Chapter 1

"Good morning, sir, you called me."

Scot was late for work due to the little misunderstanding he had with his wife, if the neighbors had not pleaded on his behalf, he wouldn’t have been able to come to work. He was summoned by his boss immediately he arrived.

“You know what time it is now, right?” his employer asked and he nods his head. His employer looked at him with narrowed eyes “How many times do I have to take more excuses for your tardiness?" he asked.

Scot dropped down on his knees, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he pleads for mercy. 

"It wasn't intentional, sir, I had a slight delay on my way," Scot explained.

"Still no reason" his supervisor said in annoyance then dug inside his drawer for a certain brown envelope. 

Scot is still asking for mercy on his knees. "Sir, please, I had a misunderstanding with my wife this morning, which caused the delay," Scot explained.

Scot's supervisor rose from his chair and approached him, still holding the envelope in his hand.

"Mr. Scot, can you hear yourself?" he asked, sitting beside Scot on the table. "How can you mix family issues with business?" the boss asked. "You are losing focus, Mr. Scot, and we can no longer tolerate your tardiness." 

Scot begged his supervisor in tears, for another chance but I seemed like he already made his decision before Scot arrived.

"I tried, but we no longer require your services, Mr. Scot" he handed Scot the envelope he was holding.

Scot took the envelope with shaky hands but continued to beg for another opportunity.

"Sir, please, I have nowhere else to go and a family to take care of, pardon me sir," Scot cried out in desperation.

Scot's supervisor still had no sympathy for him when he asked him to leave his office and threatened to call security if he refused to leave. With a heavy heart, Scot rose to his feet and walked out of the office with a sad expression on his face. 

As he walked out, his coworkers began whispering and making jest of him. The embarrassment was too much for Scot at this point.

He couldn't go home, so he sat on a block chair by the company's entrance and all Scot could think about was how his wife would react if she heard the news, or his bothersome mother-in-law.

The mockery his coworkers made of him, continued to loop in his head, which put Scot deep in thought.

When the gate man noticed that Scot was still around, he approached him and asked that he left the building or he might have to use force. It left Scot with no choice but to stand up and go home and it made him really upset.

'How will my wife react if I tell her this heartbreaking news?' he asked himself as he pounder on his present situation.

When he got home, he was not treated any better than he has always been treated by his wife and in-laws. When they got to know that he was unemployed, the embarrassment intensified. They had visitors and went ahead to openly disgrace him by saying all sort of insults and down-grading words.

“Always knew that nothing good can come out of you, you couldn’t even keep a job, why should we respect you?” his mother-in-law mocked and her guest laughed along with his wife.

“I thought you already got rid of him and he is no longer married to your daughter?” one of the guests asked and his mother-in-law eyes him.

Scot could barely look up at them because he felt ashamed of himself due to their taunting words.

“I have actually thought about that but my daughter still has some use for him and till when he becomes totally useless to us, we keep the maid” she laughed and her guest joined her.

The embarrassing words were too much for Scot to handle, so he went up to his room to lie there and think about his life. He didn’t want to be mocked again because he can barely afford anything and because he lives with his in-laws but how to get some money to leave was an issue to him so he thought of what he could do for the mean time.

Then it occurred to him, he had a friend who manages a company in town, it gave him a ray of hope that maybe when he goes to meet Jason his friend, then he might get a better position in the company he manages and his in-laws and wife can respect him and stop embarrassing him.

Although, when evening came, he was refused food because he lost his job but since he was assured that he would get a job when he meets his friend, he wasn’t bothered anymore.

“They’ll respect my new position” he smiled then went off to sleep.

…

Morning came in faster that he thought and he stood up early then put a call through to Jason who told him to come as early as he could come so that they can discuss further. He was in a good mood and was already preparing to go when his wife came outside of the bathroom to see him cheerfully dressing up.

"Jobless man, where are you going?" she inquired.

"I'm going to meet up with my friend Jason to see if he can help me with a job," Scot said. 

