9-5 Love

Call me a workaholic. Call me a working beast but that's what I was to start work, I felt so anxious. My hands started sweating. I had to rub it on my white skirt, I continuously kicked my leg and kept breathing in and out. But now, it's safe to say I can do my work even with a piece of linen tied to my eyes. I was the boss in this job. And I felt. I felt proud. Texas isn't what you could call a job giver, it was particularly hard for anyone to get a job in Texas. And I was no exception, especially when I had no 5 years of experience as they had required. I was a graduate. Being a graduate doesn't mean you were out of school and no more homework. I came to realise that being a graduate meant embracing life whether you liked it or not. I had to start thinking like an adult. And I did. I endlessly and tirelessly applied for jobs in not more than forty companies. Inside the city and out of the city. I had to even apply to another county if it meant me working and earning money to take care of myself. I got rejected as anyone would think, I got rejected like I was some kind of failure but I kept applying anyway. I thought no one would be able to see or notice me , at a point I had already started thinking of doing local jobs in my hometown . All that changed the day I met Mr. Devon Black, The CEO of the Devinise International, a financial Company. If not for anything like proof, I would have been mocked if I told anyone I was working for Mr. Devon, not just working for him. Holy Grail! I was his personal assistant. Don't judge me but it was a good thing that his former assistant, Mrs. Sandra had some important stuff to attend to so she took time off. I would say having worked for him for what seemed like ten years, she needed to rest. Someone was needed to fill that Position and that person happened to be me. It was smooth, not tedious. Mr. Devon was more of an absent person. He was so kind that he did not seem to mind that it took me some time to get used to the job or that I might be running late because a class ran late. I was astounded to discover that Henry Watson was the kindest person I had ever met. I was fortunate to have this job. Just when you thought you had sugar in your mouth only for the sugar to go sour. Mr. Devon had a medical problem, he had a very fatal seizure, caused by a kidney failure and the day we received his news of death. It rained heavily. The angels wept dearly for such a loss. I cried bitterly in my office realising that I would never see or speak to Devon again. He was an old man, at about seventy five years, he took me like a daughter and I loved him like a father. We mourned him, the company mourned him in its own way by crumbling, going bankrupt, owing a lot of debts and being void of a CEO. That man was obsessed with his business; he created it from the ground up, loved it, and because of his untimely death, it fell apart. It was like my father would say, "Take away fish from a cat, the cat would live on milk". After being on the verge of quitting my job because of its crumbling state. A new CEO was announced to us. And like a wildfire, the gist of who was going to be the CEO spread through the company. I figured perhaps I could wait it out after Mr. Devon's funeral, the new CEO would show up and I would start serving him as well. I only prayed and wished he would be the same as Mr. Devon. "Ugh! Laura, where is my shirt?" Struggling with the zip of my skirt, I walked out of the bathroom looking around for my white shirt. Today was going to be a day of new beginnings, and I needed to make a good first impression on my new boss, the CEO. I heard my roomate yell out from the kitchen, "I don't know. Look around". I took a grumpy walk back into the kitchen, my eyes seeing Laura gobble down on some cereals, I helped myself to some. Looking down on Laura, she was half dressed with the tie running down her belly and her shirt unbuttoned. Laura always looked pretty. She had a round face, a petite body and very long red hair which she had put into a bun . She wasn't tall or short but I was taller. We were roommates and best of friends, she was often the reason most of my clothes went missing because she borrowed them almost all the time . I picked my phone, running my eyes through the gallery searching for a picture that I had taken the day I wore the shirt I was looking for and when I found it, I held the phone up to Laura. I held up my heel to show her the particular shirt I was looking for. See, I wouldn't say Laura and I were actually roommates, I would say we were flatmates. We had different rooms and of course we didn't share the same wardrobe or the bathroom. And just as you thought, we had different jobs which required different dress codes. My wardrobe was filled with smart dressings like Long sleeved shirts, pencil skirts, long leather jackets, and of course heels. Laura on the other hand worked as a manager in a restaurant so her dressing was strictly uniform. When you wear the same clothes everyday, you tend to yearn to dress more on weekdays and that's what Laura did, she wore most of my clothes out. "Laura, we've been through this. You take my clothes you put them back", I said while reaching to the sink. "I'm so sorry love, I do put them back but I was just so dizzy and tired through" She said stretching her back and sitting up. "Well?" I asked her slowly, making her know that I was asking about