Alicia Vasquez

Professor Maslonka
English 101 Section 108
1

I Hated Her

Forty-nine months and four days later, it was finally here. After all this time she
would finally have to face the harsh consequences of her inexcusable actions. I
envisioned this day repeatedly, the scene often played out like an old episode of Law and
Order. The only thing unexpected that day was how I left feeling. I never expected it to
feel quite like this, I imagined the exact opposite. I anticipated a smug satisfaction I
mean after all, why wouldnt I? I hated her or at least I thought I did.
I still remember the very first day I walked into that small, cement building that
housed a small repossession company consisting of five employees. At that time I never
imagined that I would spend the next eight years of my life there. As I stepped into the
front office, I was greeted by a familiar face and cigarette smoke. Robyn, a friend from
bowling league, had actually got me the job interview. Grinning from ear to ear, Robyn
whispered, Go get em. I couldnt help but laugh, which was a combination of anxiety
and dash of nerves. Robyn, miscellaneous piles of boxed up files, and papers occupied
the front office. The second office was a bit more organized than the first. The desks in
the second office could actually be a functioning workspace. The interview was
conducted in the third office, Mikes office.
Mike was a sixty-year-old Catholic Ukrainian from Shenandoah (which was part
of the coal regions of Pennsylvania). I loved him from the very minute I met him. He
came from a time when handshakes were a symbol of a contractual agreement. I can

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remember countless of times him saying, That was when a handshake meant
something. He was the most genuine person I had ever met.
Then there was Felicia. Mike and Felicia worked side by side, and if you didnt
know any better you would assume they were business partners. Mike owned the
company but Felicia oversaw the daily operations for the last four years. The interview
went as expected. We went round and round with the typical standard interview
questions, Tell me about your self? How would you describe yourself in a few
words? However it didnt feel like your standard interview. I quickly grew very
comfortable. The last thirty minutes of the interview was spent engaging in regular
conversation between the three of us. It was as if we had known each other for years.
After an hour and a half, I got the job! Offered and accepted on the spot. It was
then when I realized what the true meaning of passion was. I loved my job, I loved the
people I worked with, and the person I worked for. I felt so blessed to love what I did for
a living. It hardly felt like work most times.
I worked along side Felicia, training to eventually do her job. She was the most
intelligent person I had ever met. It seemed she could save the worlds problems in the
blink of an eye. She was my mentor, boss and friend. She was everything I ever wanted
to be, strong, successful, and independent. Mike made it very clear he had plans for me.
He was to retire soon, Felicia would take over his position as owner, and I would move
into her position as director.
Business was booming. We signed with a nationally known client, grossed a
million dollars and grew to twelve employees. All seemed well, or so it seemed.

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I began to notice a change in Felicia. She just was not herself. Mike s health was
poor which was not uncommon for this time of the year. Mike always seemed to get fall
ill around the same time of the year. But this time it felt different. He managed to come in
everyday looking like a shell of his formal self. Soon chatter began around the office,
rumors she was stealing from the company. Could these rumors be true? I couldnt
believe it. It just didnt make sense. Why? Why would she steal from a company that
would soon be hers? How could she steal from a man she claims to love like a father?
None of it made sense. I struggled with it daily. Was Felicia capable of this? If the rumors
were true, she wasnt who she claimed to be; who I thought she was. Was I foolish? Was I
that nave? I tossed and turned at night as my thoughts ran rapid.
This was the beginning of the end. The IRS garnished the business checking
account, taking more than thirteen thousand dollars. Felicia insisted this was an oversight
or clerical errors from the accounting software. I still can hear her pleas, Alicia you have
to believe me; I would never do anything to harm this company. I was so torn because
the company was her life, and it didnt make sense that she would do something so
detrimental.
It was true. She had been stealing money for the last few years and lots of it. The
money had been funding her luxurious lifestyle. To think this was a woman that I had
once idolized. How could I not have seen this? How could she do this to Mike, to us? I
had so many questions, questions I would never get the answers to. The worst was yet to
come.
It was the morning after Christmas. The small cement building that once housed
our small repossession company was on fire. By the time I arrived to what was once my

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home away from home; there was nothing but fiery flames and billowing smoke. I was
overcome with so many emotions. I was despondent, outraged and frightened all at the
same time. I stood next to the man that built this business, witnessing as he watches his
lifes work crumble away. I wept as a feeling of helplessness took over me. He turned to
me to offer reassurance. He wasnt big on crying. I knew that. I also knew he was right; it
wasnt going to change anything.
The following day Felicia lost her job. The fire was no accident; it was
determined to be arson. Rumors swirled as Felicias involvement in the blaze was called
into question. Allegations were made but nothing was proven. In the following days I
reluctantly spoke with her on the phone, once again overtaken by emotion. She
encouraged me to remain strong, ensured me Mike was going to need me, as she left all
my questions unanswered. That was my last conversation with her.
Later that evening Mike reiterated his confidence in me and entrusted me with the
responsibility of running his business. I did, well we did and with the help of my coworkers, the business remained fully functional without a hub to operate from.
Mikes health began deteriorating. Exactly one year after the fire, he lost his life.
I was overwhelmed by grief, all I could think about was his family and how they had to
endure another tragedy. I had never felt more alone. Without his undoubted reassurance
my confidence began to waiver. I was now left with the challenge of running his business
without him.
After his death I hated her. I was convinced her actions took an irreversible toll on
him. I blamed her. Another question left unanswered. I often ask myself, if not for
Felicias actions would Mike be alive today?

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Today was the day she would be held accountable. Unfortunately the day Mike
had anxiously awaited to see was here and he wasnt. There she was. I expected to feel an
enormous amount of anger towards her. After all I had spent the last few years of my life
hating her. In that moment I was consumed with sadness and I realized I felt sorry for her.
I could not imagine being in her shoes, waiting all this time, her fate lying in the hands of
another. I walked past her as if she was just another face, a stranger and she reached out
and grabbed my arm. She told me how much she loved me, how she has never stopped
loving me, all the while expressing remorse for what she did. After five long grueling
hours the judge announced her sentence: six years in a federal prison. To my surprise
there was no satisfaction. No celebratory feeling. It was at that moment I realized hatred
and vengeance served no purpose; we had all already lost. All this time I thought I hated
her.