** Omniscient Narrator **
Annabel arrives at the publishing house; it was a Tuesday and she was supposed to meet with her doctor for checkup since she couldn’t afford antenatal care, but because she couldn’t get the work done yesterday, she had no other choice but to miss the weekly check-up.
Arriving at the second floor where her office was situated, she walked down the hallway, humming in a low voice. She was anxious due to what happened the previous day, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Mr. Wilson was mad at her.
Walking into the sales directory office, Anna was welcomed with a big smile from her colleague.
“Look who is late again,” she teased.
Anna chuckled. “Hey Alia, I thought you would be taking the day off.” She said as she walked towards her colleague’s table.
“I wish, not when I have so much to do, only if it was worth our time.” She groaned and shook her head as she rearranged the books on her table.
Alia was a pretty young woman, blonde hair, brown eyes and slender jaws, she looked more like an European although being India, maybe something to do with her ancestry.
“I know the feeling, doing so much work for little pay, it is so exhausting.” Anna opined.
Alia immediately made a funny face. “Yeah… Speaking about that,” she began, dragging her words like she was hesitant to say it. “You might want to take a look at your table.” She said,
Anna furrowed her eyebrows, feeling confused, and then she turned around to face the table. At first, she didn’t notice anything strange but seconds later, her eyes caught sight of the brown logbook on her desk.
“What is… that?” she muttered as she went closer.
She walked to her desk and picked up the book, then quickly swiped through it. “This is the marketing campaign organization log book, what is it doing here?” Anna asked with a puzzled face as she turned back to Alia.
“Yeah…” Alia began with gritted teeth. “You see, Mr. Wilson came by moments ago, he said you should add that to your task.” She announced.
“What? No way, that is the duty of the marketing director and his department, how does any of this fit into my work description.” Anna flared in disbelief.
“I would have asked him but he seems to be in a bad mood this morning, I am sorry that I couldn’t stand up for you.” Alia apologized.
“What? You didn’t have to, I will handle this. I think Mr. Wilson needs to be reminded of what my job description is. He has no right to add new tasks to my already too demanding workloads, especially for such a low income.”
“Are you sure that you don’t want to let this one slide? I can help you with the campaigns as soon as I am free.”
“No Babes, this is just wrong, I am not going to take this. Please give me a few minutes, I need to go see him.”
“Alright,” Alia said nervously. “Good luck with that dude.” She sighed.
Anna stormed off in a rage, she couldn’t believe his audacity to do this. It was obvious he was trying to make her life horrible as punishment for turning down his request. Was it compulsory that she had to say yes to his demands? She didn’t want to sleep with him, and so he decided to do this?
Arriving at the GM’s office, Anna knocked loudly on the door. She heard his ugly voice as he asked her in and she walked in with a frown on her face.
“Good morning Sir.” she muttered a greeting, good lord knows that it didn’t come from her heart and she actually wished him a horrible morning.
“You are late to work, Annabel. You should be at your desk working, so I want to believe it is something important that brings you here,” he said rudely, he wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was mad at her.
“I am sorry, but I think there has been a mistake. I found the marketing campaign log book on my desk and I want to know why.” Anna requested.
“What do you mean you want to know how? It is a task assigned to you, I believe that is clear enough for you to understand.”
“I am sorry, but why? This is not part of my job description, permit me to remind you that I am under the sales department and not the marketing departments. I take in data recorded from sales, not make marketing campaigns.” She spoke confidently.
Mr. Wilson looked up with a frown on his face. “Are you saying that I am foolish for assigning you that task, Miss Annabel?”
“No Sir, I am just telling you that…”
“I don’t give a fuck what you are trying to say, Miss Ann. I assigned you that duty because you are capable of it, I don’t care what department you are in, as long as you are an employee of this company and you can do the work, then I have the right to make that call.”
“But Sir…” Anna tried to protest but she was cut short.
“I don’t want to hear it, Anna. I am the general manager here, I am in charge of other departments and decide what goes. If you are not willing to do the job assigned to you, then you might as well resign.” He announced.
Anna’s face went sour on hearing that; she couldn’t believe the evil heart of men. “This is not fair, Sir.” she muttered in sadness.
She was still struggling to do what she was being paid for and now he was giving her extra work; how was any of this fair?
