“Can’t you fold them a little quicker?” I sighed as my boss started off, “I don’t pay you for sitting around idle all day.”

I rolled my eyes and tried focusing on the pants I was folding.

“You know, if you don’t fold them any faster, I could fire you, besides all you do is…”

“I try to fold the clothes as quick as possible, I work overtime and fill in other people’s shifts, for a low pay job and on top of that, I have to tolerate your rude and snarky comments all day long. Do you think this is easy?” I let out, as Hans, my boss, raised his eyebrows at me.

“I could potentially fi-…” he began, but I interrupted him again.

“Oh, save it, you don’t have to fire me, because I quit!” I said, dropping the pants down, as Hans chuckled in amusement.

“Yeah sure, you quit,” he mocked me, “I’ll give you one last chance Masha, now stop making a scene and get back to work,” he said eyeing a customer that stepped into the store.

“I’m not joking,” I replied, “I really quit!”

“You know, you won’t be able to live without a job and so, you’ll come back to me for employment. But once you step out of that door, you won’t ever be welcomed back here again,” Hans scoffed cruelly, pointing at the exit door.

“I won’t come back to you,” I stated with new found courage and confidence.

“Oh really, what would you do for a living then?” a venomous tone edged his statement.

“I would start my own cosmetics company,” I blurted out. Owning a cosmetics company has always been my dream, but I never really had the resources or time to actually make it into reality.

“Good luck with that,” Hans muttered, sarcasm dripping from his words. I began to walk out of the store.

“Your stupid idea is never going to work Masha …” he started, but I never heard him complete his sentence, as I had already stepped out of the door.

I was free, I thought as I breathed in the fresh air. My monotonous job at the retail store had been nothing but a wet blanket, covering me all these years, but never making me comfortable. Something about Hans’ discouraging words left a bitter taste in my mouth.

What if he is right? What if what I just did was a stupid mistake? What will I do if I fail? I began to ponder, but my pessimistic thoughts were shaken off when I reached home and opened my laptop, looking at the files where years, of research, formulae and product designs were saved, all credited to me.

So, with some savings, leftover cash and a few loans, I began putting my ideas to a test, but, unfortunately, none of my formulae were quite right, always lacking one thing or having another in excess. Days slipped into weeks, which bled into months and with no success and very few resources and supplies left.

I had given up all hopes in my plans, but then miraculously one of my very last batches worked! Everything was just perfect and the composition was flawless, I could hardly believe my eyes. Giddy with delight, I booked the earliest appointments to different stores, for testing my products out. As soon ‘Masha Beauty’ products hit the shelves, they were a massive hit amongst the masses and soon I found myself signing business deals with reputable stores and companies and even opening my own store!

It was on the day of the launch of my newest store in town, while I was showing a young girl different shade of lipsticks, when I saw Hans, walking towards me with his head low. Seeing him after a couple of years, had me thinking about the last time I saw him, of all his ultimatums and discouraging words and just how different the circumstances were this time around.

“Hans?” I called out to him as he walked towards me.

“Hey Masha, I see that you’re showing my daughter around your store,” he said, smiling at the girl I was consulting. I asked one of my employees to take over in my place as I walked outside the store with Hans at my wake.

‘Masha, I admire your resilience, having built such an empire out of nothing? Honestly, I thought you would come back reeling to me the day you left,” he scoffed. Old habits never truly die.

“I thought so too actually,” I smiled, looking at his face and remembering the day I saw it last. “But every time I thought about giving up, your words echoed in my mind and I turned them into an inspiration for me; to prove you wrong, to do all that I claimed I would.”

I continued as he winced, “When you shut a door at me, Hans, God opened a million others. I thank you for boarding up every last opening and making sure that I do not return to you. If I had done so, I would still be folding clothes at the retail store today, instead of owning a cosmetic company,” I finished coolly, entering my store, leaving my former boss bewildered and in complete awe.

Published in Dawn, Young World, Aug 26th, 2023