CHAPTER 4
1530 Words
Amaka's POV:
"Sorry, sir. I was mistaken. I thought you were someone I knew," I said, as his blue eyes held mine.
"It's fine. Come in for your interview. Why do you want to work here with us?" he asked, clicking on his laptop as if he were going through my credentials.
I was affected by seeing him, but the fact that he acted like he didn't know me or recognise who I was made me tremble.
"Hello?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at me.
"Right. I am a digital marketing student, and I graduated with distinction. I believe I will help your company market their products and services online," I said, my gaze lowered as I tried not to look at his face.
He had changed, and he looked more masculine and handsome. My son resembled him, only that Jason was fair like me.
"I see," he replied, and clicked his mouse.
"I only employ staff who are committed to their jobs and don't breach my company agreement. If you dare to breach my company agreement, you will have to pay a fine of five million dollars for it," he said.
"Okay. I am an honest person, sir, and you don't have to worry about that," I said, lowering my gaze and avoiding his eyes.
"Hmm," he agreed. "You can meet with Ms. Anita to sign up with her."
"Thank you, sir," I replied, standing up from the guest chair as I looked at his face once more. He had returned his gaze to his laptop and I couldn't believe that he didn't recognise me.
Had I changed that much? My eyes welled up in tears and he looked at me.
"What's the problem, madam?" he asked, meeting my gaze, and I searched his dark face to see if he was affected by me, but he was not.
"Nothing, sir," I quickly replied, blinking my teardrop away as I moved out of the guest chair. I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't look back as I left his office.
I wanted to resign from working here. But this was the very first job I would get after graduating. How could my child's father be the owner of this establishment? Was that really Joseph Ericson?
I looked back, as his office door closed; an inscription read: CEO — JOSEPH ERICSON OFFICE.
My brows furrowed upon realising he was the one. I looked away and met Ms. Anita's curious gaze, and she asked me, "How did it go?"
"Oh!" I smiled, seeing the other newcomers looking at me. They were all fresh graduates too, five young men and four women.
"It went well, ma'am. I was just a bit emotional. Can I see the document?" I asked, and she replied, "Sure." She gave me the documents to look at, and I quickly read the terms and conditions for working for them.
It was an exclusive agreement, meaning I wouldn't be able to work for another company or tarnish their group name.
I sighed and signed it, even though a part of me didn't want to.
I wanted to know if Joseph had memory loss for failing to recognise me.
It had only been four years, and he was acting like he never knew who I was. Why was I so affected seeing him?
I took my copy of the agreement and kept it in my bag.
"You will have to wait to meet with your new coach," Anita said.
"Okay, madam," I said and went to sit, waiting.
After a while, Anita came and said, "Come with me. You will be working under Simon Braxton. He's our marketing manager, so you can assist him with his job."
"Okay," I replied and followed her into Simon's office. The company was a four-story building, and I was surprised to see Simon was the same man who had paid my transport fare earlier that morning. Unlike Joseph, Simon smiled and welcomed me. "Have your seat, pretty."
"Simon! You should know that such a compliment isn't allowed here, unless you want to lose your job," Anita warned him, but he laughed it off.
"Don't be jealous, Anita. I've known her before, so move away. It's nice meeting you again, pretty. What's your name?" he asked me, ignoring Anita's threat. She grimaced, "Do not say that I didn't warn you."
She pulled Simon's office door open and left us, leaving me alone with him.
I braced myself to take a seat.
"Is everything alright, miss?" Simon asked, looking concerned at me. I was sure that my face had turned red.
"Yes, sir. I'm fine," I replied, taking out my white handkerchief from my skirt pocket and wiping my face.
"Oh, please do away with the 'sir.' Just call me Simon, okay? I'm not that old, and the boss is older than me, if you ask," Simon said, flashing his nice set of white teeth, and I was forced to smile at his words.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. So we get to work today — how fate works," he said, and I smiled back.
"I will have the company security man set up your office here. You should know that we will be getting along, so that I can brief you before you move to your personal space," he said, leaning against his chair, and I looked around his office.
Just like Joseph's office, Simon's office was painted in white, and he had a large desk with his laptop before him.
"Alright. So my work starts today," I said to him, and he replied, "Yes. Or do you want to go home?"
"No. I am fine," I replied, and he smiled back.
"Let me call the security man to come and set up your office; I think that will make our work easier," he said. He picked up his telephone and placed a call, and a security man came in. The security man wore a white top, black trousers and black boots.
"You sent for me, Simon?" he said.
"Yes. Get a new office desk and a new laptop for my assistant," Simon told the security man, who looked at me and replied, "On it."
"Oh! I forgot my handbag. Let me go and get it," I told Simon, and he smiled.
"Feel free."
Once I stood up from Simon's guest chair, I stepped out of his office. His office was on the top floor, like the boss's office.
Some staff worked on the second and fourth floors, while the third floor was their meeting hall.
Ms. Anita had already lectured me about the company when I accepted and signed the contract with her.
I went back to the locker to take my bag and keep the key.
As I turned to head back to Simon's office, Ms. Anita came out of the boss's office and smiled at me.
"How's your work with Simon going? You shouldn't pay any heed to him, and know that the boss's office is just next to his. Most of the offices have glass walls to keep watch of whatever is going on, and there's also CCTV footage."
"Oh!" My cheeks burned redder.
"You don't have to worry about all that. Simon and I just coincidentally met today on a bus, and I do not really know much about him," I told her, and she gasped. "Oh! That's fine. You're free to reach out to me if you need further assistance. Take care, Miss Amaka."
"Alright," I replied and watched Ms. Anita walked back to her transparent glass office. I sighed and went back to Simon's office to join him.
I was consciously aware that the boss was watching us from his office. They had cameras and glass walls demarcating the offices from one another.
"Are you alright?" Simon asked, looking concerned as I stepped into his office to join him as the company's new assistant digital marketer.
"Yeah," I said, and I smiled; he smiled back.
"Here's your new chair and your small desk. It will keep you comfortable, alright," he said, gesturing to the new chair and desk set up in his vast office.
"Oh! Thank you," I smiled at him and he rose from his chair, walking over to the new desk and chair to meet me.
"You shouldn't thank me, Amaka. We are like partners now, so my duty is to make things easy for you," he leaned beside me as I sat on the new chair.
"Alright," I said, and he turned on the laptop to test it. I shifted my focus to the screen loading and watched him set it up.
"You will have to fill in your name and password and register. For any further assistance, reach out to me," Simon said. He rose from my desk once he was done setting up the laptop, and I smiled at him.
"Thank you," I watched Simon move back to his chair, and I focused back on the laptop. I looked around at the glass wall, wondering what Joseph was up to. The glass was dark, and I couldn't see the next office. However, I felt nervous knowing that I was under surveillance.
- Writer