“If you do think so, then you should go ahead and quit, there are so many people out there more deserving of this job than your ungrateful ass, so get back to work if you still need it, Miss Annabel.” He instructed.
Anna clenched her fist. She felt like hauling her handbag at his shiny bald head; this ugly son of a trashcan thinks it is cool to harass women because he had the power to. She knew there was nothing she could do; if she was to report to higher authorities, it would cost her job.
“Is there any other thing that you need help with, Miss Annabel?” he asked casually, the anger and hatred burning in his eyes.
Anna shook her head sadly. “None Sir, thank you.” she grumbled as she turned around and stormed off. What a heartless man, if karma was real, then he would get paid in his own coins soon enough.
** **
Maria Forbes walked into the office with a little frown on her face. Maxwell chuckled, trying hard to suppress the laughter as he muffled himself with his palm.
“You think this is funny? Why am I in the company Blacklist to begin with? Having the guards stop me from coming in was really embarrassing.” She complained.
“I am sorry, Mom.” Maxwell said with a chuckle. “Back then when things were different, I had given the instructions to keep you out, I didn’t remember to disable those orders when you informed me you were coming here.” He answered honestly.
“Whatever.” She scoffed and rolled her eyes like a teenager, making Maxwell laugh again. Of course he found this hilarious.
“Come on now, Mom… don’t be mad at me, or am I no longer your favorite son?” he asked with a smirk.
“Well, that is debatable, but since I am trying to make up for my mistakes, I will let your blackmail pass.” She smiled. “Nice place you have here, did you build or buy?” she asked as she looked around the wide space.
“Well, bought and renovated. It is the view of the city that I love the most, it is beautiful.” He answered, anyone could tell that he was proud of his achievements.
“Yeah, and speaking of beautiful things, did you speak with her already? Have you told her?” Mrs. Forbes asked curiously as she took a seat by his office desk.
It was very obvious from her expression that she was not only eager to know but expecting a positive response as well.
“Ugh!” Maxwell groaned and looked away.
“No, don’t you ugh me, tell me how it went.” Mrs. Maria Forbes demanded with a frown.
“Fine!” Maxwell groaned and threw his arms up in surrender, that was one of the things he had learnt from Annabel, he hated to admit that she influenced him a lot.
“Okay?” Mrs. Forbes urged impatiently.
“Did I tell her? Yes, I took your advice and I told her how I felt, but it didn’t end so well. I think I might have scared her away, she turned me down and ran away.”
“You freaked her out?” Mrs. Forbes half-yelled in disbelief.
“What? Didn’t you say I should tell her how I feel?”
“Uh-huh! I did say that. She is probably scared and who can blame her? Judging from the kind of man you have become in the last few years, I understand why she is scared. I mean, you were in love with her for months and you couldn’t even say the word, that is how cold you are. Any girl in her place would panic as well because they would not see it coming.”
“Wait! So this is my fault? You are supporting her, mom… this is not fair!” Maxwell whined.
“Oh you be quiet, I am sure you must have said mean things to her before now. You have grown so cold that it is surprising to learn you have feelings.”
“Ugh! I am never going to hear the end of it. Fine, I accept it is my fault, Mom. So what do I do now? I was considering sending a truck of expensive gifts with an apology to her doorstep but I am pretty sure she will just have them all sent back to me, that girl is insane.” He complained.
“No, Dave. She is not insane, she is content with what she has, she is not moved by money and that is a good thing. Only a few women in this age have that quality, if her decisions are not being influenced by your money, then when she finally says yes, you can be certain she did so because her heart spoke to her, not her greed.”
“Okay… so then how do I go about it?” Maxwell queried.
“As much as your money is an admirable advantage in this situation, there are other ways to get a woman aside money, you don’t even need to get a woman with your money because then she is only there for the money. Such women will ruin you.”
“Why don’t you educate me Mom, since you know a lot, tell me what other ways to get a woman aside flashy gifts and lots of cash.” Maxwell said in sarcasm.
“Oh I will, but first you dead that mentality. Anna is one of the few ladies with a pure heart, so if you want to get her, you need to connect with her on a soul to soul level, you need to convince her that what you feel for her is real. She is likely to put your love for her through many tests, so how stubborn are you?” Mrs. Forbes asked with a grin.
Maxwell smirked. “As stubborn as you have always known.”
“Good, then let’s get your girl.” Mrs. Forbes smiled.
TBC!!