Miranda, my roommate, banged the door open and walked in."Clara, wake up," she said, walking closer to where I was lying. "Clara, wake up. It's already morning" she said, tapping and patting my back.
I slowly blinked, my eyes opened, and I rolled my head in the direction of the voice and saw a structure standing there, smiling as it looked like a ghost, causing shock sensations to run through my body.
I quickly blinked again to make sure that what I saw wasn't a mistake but apparently, I saw Miranda standing in front of me with a tray in her hands after blinking the second time.
I let out a sigh of relief and shook my head as I rolled myself up and sat upright on the bed to calm my nerves down.
"Clara, what is it? Why are you acting like this this morning?" She asked with concern in her eyes, seeing my expression but I motioned her with my hand to calm down for a minute as I kept looking down.
After a while, I let out a heavy exhale of peace and lifted my face in her direction. "Good morning!" I greeted her with a smile, and she nodded, still staring at me with I'm not sure everything is well, smile.
"Why were you acting like that?" She finally asked again, looking shocked while dropping the tea tray on the table and placing her hand on my shoulder, staring down at me.
I chuckled softly after seeing her concern and let out a sharp sigh before telling her everything but she let out a loud laugh after hearing the details, causing me to glare at her playfully.
"Miranda, why are you laughing? Is that funny?" I asked firmly with a pout on my lips while still glaring at her.
"Okay. Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt your heart this morning." She said while trying to calm her breath. "But it sounds funny" she added.
" Shut up..." I screamed at her, throwing a pillow towards her, but she dutch it, still laughing.
"Okay, okay. Fine. I will not laugh again," she said after calming down her breath and earning a hiss from me. " Fine. Go and brush your mouth; let's eat 'cause I have some lectures to catch up on," she said as she turned to walk to the kitchen.
I stood up and quickly ran to the bathroom with my toothbrush after hearing her words.
Quickly, I brushed my teeth and took a bath before running out with a towel around me.
"So, tell me," Miranda said, taking a sip of her tea with one slide of bread in her hand as I grabbed my own after wearing clothes. We both sat down on the bed.
"Tell you what?" I asked, staring at her and anticipating her next response.
"You graduated last year, why are you still living in the school room after you had graduated? Why not go back home?" She asked, staring at me with curiosity written in every corner of her eyes.
I stared at a space for some minutes after hearing her questions as my mind quickly ran into battles of thought. " Yeah, she is right. I should have gone home after graduation. Yeah, she is right! My graduation was last year."
"Clara, are you still here with me?" She asked confusingly, taking me out of my thoughts.
I quickly turned my gaze to her after hearing her voice. Her eyes were already filled with wondering as she stared at me seriously.
I bit my bottom lip to suppress the tears that were already forming in my eyes from falling. "I don't have parents, that is why," I finally blurted out, staring at her, but she wasn't convinced of my word.
"Are you kidding me, Clara? I hope you're just playing, right?" She asked with a baffling gaze, and with I'm not believing smiles on her lips.
I Shook my head gently in disapproval. "It isn't a joke, Miranda. I'm serious" I said with a trembling voice as tears suddenly streamed down my cheeks.
Immediately, I felt someone's arm calling me into a hug, patting and rubbing my back, soothingly.
"I'm sorry, Clara. I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry, okay? I have believed you now," She said, wiping the tears that were streaming down from my eyes, and I nodded my head in response.
"Okay," I said, sniffing and nodding my head on her chest. " My parents died when I was very little. It has been twenty years now since they died and were buried. They died and left me and my little sister, Malia, only in this world.
We were taken to the orphanage home after they died because our uncle didn't accept the responsibility of taking care of us.
Supposing, my father did not have a good friend, our lives would have been miserable because the orphanage home itself was running low at that time. If not for Mr. Jason our lives would have been miserable like I said.
Mr. Jason has helped us with everything. He chose to become our father right from the day our parents died. All thanks to him.
He helped me to further my education, and to be frank, I came to study for my first degree at the University of New York City through a scholarship.
I received a scholarship to study here while I was writing my WAEC examination.
Miranda, I'm afraid to go back to that orphanage home and stay. I wish I could get a job here and do so that I could be of help to that orphanage home and help my sister also. I'm afraid" I explained, sobbing as my heart couldn't bear the pain of losing my parents at my young age.
Miranda, on the other hand, kept rubbing my back soothingly and stroking my hair. " It's okay, babe. I've understood how you feel, okay? Stop crying," she said, giving me a little squeeze on my shoulder, and I nodded my head in response.
"So, have you been able to apply for a job somewhere?" she asked after a while of silence, and I nodded my head gently.
"Yes. I have applied, and I'm patiently waiting for their reply now," I answered with a low voice, sniffing.
"All right. Don't worry, they will reply. Sit well and drink your tea," she said, helping me to sit upright and we began to drink our tea after cleaning my eyes and my nose.
"Do you know what I had been thinking all this while, Clara?" Miranda asked, gaining my attention back as I was concentrating on my tea and bread.
"No. I don't know," I answered, staring at her, curiously.
" I thought that those people that had been visiting you and sending feeding money for you back then in your school time before you graduated were your parents," she said, causing a soft chuckle to leave my throat.
I Shook my head gently in disapproval. "No. They were not. That was my father's best friend that I have been talking about."
As we were eating and chatting, my phone chimed with vibration as a message entered into it, interrupting our discussion and cutting my attention to its direction.
I quickly picked up my phone on the bed and scrolled through it. My eyes suddenly widened, and my mouth gaped open, gasping in surprise as I saw an unexpected message, causing a scream to leave my throat.
"Clara, what is it? Who is that?" Miranda yelps, asking with shock in her eyes as she seems stunningly confused.
I suddenly turned my gaze back to Miranda, grinning widely after hearing her questions. But instead of answering her questions, I quickly stood up and danced, jumping around with a shout of joy as the joy became overwhelming.
"I've gotten the job I applied for, Miranda," I said, jumping around as I handed the phone to her. " Take it and read the message"
She quickly grabbed the phone curiously to read the message.
"Miranda finished reading and smiled back at me. " Congratulations, Clara," she said, standing up and hugging me tight.
***********
Coming back from work, I pushed the door open. "Miranda?" I screamed her name in excitement after opening the door and walking in but there was no response. "Miranda?" I called again, but this time, my voice was louder than the first one.
"Yes, Clara? I'm coming…?" She answered, loudly, coming out of our outside public bathroom with a towel around her body. "Yes? What is it, Clara?" She asked, staring at me with shock and anxiety written in every corner of her face after walking in.
I grinned widely at her after seeing her expression. "Go and dress up, let's discuss. I have good news to tell you." I said and she quickly ran and finished everything in one minute just to hear the good news.
"Yes. Here I am. My ears are open," Miranda said, patting a small stool and sitting down.
I slowly spun myself to gaze at her after hearing her voice. A small smile spread on my lips, seeing how curious she was.
Letting out an exhausting sigh, I strapped myself back down on the bed with my dress without removing anything except shoes as my body became weak, and I felt as though my joints had been ripped out of their places because of how stressful work has been today.
"Clara, what is it, now? Tell me what you want to tell me, okay? I'm just curious to hear the good news" Miranda said, shaking my lap and staring at me curiously.