Mercy had a life that many envied. She was a successful accountant who was quickly climbing the corporate ladder. She was somewhat of a celebrity not only in her office but also in her profession. Her boss would always pick her to attend industry events and she was always the centre of attention. Her achievements attracted a lot of admiration among her peers but they also attracted jealousy. Mercy had a best friend who wasn’t nearly as good as her in anything and it always bothered her.
Sam always denied being jealous of her best friend even when it was obvious. Mercy, on the other hand, brushed it off as a normal part of friendship.
She met her best friend, Sam, in university and though they got along really well, there was always a rivalry between the two. Mercy had everything Sam wished she had. She was not only smart but also attractive. Most guys that Sam was interested in ended up choosing Mercy over her.
“What’s your friend’s name?” One of Sam’s friends asked, looking lustily at Mercy.
“This is Mercy.” She answered in a monotone betraying her emotions.
“You’re so pretty.” He said.
“Thank you,” Mercy replied with a smile.
After many failed attempts to find a boyfriend, Sam started spreading rumours that Mercy was into sugar daddies and that she wouldn’t be attracted to a broke campus boy. The rumours worked since the boys stopped hitting on Mercy and diverted their attention to Sam. Mercy later found out but decided to forgive her best friend. After all, her main priority was her education, not boys.
Her long nights in the library paid off and she graduated with a first class. On the other hand, Sam didn’t even graduate with the rest of her class. She had to retake several exams that she had been putting off for several semesters.
Despite their lives moving in different directions, the girls kept in touch and met for lunch regularly.
“Hey, best friend.” Mercy said over the phone.
“Hey, girl,” Sam answered groggily.
“Are you asleep? It’s midday.”
“I had a long night.”
“Get dressed and let’s meet for lunch.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in an hour.”
She sprinted out of bed, took a quick shower and headed to the restaurant. When she got there, she was met by a smartly dressed Mercy who was sipping a cup of coffee. They embraced before sitting down.
“Look at you, best friend,” Sam said while admiring Mercy.
“Thank you. You look good too.”
They ordered their food and then chatted about their life. Mercy encouraged Sam to finish her degree and graduate so that she could get a better job.
“Try to graduate, babe. I’ll help you get a job after.” She promised.
“I’m trying. You know education was never my thing.”
***************************************************************
Almost two years later, Sam finally graduated and just as promised, Mercy helped her get a job at her company. She had only been in the corporate world for two years but she had already gained a reputation as a successful and respected person. The company didn’t even hesitate when she asked them to hire Sam.
“Your friend, Mercy, is one of our best accountants. I hope you can add such value to the company as well.” The HR said as Sam signed her contract.
“Of course, I’m actually the higher achieving one.” She answered.
Sam thought that she would manage to outshine her best friend but she quickly learned the extent of Mercy’s notoriety. From day one, she noticed that Mercy was not just any other worker. She was the only one who attended board meetings with the senior department manager and was constantly approached by their peers to help them with their work.
“You must be so happy to be Mercy’s best friend.” One of their colleagues said as they ate their lunch.
“She’s so amazing. I wish I was her best friend.” Another one chimed in.
“She’s not all that,” Sam replied, betraying her jealousy.
“What do you mean?”
“She cheats and acts like she’s smart. When we were in university, she was caught cheating in her exam.” Sam lied.
Luckily, the other colleagues could tell that Sam was jealous of her best friend and didn’t take her claims seriously. Sam continued trying to ruin Mercy’s reputation at work but didn’t succeed. In fact, it almost got her fired but Mercy came to her defence.
“Don’t fire her. She needs this job. I’ll talk to her.” Mercy explained.
Mercy never talked to her. She was already used to the false rumours and petty drama Sam tried to make.
“She’s always wanted to be the centre of attention but I always steal the spotlight.” Mercy explained to a colleague who had told her about the rumours.
“I know you’re smart and you know what you’re doing but I would recommend that you cut off your so-called best friend. She’s a threat to your career.” The colleague replied.
Mercy finally began to notice how toxic her friendship was and that it could jeopardize everything that she had worked so hard for. So, she decided to take her colleague’s advice and distance herself from her best friend.
The pair saw each other every day at work but barely said a word to each other. However, while Sam was focused on ruining her best friend’s reputation, Mercy’s career and personal life were thriving.
She was not only promoted to a managerial position but her boyfriend of three years had just proposed to her over a romantic dinner in the Maasai Mara. The office was abuzz the following Monday when she went back to work. Everyone, except her best friend, met her with a hug and congratulated her for her achievements. Sam stood in a corner and watched in envy as her best friend showed off her engagement ring and smiled while her colleagues showered her with compliments.
*********************
The excitement slowly died down as everyone went back to their desks. Mercy walked past Sam and went to her corner office. She started setting up for the day when she heard a pair of heels approaching. She turned around only to be met by Sam standing by her door. That was the first time that her best friend had come to her office. It took her by surprise but she tried to stay calm.
“How can I help you?” Mercy asked.
“I want to see the ring too.” She said.
“Oh, I’m busy right now. Maybe after work.”
Sam turned around without saying anything and went back to her desk. The whole office had been watching the interaction ready to defend Mercy if anything happened. They looked at Sam with murderous eyes as she walked by.
“What’s her problem?” Someone whispered.