the whereabouts of my shirt. She pointed her shirt fingers to the back of the TV and I moved my head to the direction, she was pointing to the wardrobe situated in the hallway. When we moved in the house, there was a wardrobe in the hallway but since it was there and it was small, we just used it for other spare things. I sighed and walked out of the kitchen, I went to the hallway. Ugh! Laura will never learn. Unlike me, she wasn't much of a tidy person. I didn't hate her for it but I wanted her to change desperately. She always had clothes lying around her room, dirty and clean. and went into her bedroom. I grabbed the shirt from the wardrobe, taking it a bit far to get a good view of it. It was rumpled but neat so I got to work . I didn't have much time to waste. "You're really gonna start ironing that, you don't have time" Laura asked " Maybe you should wear another one". "I wish," I yelled back, getting to the ground to look under the bed. "It goes best with my skirt and my heels and they are my nicest pair." There was a moment of silence from Laura. Unlike her, she loved to talk. I looked up from the ironing board and found her smiling while staring at me. "What" I asked her, finding it weird. "God, you're not nervous, are you?" she asked me, suddenly realising why I had been so anxious over the shirt. "Why would I be nervous?" I asked, walking out and putting my shoes on at the same time. "Because it's the first day you have to work for Dylan Black" she said, instilling more anxiety in me. Dylan Black was the newly appointed CEO, and as the name suggested he was related to Late Mr. DevonBlack. Dylan was Devon's only child, his treasured son, well when he was a little while anyway. Dylan grew older with a lot of changes in him , not very good changes. He got involved in too many problems. Name it, he partied with girls a lot, he drank and smoked, got involved with the police and was arrested a few times. He was famous and given his father's wealth, he dated lots of celebrities. Mr. Devon's Evil child was the CEO of his company. If I was worried about the company dying without a CEO before, I became more worried that the company would die with a CEO like Dylan. "Look, I can't imagine this guy is qualified to run a company, but what do i care as long as i'm getting paid" I told her, now stepping into the lounge room and grabbing my bag, "but he's my boss, so I'll do my job, and if I don't leave now I'll be late for his first day." "Alright then, I'll get myself prepared for hot gists when you get back", Laura smiling and blowing steam off her coffee". I walked out of the front porch and inhaled the morning air which smelt of cakes and sweets. Seems like old Nana has started baking" I said to myself as I walked down looking around to flag a cab. Laura and I lived in an apartment that was located in the upper west side and it was more of taking a subway to go anywhere you wanted to because the location made it pretty hard to get a cab. But heavens! I would be so late if I decided to take the subway. It was a tug of war having to choose between which would get my time more than the other. I had to learn to compromise between work and study as my location posed more problems to me. I was taking lessons on being a medical doctor. You could say I was living two lives, working in the Devinise Company and studying to be a medical doctor. I wasn't studying actually, because you can't do that in college but I took classes that could help you get into medical school and every morning I prayed that I would be accepted into the decent school of my choice. I knew how medical schools can be expensive, I didn't want to go to school halfway because of financial issues so I worked my butt off. I was about seven minutes late to the office after my lengthy and costly cab ride. Considering I had expected it to be longer due to the heavy traffic in the city, it was not too bad. When the elevator finally reached the top, I was surprisingly among the few people still inside having taken it to the fifty-first floor. Devinise International owned a few floors of the building, like most businesses do, and Dylan's office was on the top floor. I diverted my walk as I heard someone call out my name. It was the receptionist. "Morning girl, really had a rushy morning so I could get into the office" I told her, reaching into my bag for my pen. "Well, if you're going to your office, then you might consider going that way," she said pointing her long slender finger to the opposite direction of where I was heading. I looked at her trying to make do out of what she meant and it hit me. "What?" I frowned. She shrugged." He's such a.....". She was cut off by the telephone ringing down her padded table. I would have left her and went upstairs but I still didn't understand what she meant by redirecting me to a new office. "What do you mean he changed offices?" I asked her"Well, he took the window office," she explained." That was on the phone, you better hurry up" "Guess, he didn't want to be in the same office as his father. So your stuff got moved to the desk there, and they swapped out all the filing cabinets and stuff, so it's still all in order," she shrugged. "Well, at least that's something," I muttered, realising I needed to add another thing to my to do list. Lysha called after me and said, "Good luck then." I replied, "Thank you." "I anticipate needing it. I really did!