The Award

Everyone wants to succeed, everyone wants to achieve something that they are proud of, that they can look at and feel they are worthy of something and that desire had filled Eva's heart too.

She badly wanted the 'Employee of the Year' award, which had remained only a desire in her heart for the past five years since she joined the company, every year she would hope to be the one to get it, she tried to work harder than others, tried her best to come up with unique ideas, but no matter what she put in, she always failed to be the winner.

And if all her hardwork going down the drain wasn't enough, there was a new thorn in her path, her best friend, Clarissa. She had joined the company on her recommendation but to her dismay had proven to be better at work than she had originally thought, she had become the rising star that was hurting her chances of ever getting the award.

Not a day went by when she didn't feel she was the most foolish person in the world, every morning as she dressed for work she was reminded of Clarissa, and cursed herself, she just wanted to help her friend and was happy initially to be working along with her best friend.

But this happiness of her's was unfortunately short-lived and it was soon replaced by a much darker emotion that she hadn't felt for her in all these years, she didn't even realise when it had started to creep up, but she knew it was there and she couldn't make it go away!

As she saw her chances of getting the award that year getting dimmer day by day, she had started to feel jealous of Clarissa, every time Clarissa got praised by their boss, something flinched inside her, she could feel her insides turn every time Clarissa came up with a new idea, and darkness engulfed her when her colleagues and the boss actually liked the idea.

Every time she looked at her best friend, she no longer felt joy like she had felt once before, and she couldn't recall how long it had been because now whenever she looked at her, she felt her chances of getting the award slipping away from her, it was like this person right infront of her had snatched her only hope!

Although Clarissa smiled at her every morning, she didn't like the smiling face anymore, the jealousy she had earlier felt, had turned into something even more darker, than she had imagined, she had fallen into the strong grips of envy, and she knew once you get envious of someone, there was no going back, could she ever see Clarissa as a friend again and not a major rival?

She didn't have an answer to that question, and she knew even if she tried to find an answer, it wouldn't be something she would like to hear, her desire to get the award was greater than her affection for her long time best friend.

When she saw Clarissa exiting the bosses cabin, her heart sank, she knew it wouldn't be long before she got a promotion, she had thought that Clarissa was just like her, they shared the same interests after all, but after working along with her, she had started to understand that there was a huge difference between them, and there was no way she could see her in the same way again after that realisation.

She knew Clarissa hadn't realised yet that just how different they were, and she was sure, once she realised that, she wouldn't even speak to her, she would look at her as some lowly creature that simply existed to look up at her and follow her orders, her mind began to torment her with all the humiliation she would have to face in the future.

She shook her head to dispel the thoughts, but they refused to go away, if something takes up the space in your mind, it stays there, and similarly Eva couldn't let go of the idea that a dreadful future awaited her, she thought of all the ways that she could make Clarissa quit.

She knew it was wrong to use the trust Clarissa placed on her for her own personal agenda and if Clarissa had done the same to her, how would she feel?

She thought of all the time they had spent together and in how many different ways Clarissa had been there for her, she knew she was indebted to her for many things, from lending her notes, to helping her cheat during a test so that she could pass, she had come a long way and achieved many things, which she may not have, had Clarissa not been there for her.

She looked at the ring in her hand, the matching set of rings that Clarissa had brought for her as a mark of their friendship and smiled, she knew she had to choose wisely.

"You look down lately, everything okay?", Clarissa asked her the next morning.

She was taken aback that she had noticed,

"Can we meet at the coffee shop after work?, I had something to discuss with you, it's important but I can't discuss it here."

"Sure."

As she looked at the cup of coffee in her hand, she felt a sense of unease, she glanced around nervously, when she was sure no one from her workplace was there, she asked,

"Why were you in Andrew's cabin last week?"

Clarissa seemed surprised with the sudden question, she took awhile to regain composure before she answered,

"Well he is our boss, he had asked me what I thought about the upcoming project, is there anything wrong in that?"

She again looked around nervously before she continued,

"Well.....the thing is....how do I put it?...I am feeling really embarrassed and ashamed to say this, but I know if I don't say it, I would only harm you."

Clarissa tried to grasp what she was saying but still felt confused.

"I know you are wondering what I am going to say, and why I called you here all of a sudden and why I feel wary of Andrew, the thing is..."

Her eyes filled up with tears, Clarissa looked more worried now than confused, before she could say something to comfort her, she continued,

"Andrew isn't the kind of man you think he is!, he pretends to be friendly, but that is just a mask!, you haven't worked here long enough so you don't know, he has...inappropriately...touched me a number of times."

Clarissa looked horrified, she didn't know what to say, she tried to form words but nothing came out of her mouth.

"I am really sorry, I didn't want to drag you into this mess!, I just wanted to help you out!, but I know I was being selfish, maybe I just wanted company, I wanted to quit but I couldn't gather enough courage, I know I am a coward!", she began to cry, Clarissa looked at her sympathetically, she placed her hand on her hand to comfort her.

Within a week of their meeting Clarissa resigned from the job, much to her satisfaction, being friends with someone had the added perk of knowing all their secrets and all the different ways to control them, she knew Clarissa had been assaulted as a teen and that the trauma of it had stayed with her, she didn't show it but she feared men.