"Man! There's no job for you today. No one is going to be at home, because we all are going out for a party right now." Kevin said.

"Emmm... What about...?"

"Are you deaf?! If you're not, then clear out of my way," said Kevin.

Jakes reluctantly moved away from the doorway and stood aside looking sober and expectant. Kevin who was already moving towards his car looked back at Jakes still standing beside the doorway.

"Oh my goodness! Why are you still standing there?!" He asked, frowning at Jakes. He dipped his hands into his pocket throwing down a note of five dollars on the floor. Jakes ran towards it and embraced the note as if his whole life depended on it.

"Thank you, Kevin. Thank you," Jakes said, as he rushed out of Kevin's compound.

Kevin shook his head at Jakes. He was not surprised at Jakes's attitude, because he knew how poor Jakes was.

Jakes Johnson, 24, a handsome young man was married to Stephanie Allison, 22, a beautiful young lady. Jakes struggled to make ends meet, to provide for his family, so he worked at Kevin's house at weekends.

Kevin was Jakes's comfortable neighbour, who lived on the next street. Jakes had applied to several companies but his application was always rejected, so he did some menial jobs during the weekends.

"Hi Stephanie," Jakes greeted his wife, as he walked into the small sitting room.

"Wow! You're back!" Stephanie exclaimed as she rushed towards Jakes, hugging him very passionately. Jakes bent his head to kiss her on her lips. Then, he held her by the wrists and pulled her towards the sofa to sit down.

" Stephanie, I couldn't work at Kevin's place this weekend. However, I was able to get this." Jakes said as he dipped his hands into his pocket to bring out the five dollars note Kevin gave to him. Stephanie was from a very wealthy family, and her father was the CEO of the renowned " Class of Verity," a big company in Fitbuck city.

Her mother was also an entrepreneur and she worked alongside her father in the Company. Since Stephanie got married to Jakes, against her parents' wish, she and her husband had suffered so much hatred from her Parents.

"Jakes, since we got married, you've applied to several companies, but none has granted you an offer." Stephanie paused for a while, then continued, "I think you should try talking to my Mum about a job. You have every criterion to work in the Company. I believe we'll be lucky with her on this."

"Alright, dear. I'll do that." Jakes replied as he stood up to go to his room.

Stephanie was afraid that if Jakes doesn't get a job very soon, her mother will force them to divorce and marry her to Mr Cameron, 68, a dreadful, rich man in Fitbuck City.

Mr Cameron was rich and influential, but he was much older than Stephanie. Asides from that, he was characterized by monstrous narcissism and self-absorption.

****

"You idiot! What gave you the guts to come to my house? Have you forgotten where you belong? You're such a low life. Just don't know how you made my daughter marry you. Now leave. I don't want to see you!" yelled Mrs Allison, when she opened the door to see Jakes standing at her doorstep.

"Ma, please let me in. I'm not here to make trouble. I... I...came here because I have something important to discuss with you."

"Go on and say it. I'm not letting you in!" shouted Mrs Allison.

Jakes was now very nervous. "Emmm... I'm... I'm... sorry, if I have caused you any hurt. I have the interest of Stephanie at heart, but it has been this way for us because I've been unable to get a job for myself. I don't know if you could fix me up..."

"Shut up! You fool." Mrs Allison interrupted, and then she laughed at Jakes sarcastically. "You still have the guts to ask me for a job?! You can't be serious. Will you get off your filthy hands off my door?!" Mrs Allison said as she pushed him away from the entrance, slamming the door against him.

Jakes felt very devastated as he moved away from the door. He had lived with the Allisons for nineteen years, and they were his foster parents, but they had never acted like parents to him all his life. Jakes never knew what parental care was about because he only experienced it in the first five years of his life. He lost his parents in a fire accident, and the Allisons adopted him when he was five, but they treated him very poorly. He was being treated like their servant.

He never ate good food while he was with them, and he wore torn and tattered outfits. He also attended schools meant for the children of the poor. Stephanie's elder brother also contributed to Jakes's suffering, while Jakes lived with them. In addition to what his parents were doing, he also made life miserable for Jakes out of envy, because Jakes always came home with good grades.

But it was not the same with Stephanie. Stephanie was attracted to Jakes right from high school. He had good looks, and he always acted very smartly; he also seemed to have everything she wanted in a man, except that he was hated by her family. Her family hated him more when she fell in love with him and married him, against their will.

On his way back to the house, Jakes made up his mind not to tell Stephanie about her mother's response to him. He was going back to pick up some documents that morning because he had the intention of trying out a newly established company he just heard about. He was determined never to give up on his job search. He opened the door of his sitting room and entered the house, but noticed that everywhere was quiet.

"Stephanie! Stephanie!!" Jakes called.

"I'll be with you shortly. I'm using the toilet." Stephanie replied.

Back in the toilet, Stephanie dipped a pregnancy test strip into her urine. She noticed that she had missed her period for more than a week now, so she was inquisitive to know if she was pregnant.

"What?! It's positive." Stephanie muttered under her breath. She rushed out of the bathroom to tell Jakes that she was pregnant when she noticed that he had left the house. Then she found a note on the table, so she picked it up to read. "Stephanie, I'm off to the new company I told you about. Will be back soon. Love you." The note read.

Jakes was walking by the roadside, trying to board a cab when he heard his phone ring. He stopped to check the screen, and when he noticed that it was an unknown caller, he declined the call, because he was in a hurry to get to the new company. After a while, his phone rang again. He was inquisitive this time to know who it was."This could be from one of the companies I applied to." He thought to himself, so he decided to pick up the call this time.