I stared at the termination letter like it was a death sentence, trying to figure out what I must have done wrong.
"Why?" I asked repeatedly but no one had any answers. My boss wasn't on his desk to respond to my questions either. I tried calling him but he wasn't picking. By the time my phone battery ran down from calling him, I knew he was deliberately avoiding me.
Eventually I walked out, with my head held high, I wasn't going to beg like a dog, deep down I knew that I hadn't done anything wrong to deserve what was happening.
The late evening breeze was cool as I sat on the wet sand, near the shore, away from everyone on the beach, my fingers digging into its warmth, the reflection of sunset dancing in the waters. The salty wind brushed my face, but it did nothing to calm the storm raging inside me.
Fired, just like that, without any explanations, without any warnings? No, this can't be happening." I muttered severally to myself.
I stared out at the ocean, bitter tears prickling my eyes.
“Was I not good enough, didn't I do my job diligently enough, if they had to downsize, why would I be the one to bear the brunt?”
“Mind if I sit?”
I looked up. A man, probably in his forties, barefoot and smiling, stood beside me.
“It’s a free beach,” I said, shrugging.
The man chuckled and sat. “Name’s Edward.”
“Edith”
We sat in silence, watching the waves crash against the shore. The turmoil inside me was not doused by his presence, infact it was like he wasn't even there. I picked up a shell and rolled it between my fingers.
“You look like someone who’s had a tough day,” he said.
I scoffed. “Tough day, I just got fired, no warning, no reason and I've spent all my savings paying my kids' school fees. I have no inkling of where the next job would be or how long I would be able to cope without one.
"Where's your husband?" He asked gently.
He was a stranger and shouldn't be asking me personal questions as this but, I didn't care anymore. After here, I might not see him again so I might as well cry on his shoulders.
"We are no longer together."
"Oh, I'm so... sorry..... I..."
"Don't be! Because I'm not! I'm only concerned about my kids. I can't cater for them like this.... jobless.... floating." I spoke honestly.
Edward nodded slowly. “You’re not floating. You’re just... being redirected.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Easy to say when you’ve got your life figured out.” He looked posh from the much I've seen.
He smiled. “You’d be surprised I wasn’t always like this.”
I looked at him closely for the first time, there was something familiar about his eyes.
“I used to live in one city, rough neighbourhood, I was reckless, fought, drank and made life miserable for everyone, especially my landlord. That man… he never stopped trying to help me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
“What changed?” I asked, intrigued.
Edward scanned the horizon.
“One night, he found me bleeding in front of his gate after a fight, carried me into his house, cleaned my wounds, prayed over me. I saw the kind of man I had always disrespected now offering me the care I never gave myself. That night, something shifted. I left the neighbourhood and vowed to change. And I did.”
I swallowed hard. “Sounds like something out of a movie.”
“No,” Edward said with a soft smile. “It’s karma. I believe the universe gives us chances to make things right. That landlord? He planted a seed of kindness that grew even when I wasn’t ready.”
He reached into his pocket and handed me a business card.
“There’s a company hiring, I know the CEO. Just tell them I sent you."
I took the card, stunned. “You’d do that for me? You don’t even know me.”
Edward's eyes were steady. “I didn’t know the landlord who saved me either, he was not blood, not relation, but he gave me something when I had nothing. You remind me of someone trying to find their footing again. Just go.”
By Monday morning, I sent my children off to school earlier and nervously prepared to go to the address as written in the complimentary card.
The lobby of the sleek glass building felt intimidating. I was ushered in quickly, credentials checked, and asked to wait in the interview room.
When the CEO walked in, my jaw dropped.
“Edward?”
The man laughed. “Told you I knew the CEO.”
“You… you’re him?”
“Yes.” His smile was kind but firm. “Now sit, let’s talk about you.”
Throughout the interview, Edward asked deep, thoughtful questions, not just about skills, but character, values, dreams, family, and I answered as honestly as I could.
Near the end, he leaned back, folding his arms. “Your father, what’s his name?”
“Mr. Nweze.”
Edward’s face lighted up. “Your father is Mr. Nweze, the surveyor?”
I blinked rapidly. “Yes. You know him?”
Edward's voice was quiet. “I kept seeing him in your face, you have a very striking resemblance to your father. He was the landlord I told you about.”
Silence filled the room.
“I was the boy who kept him up at night, the one who dented your family’s gate with my motorcycle, the same boy your father nursed back to health when no one else cared.”
My throat tightened. “You’re that..... Edward? No wonder your eyes looked familiar.......Jesus....... it's really a small world." As I cupped my mouth with my hands. "He would be so proud of you.”
He nodded. “Your father didn’t just save me, he redirected my life and I am so proud of him.”
He walked around the table and offered his hand.
“You’re hired, because you’re his daughter and because I see something in you just as someone once saw something in me before I saw it in myself.”
I stood and took his hand, so overwhelmed.
“Thank you… I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say you’ll pay it forward,” Edward said, smiling.
"I definitely will, voice cracking, “I definitely will.”
As I stepped out of the building, tears rolled freely down my cheeks, not tears of despair, but of awe, for the mysterious thread of karma, of kindness returned, of lives forever intertwined by one man's decision to love when it was most difficult.
And me? Where I once felt like giving up, life had found me again.
"Talking of second chances?" I said quietly, "we both have had them."
All images are generated with AI.
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