Jane laughed at what he said and it made Scot frown.

"Do you believe any company would hire an incompetent man like you?" She burst out laughing. 

Scot was heartbroken to hear his wife say such a thing. “Jane, I don’t like how you talk to me, remember we used to be in love?” he shook his head as he sat on the bed.

Jane continued laughing and walked over to Scot then sat beside him on the bed.

"You're a failure, Scot and I don’t know why I married you to begin with," Jane puts her hand on his head “You have always been a failure and your present situation just proves it over and over again” she laughed.

Scot felt insulted and stormed out of the room. Scot had always thought that things would turn out for the better, and he will finally get the breakthrough he wants after a long time and that everyone who made jest of him would pay for all they did to him.

Scot arrived at his friend's office in no time and was ushered in by the secretary by the door. He saw Jason arranging some files on his table and he smiled as he walks further into the office.

"Hey there, bro!" exclaimed Scot in excitement.

Jason looked up at his friend with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and offered him coffee after they exchanged pleasantries. Scot put his coffee cup down and sits properly on the chair in front of Jason with a pleading look on his face.

"Please, Jason, you have to help me, I really need this job," Scot begged.

Jason had always been jealous of Jane and Scot’s marriage because Jason had feelings for Jane since high school, but she never accepted him because she was in love with Scot then and Scot isn’t aware of Jason's feelings towards his wife. 

"There is currently no vacancy in the company, my friend." Jason stated with a sad look on his face.

Scot was heartbroken after hearing what his friend had said, but he persisted in pleading and convincing Jason to consider hiring him. 

"You know I have a wife to look after, Jason. Please, I need your assistance” Scot added and after much persuasion, Jason agreed to assist.

Now that Scot is in desperate need of a job and he came to him for help, he thought of a way that Scot could repay him for the offer he will make him.

"The only way I can help you my friend, is if you can serve as a cleaner," Jason explained. 

Scot was taken aback and couldn't believe his friend would hire him as a cleaner. Scot immediately remembered when Jason had nothing and how he helped him pay his school fees. Scot had always been there for Jason throughout difficult times. He couldn't believe Jason would do something like this to him, so with no other choice left, he took the job and was ordered to report the next day.

When he arrived home that day, his wife and her mother, made jest of his situation then her dad gave a speech of how unsuccessful and miserable he was, in front of his friends. It made his heart bleed that the mockery increased because he took a job as a cleaner, it bothered him all through the day because of the shame they kept proclaiming over him.

…

A few weeks later, Scot already went to work halfway through, he realized he had forgotten his phone at home, so he dashed back home and when he got home, he met his mother-in-law inside.

"Good morning, Mummy.” Scot greets, "You didn't tell me you were coming over." 

Scot's mother-in-law gave him an irritated look.

"Why must I tell you before coming to my house, or have you forgotten I paid the rent?" She responded. 

Scot was mortified because he remembered how his mother-in-law had paid their rent owing to financial difficulties. Scot nearly burst into tears inside the house so, he walked inside his room to see if his wife was still there, but she had already left. Scot realized he couldn't handle his mother-in-law's drama, so he grabbed his phone and departed for work at once.

Scot looked depressed on his way to work, and the comment of his mother-in-law kept ringing in his head. 

When he arrived at work, one of his superiors at work, summoned him for being late. Scot tried to explain what happened but his justifications were meaningless. Scot's supervisor yelled at him and told him to go report himself to Jason, the manager. 

His coworkers mocked him on the way since he appeared rough and unkempt. Scot kept his head down, attempting to avoid the ridicule of others around him and all Scot could think about was how he would apologize to his friend, for being late. 

When he arrived at Jason's door, the secretary stopped him.

"What are you doing blocking my path?" Scot inquired. The secretary was still insistent about not letting Scot in. Scot was displeased and resolved to use force. He pushed the secretary aside and stormed inside the office and to his greatest horror, he found Jason and Jane making love.