HADASSAH (Episode 2)

About fifteen candidates were already seated in the hall. They all looked more posh and polished than she was. She immediately became paranoid as she took a quick scan of the room, and instantly knew the candidates that were most likely going to be picked for the job. She found a seat and started praying within her.

Few minutes later, a man appeared, and they all adjusted themselves on the seat. Hadassah did a quick headcount, and they were about thirty ladies in the room. The man looked keenly at them, used his right index finger to push down his glasses and stared at them, left to right.

               “Good morning everyone. I warmly welcome you to S & S Global Incorporated. Most of you are probably wondering why you’re here. Maybe not the why, but what should be the question. Well, you’re here to apply for the post of the Personal Assistant to the CEO”. He stopped to get their reactions. Some looked at each other, others sat up, and some sighed, while some became excited. He knew they understood him, and then he continued.

               “As I said, the post is for the office of the personal assistant to the CEO. Big deal right? I know some of you are already prepared to answer questions. However, I’m here to tell you that the interview is not what you think. No one is going to ask you any questions. The CEO himself will pick out whomever he wants after you’ve all undergone six months of rigorous training here.” He paused again. The ladies looked at each other but no one said anything.

               “Yes. You’re going to be under supervision and observation for six months. You’ll be at work every day and you’ll do only as you’re told. You’ll not visit or be allowed to visit or see any of your family members outside of this premises, and no, they’re not allowed here either except it’s a life-threatening situation which I really doubt as the company will do well to have that taken care of if it eventually comes up. This was why we made sure the only candidates allowed to apply are spinsters who have little or no responsibilities yet. CEO’s orders” he stopped to catch his breath, and the ladies were overly attentive to everything he was saying.

He then continued, “His former PA, in the person of Vanessa happened to be rude, self-centred, arrogant and clumsy. Before you grumble, I have nothing against her. Ask around, she’s always very full of herself, doesn’t regard the boss, and felt she couldn’t be replaced. We’re having this meeting because definitely, she was wrong. That was her offence in a few words. I’d advise you to follow instructions, do exactly as you’re told and don’t misbehave, and who knows, you might be chosen by the boss” he paused again. The ladies were paying him a hundred percent attention.

                “You’re not going to be working directly with the boss. You’ll be learning all you need to know about the company, and you get to work with and in every department in the company for that duration of six months. You’ll get paid every month, and if you do not get picked, you get to go back home with a compensation package. Note, eyes are on you, and you won’t know who is watching you. It might even be one of you. Therefore, you have to be very careful… I believe that’s all for now. Any questions?” he said and gasped for breath as he changed his standing position.

               “Yes?” he said pointing to a fair-skinned lady seated at the middle of the hall, and all eyes turned in her direction.

               “I quite understand what all this is about, I speak for myself now,” she said as she touched her chest and looked around to ascertain if her audience understood her, a few of them nodded. “But where I’m having issues with is the non-communication with our family outside these walls… I mean… I’ll be coming from home” she continued and wore a questionable look on her face.

               “Good observation Miss…?”

               “Vivian” she replied as she took her seat.

               “Miss Vivian, good. Please don’t get me wrong. I didn’t say there’s going to be no communication at all. The thing is, you’re all going to be lodged in the company’s staff quarters for the duration in which you’d be here, which is situated at the far end of this compound. It’s a large compound so ‘twill be needless to have it far away from the office. That is because we’d want you completely focused without any distractions because it’s a big deal being the boss' personal assistant. About communication with people outside, you can do that with your phones. We won’t take them away from you. Your feeding, wardrobe, everything will be adequately taken care of. You can walk up to me to ask for anything you want, and by anything, I mean anything that will facilitate the success of your stay here. Did I answer your question miss?” he asked and looked in the lady’s direction. She nodded in the affirmative and smiled.

               “Any more questions?” he asked gesticulating with his hands. He looked around to be sure, and none of them seemed willing to ask questions or say anything. Then his eyes caught a very fair-skinned lady who had a beautiful long black hair packed in an afro. She wasn’t chitchatting with anyone seated beside her. She looked like a little lost child whose mom had left behind to go get something. She looked on attentively, and when she noticed she was being stared at, she immediately looked away. The man also had the decency to look away from her.

The man clapped his hand once, a clap signaling the end of something and said, “In the case of no question. I think we’re all ready to go back home and be back in two days to start your journey of a hundred and eighty-three days” he smiled’

                “Good evening everyone. If you didn’t get my name at first, which I didn’t actually mention, it’s Henry. Call me Mr Henry, please. You know, we’re in an office environment. Thank you for your time, and see you in two days”.

