After getting myself prepared to visit Fred, I went to aunt Vicky and told her I was going out. She nodded her head in acknowledgement while going through her phone. She was obviously busy.
When I headed downstairs, I found the tv on even though there was no one in the sitting room. Where is Jessica? Wasn't she supposed to be at home? Well, I guess she's in her room. I thought to myself as I turned the tv off.
Thus, I headed out of the house and waited patiently for the cab I booked from Camila's Go Travel app. It should be here any minute, I sighed checking the time from my phone.
Just then, the phone buzzed... popping a notification that says "Your ride is here!" – and I was like, my ride? Where is it? Fortunately for me, when I looked around I saw it coming from afar. Nice! I wore a light smile on my face.
When the cab arrived, the cabman pulled over in front of me and lowered his window's glass. Then he took his phone from the dashboard and glanced at the screen, "Are you Miss Laura Ryan, please?" he asked, now staring at me.
"Yes," I said as I grabbed the handle of the back passenger seat. Hence, I pulled the door open and hopped before shutting the door. "drive please" I ordered.
"Okay, mam. Please don't forget to fasten your seatbelt. By the way, I am 525" he said.
"525?" I uttered, confused while fastening my seatbelt. Just then, the thought of 305 popped into my head, I mean the cabman that drove me to the Mainland a day prior.
"Yes, that's my codename. In Go Travel, we are addressed using codenames. This makes it easier for the company to obtain information about employees in their database should should a customer lodge a complaint" he explained as he gently began driving the car.
"Nice, and thanks for the briefing, three oh... I mean, five two five" I uttered, leaning my head on the headrest on the seat I sat on.
"You are welcome" he smiled at me through the rearview mirror.
While on our way to Hudson Hospital, where Fred was admitted. I decided to stop by a flower shop to get him a bouquet of flowers. According to 525, it violates the terms and conditions of their company and may lead to being charged extra fee. However, I didn't care. I had some change in my bank account, I would settle them.
After buying the flowers, I headed back to the cab and off we went. We arrived at the hospital few minutes later and, instead of full rating, I gave him four stars. He didn't seem happy but somehow, he managed to wear a smile on his face, "I hope that we meet again, Miss. Bye!" he said and drove away.
I didn't like the way he threw the whole company thing to me. If he wanted to tell me I was violating their terms and conditions, he should have done that in a respectful manner. His words hurt me that was why I gave him such rating.
I intended to give him three stars though, but somehow I decided to change my mind. He probably has a family that relied on him, if I should do what I intended to do to him; it might not only hurt him, it would affect his family too. One way or the other.
I went directly to the nurse I found on desk and asked her about Fred, the new patient. She asked if he was involved in an accident and I told her yes. She then directed me to the ward, "However, you are not allowed to see him" she warned.
"Okay, thank you" I said and headed to the ward. I stared at him through the window as he snored with oxygen mask on his face. The computer kept beeping gently, which I guess was an indication that he was breathing normal.
While staring at him with flowers in my hand, a woman appeared from nowhere... almost freaking me out, and asked what I was doing there, "Are you looking for someone?" she was curious, she looked like someone in her late 60s.
"Yes, actually, I am here for him" I gestured towards sleeping Fred.
"Fred?" The woman wrinkled a brow at me.
"Yes, he's my..." I wanted to say friend but decided to make it look like Shirley sent me, that way he would be happy when he wakes up and finds the flowers I brought, "he's my friend's boyfriend, and she sent me to deliver this to him" I handed over the flowers to her.
"Oh, okay. Thank you. I am his grandma, I will let him know about this when he wakes up. Please, leave now. We were told to give him some space, you can come back tomorrow or, if possible don't come back again until he's fully recovered" she said in what seemed like a whisper.
"Alright, mam" I said and bade her goodbye before leaving.
What just happened? Like seriously, why did she said all that? Why did she sent me away? Anyways, it's obvious she didn't want her grandson to talk to anyone, or was it about the police case? Did the police visited them? I kept thinking until I was finally out of the hospital building.
The first thing I did was to call Shirley and tell her everything that had happened, but I didn't tell her about the flowers I delivered to him in her name. "Do you think he's fine? How did he sounded like while breathing?" she queried.
"He sounded somehow, but it's definitely not death rattle. I think he's sleeping, just like she said" I explained. "Why did you asked? Any problem?" I uttered, concerned.
"I am just having this weird feeling that something isn't right, I would like to speak with him when next you go to the hospital. Put him on the phone, okay? And if the old woman tries stopping you, give her the phone. Please" she implored.
