THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 77

THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 77

Within the following week, the company was so busy with 2 directors volunteering to be with us to guide us on our roles before officially handing over everything. 

Getting Zuhura was easy since all there was is to call her and inform her to come; and she as willing to come back.

For me as assistant MD it was easy to grasp since I had worked in the company for quite some time enough to understand our operations, however, for Sally, she would have to undergo several training sessions some abroad in order to handle the management roles. The tasks ahead of her were immense but the management was confident in her abilities. The fact that she had rescued the company from financial meltdown endeared her to the management. 

It was then an idea came to me about how I would get Luke’s contacts. I remembered I had done a backup of the database with employees’ records and all I did was restore the database which had Luke’s actual contacts.

I was the one who called Luke.

--------------

ME: Hello Luke

LUKE: Hello, who am I speaking with?

ME: Tony, former colleague in NexTech.

LUKE: Oh! Great man. I lost your contact, how have you been?

ME: I have been fine. I wanted to ask you if you would wish to return to our company.

(We held a long discussion but finally Luke told me)

LUKE: I would have wanted to return but, I have volunteered to go to South Sudan as a Gospel Missionary. I think accounts was never my calling. Thank you for your offer, but I wish to kindly decline. Be blessed.

Nothing I would tell him would convince him, so I wished him well in his future endeavors and hung up.

“Luke has declined to come back.” I told the rest as we sat down to have a conversation.

“Fine, we shall look for someone to fill the position.” Sally told us.

Zuhura was more than willing to come and she came immediately she got a chance to come back. We were all happy to meet her. The directors were also working overtime to ensure the other positions got filled very fast.

The company, under Sally’s guidance was to be restructured and several new positions were to be filled up. 

However, when I saw Sam calling me, I realized he might not have known his wife to be died of a heart attack. 

“Tony, I have been trying to call Angeline for some days now and I cannot get her, I went to her place and did not get her. Could you be knowing where she is? Is she at work so I can come to see her?” Sam asked. I was at a loss on how to break the sad news to him.

“Let me meet you in the evening if you don’t mind.” I told him, he paused for a while and said, “All right.” And hung up.

========

I met Sam at his place in the evening; he was with his daughter.

“Tony, what is going on? I have a feeling you are not telling me everything.” Sam insisted.

“Sam, I am sorry to let you know that Angeline passed away suddenly of a heart attack.” I told Sam.

The news was so devastating to him. He looked like he was about to cry but Cynthia broke out and wailed loudly such that it made me feel sad too. She had already been introduced to Madam Angeline and had come to like her as her step mother. 

“Oh! God, what will I do now? My mum had promised to take me back to university to do my Degree in public relations.” Cynthia said. It was then I realized that Angeline’s death might have negative consequences in her life. She was a young lady with a lot of ambitions, and it was becoming apparent that Sam also somehow was unable to take her daughter back to university. 

“Tony, Angeline’s death is a major blow to us too. My business has not been doing well and Angeline has been of so much help to us. I don’t know what I am going to do now. Angeline had promised to take my daughter back to campus. Now that is gone.” Sam lamented.

But it made me think, was Sam relying on Angeline for survival that much?

“When is the burial?” Sam asked.

“Coming Friday at her rural home.” I told him.

“Ok, we shall go.” Sam told me.

We talked a few other things and I left.

======

Time seemed to move fast, perhaps because I was so busy to notice the passage of time. We travelled to attend Angeline’s burial and I could see there was a lot of Sadness in Cynthia and her dad. It was me and Celestine who was still new in the company who travelled to represent the company in her burial. Sally was also so sad as we left; she felt like she was responsible for her death as it was obvious the damning revelations that shocked her to her death.

After the burial, on our way back to Nairobi. Sam offered to carry me in his car, and in it was also the founding director of the NexTech.

“Sam, I honestly did not know that Angeline was your wife to be.” Stanley the founding director told Sam.

“She was, but life has to go on. It has really affected me but I will have to move on.” Sam told Stanley.

Cynthia just remained there silent, almost sleeping throughout the entire journey.

“You also said she wanted to take back your daughter to university.” Stanley asked.

“Yes. My business is not doing so well and I might have to postpone taking her back to university.” Sam said. 

An incoming trailer nearly hit our car due to reckless driving and Sam had to sway, get off the road before returning back to the road.

“Damn! Why do these long-distance track drivers think they own the road?” Sam cursed.

I remained silent throughout the conversation.

Stanley, the director thought for a while.

“Mr. Sam, I have a suggestion. Instead of letting your daughter stay at home idle, we can create some work for her to do at our company. She can take on some tasks that do not necessarily require formal training. She can come and be something like office assistant, with that she will gradually gain experience and she can do her Degree part time as time goes by. How about that?” Stanley asked.

