"The storms may come
   And winds may blow
   I'll be your shelter for life"
 

''Jia, wake up.''

No.

''Jia.''

Be gone.

''Seo Jia, wake up.''

Please, go away.

''Jia!''

Argh!

''Who died, Mom? Why are you yelling?'' I called out in a raspy tone.

''If you don't hurry up, you'll be the one to die! You are late for work!''

''!'' I cursed and hurriedly jumped out of bed.

My mother widened her eyes. ''You watch your mouth, lady! You shouldn't curse in front of your mother.''

''Sorry, Ma.'' I apologized and went to the bathroom.

''It's already 6:30. It will take you 45 minutes to get to your workplace.'' She said while leaving my room.

I haven't noticed. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

 If I were to describe my mother seven years ago, I would have said she's the best. The best friend, the best cuddler, the best inspiration, the best mother! She'd been my hero for a reason. If I were to describe her now, I wouldn't know what to say. Her physical appearance was the same. We both shared dark brown eyes, long brown hair and oval-shaped face. My dad has jokingly called us twins. We used to be not only mother and daughter, but also best friends. She used to be my role model. My everything. 

Now, she's just someone I don't recognize anymore.  

I thought my love would be enough to keep her with me. It turned out it wasn't. She chose grief over me.She chose to color her life in grey, again,and again, and again. 

I hated grey color. 

Of all days, I simply had to be late on President Choi's last day as a CEO of our ompany. I dropped my toothbrush onto the small pile of toiletries in my bag and caught sight of the dark circles beneath my eyes. I should've gone to bed earlier last night, but I'd stayed up late working on my script for the new game. Writing is definitely not for everyone and those who say that it's easy aren't doing it right. After brushing teeth, I went in to my room, changed into black jeans and white T-shirt, grabbed my glasses, bag, denim jacket and sneakers, and then scurried out of bedroom towards my front door.

Of course, it was raining outside. I lived my life strictly according to the Murphy's law. "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, my mom was wrong when she said it'd take me 45 minutes to get to work. It took me 55 minutes. Second, I was utterly and totally screwed. And third, Kwang-jo would eat me alive with his nagging!

I pulled my phone out of my bag and moved  fingers anxiously over the screen,writing a message to my best friend Hyun Joo to notify her I would be there in a few minutes. I was about to hit send when my phone rang. Hyun Joo's name appeared on the screen.

''I'll be there in 3 minutes.'' I said breathlessly and ended the call. Teleportation would really come in handy at times like this.

Once I reached the entrance to the building I stopped running.

''Apparate!'' I said and laughed at my silliness. Oh well, at least I tried.

''That's not gonna save your today.'' My best friend appeared out of nowhere. ''On the other hand, an invisibility cloak might do the trick. You look like someone puked on you.''

I laughed and not-so-gently smacked her head.

''It's too early for your lame jokes Hyu.'' I lied. I loved her jokes way too much and we both knew it.

''I'm only messing with you.''

I raised an eyebrow in question. 

"Ok. I'm not messing. You look ridiculous." She said and burst out laughing.

''Good thing I don't care what people think about my appearance.'' Not attracting attention and keeping under the radar was the second law I followed after Murphy's.  I'm not anti-social. It's just that...I'm not social. I guess I was used to being alone and sitting in my small room, reading books, working on my scripts and playing video games. Honestly, I'd rather bother with fictional characters. Just be yourself and the right people will love you, they said. So, that's exactly what I did. Solitude became my safe place. I had no problem talking to myself and didn't think I was a weirdo because I did so. Hyu was the first person to whom I've opened up. She herself was a weirdo and I was lucky enough to find her in this world of fixed and fake ideals. 

I rolled my eyes at her. "Enough chatting. Tell me what did I miss? Where is CEO Choi right now?'' I questioned as we both rushed inside the building.

''Ji, honey, CEO Choi should be the least of your worries right now."

I jerked my gaze up to her. "Spill the beans."

''Ok. Here's the thing. You have two choices." Her piercing eyes bore into mine. "First choice. Die at the hands of Kwang-jo."

"I think I'll pass." Team leader or not, I'll be damned if I don't stand up this time to that bully, I thought to myself. 

She clicked her tongue at me and continued.

"Second choice. Die at the hands of CEO."

"I'll take the second option." Although I was very young and not the most important face in our company, president Choi loved me and he treated me as if I were his daughter.

"You didn't let me finish. I am not talking about CEO Choi. Your second choice is our new CEO."

"New CEO?" I mumbled and averted my gaze.

"You'll meet him soon enough. Not that it matters, but you should have stuck with the first choice." She said and led us into the elevator and then down a long hallway into the main conference room.

Other employees already took seats around the table. My anxious gaze went to Kwang-jo. He gave me such a look. Man, if looks could actually kill, I'd be in the graveyard. Compared to him, Voldermort was nowhere near as bad.

"Are we finally all here?" That voice! It couldn't be! I slowly moved my eyes from my archnemesis to the other side of the conference room and came face-to-face with the new CEO. 

You know that cliche moment when you're reading a book and the main character finds herself in a situation where 'it feels as if the world stopped moving and everything became a blur'?

I've just become a cliche myself!

"I should have stuck with the first option." I managed to mumble in a barely audible voice.