** ** Omniscient Narrator ** **
Two months later…
Annabel showed up for work as usual, she was dressed in a smart white blouse and black skirt, simple yet elegant. She was carrying a black handbag that contained a few photocopies of documents, her IDs and of course her pepper spray- it is a wild city!
As she arrived at the office of the receptionist, Annabel immediately felt that something was not right. The receptionist had not shown up for work, she could swear she had seen all of the worker’s cars parked outside so why was the company empty?
She walked down to the elevator and she hadn’t even met a single security guard, where did everyone go?
Arriving at the hallway upstairs, although silent as always, she couldn’t shrug off the feeling that something was not right, maybe Megan could explain to her what was going on. Annabel rushed to Megan’s office and knocked but there was no response, she pushed the door and it opened but Megan was not there.
Anna furrowed her brows, confusion creeping in on her. She checked her time and it was eight in the morning, so she wasn’t too early. She checked the date to confirm that it wasn’t a Saturday, so how was there no one here?
She sighed and headed to her office, maybe she will wait a bit and then call Mr. Blackwood. But as she arrived at her office and opened the door, she walked right into darkness. Someone had covered the windows with heavy folds of curtains and turned off the lights.
Anna’s heart skipped, she slowly reached for the light switch on the wall and flipped it on, as she turned to look again, a loud scream erupted in the room. “SURPRISE!!”
Anna felt her soul leave her body in shock, she stood there jaws apart as she watched about eight employees standing in her office, including Megan. She was even more confused when she noticed Mr. Blackwood sitting on the metal bench by one end of the large office with his legs crossed, looking majestic in his three thousand dollar suit.
“Um… Sorry guys, what is going on?” Anna asked between smiles and confusion. What were they surprising her for?
“Ann, today marks six full months since you joined our company!” Megan exclaimed excitedly.
“Oh!” Anna muttered, totally not expecting that response. She was oblivious to the fact that she had worked in the company for six months.
“Yeah! Durhhh, We brought you gifts to thank you for being a part of us, you have contributed immensely to the growth of this company in the past six months, some of us would have been jobless if not for your timely intervention during the diamond price drop issue.” Megan chirped excitedly.
Anna smiled, she couldn’t believe she was finally getting her flowers for something she did months ago, she turned to Mr. Blackwood and he shot a warm smile at her.
“Guys, this means so much to me. Thank you so much,” Anna said, feeling genuinely happy with their intention. This act alone made her feel special in the company, it wasn’t even up to a year since she joined, it was only six months.
Anna hugged them all as they dropped gifts for her and words of appreciation. Megan made her eat a piece of cake before they all shared it between themselves.
Honestly, the company’s stock value had grown massively since she joined and checking from previous charts, she knew it had never gone up at such rates in the past. Her innovative ideas which Mr. Blackwood put into action brought about this success.
After they all left, it was Just Anna and Mr. Blackwood left in the office, she gently relaxed her butt on the edge of the table as he stood up and approached her.
“So… this was your idea?” she asked in genuine curiosity, a small smile on her face.
“What? No!” he huffed. “I am too busy to think of throwing you a celebration, you have only been here for six months, there is not much to celebrate,” he said with a voice laced with ego.
Anna scoffed and rolled her eyes, of course she never expected him to admit it, he was too proud for his own good.
“Yeah, whatever.” She blurted.
Mr. Blackwood chuckled, glad that he had successfully pissed her off, he came very close to her, staring at her pretty eyes while she forced a frown.
“Stop that, or you will just grow wrinkles and look old.” He laughed. “Anyways, congratulations Miss Owl.” He added softly and then he slowly turned away and left.
As he left the office, Anna smiled. She thought back to the day that she took this job but as she reminisced on that day, something struck her- it means that she had been cheating on her boyfriend for the past six months.
Anna sighed and sat up, she couldn’t deal with this guilt anymore, she needed to do something about it because her conscience was eating her up. She could not continue to do this to Jimmy.
** **
Mr. Blackwood is seated in his office, he had just gotten off a call from Botswana, informing him that Darky was still causing problems for the new GM, he was angry and thinking of a way to deal with the matter without starting a life-long rivalry with Darky’s uncle who he was in good terms with.
He was still thinking about that when the door was pushed open and Annabel walked in.
“Anna… good that you are here, I was just about to send for you.” he said with a nonchalant face, his voice cold to hide his anger.
“I am sorry Mr. Blackwood, I have come to give you this.” Anna muttered and dropped an envelope on the table.
Mr. Blackwood crumpled his face in curiosity. “Um… what is that?” he queried.
Anna took a deep breath before she made the announcement. “It is my resignation letter, Sir.”
Mr. Blackwood paused, he looked up at her face in scrutiny. “What?”
!