They say “the nail that sticks up will be pounded down.” Layla had learned that lesson better than anyone these past several years—and learned it the hard way.
She’d been among the top performers since she had joined her most recent job. Her boss trusted her, and her work was held up at meetings as a model to imitate.
Layla always worked with an eye toward efficiency; she never did anything unnecessary. That was her whole philosophy at the office, and it was what made her performances so dazzling.
There was nothing that would so much as raise an eyebrow about any of it—or at least, that was what Layla thought.
One day, she was doing her work, just like she always did, when she heard people talking.
“Huh! Another meeting, another…well, you know.”
“They can’t stop talking about how great Layla is. Layla the pet!”
“Maybe it’s ’cause she lets the boss touch her butt! You think?”
“Ha-ha! She totally would! You know her outfits barely cover her!”
“Is she here to work or to seduce people?”
Layla heard the women slandering her.
The nail that sticks up will be pounded down.
Her peers and even her senior colleagues had begun to distance themselves from her ever since she’d started to achieve serious results in the company. She didn’t mind it as such—she could just tell herself that it was the fate of talent to be resented.
But…
“Sigh! It does grate on my ears,” she grumbled as she walked home.
She didn’t have any particular feelings about being disliked, but being forced to listen to such lowbrow conversation when she was trying to do serious work was painful for Layla. She wished they would let her do her work in peace.
So she murmured, as if in prayer: “If only there were something that could keep me from hearing their insults.”
Her wish was as simple as that.
“Oh, there is.”
She didn’t know if her prayer had reached heaven, but a voice answered her, though she had been speaking to herself.
She turned toward it to see a woman emerge soundlessly from a dark side alley.
“There’s a sancta that will prevent you from hearing those barbs,” the woman said. She wore a black dress, almost as if she were in mourning. The moonlight framed dark hair and skin as pale as the dead. Dark eyes that looked devoid of life took Layla in.
The woman introduced herself as Antiques Carredura.
Layla’s coworkers knew that no matter how cool she tried to act, hearing people bad-mouth her had to bother her.
“See how she throws herself into her work every day? Hey…you think she’s in debt?”
“Ha-ha! I think she’s giving it to a guy!”
“She would!”
They couldn’t do better work than Layla, so instead they launched words like darts at her. If they could get the slightest hint of a rise out of her, that was enough for them. So today, like every day, Layla’s coworkers held one of their snickering conferences, well within earshot.
But this time…something was different. Most days, Layla would quietly but steadily lose her composure as her coworkers chatted—but today, she seemed completely at ease.
“Huh? I know she can hear us!”
“BS!”
“She’s trying to say we’re beneath her notice!”
Her coworkers rained their usual abuse, keeping none too quiet, but Layla didn’t show the slightest reaction. She completely ignored everything they said, as if she had stoppers in her ears.
“Did something about Layla seem funny today?”
It was lunch break, and Layla’s coworkers were in the bathroom, touching up their makeup. They couldn’t seem to get through to her no matter what they said, and it was throwing them off.
“Normally, she looks so upset, but today something’s different,” one of them said.
“Maybe she thinks she’s saying we’re not even worth noticing,” another one spat. “God, that woman makes me so angry!”
As ever, the three of them were discussing their shared hatred of Layla. They were just checking their faces in the mirror when the door of one of the stalls swung open, and they all went silent.
Layla emerged from the stall—the very person they had been in the act of insulting. Yet she went over to the sink as calmly as if she hadn’t heard anything and stood right beside the three of them as she washed her hands.
“Wh-what’s with you?!” one of the women asked. She felt a disgust she couldn’t put her finger on.
“Yeah! If you’ve got a problem with us, why don’t you just say so?” demanded the woman standing next to Layla.
Layla, however, didn’t say anything. She didn’t even react to how loudly they were shouting. She simply dried her hands and left the bathroom as if the three of them weren’t even there.
They noticed something as she left—she was wearing a pair of silver earrings they hadn’t seen before.
“These are called the Earrings of Silence,” Carredura had informed her the night before. She handed them to Layla and said, “Per their name, they enable the wearer to pass their days in silence.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Layla had asked, puzzled by the seemingly vague description.
Carredura calmly explained, “When you wear these earrings, you’ll cease to hear the voices of those who are harmful to you. Nor will you hear overly loud voices. Hence the name, Earrings of Silence.”
“Hmm…”
Layla contemplated the earrings—but then she squinted. Yes, they certainly looked like a sancta with a powerful ability. But it was also said that when a story was too good to be true, it usually was. “Is there a catch?” she asked.
“Certainly.”
Of course. Layla was disappointed—the silencing did sound appealing.
Carredura said, “The downside is that taking these earrings off is difficult—only I can do it. That’s their one drawback.”
“Hmm…” Layla nodded as she thought about this. “So if I put them on, I would have to leave them on?”
“That’s right. If you find you want to take them off, call me—simply hold this business card and wish to meet me. I will be at your humble service anytime, anywhere.”
The woman handed Layla a black business card emblazoned only with the name Antiques Carredura. Layla wondered how it was supposed to work but decided that the business card must be another sancta.
She looked at Carredura. She didn’t want to hear her coworkers’ voices, not in any circumstances. So she couldn’t take the earrings off once she put them on? Who cared? That was hardly a disadvantage for her.
“I’ll take them,” she said.
“A pleasure doing business,” Carredura replied with a pleasant smile.
The earrings appeared on Layla’s ears starting the next morning.
“__________”
They turned out to work just as advertised. None of the voices of the women who routinely belittled Layla reached her ears.
Their mouths were open. She could see them looking at her and smirking.
“____________”
“____________”
“____________”
But she didn’t hear a word they said. It was as if their voices, and theirs alone, had been blacked out, erased from Layla’s world.
Now this, I like.
From that day forward, Layla worked even more efficiently than before. With those grating comments swept away, she finally had the peace she craved.
“Excellent work as always, Layla.”
She must have been in a really good mood, because she was even more efficient than usual—work that she had planned to spend all day on, she finished in the course of the morning. Her boss was astonished by her speed and was lavish in his praise.
“Oh, no, sir. Just business as usual.” At least if one didn’t do anything unnecessary—such as have to listen to inane chatter.
“The rest of our staff could stand to learn a thing or two from you,” Layla’s boss said with a sigh, casting a glance over Layla’s shoulder.
“____________”
“____________”
“____________”
Her coworkers were exchanging pointless banter, as usual. Layla didn’t know what they were saying—something not remotely productive, no doubt.
There were so many lazy people at her company.
“Say, ladies, you free tonight?” asked one of Layla’s senior colleagues, trotting up to the three chatting women. He was a pushy guy who was forever inviting them out to drinks—and in Layla’s view, that was all he was good for.
Her three colleagues, though, seemed to be very taken with him. They looked at him, transparently thrilled and openly flirtatious.
“____________”
“____________”
“____________”
They said something to him, although of course Layla didn’t know what.
“Ha-ha-ha! Really? Okay. Sounds good. Let’s all go get drinks tonight.”
“____________”
“____________”
“____________”
“Good idea. I’ll invite a few of our coworkers.”
They were so busy planning their playdate that they couldn’t be bothered to do their jobs. Layla could hardly stand to look at them.
“____________”
And so she stopped hearing her senior colleague’s voice as well.