“She’s just jealous of her best friend. She wishes she had Mercy’s life.”
Sam kept stalking Mercy with her eyes for several days without saying a word. After noticing that everyone, including the bosses, worshipped the ground Mercy walked on, she alienated herself though she still showed up to the office every day.
Meanwhile, Mercy was oblivious to what her best friend was thinking about or doing. She was too busy planning her engagement party and handling things at work to notice that something was awfully wrong with Sam.
However, she kept crossing paths with Sam in very peculiar places. When she went to the bathroom, she was always there when she came out. When she was taking a call in the conference room, she followed her and pretended to make a call. She thought it was odd but didn’t pay much attention to it. It was a small office and they were bound to cross paths every now and then.
One evening, Mercy felt like someone was following her as she went to the parking lot. She looked around but didn’t see anyone so she brushed it off and drove home. Her fiancé was waiting for her and the couple settled in for the night. The following morning, they were awakened by a frantic scream.
Mercy’s fiancé, Paul, ran downstairs to see what was going on and found their house manager standing by the door with a horrific expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” He inquired as he approached her cautiously.
She pointed to the wall and as he approached, he could see what had caused the panic.
“I WILL KILL YOU!” He read the words on the wall which were written in red.
“I’m sorry for scaring you and madam.” The house manager said timidly.
“It’s okay. Some kids must have done it. Make sure you clean it well before Mercy sees it. You know how protective she is about the house.”
He went back to the bedroom where Mercy was lying in bed looking through her phone.
“What happened?” She asked as soon as Paul opened the door.
“Jackie saw a pipe that looked like a snake.”
Mercy laughed, “She’s still getting used to the big house.”
The couple had breakfast together and Mercy headed to the venue she had booked for her engagement party to finalize the arrangement.
“Everything looks so beautiful. I can’t wait for the event.” She said as she looked around the decorated ballroom.
“We’re happy to be part of your big day, Mercy.” The event planner said.
******************************************************
Nearly the entire office was at Mercy’s engagement party. They came with gifts which they presented to Mercy before grabbing a plateful of food and settling at their assigned tables. Glasses clinked and laughter echoed across the huge ballroom. Everyone seemed to be having a good time which made Mercy relax for a little bit.
“I don’t know who told me this would be a good idea.” She said jokingly to her fiancé.
“It’s going great. You did a good job, babe.” He praised her and then planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Thank you. I’ll go around and make sure everyone is okay.” She said.
“Okay. Don’t be too long though.”
As she was walking around, she saw an uninvited guest by the door.
“Is that Sam?” She asked one of her friends.
Her friend looked in the direction Mercy was pointing to but there was nobody there.
“I don’t see anyone.” She answered.
“Let me go and check. I’ll be back.”
Before her friend could stop her, Mercy was already headed towards the door. She got to the entrance and looked around but indeed, there was nobody there. Just as she was about to turn around and go back inside, a figure emerged from the dark.
“I knew I wasn’t seeing my own things. What are you doing here, Sam?” She asked.
“So, I’m not allowed to attend my best friend’s engagement party?”
“We’re not best friends. How did you even know where I was?”
“I have my ways.”
“You were spying on me all this time, weren’t you?” She asked. “You’ve always tried to ruin all my happy moments since university.”
“What did you expect? You stole everything from me.”
“I didn’t steal anything. In fact, I always tried to help you.”
“Well, maybe it’s time you helped yourself,” Sam said as she pointed a gun at Mercy.
Mercy turned around and run. Sam fired and one bullet hit Mercy in the arm. She fell and crawled behind a table to hide.
The loud noise startled everyone in the ballroom who started running in all directions. Mercy’s friend ran towards Paul and told him that she was outside. He immediately ran towards the entrance where he found Mercy lying on the floor with a lot of blood around her. She had fainted.
“Mercy!” He called out as he shook her motionless body.
She opened her eyes and saw Paul looking back at her.
“What happened?” Paul asked.
“She tried to kill me.”
“Who?” He asked.
“Sam.”
“What? Where is she?”
“I don’t know. I think she ran away. Did she shoot me?”
As Paul inspected Mercy’s body, they heard a commotion and he instinctively stood in front of her to protect her.
“Sir, we caught this woman trying to run away. She’s the one who fired the gun.” One of the security guards said as they held Sam.
Mercy managed to sit up and saw Sam surrounded by armed guards.
“That’s her. That’s her.” She said frantically.
“Watch that woman. I’m going to call the police.” Paul said as he lifted Mercy up and took her inside then reached for his phone in his pocket.
The police arrived shortly after and arrested Sam. Mercy was taken to the hospital for treatment of her gunshot wound. Mercy still couldn’t believe that the woman she had called her best friend for so many years tried to kill her. She never really recovered from that incident and was constantly worried about someone attacking her. However, Paul stuck by her side and the couple tied the knot a few months after their disastrous engagement party after her arm healed. She was still going to therapy to deal with all the issues that had come up.
Sam’s case concluded two years after her arrest. She was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
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This story first appeared on this blog as Her Jealous Best Friend Part 1: Mercy Always Saw The Best In People – She Couldn’t See That Sam Was A Deadly Snake Waiting To Strike and Her Jealous Best Friend Part 2: Where Rage Drives Sam To Plan Mercy’s Murder
