"Astrael, ensure the boss gets those papers; you know how he gets when contract signings are delayed by even a couple of seconds"
"Yo, El, there's a meeting in the board office, on the new company policies; all department heads need to be there"
"Astrael, a call just came in for the head of Marketing; the production team needs the update on the campaign for the new line"
"Astrael..."
"Mr El"
"Astra..."
...
'It'salways like this', I thought as I stared at the pile of documents stacked up before me: departmental reports, advertising contracts, marketing plans, and so many other documents I needed to go through, or else the head of the company was gonna come for me like a vulture to carrion.
'Speak of the devil,' I sighed internally as I noticed a figure, a dark-skinned man standing at what I assume would be 5'11 or 6ft, his brown eyes scanning the room, with a gaze far too sharp for a man who spent the majority of his days sitting in front of a screen, always checking 'stock market prices', but I secretly think he plays solitaire all day.
"Astrael, we need totalk," as his eyes landed on me, his pace quickening as he started to approach my work desk, his expression as rigid as ever.
...
Before we continue... I'm Astrael, Astrael Luna, Male, 31 years old, light brown eyes, a cat lover, and Head of the Marketing and Advertising Department at Maison D'Elena, the biggest perfume brand in Jie, a country on the Yellow continent, married to none, father of some (cats). Aside from that, I'm also an underpaid workaholic at a company that makes far too much yet pays far too little to all its employees.
Let's continue...
...
"My assistant just got a call from the Daily Global, on whether or not the campaign for the Frontier Collection is ready. I thought I told you to have your team finish the advert and have it sent to them," He asked, his jaw already locked tight, as if bracing for an answer he was mentally preparing to snap at
"Mr Jonas", I said, my voice calm and levelled despite the pent-up frustration and the currently increasing irritation.
"During the board meeting last week, I very vividly remember you saying the campaign should be rolled out on the 20th of the 5th; this is the 16th of the 5th. So we are still well behind the deadline. Plus, you haven't been present; you informed us that you'd want to be in the campaign, but you've been MIA at the office, too busy with your cruise," I added,
"It was a business gathering with a rolodex of influential people present", He replied as I watched his face, the rigid mask he always wore, crack, revealing what I assumed to be irritation.
"Regardless, shouldn't you have clocked out by now? It's 9 pm; I don't want to hear you're too tired to work tomorrow. Get out," He added after a brief moment of silence, though it lacked any real heat; it was an obvious attempt to deflect.
"I mean, if you say so, who am I to say no?" I said, getting up and heading for the door in the span of a couple of breaths
'I better hurry to catch the bus', I thought, looking at the numbers on my screen that read 9:23 pm, and began to make haste to catch the 9:40 pm bus, not even noticing the dark clouds gathering overhead.
Getting to the bus stop, it was 9:44 pm.
And the bus stop canopy was empty; the only illumination was the dim solar street lamp that looked like it was about to flicker out any second, and the still-glowing '9:40 pm' in the bus station timetable.
"At least I didn't miss the bus," I muttered to myself, noticing the previously almost unnoticeable drizzle had intensified into a gentle patter, the dimly illuminated concrete now visibly darker where the droplets landed.
By 9:57 pm, the bus had still not arrived, and at this point, I was getting concerned.
'What if I actually missed the bus and the timetable hasn't updated?'
'What if the bus just isn't coming to this station tonight?'
'Home is 40minutes from here; would I have to walk?'
But like a rainbow after a storm, I caught the glare of a vehicle's headlights in my peripheral vision.
I turned my head around, happy that at least the bus was coming, but...
'Why isn't it slowing down?' I thought as I started hailing the bus to stop, thinking maybe the driver didn't notice me standing at the station, but it didn't slow down; if anything, it sped up... and was heading straight at me.
Noticing this, I ran, and I mean, actually ran, not into the road but into the park behind the bus station. After 3 minutes of running that felt like thirty, I heard a loud gbi-boom followed by the smell of heated metal and melted rubber. Finally turning back, I was met with the sight of the bus station partially demolished by one of its own buses, ironic- and a part of me wanted to check up on the driver, but another just wanted to head home, so I did the most logical and humane thing.
I booked a private taxi.
After getting home, finally. I found a puddle of water pooled in front of my door, streaming down the hallway, and of course the other people in the apartment would never call you to let you know about anything that may be wrong in your flat, since what doesn't pay them doesn't faze them, as they have told me one too many times to count.
I sighed, opening the door, but in the darkness of the room, I saw and heard what sounded like sparking in a corner of the room. I knew it like the back of my palm because I always went there to charge appliances, so it was a bit too scarily possible to not be cautious, so I decided to trip the circuit breaker in front of my room before heading in a few minutes after waiting out a bit.
"Well, what do you know, there actually was a wire in the water... But I don't have any wire like this, nor did I leave any tap on this morning; I always make sure to check before I leave the house." I said to myself out loud as I took the wire out.
"I'll figure it all out tomorrow; I don't have the energy to clean up water tonight," I added as I turned and walked to the bedroom to call it a night.
'After all that happened, I'm far too tired for anything else', I thought as I flopped onto the bed, and without care for the clothes or shoes I still had on, I closed my eyes, letting the darkness before sleep wash over me.
Halfway into dreamland, I could feel, yes, feel, a bright light on my face. Forcing me, though reluctantly, to open my eyes.
Upon opening my eyes, I saw a humanoid figure towering above me, radiating- no, it was pure light "Who ar-" but before I could finish forming my sentence, it raised its hand, cutting my statement short before speaking.
"#I am the minor god system, and this is your god realm, congratulations#"
" My god realm, and congratulations??" I responded with a puzzled look plastered on my face
"#You have been selected to become a minor god. I was forced to extract you from your previous plane, seeing as you avoided the accidents I curated." They responded with stoicism on their face... Or at least that's what I felt would have been its expression if it had a face
"So you made my bus crash, and forced me to take an out taxi, and flooded my apartment... ALL SO YOU CAN MAKE ME INTO A STUPID MINOR GOD??" I asked with suppressed bubbling anger
"# The cost of pulling a soul from the reincarnation cycle is far less than pulling one from a living host, but you, a lady luck would so have it, avoided the accidents orchestrated, and time was of the essence, so I had no option but to do the former#"
Before I could process everything, the system entity spoke again. "#My time is up; I'll take my leave here. I wish you luck, Astrael, god of shelters, and this time live a life you won't regret," It said as its body broke apart into specs of light, suspended in the air for half a breath before surging into my current body