Melinikos did not like to remember his childhood. Traumatic memories came upon him, and he had to go through the pains again and again. He forced himself on these occasions to focus on other thoughts, more pleasant ones. He learned at an early age that if he could occupy his mind with activities continuously, he might escape from the bad memories. Melinikos was weak and to be afraid to speak up. Frustration and despair dominated his days. His parents were determined to sculpt him until he would become a perfect man. Eagerly he sought solitude. It affected him like a balm. This remedy did good service for him until growing up.

At his first workplace, people esteemed him very much because he helped the colleagues all the time. The colleagues thought he must have been an outstanding manner. Melinikos never talked about the real reason lurking behind his excellent style.

From time to time, some of the colleagues did not want to let him help them. On these occasions, Melinikos became angry instantly. Colleagues jumped back with surprise, but Melinikos regained his self-control in seconds, he tried to force a smile on his face, and he whispered an inaudible sorry.

Years passed, the managers noticed that Melinikos worked hard; he gained extensive knowledge about the company. Using his experience, he started to influence the processes within the company. As he received apparent support from the top management, his team members ran into a huge dilemma. Either they would let him manage things as he liked to see them move on, or they had to face Melinikos’s disapproval. Melinikos showed the colleagues the right way how to execute tasks.

Melinikos was a rising star in the coming years. His extensive knowledge made him confident to correct everyone around him. If someone dared to start an argument with Melinikos, there were two outcomes. If Melinikos became triumphant in the dispute, he looked down to the loser with a humiliating face. If he thought not to be able to win, he straightforwardly told the colleague: “I want it this way, because I know it better!” As he exerted his power over the colleagues, it felt good because it blew away the upcoming clouds of fears and anxieties. 

Over time, people in the company had been revolving around Melinikos, similar to the solar system. Only those could get a license to enter the inner circle who gave up ambitions, will, and any sense. Instead, they assimilated into the vaguely perceived purpose of Melinikos.

After seemingly successful years, dark grey clouds pulled up on the company sky. Market conditions had drastically changed. Old, used-to-work tools turned out to be obsolete. Melinikos did not notice the change on time. His inner circle did not dare to rock the boat. Colleagues were overwhelmed by the feeling they would sit in a plane’s cockpit as the first officer. They would watch the experienced captain glancing calmly on the white clouds floating on the harsh blueness of the sky outside the window. The plane was accelerating in power-dive, but the first officer kept his mouth shut. 

When the first signs managed to get through to the mind of Melinikos, he looked around angrily. He shouted that he was disappointed with the colleagues who failed to warn him. Melinikos had shaken up himself and went on to action. He started to yell orders in meetings and behaved like a general in the war. The machinery woke up. Crackling and screeching, the cogs began to revolve. Despite the massive activity, the plane kept falling at an accelerating pace. Some sober colleagues realized that it would not work out. They whispered among each other who should tell Melinikos that his usual methods and tricks would no longer work. Three of them decided to talk to him. 

It took one minute. Melinikos’s head turned to red as he heard the colleagues explaining why he was wrong. One of them reminded Melinikos of someone who used to abuse him in his childhood. Waves of dark fears raided Melinikos. He started to feel shaky while sitting on his chair. The shockwaves of fears made him fail to think clearly. He heard the words, but the flood of emotions took him back to his classmates. He started to sweat on his forehead. Then one lightning strike came upon him, squirming in fatal despair. He turned to the colleague who talked, waited a moment. He watched the face of the man in front of him; it did coincide with the visage of Melinikos’s classmate who abused Melinikos the most. The colleagues waited in numb silence. 

Melinikos whispered the words. Only those could catch the meaning who sat closest to him. “You’re fired.” Like an icy spear pierced through the unfortunate colleague. No one moved. A deadly silence filled the room. 

Melinikos fought heroically in the following months. He consulted all the teams and giving them strict orders. The financial people watched at their desks with white faces while the money flew like the Amazon river. They tweaked the data as Melinikos requested, while they envisaged the inevitable end. 

One grey morning, Melinikos dictated his orders to a small team of people of the inner circle. His hand started trembling. When he noticed it, he forced both hands into his pockets. Sweat drops ran down his face while his spoken words were fading away. A heavy silence weighed everyone in the room. When Melinikos turned around in the next moment, his tortured face terrified his colleagues. Like a slow-motion movie, he wanted to wave with his hands when he collapsed in mid-motion. He never moved again.