"Alright, no problem"
"Thank you, Laura"
"You are welcome!" I ended the call.
After the call, I stopped a cab and quickly hopped in. "Cornfield, please" I said to the cabman.
"Okay, mam" he said and stepped on the gas.
Mam, did he just called me Mam? "Miss, please!" I corrected him.
"Okay, Miss. Sorry for the..." he said as I cut in,
"It's okay, I understand" I muttered.
Thus, silence crept upon us. I outrightly disliked being addressed as Mam, as if I was old or something? I didn't look old to begin with, why was I being addressed as that?
Yesterday 305 called me Mam, and he was the first to do that. And now this cabman here did the same, I guess I should opt for a plastic surgery to look younger. Kidding, though!
As the cab continue to move gently, my phone rang. It was a call from an unknown contact. However, it looked like a company number hence I picked the call without a second thought.
"Hello, are you Laura Ryan" The caller, who sounder like a young lady asked.
"Hi, yes, that's me. Any problem?" I curiously said.
"It's Linda Vance from StableGrid Ltb, and you are hereby hired to work at the company's accounting department" The lady announced.
"Wow, I mean... thank you" I said, overly excited.
"You are welcome" she said and continued, "You are hereby expected to report to work tomorrow, I hope that's okay with you? If you have anything to say, please don't hesitate to do that. But know that this call is being recorded as part of the contract agreement"
"Okay, it's fine. Nothing to say, I will report tomorrow. Thank you so much!" I uttered, not even knowing what else to say. To be honest, I was so happy. My happiness knew no bound!
"You are welcome" The lady said and then terminated the call.
"Yes!" I said, hitting the other side of the passenger seat with my fist. "Sorry," I gulped as the cabman glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
"It's fine, this is not a company car. It's my personal car, turned into a taxi" he said, smiling at me through the mirror.
"Oh, I didn't even notice" I said, prompting him to choke.
"I guess you are used to riding company taxis, is it MyRide or Go Travel? To mention but few" he said with his Southern accent.
"Go Travel, why don't you work with companies? You don't have to be driving around looking for passengers or parking around streets" I said, concerned.
"I once worked with a company, I won't mention names but that company ripped me off. I realized I was being used, for that reason I decided to start my own taxi business. And now I am earning more than I was being paid while working with the company" he elaborated.
"Oh, nice. That's good since you are earning more now" I said.
"Yeah. You know, when you are working with companies you would be paid based on your ratings. Those with higher ratings are paid more while those with lower ratings are paid, and you could get your income slashed for violating certain rules like stoping to take a nap or going home to check on family without the authorization of the company. And so on" he explained further. I actually got his point, owning your own taxi business is better than working for someone else.
"That's bad, why the strict rules?" I muttered.
"You asking me? Well, I guess it's because the companies think their workers a slaves, hence they can do whatever they wish to to them. And once you are in, you don't go out easily. You could be sued for trying to quit without the authorization of the company you are working with" she said shaking his head, "I don't even want to think about FreeWay no more..." he added. Did he just mentioned the company he worked for? I thought he said he wouldn't be mentioning names. Perhaps it was a mistake, he also acknowledged that by shaking his head with a smile on his face.
"You are doing good, keep it up" I encouraged him.
"Thank you!" he said and cleared his throat, "So, you got a job, huh? I mean, the call you had earlier"
"Yes, actually... I applied for a job yesterday in one company and luckily I got employed today" I tried not to give away the information of the company to him.
"You applied for a job in a company yesterday and you got it today? What job is that and what's the name of the company?" he curiously asked.
"It's... it's an accounting job, the company distributes electricity" I replied, thinking about the new topic to dive into before he forced me to reveal confidential information.
"Electricity? Is it StableGrid?" he asked, but before I could say no he chuckled and answered himself, "No, it can't be StableGrid. The company is too rigid, and the chief executive officer and founder is a very strict mam, so I heard" his words sent shivers down my spine, "he doesn't have sympathy for the poor, nor does he care about giving donations. All he cares about is spending his money on all kinds of luxury" he added. I didn't even know what to say or do, thus I kept quiet even though I felt the urge to defend Frank's family, of course they were kind. If they weren't, I wouldn't be giving job in their company. "So, is it MPH?" he asked.
"What's that?" I wrinkled a brow at him through the rearview mirror.
"Mainland Power Holdings, is it the company that offered you the job or is it FVL, Friendly Voltage Limited?" he said, boring me. I didn't even know when I nodded my head in affirmative and told him it was the company, the last one he mentioned.
