“The employee of the year goes to—-‘’ with that the office fell into pin drop silence, almost every employee averted their gaze from their work and were now fully focused as to what Mr Lee was about to say.
Mr Lee looked around the office for a second and made sure that everyone had their eyes fixed on him, after fixing his black suit he took a small breath and with his deep hoarse voice said “Aiden Quinn” with that the death silence was filled with cheers and applause from the employees,” Aiden Quinn” these two words were enough to bring a bright smile on Aiden’s face the tall man immediately stood up and went towards his superior while receiving appreciation from his fellow mates.
Aiden was a man that everyone loved he had deep blue eyes and soft hazel hair; he was over six feet and looked like a runway model. Aiden was not only loved for his appearance but also for his charming and amiable personality. He was a man who did not have faith in anything except himself.
Though he did not believe in any scripture he did not oppose it either, once Aiden received the award from Mr Lee the cheer rose even higher, after thanking his superior Aiden looked at the metal plated award in his hand with shinning eyes, he was overwhelmed with joy and excitement to see his name embedded in golden block letters on the metal plate.
Giving a heartfelt thanks to his co-workers Aiden returned to his Desk. “Great work Addy! Congrats on your achievement!! When are u treating me dude? Shall I reserve a table for both of us today at Raymonds? “said Lucas Aiden’s desk mate.
‘’whoa !whoa !cool down man it’s not like you want to really congratulate me it looks like you wanna have some free food! ’said Aiden, come on Addy replied Lucas it is no sin to treat your best friend once in a while and what’s wrong if I say I need a free meal?
“God Lucas, you’re shameless” said Aiden, as the friends continued to speak their work period was done.
Shutting their laptop the two stood from their desks, that is when Aiden saw Emma the most popular girl from the marketing department, Aiden has always liked Emma but there were not many chances in which the two could meet and share time together.
The Italian girl wasn’t the type to be found at the cafeteria often, this girl was so glued to her work that most of the employees found her boring but this was not the case for Aiden he liked Emma for this quality, Emma had a tough aura around her and this interested Aiden, he always liked how she was unbothered about the world.
Soon Aiden found himself walking in the cold streets of Canada, today Aiden was very happy and he wanted to reach home as soon as possible and feel the soft covers of his cosy bed. ”Free cookies! Chocolate chip and walnut cookies! Try them! Delicious cookies!” said a young girl wearing a pastel blue dress. Aiden stopped and got a pack of Choco chip cookies. “Thank you, have a great evening” Aiden said waving at the young girl.
Aiden then got into the bus to reach his house, after getting his ticket he went and sat behind a girl, that’s when he noticed that it was his crush Emma.
Now the great Aiden was smiling ear to ear, he felt like he had just won the lottery, he was on cloud 9! Aiden was leaning his head against the window and thinking about all that has happened today, right from being crowned as the best employee, receiving food for free and then finally being able to see his beloved.
“Hey Gia!” these words from Emma pulled Aiden out of his daydream; he patiently listened to what Emma was going to say. Emma was talking to someone named Gia and she was telling her about a black cat. “I should have listened to mom; the black cat truly is a sign of misfortune! I was so stupid to not believe mom, firstly I was late to work today, next I did not get the best employee award and finally I did not have enough money to get an uber. Aiden was uncontrollably laughing after hearing Emma’s story, several thoughts were running in Aiden’s mind he totally understood that the strong image that Emma portrayed was definitely not her true character. There could be no better example for the statement “appearance can be defective” other than Emma.
Aiden could not believe himself, he had liked someone who had superstitious beliefs while he did not even follow a religion. With a look of unbelief in his face he was trying to comprehend things. He started to think negatively about Emma and even thought that she wasn’t worthy for him, Aiden felt angry with himself to like someone who had petty beliefs and started to hate her. Aiden’s feelings towards Emma changed within a second, the one whom he had adored and liked for almost two years had gone and Emma looked like a complete joke to him.
Soon his destination arrived and when the bus stopped he did not even spare a glance at Emma as he got down. Straightening his suit Aiden slowly walked in the busy evening street, taking a turn into a lonely street which was the last place he had to walk through to reach his house Aiden felt very hungry.
There was a debate going on in his mind as whether to open the box of cookies or not, finally Addy decided to open the box, as he paused to open the box a motor bike raced towards him in full speed, the blinding headlights and the threatening sound from the vehicle caused Aiden to move back. For a moment Aiden was shocked and blinded he thought he was going to be bashed by the bike but all thanks to his quick reflexes he moved away quickly.
Regaining his posture Aiden turned towards the racing bike and screamed against the rash driver ‘’go kill yourself’’ he shouted one last time ‘’such an idiot’’ said aiden as he dusted his coat, only then did he realize that his cookies were missing. I even dropped my precious cookies because of this stupid driver thought Aiden, then he slowly bent down to pick the cookie bag only then he saw something next to it. There was a mirror next to the bag, picking it up Aiden tried to look into the mirror, he was not able to see his face in the mirror as the alley was very dark, Aiden moved towards a shop that had light.
Taking bigger steps Aiden reached the shop, immediately he took out the mirror and found it broken still Aiden wanted to look at it. Once he looked at the mirror he started laughing out loud his face was very funny he was looking at the mirror again and again and laughing at himself. He was out of breath now and wanted to take a final look at the mirror and saw something unusual in the mirror.
Aiden could find two green eyes in the mirror, perplexed he looked even closer and understood that it was a cat! And not just a regular cat but a black cat and it was staring right into his soul! Fear… that was the only emotion that could be seen in his eyes, all the thoughts from the bus came rushing back into Aiden’s mind the way he laughed after hearing Emma’s story, how agonized she was when she was speaking to her friend, his unbelief in God, he regretted everything. Placing the mirror on the ground Aiden started to walk in full speed, a part of his mind wanted him to look back but he knew for sure that he would regret later.
Offering prayers to Gods Aiden continued to walk at a very fast pace he was almost running! The bold young man, known for his appealing personality and impressive thoughts was now scared to death.
“God save me” these were the words screaming in Aiden’s mind he was sorry for not believing in the presence of the creator. Aiden was almost crying when his house came to sight, he bolted to his house and gave a sigh of relief; he quickly put his hands into his pocket to grab the house keys. Fishing his keys out he tried to open the door only to find it already open.
Fear started to engulf Aiden once again, without knowing what to do he froze in his place, several thoughts came to his mind ‘’runaway Aiden it’s the only choice’’ screamed the voice inside his head. Still Aiden moved his shivering hands to open the door he slowly pushed the door open stepping inside his dark house a loud popping sound of confetti poppers was heard within seconds Aiden was engulfed in bright lights and his friends cried out ‘’congratulations Addy’’ in unison. That moment life returned back into Aiden’s soul, he gave out a troubled smile and soon started laughing for imagining stupid things. His laughter increased when he continued to think about the cat and how scared he was. He soon joined his friends with their celebration. Now Aiden had a wonderful story to tell his friends.
Aiden spent the night joyfully and had a comfortable sleep. In the morning he once again laughed at himself for being so dumb and giving up his principles that he held up for almost twenty four years within a second. The question is, was the black cat just a myth? Or did it really bring misfortune, and it was just that Aiden was lucky because the cat got reflected into good luck as it was reflected by a broken mirror!