The Mistake

The Slap That Start It All

I do care about human and their rights as well, but the will to study medicine and try to save them is not in my hands. Haha, no. I can't deal with trying to save someone's life when they don't want to listen to me. That's what animals are for, they don't talk back when I'm trying to save them.

"Yawn! Ah!" I stretched one more time and suddenly realized I'm going to wear formal attire. Great.

I pull out my black business pants and a white blouse, with a black blazer on, trying to fix my curly hair. Being in Europe has been a new change for me as I'm used to being in America. Although I was not born there, the culture from here to there is vastly different.

Okay, maybe not that different, but there are clear lines that both have. The common thing they do share is the way they treat people who are not European or have darker skin tones. Being a brown, Mexican-Colombian woman, hehe. My accent is very clear for them to know I'm not from here.

Although my English has improved a lot, I still feel like I'm treated differently from the way I speak, as I'm ignored a lot.

Feeling fear in my stomach from that, I closed my eyes, knowing my family would not give up. They know this is nothing compared to the journey of getting to America and being accepted there. I must keep fighting and do what I love.

"Maytivoza! You almost done?!" Matthew calls me outside the shower room, leaving me annoyed.

"Si! I'm almost done." I said, don't like wearing makeup, but we are going to do a little bit of work to hide this scar on my face. It's not that noticeable, but if you stare hard at my face, it is. I conceal it and add mascara to enhance my eyes with my glasses, taking a final look at myself.

Eh, I look decent.

At least I don't smell like shit right now. I grab my backpack, place it in my locker, and walk out to Matthew. He wore a navy blue suit as well, with his black hair slit back, looking nice and formal.

"I bet your girlfriend would love to see you wear that, huh?" I made fun of him. He huffs, fixing himself. "This is so uncomfortable. If she does, then I'll make sure we never go to any fancy place."

"Ooh, tóxico." I laugh, hearing him chuckle as well. "Okay. Wood better give us a good damn raise. We are doing his job more than him, you know?"

No denied, that's true. I don't know why Wood can't do that as he's a man of words. He can convince even a president to have his country stop hunting endangered species and create conservations to help restore their home and populations. Why have two idiots do that for him?

"Yep. Guess he wants us to embarrass ourselves." I said, hearing my flat shoes echo in the hallway as we headed outside. The front part of the building does a good job of hiding the vast land of animals behind us, only seeing the company trucks around us. We jump to one of the white truck, letting Matthew drives us to our destination.

It was not a nerve-racking feeling as I was aware of what to do. The only thing that makes my stomach hurt is an audience will be present when we make this happen.

Fuck that. Presentation in front of an audience is different than one person who knows their job very well. Is getting embarrassing in front of an audience that makes it ten times worse.

But still, I can't let this overrule me. I'm better than this. "We got this, Matthew! Believe in yourself!" I told him, forming fists. He stayed quiet for a minute before he replied, "I believe in myself! I believe in taking this car to a cliff and never looking back!"