Humiliation and betrayal

"What the hell kept you so long?" A middle aged woman yelled at Nathan, who just came back from the warehouse.

"I apologize ma'am, I've been looking for the particular product that you requested for and it took long before I was able to locate it" Nathan answered, panting heavily because he ran inside in order not to keep the customer waiting.

"How would you see it when you are blind? Didn't you know that you have wasted my precious time? Gosh!" She hissed loudly, sending him a disdainful look.

Nathan was stunned, he left in less than ten minutes and he still had to face this level of insult?  Nevertheless, he had to apologize and let bygones be bygone.

He turned back to continue his work when the woman's voice came again.

"Aren't you going to apologize for wasting my time?" She yelled at Nathan, who seemed to be confused.

"What's happening here?" Chris, the manager, came closer to them.

Nathan opened his mouth to explain what happened but the woman immediately cut him off.

"Where did you see this stinking idiot that you employed? He is fucking rude and still wouldn't apologize" She instantly fabricated a lie.

"What!" Nathan exclaimed, getting surprised that the woman could still lie after he already apologized to her.

"I was..." Nathan was trying to explain his other side of the story when Chris, his boss, gave him a thunderstorm slap.

"y-you-you slapped me?" He asked, stuttering as his cheek turned reddish.

"And I would do that over and over again if you wouldn't keep your stinking mouth shut! Don't you know customers are always right? How many times have I told you that?" Chris shouted at Nathan being closed to tears.

Nathan knew Chris might not believe him but not to the extent of slapping him for the customer, who only fabricated some cheap lies to make him get punished.

"You need to do better, else I'll stop patronizing you" the woman sternly warned, sending glares to Nathan like a criminal before she finally vacated the store.

"Did you see that? She left in annoyance! A simple apology would have settled the matter but you choose that silly pride that came with your dumbness over a customer. If you keep sending all the customers away, how will I pay your salary?" Chris was ranting, without giving him a chance to explain himself when another person stormed in.

"Who the heck is the person that sold an expired product to my daughter?" Another woman came inside, roaring like an angry Lion.

"Welcome, ma'am. What happened?" Chris walked further to approach the woman.

Nathan seated patiently, foreseeing what was about to happen.

He knew the product had expired and he informed Chris earlier but Chris insulted him, telling him how stupid he was to complain about the expired product.

Chris ordered him to change the cartons, which he sluggishly did, Despite knowing the outcome.

"Are you deaf? Who sold an expired product to my daughter?" The woman shouted again, then her daughter that tailed behind pointed her index finger at Nathan.

"I told you about the product but.." Nathan faced Chris, trying to remind him about the instruction that he gave earlier when Chris slapped him again.

"Have you gone nuts? Don't you know when you are supposed to keep your mouth shut? Gosh! I can't believe that I employed a brain dead person! See what your stupidity has caused!"  Chris shifted all the blame on Nathan, who was only looking like a dummy because he was surprised and astonished, not expecting his boss’ outburst.

"I apologize ma'am. The mistake happened as a result of my stupid sales boy negligence and lackadaisical attitude. Let me quickly change the product for you" Chris attended to the customer in a pleasant manner that gave her satisfaction. His fake customer service left Nathan speechless as his mouth was still wide open. He watched them leaving before insulting the hell out of Nathan.

After they left, he faced Nathan and chuckled. 

"Now, I can see why you won't be able to go far In life. You aren't smart at all and I don't think I can continue working with someone like you" Chris muttered, without caring about how Nathan was feeling at that moment.

"What do you mean by that? I haven't done anything wrong" Nathan was trying to come out clean but Chris seemed to have made up his mind.

Chris went to the drawer attached to his office table, then he counted a few cash.

He stretched his hand to Nathan, "Here is your payment. Your service is no longer needed" he informed him, without an atom of humanity or conscience felt in his voice.

Nathan collected the money, still feeling the shock. He counted it and realized that it wasn't complete. The amount given to him was different from his normal allowance.

"This is just half of my monthly payment. What about the remaining ones? Today is twenty eight and if at all you wanted to fire me, I should be paid In full" Nathan complained, counting the money over and over again.

"Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be grateful that I gave you half of the payment, considering the fact that you made me lose a customer today? Do you know the worth of the goods the woman would have bought? I know you are an ingrate!" Chris snapped the money from him, leaving him with nothing.

"In fact, you have annoyed me and I am not paying you a dime again. Now, leave my shop before I call the security on you.” He shouted.

Nathan knew he couldn't drag anything with Chris, so he left the mini supermarket in despair. He completely lost a whole month's salary because of a false accusation against him.

Although he didn't collect his salary, he had the money he wanted to use to get his wife ice cream with him.

Andrea, his wife, had been yearning for a plate of ice cream for a while now, so he thought he should surprise her by getting her one on her birthday.