Sam thought briefly. “Cynthia. Are you awake? What do you think of that suggestion?” Sam asked his daughter.

“I am ok with it. Besides, I want to do public relations and with that offer, I can gain some experience while working there too.” Cynthia said.

Stanley added, “We have a very nice young woman who can mentor Cynthia with time, she is taking over the roles of Managing Director and I am sure Cynthia can really cope with her.”

I knew Stanley meant Sally. 

We talked about so many other issues as we travelled.

============

The following Monday, we woke up with Sally and went to work as usual. The realization that Sally was now my boss came with some mixed feelings. I kept wondering, “will Sally change and begin to disrespect me like most women does when they earn better than their men, or become more powerful than their men?” 

That remained to be known. But all that mattered to me was she was mine and I loved her.

Sally formally settled at the office where our boss used to be. She refurnished the office greatly such that it seemed so spacious. Sally was a highly organized woman. She also rearranged the leather coaches for visitors in her office so as it would accommodate 4 people at the same time. In her office was also a Television but Sally was not interested much in it. She also rearranged the filing cabinets but removed some so as to create more space. For the financial records, she set a new room for them which was to be highly secured so that no one would access it except herself and anyone authorized. But to also safeguard the documents, she proposed that all documents to be photocopied and some stored off site. She had seen how Irene nearly burnt all documents and she was taking precautions. 

That Monday, Cynthia reported as proposed by the director and Sally took her around. It gave me comfort to see that Cynthia was no longer interested in me. She just smiled at me when we met, a cordial professional smile. I would not have wished for her to be there, but since it was director who proposed her to be, I could not oppose that. One thing however was true, Cynthia wholly thought that Irene was my lover, and she also knew Irene was in police custody awaiting judgement and perhaps to be jailed.

The return of Zuhura however really made all of us happy, we all missed those sweet Swahili dishes which she was only able to make. Zuhura was also timely to take tea to Sally’s office, but Sally told her not to bother as she would be joining the rest of us in the restaurant for tea breaks. Sally was not interested in being exalted so much as she felt it would alienate her from the rest; she was not bossy at all and that made everyone comfortable around her.

However, no one missed Luke at all, in fact, Carol was glad Luke did not return as she was still not comfortable with how Luke carried himself like the holiest man living in this world.

“So, guys, do not forget we have a party this Friday. I have chosen a nice restaurant in a cool environment for us to enjoy that day. Please be punctual.” Sally told us as we sat to have our tea at the work place café. 

“Sure, I look forward to it. Shall there be dancing?” Carol asked.

“Oh! Yes, we shall party, dance and have fun. That day is very important to me.” Sally said. 

I wondered, why was the day going to be important to her? But Sally being full of surprises, I knew perhaps she had a surprise for us that day, however, I did not bother to ask.

“So Zuhura, did your husband return?” I asked Zuhura.

“No. His period in fact got extended with 2 years. I feel so bad.” Zuhura said.

“Don’t worry, be patient he shall still come.” Carol told Zuhura.

“How do you cope with your man so far?” Collins asked Zuhura.

“Well, I just pray to Allah a lot not to fall into temptations.” Zuhura told Collins. Collins smiled.

“I really cannot withstand long distance relationship.” I said. Sally looked at me and smiled.

“What if your wife travels for whatever reasons?” Zuhura asked me.

“I would not wish for her to travel for long periods.” I said.

“Tony, duty calls may require your wife to travel for longer periods. I think the most important thing is to be faithful and patient. Nothing lasts forever.” Sally said looking at no one in particular.

“Guys, let us go back to our works.” Carol suddenly said. Sally looked at her.

“Feel free, take your time, as long as you deliver in your duties, there should be no problem. It is important for employees to relax, interact and have some free time not to get exhausted.” Sally said as we stood to go back to our offices. 

My office had been relocated to the former Sally’s office as her assistant, while Carol remained alone in the IT department.

However, by Wednesday, we had gotten 4 more employees and more were to come as our operations were promising to expand at a very high rate. But their introductions were held up to the day we were to hold our party.

==========

Finally, Friday evening came, the day we had all anticipated. Sally had choses a very nice restaurant and we were all impressed by her choice as we had never thought of it. The place was nice, soft music was playing in the background. We were to have some introductions as a company before moving to the major restaurant for the party and a conference hall was allocated us for that. We came wearing Casual wear as we had left our work at 4 pm to go and prepare. 

After the directors did their introductions, finally it came time for all of us to introduce each other.

The first was Sally. She wore a figure hugging long crimson dress with some flowers on her cleavage that made her breasts look like two twin mountains surrounded by small flowers. Her smile that evening was infectious and charming. She moved with a gait like that of a peacock as if she wanted to attract attention towards herself. She also commanded respect amongst all of us.

