Chapter Eight
1194 Words
Dear Jeremy,
I hope this finds you well. I take it you are well sated with your current accommodation though I would've chosen better..
Kindly be ready and present yourself at my office at 9a.m.
Mr. Babu will pick you up.
Regards,
Adrian Kings.
That was all, I flipped the paper and hummed ready to go through the fridge.
I was starving.
First, I intended to r****h the Italian dish Mr. Babu got from Lucca before tackling the fridge row by row - I was in paradise.
Something about Mr. Kings’ name struck me as odd, it was not a rare custom that some Kenyans had a habit of naming their children English names as if they were from the west.
But Kings, what Kingdom was he kinging ?
His name was odd. Did his parents really give him the name or did he choose it himself.
Will you eat or will you worry about a useless name ?
The thought dinged in my head and I focused on serious matters at hand before they grew cold, I would solve the mystery name later, at the moment all I wanted was food and sleep.
****
At precisely quarter to nine in the morning, Mr. Babu dropped me off the Ambassador hotel, he was cheerful compared to the last night.
I discovered the old man had a passion for singing his heart out particularly to blues, the 80s and 90s pop, and I sang along. I knew I qualified to become Mr. Babu's favorite person when I suddenly sang Kenny Rogers's - Buy me a rose and coward of the county and when I sang Lionel Richie's - Hallo, he stopped the SUV at some point and gave me a side hug when I was so lost in singing along to Cruel summer.
“ How do you know so many pop songs, you're quite young unless an old woman is inhabiting that body ? ” Mr. Babu asked.
“ My dad used to play them back to back every morning before he dropped me off at school, ”
“ Where is he ? Sounds like a cool ninja ! ”
I chuckled at Mr. Babu's use of sheng.
“ Yes , he was a really cool guy, ”
“ Was ? ”
“ He passed, ”
A moment of silence as he spared me a sympathetic look which was soon lost when the next song blared through the speaker and we were singing along until he dropped me off - a sense of deja Vu.
“ Jeremy, you made it on time,”
My head snapped up from my reminiscing to spot a very handsome Mr. Kings donning on a charcoal brown suit and a cream shirt, a simple outfit but it fit him well.
“ Yes sir, sorry, Mr. Kings,” I flushed and he chuckled.
“ You look...lovely, ” He said, his eyes lingering on my four inch red chunky heels and a brow raised in questioning concern.
“ Thank you, ”
“ How is your ankle going, ”
“ It's trying- ”
“ And you dare wear heels, ” His eyes snapped up to my grey in concern, a hint of anger in his eyes.
Sir, I've never worn low heeled shoes in my life, even my flipflops were a raised heel and I ordered it myself after chucking the ones from the doctor's office into the dustbin - they were horrid.
“ Are you even listening to me ! ”
“ Sir, sorry sir, sorry! ”
Mr . Adian’s authoritative voice was threatening and I found my self looking into very angry brown orbs and for a moment I was lost.
Those are beautiful eyes,
“ Stop staring at me like that ! ”
A blink, “ Huh ? ”
“ I said stop staring at me like that ! ”
A blush, “ Sorry sir! ”
“ How many times will I tell you not to call me that ! ”
“ Mr. Adrian, Sir ! ”
He glared.
“ Sorry ! Mr. Sir ! ”
Okay this is awkward,“ Mr Kings ! ”
“ Young lady you are in serious trouble, to my office immediately, ”
I followed him through a mahogany door into a spacious office, a red carpet covering the floor, glass windows, a large mahogany desk and an executive large black seat behind it.
“ Your boss will not be talking to you and you become absent ! ” He scolded.
“ Sorry ! ”
“ And you ought to wear comfortable shoes not high heel your employee insurance will expire before you officially begin working for this company at this rate! ”
“ But, these are barely high, Mr. Kings. I've worn heels all my life, ”
He spared me a warning look, “ If you twist your ankle again - ”
“ I'm okay, it's not even painful at the moment, ”
He spared me a long look before sighing in resignation, “ The main reason for calling you here was to discuss your job qualifications. What is the highest level of education you've ever attained ? ”
“ Uhm...” I frowned
But had we not settled that I'll be cleaning restrooms at the hotel.
“ Jeremy ? ”
“ Yes ? ”
“ That's going to be a problem if it becomes a habit, ”
“ Sorry. My highest level would be Form Four, ”
He gaped, “ Are you certain ? ”
“ Yes, high school, ”
Concern marred his features and he arched a perfectly shaped brow,“ Why ? ”
I bit a lip to think.
He seemed distracted by the action, it was not a wonder in my past career it distracted many clients too.
How would I answer that question ?
“ Jeremy, to hire you I need honesty of your background , ”
“ Lack of finances, I didn't have enough to take me to school and I never scored good marks for the government to sponsor me to university, ”
It was the truth, my parents demise a few months before I finished my highschool tampered with my brain, the motivation to study was consumed by my grieving, bitterness of being thrown out of my parents’ home and the reckon from my mates once they knew what I did to survive considering I studied at a day school. The result was poor grades and there was no way the government would sponsor a D student from a prestigious day school. I swallowed the shame, moved on and forgot about my dreams.
Mr. Kings seemed to buy it, “ How unfortunate, I hoped for higher qualifications to employ you as a casual in one of the departments for a start but it seems like you will have to do with your current cleaning job,”
I did not mind. He had already done enough.
“ How about my area of residence, ” I blurted the question without much thought.
“ How do you mean ? ”
“ Rent for my area - ”
“ I'll take care of that, ” He said and dismissed me.
- Writer
