Do Good

Chapter 1: The Elusive Executive

How a company could build such a strict culture that simply holding employment, no matter how brief, gave an edge to your CV was beyond the woman.

Kito Ndosa was still in her internship. The pay was meagre. According to the recruiter, it was to cut down on the money-chasers. The diligent would survive, they said. The internship period made sure to sort out the worthy from the willing, as they put it. She scoffed to herself, as much as she was a hard-worker, this work culture mythology originating from uDomo LTD really felt like a bunch of corporate fantasy role-players.

"Just LARPing about in ties and polished shoes."

"Hey, Kito," Her manager beckoned, Mphathi. Kito moved immediately, mainly because Mphathi used her manager-voice. She was often laidback. Though don't get it wrong, dear reader. Oh, she took her work seriously. Technically, everyone in the company did. But, underneath the job title, she was also a person and when the situation didn't demand for the job title, she was simply Mphathi.

"What do you need?" Kito nodded, getting within a mannered distance of conversation. Her theme-song being the purposeful strides of her heels.

Mphathi handed over an envelope. It was thick, high-quality. Mphathi’s face etched in concentration. It was clear she was between a task amongst others. Kito wanted to make sure the woman didn't have to focus too much on getting this one done so, as the kids say, she locked in. Kito stilled her thoughts, ready for to execute whatever she was to be asked of.

"These papers need to head over to the executive reception, floor 2." An ombre braid slipped loose from the cascade Mphathi’s fingers had laid them into. Mphathi ran a hand through the same braids, returning them back to the temporary slick-back, "Tell him it’s the quarterly insight, requires 5. He'll know what it means."

Every word was absorbed, Kito didn't move immediately. A report meant it was needed but this envelope looked quite intentional, almost to state that it wasn't for all eyes. So needed but exclusive…

"If he's not there, shall I bring it back or you'd rather have me wait until it’s in his hands?" She asked, ensuring her voice showed the same urgency.

Mphathi paused and looked at her. Really looked. Out of the autopilot and for a brief moment, Mphathi the person came forward and she smiled. Kito really enjoyed that.

Manager Mphathi returned with an impressed quirk of her brow, "It's confidential, but it needs to get to an executive. If you can't find the receptionist, give it to any of the executives on the floor. Make sure they are an executive." Red-glossed lips smiled slightly, Mphathi was impressed.

Kito nodded, and she was off, a stride of purpose. All she could focus on was the weight of the envelope. The energy Mphathi gave made it feel substantial in her palm. She pressed it against her chest and moved through the crowd, manoeuvring through multiple densities of co-workers until she reached the elevator.

Ding. Swoosh. Click clack. Ding. Swoosh.

With a moment to pause, she let her thoughts organise. The most important, according to her brain, was the fact that Mphathi was impressed with her. She could feel the grin fight through the fibres of her cheek but she settled it down. It sure did feel fantastic to impress.

She adjusted her suit pants, a garnishing action with no real consequence. Just awareness. The buttons highlighted as each floor passed, the pace of the elevator was smooth and seamless. The momentum shift was observed more than felt.

The lower floors had the executives. It was an interesting flip of the usual building hierarchy: at uDomo LTD, the lower you went, the more important the position was. The first floor was the owner, an elusive body that no one could really place. The main issue was that their identification was nowhere: no self-aggrandising portrait or photo on the company websites, no parades of position across floors or in meetings. Just a name, Khwezi. L. M. And that wasn’t even on their office door, it was listed in the company portfolio and website.

Actually, it was like that across the whole company. Positions were on a need-to-know basis. Only executives needed to know other executives. And only the CEO's PA needed to know the CEO. It didn't help that there was a constant rotation of interns, ergo, a constant rotation of faces. So if people were not direct colleagues or your boss, even a familiar face was not consistently or intimately interacted with enough to actually pinpoint who they were.

"Woah, focus!" Kito quickly whipped her thoughts back. She needed to focus. "Receptionist. Quarterly insights. Needs... no, requires 5." She let herself mutter out loud as she was the only one in the elevator. Her mind sometimes moved a bit too much. Double-edge sword, mental-spiralling on negatives, sure. But she was sharp and thorough, able to really think of the many angles of—

The elevator door beeped softly and slid open. Her thoughts snapped to her objective. She strode out, making a beeline for the receptionist's desk. She was hoping the man would be there, but it seemed her back-up scenario would come in handy after all. The desk was empty.

"Alright, the next best thing is—oh… oh no."

The issue? In the offices, there seemed to be no movement either. No one was visible, set from herself and a woman who was sitting in the waiting area. The sound of slight chatter cast her gaze to the end of the room where silhouettes occupied a closed-off room. A meeting. The whole floor was in a meeting.

Kito recalculated, her eyes darting across as she mapped.

"Can I wait it out, or will it take too long that Mphathi might need me more?" Her brain churned, attempting a mental risk assessment of the limits of her situation. Then she recalled a potential resource, the lone woman; she could ask her. "Better to momentarily bother than shy away from potential help."

Kito turned to find the woman was already looking at her. Her face was stern, almost demanding. Well, not really. It was her gaze, it felt expectant. Suddenly, Kito felt terribly out of place. Like a spotlight beamed onto her.

"Insecure? No, more like nervous. She is making me nervous at my grown age," she chuckled to herself and even that internal voice carried the nerves she spoke of as it wavered. "Yazini, I AM grown." Determination etched into her brow and, with a readying inhale, she postured back up. She was not trying to fit in, she was trying to do her job.

