'Well, yes I can manage projects and deadlines pretty well. I also mentioned it— Sorry? No I'm not Mary Margaret, my name's Omaima Akbar. Omaima—Hello? Hello! Dammit!' Omaima slammed the phone onto the table.

Her landlady watched her sympathetically as she put a tray of freshly baked cookies on the kitchen counter. The old woman lived alone. She claimed to be happy the way she was, yet one couldn't help but wonder what made her take that decision. She was a kind and sweet soul, and Omaima knew she couldn't be thankful enough.

'I'm guessing it went alright then?' She piped in.

'Really? What gave it away?' Omaima replied sarcastically.

The woman drew out a chair and sat beside her at the dining table. She held her hand in hers.

'Oh, Omi dear. You really shouldn't let it get to you. You are meant for something more greater!' She consoled.

Omi sighed. 'Really?  Well I sure do pray that whatever "greatness" I'm meant for, it exists. The guy didn't even know my name! What kind of interview was that!'

The woman smiled sadly.

'Well it helped you figure out how unprofessional the job was for a qualified young lady like you. I'll tell you what. A few years from now, you'll be a CEO of a company and bloody filthy rich!' She exclaimed.

Omi broke into a short laughter.

'Thank you Mrs Cheshire. It really means a lot.'

'Nonsense, dear. I'm just looking out for you. You don't have to thank someone for doing their duty as a human being,' she replied.

Omi smiled and nodded slowly.

'Oh good heavens! It's almost past midnight. Look at the time pass. Now off you go to bed, young lady!' Mrs Cheshire scolded.

'Yes, ma'am. Good night, Mrs Cheshire.' Omi called after her as she turned to leave.

'Yes, a very good night to you too.' She yawned and closed the door behind her.

A soft click indicated that the door was closed, and that she was alone in her apartment. Omi could literally hear the crickets in the garden. She went to her balcony and drew back the curtain, to see the full moon, shining big and bright in all its glory.
The silver celestial ball in the sky was one of her greatest sources of inspiration, for one of her most successful online book so far. She stared at it with a content smile, before closing the curtains.

Finding a job in a new town was quite harder than she'd anticipated. But Dromville seemed to be a good place to start. Just a two hour drive away from her home in Sunnyvale, she could visit her parents every weekend . But Omi didn't want to. Not until she was capable of giving her parents good news on any kind of progress she was making in life.

Not that they were very demanding and adamant that she better bring them pride for all the twenty two years of effort they put to make her what she is today. No, they were very understanding, and wanted to see their daughter happy and content with whatever she had achieved. And though they wouldn't show any sort of negative emotions when Omi repeatedly gave them the same old excuse of "they're still looking into it" every time they met or called, she knew very well how much worried they would be internally.

For once, she wanted to give them something that would put their minds to ease.

A loud clatter from the kitchen made Omi jump with fright and distracted her from her thoughts. Her heart hammered wildly against her chest as she slowly tiptoed towards the kitchen. Omi wondered what on Earth could make that sound in the kitchen at this hour. It was definitely not Mrs. Cheshire. And she lived alone. Omi's heart came up to her throat and she swallowed hard. It could be a theft attempt. She suddenly realised how unarmed and vulnerable she was. Frantically looking around, she grabbed the first thing that came to her as an effective weapon– a metal candle stand.

More clatters and banging of utensils could be heard. The intruder must probably be starving. If she was lucky, the thief's main motive maybe just to steal food and leave in peace. Omi backed herself against the side wall and prepared herself to attack if the need arose. She counted silently to three, panting heavily with shock and fear, and moved fast. The lights came on, and the noises stopped immediately. Omi had the candle stand close to her chest as she looked at the so called "thief" in disbelief.

'Tanner! Oh my god! Tanner, you bad boy! You scared me to death!' Omi yelled, partly in annoyance, and partly with relief.

The sleek black cat paused and stared at Omi like a child being caught red-handed for stealing chocolates. Omi looked around to see the cat's food tins lying all over the kitchen floor. She realised he must've been starving, for he rarely ate his hunt. He had been trying to throw around the food tins in the hopes that one of them might magically open. Omi looked at him with an apologetic smile, and scooped the cat up in her arms.

'Silly boy! I'm sorry I forgot to take out your midnight snack. Will you forgive me?' She said, petting the restless cat's head.

Tanner mewed in response, and Omi put him down. She then grabbed his food bowl and filled it with his favourite tuna snack. Tanner hungrily lunged at his food and began devouring his snack without giving anything further notice. Omi chuckled softly and left him to enjoy his snack. For a few moments, she forgot all about the failed attempts at job interviews and her desire to make her parents proud. She stared at her cat, his smooth head bent into the food bowl as he ate.

Realising it had been a while since she'd slept peacefully, she decided to go to bed before she'd lose the opportunity. Tanner followed her to the bathroom.

'Stay, here Tanner,' she whispered.

The cat, clearly understanding her words, seemed to nod and trutted away. Omi then prepared for bed. After a few minutes, she was in bed, with Tanner snuggling close. He had his own cat bed, but he still preferred to sleep beside her. She switched on the blue lava lamp at her bedside, and let the it's glow sweep over her. It was very soothing, and helped her feel calm. Omi didn't really like to sleep in complete darkness, yet she didn't like sleeping in the light. But the lamp was the perfect solution for her problem and helped her sleep.

Omi stared at the ceiling, the cream walls a dull blue from the lamp. As she stared, a black ink like drop appeared. Omi frowned. As she continued to stare, the drop spread, like black tentacles across the wall, slithering menacingly all over the room. She rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Nothing. The ceiling was just as spotless as Omi had seen it earlier. She rubbed her eyes and turned towards her right.

Lack of sleep had begun playing tricks on her poor mind. Omi shut her eyes tight, determined to get a wink.

After all, she had a lot to look forward to.

Greetings dear readers! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Each chapter will give you a short intro to our MCs.

Tbh, I'm kind of a person who had very little patience, so i like to rush things a little. It's good in a way, because I think it keeps the plot of stories movie, as Omi once told me. ;D

SO what are your opinion on Omi? Of course, you'll only be able to make out her personality once things get into action, but otherwise, how does she come across to you?

Let us know in the comments below!🗨
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And don't forget to share this story with your friends! 📨
Until next time,

Bye!