Destined to be a royal spouse

Chapter 2

"A research programme will be held next month. Come to my office for further information." The secretary announced before going back to her office. 

Jessica decided to go first to the secretary to make enquiries for the research programme before going for her morning lecture.

"Knock, knock." 

"Come in." says the secretary.

Jessica went in and she offered her a seat. 

"I would like to know the requirements for the research programme."

"Sure, here is flyer. Everything you need to know is in it. It is going to last for a month."

"Is it possible to rent an apartment."

"Of course not, people that is interested will be led by someone."

"It's alright. I will tell my parents about it." Jessica said, she stood up and went straight to the door. 

As she was about to touch the door knob, the door was opening and someone came in. 

"Maax. What are you doing here." Jessica was surprised, but Maxwell stepped back which made her to step forward and closed the door behind her.

"Hey beauty. Are you surprised to see me." Maxwell asked her with a cute smile on his face. 

"Yeah, I am. I wasn't expecting to see you here." 

"Alright, alright. I came here to make enquiries for my niece. It will be a dream come true for her if she enrolls in this school." Maxwell explained while looking at her affectionately. 

"Have I meet her before?" Jessica asked curiously. 

"Of course not, sweetheart. You will meet her one day. She lives in the college, that was why you have not met her."

"It's Okay. I have to go now for my morning lecture. See you later."

"See you soon, sweetheart." He went closer and gave her a soft kiss.

"I have got to go." She whispered to him and hurriedly left. 

As was in a haste, someone got into her path from one of the connecting passages out of the blue before she could realise and avoid it she had already knocked over the books.

"Aargh!!" "How dare you?!" The girl who she bumped into scolded. 

"Oh, I am so sorry." She replied the girl trying to pick up the girl's fallen books. 

"No! Don't touch them and get out of my sight!" The girl yelled at her. 

Jessica left immediately in order not to arrive late for her lecture. 

"Hello everyone!" She greeted nervously. 

"Hi." Some of the students responded. 

"Hey. Are you okay?" Jolie asked being so worried about her friend.

"Yeah, I am fine. It's just that I was a bit in a haste on my way for lecture from the secretary's office."

"What took you to her office?" 

"The research programme of course. Aren't you interested?" 

"Of course, I am interested. I heard about it from some of the students, so I decided to make inquiries after my lectures for the day."

Jessica was flipping through her books to get the flyer for her friend to see. When she lifted her face up, her eyes met with the malicious look of the girl she bumped into a few minutes ago, standing a few distance from her. 

"Hi, I am Jessica. And I am really sorry for bumping into you, I was such in a hurry to get into the lecture room before the lecturer would get in." She spoke up, intending to lighten the atmosphere, but to no avail. 

"I am not interested in knowing who you are. In fact, you don't worth my time." The girl turned and left her embarrassed. 

"Jessie, what is going on?" Jolie asked. 

"Well, like I told you earlier that I was a bit in a haste on my way. So, I bumped into her mistakenly, which I tried to apologize to her, but she just misunderstood the situation." She explained bitterly. 

"Don't you worry about Henrietta. She likes to make people feel intimidated and clear the road for her as she walks by. You know, she does that because her father is a pro..." 

Their conversation was cut short when the economics professor came in.

"Good morning, Professor Sam." The students greeted. 

"Good morning to everyone." He replied. 

"I hope that you had studied what we have done so far." He asked. 

"Yes!" Echoed some of the students. 

"What are the major divisions in economics?" Asked referring to Jessica, but she seemed to be in deep thoughts, when suddenly she was nudged by Jolie. 

"Come on! Are you alright? The professor is asking you a question."

"I am so sorry, Sir. I was a bit distracted. Could you repeat? Please."

"Sure. What are the major divisions in economics?"

"The major divisions in economics are consumption, distribution, production, exchange and public finance."

"Well said." "What are the types of demand determinants, Bryan?"

"Producers' goods and consumers' goods."

"That is an impressive answer." "What is the relation among Average Cost, Marginal Cost, and Total Cost, Celia?"

"Average cost is the total cost divided by the total quantity produced. Marginal cost is the extra cost of producing one additional unit. The total cost is equal to the sum of fixed cost and all the marginal costs uncured." 

"That is good. What are the problems faced by Public sector enterprises, Julius?

"Some of the important problems of the public sector enterprises are: 1. Poor project planning. 2. Bad financial planning 3. Poor manpower planning. Because of working estimation of manpower requirements, over-staffing is a common feature of all public enterprises leading to increase in wage bill and operating costs considerably. 4. Poor labour management relations. In a majority of these undertaking industrial relations are far from satisfactory in spite of the fact that the huge sums have been spent for providing amenities to the employees. This resulted in strikes and lockouts leading to fall in output and increase in the cost of production.5.Problem of personnel. The salary and wage scale of the personnel of these undertakings are comparatively low than private sector undertakings and due to this capable people are not available. The method of recruitment and training is also outdated and faulty."

"Quite impressive." He continued asking all the students different questions and was so impressed on how they responded with their illustrations. He also taught them other things that were not quite clear to them.

"With the answers provided to my questions, it just shows how good you studied and I encourage you to do more." He praised them and continued "The project you will do for next week's presentation is to indicate how economics affect the society and our daily life. Have a nice day." He said before leaving the lecture room. 

"Thanks a lot, Professor Sam." The students echoed. 

Few minutes later, the students started leaving. Jessica and Jolie left together and went to the cafeteria to get some refreshments. On getting there, they found the place crowdy.

"Why don't we get the refreshments and go to the school's garden?" Jessica suggested. 

"That is a good idea." Jolie replied cheerfully. 

They ordered for their snacks and drinks and went to the school's garden. They sat there comfortably and chatted casually when they started hearing voices of some from the other side of the garden.

"I will not let her take what is rightfully mine. I will make sure she distances herself from what is not meant for her." Voice 1.

"You have to act fast, the earlier the better." Voice 2.

"Of course. You know me quite well of what I am capable of." Voice 1.

"Be carefull. You have to plan well so that you won't be caught." Voice 3.

"Do not doubt my plotting skills. I am quite good at that. Trust me, she won't dare to trespass on what does not belong to her, after I through with her. Hahaha." Voice 1

"I would like to observe the whole scenario. I would not want to miss one bit of it." Voice 3.

"Exactly, she will learn a very big lesson of her life." Voice 2.

"Hahaha, hahaha!! Voices 1 and 2 laughed along with voice 1 while walking the pathway as they continued their conversation, their voices were gradually disappearing out of earshot. 

'One of the voices sound a bit familiar to me. Who could it be and why would they plot against someone so badly?' Jessica thought to herself and felt so concerned.