 

*****

Two weeks into the work, Hadassah found out she was the only one without a university degree. She stopped schooling after secondary school because of financial issues. Since then, her mentor, who also happened to be her uncle, had been taking care of her as she had lost her parents to an accident when she was just 2. She has been doing menial jobs since then to fend for herself, she was trying to gather money to send herself to school, but she didn’t get any reasonable job that paid very well, so she couldn’t save much. These memories came back to her as she realized she was at risk of being dropped. Mr Henry on the other hand had a soft spot for her. He would always make sure she was comfortable, always checked up on her, and made sure she was well and good. Still, she felt that without her university degree, she stood no chance to be selected for the job. She expressed her fears to her mentor, who told her to keep the information of not being a university graduate to herself, and brush aside her fears, as no qualification was required for the job in the first place.

She tried to take her mind off her fears and focus on doing her best. Mr Henry told them at some point that they would each have a week trial with the boss. If the boss was satisfied with their work, they would last for at least four days.

When it was Hadassah’s turn to have her trial, she was quite the worker, and Mr Adrien couldn’t have asked for a better personal assistant, and before her week-long trial was over, she was officially made his PA. After which there was a little tea party for the Heads of Departments to celebrate the new member of the company.

She never ceased to keep in touch with her mentor. She always involves him in a new development, she still expressed her worry over her qualifications, but her mentor told her to shun the thought of telling anyone.

                “If you’re not asked, keep quiet” was what he told her and they closed the subject matter.

She was weeks into the job when her mentor’s call came in one evening after work. She was relaxing in the new apartment the company gave her.

               “Hello sir”

               “Hello, my dear. How was work today and how are you?”

               “Work is fine sir, and I’m on top of the world!” she beamed happily.

He laughed at the other end and said, “that’s beautiful”

               “Quick one, have you checked your email this evening?”

                “No sir, let me check” She quickly brought out her iPad, and checked through.

                “It’s something on Big Ben and Terrence….”

                “Whaat!!! They’re planning to assassinate Mr Adrien? What?! Why?!” she said and immediately became agitated. She stood from where she was seated and began pacing around.

                “I can’t answer that, but I guess you should find answers in that email. There’s a link to download and listen to their phone conversations, chats and receipts of some amounts of money they’ve defrauded the company”

                “But why?... wait, How did you lay hands on such an information sir?” she stopped pacing, but was still shocked and waited for a reply.

                “How I found out shouldn’t be the issue. That I found out is what is important. Do not hesitate to let Mr Adrien know, because if it gets to him late, it might cost him his life,” He said cautiously.

               “Thank you so much for this sir, I’ll forward this to my boss as soon as I go through it” she replied calmly while trying to understand why two men, who are junior workers had access to the company’s funds and now, want to kill the owner of the company.

               “Have a good night's rest.”

               “You too sir.”

The next morning, Mr Adrien was pacing about in his office. While Hadassah stood at a far corner of the room, looking as confused as her boss.

He stopped pacing for a moment and asked, “Who did you say sent this to you again?”

               “His name is Michael sir, Mr Michael. I got a call from him after work yesterday that I should check my email as he sent something concerning a threat to your life”, she explained, trying to be calm and at the same time, not reveal too much information about the sender of the email.

               “And how did he come about this information?”

               “He didn’t disclose that sir”

Mr Adrien used his right index finger and thumb to support his chin, while he placed his left hand on his wide and oval-shaped mahogany office table.

               “You mean Big Ben and Terrence are planning my assassination?”

               “It’s baffling sir” she replied, sounding as disappointed as her boss was.

               “To think that these guys are just junior staffs, who if they left the company tomorrow, no one would even feel it... How did they even get access to the company’s funds? As if that wasn’t enough, they now want to kill me. Why? To take over my company?” he asked looking into space.

Hadassah didn’t give a reply. She just stood there, hugging her iPad.

               “And where the hell are they? I thought I asked you to tell them to see me first thing this morning” he looked at her sternly.

               “Yes, I did sir. I was told they are not in the office at the moment. They were sent on errands”

                “Imagine, they’re even errand boys” Mr Adrien fumed as he took his seat and leaned his back against his executive chair. He looked in her direction, and she stared back at him but looked more lost than he was.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.