratingly. Gab turned to her and her beautiful face was scrunched up. Anyone will get angry at this. Even her. Patience has a limit sometimes. 

"Gab. I want to take a break," she told him silently and walked out. She didn't stop and left the company directly. 

Safiyya's fingers shook as she dialed Old Xav's number and after a few minutes, he was there. 

"What happened Safiyya?" he asked immediately seeing her state. When a normal jovial person is in turmoil, their face says it all.

"I….Just take me somewhere quiet and far away from here. Please," she said in a low voice.  

Old Xab didn't ask more and opened the car for her. Safiyya sat behind and closed her eyes. She remembers what her mother always told her when she was angry. 

'Stay away from people and take some fresh air. Don't act in anger or you might end up doing something that you will regret. Only when the heart and mind are clear can you make the best decisions.'

Old Xav drove past different buildings and this gave Safiyya time to take in some breath. She had her eyes closed throughout the journey. The car stopped and she saw that they were on a sidewalk beside some commercial buildings. The highway was on the other side, making the place relatively quiet. 

"This place is quiet and safe. I will be close by. When you are ready to go back, just call me," Old Xav told her with a smile. Safiyya thanked him and got out of the car while Old Xav drove away. 

Safiyya exhaled walked to the railings and held it. Below was a calm lake that made the atmosphere more peaceful. A smile slowly formed on her face as she watched this. She glanced at the clear sky and sighed. The sky is still standing tall with no support, so surely, Allah is watching all this.