He was trying to place himself in a happy mood, imagining the joy on his wife's face and how excited she would be; when a woman, who was receiving a call and was holding  a cup of coffee, was passing and collided with Nathan.

The cup fell out of the person's hand, and the content spilled over her dress. The screeching voice of the woman was heard as she shouted at Nathan, “ Are you blind? Can't you watch where you are going?”

Nathan raised his head to meet a young woman not older than his wife yelling on top of her voice like he was the one at fault.

Nathan took a deep breath, not wanting to create another scene after what he had witnessed at the store.

He took the blame and apologized, but his apologies fell on the lady's deaf ears.

 She scoffed, “ Are you insane! How can a grown up man like you move around without concentrating on his surroundings? Are you that dumb?” 

She looked at Nathan from head to toe, then she chuckled mockingly, “ I see! No wonder you are senseless. You can't even dress up like a normal human being, so why wouldn't you misbehave? If I were you, I would be ashamed to go out in this rag you called cloth. You didn't have money to buy clothes because you are worthless, why would you try to spoil mine?” The lady yelled, spatting at his face.

Her voice had created a scene. Some customers brought out their phones to take a video, while some were laughing at Nathan's predicament.

Some squeezed their faces in disgust as they checked him out.

“ Why would the security allow someone like him to enter this place? He looks like a beggar.” Someone said 

“ I'm sure he doesn't have money to buy any ice cream. He might be here to beg or steal from them. He should be sent out before he chases away the customers” Another person murmured.

Nathan was extremely embarrassed from all the demeaning words thrown at him. He couldn't bear the shame anymore, so he turned to leave but he was dragged back by the lady.

“ Where the hell do you think you are going? Won't you do something about my dress? I'm smelling ice cream for crying out loud!” She said in a frustrated voice.

Nathan sensed the lady's anguish because of her spoilt’s cloth, so he tried to persuade her 

“ Can you please follow me somewhere to clean this mess up? A dry cleaner’s place will do” He suggested.

The lady laughed hysterically, “ Do you think I will follow you to a local dry cleaner's place so that they can spoil my clothes? Do you know how expensive this cloth is? Of course, you can't, because your entire generation cannot even afford it. Get out of my way! You are trash  and a scumbag! You shouldn't be allowed to mingle with people in public.” She pushed him out of her sight, then she marched away in anger.

Nathan breathed a sigh of relief that she finally left him alone, then he quietly walked out of the restaurant in shame. He was left with no choice but to go home empty handed. No more ice cream for his darling wife and his surprise was ruined.

He was left with no other option than to go home hurriedly so that he could decorate the house before Andrea could be back from work. It was the house he shared with her and his in-laws. He just managed to finish paying the mortgage a month ago. He worked overtime as a waiter at a restaurant just to earn enough money for the payment. 

The first time he discussed marriage with Andrea, she agreed but she gave him a condition. She wanted him to buy her a house with her parents, else the marriage won't be consummated. He wanted to live with his wife and make his own family, so he worked day and night to save up enough money to pay for the mortgage and also buy her an expensive necklace for her birthday. She had always wanted a house of their own, so he was happy to fulfill her wish. 

As he moved closer to his apartment, he saw the familiar Porsche his wife drove and he was surprised. “ Andrea is supposed to be in the office by this time, is there something wrong with her?”

He became worried and he started having different negative thoughts as he climbed on the porch of their apartment.

As he inserted his key to open the door, he heard some pleasurable moans from the house. He thought his wife didn't usually bring her friends home and his father-in-law wasn't around, so who could have brought a man to their house, “Where is this sound coming from?” He wondered 

He opened the door and he entered. He saw male and female clothes littered around the living room, but he didn't see anybody. His heart was palpitating as he checked the clothes on the floor. Apart from the clothes, he saw two glasses of wine with an empty bottle of alcoholic wine placed on the table.

“ This wine is too expensive. Who could be the person that could afford this?” he muttered to himself.

He checked the kitchen and he found nobody,so he decided to check the room.

He walked to the room like someone walking on an eggshell. He made sure he didn't make any sound as if he was a guard trying to catch a thief. As he got closer to the room, the moan became clearer and it resembled that of his wife. He stood at the door confused, as the voice kept resounding in his ears. He thought something was wrong with his hearings. 

" Not it can't be", he shook his head doubtfully.

He pushed the door violently and he was shocked at the scene before him. His breath caught in his throat, extremely tense and emotional with the situation that greeted him. Lying in the middle of their bed was his wife writhing in ecstasy, with a man on top, banging the daylight out of her.

The couple on the bed were oblivious to the door that opened. They were so engrossed in the pleasure, that they failed to notice the presence of anyone in the room. He wiped off his face with his hands, just for him to be sure that he just witnessed a live porn display before him.

“ Andrea!” He screamed.