She made her way over, the envelope still pressed against her chest, but she kept confident lines throughout her posture. The gaze of the woman remained. Imperceptible, cold. She tried to imagine the woman wearing a clown nose to help face her, and it did. Enough for this encounter given it would be brief.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. Pardon me for intruding. Do you happen to know where or when I can find someone on this floor?" She delivered her lines with a mastered blend of unhurried urgency.

The woman kept her silence but it felt different. Being this close, it felt like there was a radius of smoke around them, Kito had walked into her domain and it assessed her. The only thing she could see was those eyes. Dark brown, low-lidded and expecting. Her brows were thick, straight, sharp.

It was slightly intense.

"Clown noes. Clown nose."

All her senses cut off and the woman was the only experience. Those eyes.

"Good afternoon," her voice came with a slight smile and her scope of vision widened. The smoke seemed to clear and Kito blinked, trying to have her mind catch up or slow down — she couldn't really tell.

Her voice was rather deep. Rich too. Like the rumble of a distant stampede. Clearly feminine but her cadence honeyed through, flirting with the notes of a masculine range.

Kito felt herself exhale a bit deeper as the woman eased the tension. Brown skin absorbed the sheen of the rays of sun that angled in. Brown, like the rich murkiness of tea.

"They are currently in a meeting and if the time I was told is correct," the woman let the words pause. Like she knew Kito’s attention was hers to hold and Kito could admit she was focusing on nothing else.

"Then they'll be out soon. So, wait."

Lips, a deeper brown than her skin tone, with a glossy finish. The woman spoke and they moved.

"I mean, that's how talking works. Lips move. Her lips just happen to be of note… Oh, my word!" Kito feared she was staring so she snapped her eyes back to the woman's gaze again, almost trying to see if she had been caught, but the woman didn't give anything away. Either she was committing to the stoic demeanour or Kito managed to be subtle.

Kito nodded, "Thank you, ma'am."

Then she stayed in place. The woman kept her gaze and Kito stayed in it. Features began loading in: her hair was gelled in swirls across her forehead while the rest bowed in braided lines against her scalp. It cascaded past her shoulders, arranged neatly down her back to an unseen length.

Kito shifted her foot, testing her ability to move, and she could. She could move in place just fine. Maybe it was the curiosity, or the innate mechanism in her that sensed that she was being assessed, and she wanted to know what this woman wanted.

What did she expect from her?

Why did she expect from her?

The woman stared. Time felt like rain, random intervals that were clearly passing by but Kito didn't know when the next event would come to release her from this one. So Kito stayed in the rain. And waited.

The woman's gaze shifted. She began trailing down her frame. Lingering in odd spots: like a zigzag across her body. Had circumstances been different, Kito would have had the mind to call the objectification out. She nearly did, her lips parting as pride bubbled through.

Then the woman paused at her feet and let out a hum. Something amused her. Kito dropped her gaze to find the issue but a sharp sound from her leashed her straight, her attention was hers again. Kito was blank. No, she was open. She felt like her pages were being flipped through and the reader? Licking her one finger and caressing the pages as she stroked. Languid and sure.

For the first time, this mystery woman's gaze changed. She looked pleased. An energy settled through Kito, a mellow but persistent current of electricity. Kito knew she was a people-pleaser of sorts, it came from her childhood days of being amongst competitive siblings where achievements and favour were currency. Kito had channelled the desire to be her own people to please, so to say. This, however, felt... really loud. She felt entirely too proud of this achievement.

A swallow travelled down her throat.

The sound of life flooded into the space as a door swung open and people filled the space. The whiplash of reality flashed through her, nearly evoking a gasp as everything was suddenly bright and loud. The meeting. The receptionist. The envelope. Her assignment.

Kito turned her body towards the commotion, processing her next actions. She returned to the woman and gave a slight bow of her head, "They seem to be finished. Have a good day, further." She bid, polite, gathering herself instantly.

The woman hummed, "You as well. Don't let me hold you any further."

Kito walked to reception where the man had just filed back in and delivered the instruction. At the back of her mind, the urge to turn and look itched at her but she fought it back with her seasoned discipline.

"Requires 5."

The man listened, writing down a note as she spoke, then nodded in finality. He brought his gaze back up, "Alright, I shall do so. Thank you." He smiled. Kito smiled back and she was off herself. Job well done, she supposed. But the satisfaction felt dimmed in comparison.

As she turned to the elevator, she caught a glimpse of the woman again, who was now busying herself with some file. Kito hadn’t noticed if she always had that paper. The woman’s posture in perfect lines. Only now did Kito register that she was wearing a pin-striped, 3-piece suit. A green deep enough to almost look black, with what looked like silver stripes. Heeled boots sheened, boasting their pampered state. The woman shifted and their eyes met again. Kito felt her senses swell back to that moment. That void with nothing but her. She almost returned to that spot.

The woman winked at her.

Fuck, caught.

Kito quickly pressed a floor button, realising the elevator door was still open as it waited for the input. She hurried out of sight, stepping back quickly.

Kito groaned. Fingertips zoned a point of pressure which quickly heated in pain as Kito knifed her fingers against her forehead. "I really hope that client never sees me again," she released in a sigh, feeling justifiably punished for the lack of composure she displayed.

She rubbed across her forehead, hoping she didn't press too hard that she caused visible indents. Regardless, it was done. She was going to stash this moment into the "memories to randomly think about" when her brain wanted to fixate. Nevertheless, she was going to move on.

"Because at the end of the day, the day's got to end." Another sigh, "f**k's sake."