Snakes and Ladders, Part 2

SNAKES & LADDERS
by BlackBladder
PART TWO

"Gabrielle - your dinner is ready!"  Anita shouted as she spooned out the
remainder of her mashed potatoes onto the steaming plate.  

Gabrielle stormed into the kitchen and sat at the table - instantly munching
into the meal with no regard to Anita whatsoever whom just sat down beside
her.  

"Is something wrong dear?"  Anita asked as Gabrielle violently stabbed the
fork into the plate several times.

Gabrielle suddenly looked into Anita's face, squinting her eyes in disgust at
such a question.  

"I was hoping to be starting a career today - instead I got left in a morgue,
working with nobodies!  I bet this was your idea-"  Gabrielle shouted,
venting her anger at Anita.  

"But honey-"  Anita tried to reason before Gabrielle continued her tantrum.

"Don't call me honey!  I graduated from college and I get put in a Mailroom?
Are you mad?  You better move me to another department!  You forgot the
deal-"  Gabrielle continued.

Anita tried to reason with this troubled teenager.  

"I remember the deal - if you graduated then I would bring you into Ikair as
an apprenticeship.  I have done exactly that."

"Oh yeh, you did that alright - you put me in a department which is hidden
from the rest of the Head Office!  I knew you wanted me out of sight, out of
mind----just for your own selfish needs!  Don't bother trying to make excuses
- did you forget you run the organisation at the moment?!"  Gabrielle
exclaimed, dropping the fork on the plate.  "Hey Gabrielle that's not fair.
Is it my fault your father is in hospital?  I wasn't in Ikair today because I
was by your father's side.  Do you really want to upset your father with this
attitude against me?"  Anita tried to reason vainly with her stepdaughter.

I bet you are lovin this, bitch - Gabrielle thought, staring at her
stepmother.

"I've lost my appetite!"  Gabrielle growled as she rose to her feet and
stormed out of the kitchen to her room.

Although disappointed, Anita had came to expect this daily stand-off between
herself and Gabrielle.  The atmosphere had become very tense ever since Anita
had moved in with Gabrielle and Benjamin at their home.  Gabrielle had been
hovering round Anita since she had moved in - instantly accusing Anita of
every sin possible so that Benjamin would end their marriage.  However,
Benjamin believed Gabrielle was struggling to come to terms with her natural
mother walking out at an early age.  Due to his wishes, Anita persevered with
this new, unexpected responsibility.

Gabrielle sat in her room, locking her bedroom door whilst clicking her
stereo on.  As she sat in her room, staring blankly into the mirror - trying
to retain some control over the anger boiling inside her.  

"I am going out Gabrielle.  I'll be back in a couple of hours."  Gabrielle
could hear her stepmother shout, followed by a loud bang of the front door
closing.  This was the trend of Anita disappearing until late.  As Gabrielle
peered out of her bedroom window, she saw her stepmother step inside a black
Porsche - its licence plate reading ZEUS.  

As the car sped off, she sat back and looked at her reflection in the window.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours myself." Gabrielle smirked to herself at
her reflection-


An hour later-

"-.it was hysterical!"

Gabrielle and her friends began laughing uncontrollably as they relaxed in
The Bunker, listening to Ray's movie review.  Her friends preferred The
Bunker as it was one of the few drinking places that discouraged smoking.
Although smokers did bask in their habit inside, they were a very silent
minority.  Like Gabrielle, all her friends were vehemently opposed to the
habit, and had the joke of making rude gestures towards suspecting smokers.
Gabrielle found that she could escape the worries of the everyday world when
she was with her friends.  

Until tonight.

"How does it feel to have joined the Rat Race?"  

"Can't I just sit here and enjoy a laugh with my friends?" Gabrielle
rhetorically asked, clearly showing her frustration at the imposing question.

Gabrielle was also annoyed as she was the only person out of them who decided
to look for a career in management, rather than continue with further
education.

Gabrielle reasoned that they were all jealous - she knew she was extremely
ambitious and dedicated to reaching her targets.

After some gentle persuasion, Gabrielle relented.

"Work is just bearable - it's a pain in the ass knowing my stepmother is
running the show there!  I'm gonna write to other organisations for any jobs
going - my father will understand when I tell him."  

Gabrielle took a final sip of her drink before saying her goodbyes to her
group of friends.  As she walked towards the exit door, she had to hold her
breath as fresh cigarette smoke circulated from a nearby table.  With the bar
door constantly used, the night air pushed the smoke into her watering eyes
as she held the door open.  Whilst catching her breath, she looked
unwittingly towards the table where the offending smoke was emanating from.
She instantly recognised the culprit - none other than Mandy from Ikair!  The
sight of Mandy raising the cigarette to her lips for a heavy draw whilst
reading a magazine intensively sent an uncomfortable shiver down Gabrielle's
spine.  Mandy was lost in her haze of cigarette smoke to notice her new
colleague stare in shock at her actions.  Although sitting alone, Mandy
appeared to be totally content with just a magazine and a pack of cigarettes
for company.  She simply exhaled the smoke slowly across the table towards
the door, immediately coating Gabrielle in a white cloud.  The fresh smoke
awoke Gabrielle from her moment of thought as she walked out of the bar and
headed home for the night-

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