HEARTS APART

SHOCK WAVES

The first sign of how bad the day was going to be manifested early that money and about 6:00 a.m. my dad came down from his room fully dressed and ready to go to the office. You are living early I said. he said Yes, he had some work to complete before a series of meetings that will take him throughout the day will begin. Aren't you going to take Benny I asked. because I had concluded that if he wanted to keep a closer eye on Benny. It will make sense to make him his assistant or put him somewhere close to his office. Do I take my staff to the office was my father's reply. There was much disdain in his voice and tell him he must be at the office by 8:00 a.m. He walked out of the door into his waiting car and his driver sped off into the early morning cold.

I went to Benny's room to check what he was up to and discovered that he was still in bed I shook him up and gave him the latest news he was off to the shower in a hurry by 7:00 a.m. he was smartly dressed in a new tuxedo and smart shoes he looked like a CEO in his own right. I was pleased. you're going to make a great first impression I said. We had breakfast and I asked him to hurry up to beat the early morning traffic. I was going to work by myself and even though my office was on the other side of town, I asked my driver to take him and come back to fetch me.

Work that day was very hectic. We had so many clients competing for attention all with one complaint or the other. This was a very critical part of my Dad's business and he trusted me to run it to the best of my abilities and so far I had not let him down. Customer satisfaction was at an all-time high rating.

At 5:15 p.m. I was firmly ensconced in the back seat of my Toyota Prado. I instructed the driver to take the shortcut and bypass the traffic at Bush Square. It was the first chance I had to think about Benny all day. I wondered how he was doing and if my father was treating him well. My father was quite hard on his assistants indeed. I had seen a few of them shed tears while working with him and I expected him to do much worse to Benny.

On getting home I met Benny in the garden. this time he was seated with his hand on his cheeks as if he was thinking I knew something was wrong. I walked up to him and asked him how his day went. where is my dad I said. Are you guys back from the meetings? He looked at me with anger in his eyes and asked if I had brought him to New York to insult him. I took two steps backward. I've never seen him so angry before. What's the matter? I said and he told me that on getting to the office in his fine tuxedo, from the reception desk, he was directed to the office of the personnel manager who gave him a form to fill out and asked him to sit. Five minutes later he was given a uniform and a badge and sent to the cleaning division. There he did the routine medical examination and was given a mop and a bucket. He was recruited as a cleaner. he was furious and he wanted to turn his back and leave but the thoughts of me made him change his mind.

not only that after 3 hours of back-breaking work, he was told to report to the security department where was given another set of ID cards and told to report back at 7:00 p.m. that he had been posted to man the entrance to the service garage during the night shift. it turned out that he had been employed both as a cleaner and as a security guard. he would clean by day and guide by night or guide by day and clean by night

Immediately I understood what my father had done. He planned to keep me and Benny apart to give us no time to be with each other. I joined Benny in his fury and I waited for the arrival of My Father. There is so much nonsense a lady could take. I did my very best to please him. I could easily switch over and take over my mom's business and I would still be very rich. I didn't need him for anything I thought.

My father came home very late at night, almost midnight. I was in bed when he came. When I woke up I decided not to talk to him about it. It was the weekend anyway and I and Benny had planned to spend time together. I had developed a plan during the night. I will split for my father's business family, take over my mother's business, and take Benny with me. We have enough money to care for our child and to plan our lifestyle together. We will ensure that will prove my father wrong. I could hardly wait to tell Benny of my decision. I was sure he would be very pleased. breakfast went very well and everyone was cheerful including my dad. It was as if nothing had happened. I will be hanging out for the rest of the day and he was okay with it. He told me that he planned to go to the golf course to spend some time with his buddies. It was his first time out and since mom died I was secretly pleased for him even though I was beginning to hate him passionately.