Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74123 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
May 9th five years ago was two weeks before Mark proposed to her. If she remembered correctly, he’d called her early that morning to ask—
Just then her phone rang, and she stiffened almost afraid to answer. It couldn’t be. There was no way, this was happening. Yet, when she headed back to her bedroom and picked up her phone a gasp tumbled from her lips when she saw it was indeed Mark.
She didn’t want to answer the phone but instinct and fear made her hit the green button on her phone to receive his call. “H-hello?”
“Took you long enough to answer. Aren’t you usually up by now?” The affable almost jovial tone was one he used before he slid the ring on her finger. He hadn’t spoken to her with any cheer in his voice for a long time.
“I, ugh, was in the bathroom. What’s up?” she asked cautiously.
I was thinking I could swing by your office and pick you up for lunch.
Those were the words he used that morning when he’d called her. She clenched the phone tighter and braced herself, certain he wouldn’t say exactly that.
“I was thinking I could swing by your office and pick you up for lunch.”
Her knees buckled and she nearly tumbled to the floor. She placed her palm against the wall to steady herself.
“Amina? Are you there?”
“Ugh, yeah. I think the connection must be bad.”
Mark huffed in apparent exasperation. “I keep telling you to upgrade that old phone. It’s embarrassing when you pull that thing out in public. It’s bad enough you have that kiddy phone case. It’s time you grew up, babe.”
Had he always been this condescending to her before their marriage? Whatever was happening now, she couldn’t deal with him on top of it, especially if her suspicions were proven to be correct.
“My phone works just fine and there’s nothing wrong with my phone case. As for lunch, I already have plans.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Amina could only imagine Mark’s expression. It was rare when she spoke back to him and when she did, she was immediately met with some form of violence.
Her stomach was in her feet. Would he come after her for being defiant? But it occurred to her that he didn’t get physical with her until after they were married.
“Are you okay?” he asked with the clear implication that she wasn’t herself.
“I’m good, Mark. I need to get ready for work. I’ll call you later.”
“You know—”
Click!
Her heart raced a mile a minute. She’d never hung up on him before. And when her phone rang again, Amina ignored the call.
She plopped on the bed and attempted to make sense of what was going on. Though it initially felt like a dream, all her memories of the past were intact. She was almost certain she had died last night. But how was this possible?
Her grandmother had heavily believed in an afterlife and reincarnation, but Amina didn’t think it worked quite like this. Maybe it did. Was this her second chance to fix all the mistakes she’d made in her life?
Was this her opportunity to live her life the way she wanted instead of being under the oppressive thumb of a man who never gave a damn about her outside of what she could provide for him?
She wasn’t sure how this worked and maybe this was some weird out of body experience before death where she experienced everything all over again before the real death set in, but did she dare miss out on this once in a lifetime chance for a redo of her life?
For now, she’d go through the motions and play things out as she remembered them to be and that meant going to work. She could figure things out on the drive there. She shuddered when she thought about going into that dreary office and being on the phone all day listening to customers yell in her ear about the lateness of their life insurance policy payouts.
She hated that job so much because she was in cubicle all day in an office that monitored how many bathroom breaks the workers took, a half an hour lunch and a micromanaging boss who spoke to everyone in a condescending tone but no one would complain to HR because her supervisor was the son of the owner.
The rest of her coworkers were just as miserable. No one spoke to each other and if they were caught chit chatting it would be a write up. Amina’s stomach twisted every time she walked into that dank building. She’d only been there for two years but she didn’t think she could stay there much longer. Not with all the debt…
Two years.
She’d only been at the Affinity Group for two years which meant she was still the office manager at the doctor’s office she’d once worked at Penn Neurology Associates. She’s been forced to quit that job because Mark thought one of her bosses was too familiar with her. Amina didn’t know what that meant since Dr. Han was friendly while keeping things professional with all of the staff.