Collins was second, he wore a dark brown jean and a brown T shirt that made him look like he was there to maintain security. He had come with his wife who was a slim chocolate colored lady dressed smartly in a brown dress.

Zuhura introduced herself too, she wore like a typical Swahili lady but even under her bui bui it was apparent she had added some weight. 

Carol as usual wore a short very tight yellow mini skirt, a white T shirt and she was her lively self as usual.

Finally, it was the turn of the new stuffs to introduce themselves.

Cynthia was the first. She wore a long blue dress with small white flowers, and high heeled shoes that made her seem very tall due to her slender body. She said briefly, “My names are Cynthia Mwikali, I joined the company as a trainee and I hope to work with you and gain a lot more from you.”

Next was the new ICT assistant under Carol. He was a medium height, slightly fat man, also light skinned. “My names are Christopher Mwachaga, I have joined NexTech as an ICT assistant and I hope to enjoy being with you here.”

Next was the new accountant. He was an outstanding man of Somali origin, very tall, even taller than me standing around 6 feet 8 inches tall, also very smartly dressed. He said, “My names are Abdi Hussein Abdalla from Mandela and I am joining the company as an accountant, it is my hope we shall work well together.”

The next to introduce herself was the accounts assistant. She also wore a very smart long figure hugging grey dress covering almost her entire body. She was a tall lady too, slightly shorter than me, dark skinned but the most outstanding feature about herself was her hips which was almost as big as Carol’s and when she walked, she swung them as if deliberately. She introduced herself, “My names are Letisha Awino from Kisumu county, I am joining as accounts assistant to be working under Abdi. My hopes are to make a positive impact in the company and to also gain much more from all of you. Pleasure to meet you all.” She spoke confidently and as she sat down, she briefly looked at Abdi then looked at me. I noticed Carol was keenly looking at Letisha’s hips like she was thinking, ‘could I have gotten a competitor?’

Finally, the new Public Relations Manager introduced herself. She was a medium height slender woman. “My names are Maureen Muthoni from Malindi. I am joining the company as PR manager. I understand that the position is challenging but I hope we shall all cooperate to ensure that our work is smooth.”

After the introductions, we did a short meeting chaired by Sally before moving on to the restaurant to continue with the rest of the night.

The music was excellent. The dance floor overlooking where we sat had a raised platform at the front where in case there were band musicians it was where they would perform at.

Food and drinks was served to us as per our preferences. I sat with Sally at one corner as we continued to have a hearty conversation. She was so delighted that evening. She kept stealing some knowing glances across the room making me feel like she was expecting something, or someone. 

Suddenly, the DJ who was controlling the music said he had an announcement to make and reduced the volume of the music.

“Tonight, is a special night for one of us here. A night of love, a night of passion and a night so memorable as one woman in our midst dedicates her love to one her special man and she wishes to do that in a song by Celine Dion. The lady, wherever you are, the floor is yours.” The DJ said and my heart began beating fast as Sally looked at me, smiled, walked to the stage and was handed over a microphone by the DJ. I was genuinely surprised when Sally began singing along the lyrics of the song titled “THE POWER OF LOVE”. She sang along perfectly:

The whispers in the morning

Of lovers sleeping tight

Are rolling by like thunder now

As I look in your eyes

I hold on to your body

And feel each move you make

Your voice is warm and tender

A love that I could not forsake

'Cause I am your lady

And you are my man

Whenever you reach for me

I'll do all that I can

Lost is how I'm feeling lying in your arms

When the world outside's too much to take

That all ends when I'm with you

Even though there may be times

It seems I'm far away

Never wonder where I am

'Cause I am always by your side

'Cause I am your lady

And you are my man

Whenever you reach for me

I'll do all that I can

We're heading for something

Somewhere I've never been

Sometimes I am frightened

But I'm ready to learn

Of the power of love

The sound of your heart beating

Made it clear

Suddenly the feeling that I can't go on

Is light years away

'Cause I am your lady

And you are my man

Whenever you reach for me

I'll do all that I can

We're heading for something

Somewhere I've never been

Sometimes I am frightened

But I'm ready to learn

Of the power of love

The power of love

The power of love

Sometimes I am frightened but I'm ready to learn

Of the power of love

The power of love, ooh ooh

(As I look into your eyes)

The power of love (The power of love)

-----------

By the end of the song, I was crying overcome by emotions. Sally extended her hand, came to where I was seated and took me to the stage in full view of everyone in there. Everyone was smiling, some were clapping and Collins whistled! 

As the beat continued to play, Sally looked into my eyes and I could read deep affection and love. I have never been so moved in my entire life by feelings and I could not control my tears. Sally was smiling.

She then did the unthinkable, took out a small bright red box, opened it and inside were two gold coated rings with a diamond star in one end.

She knelt right in front of me with her right knee as her left knee remained upright, took my finger, gently inserted a ring in it, took the microphone close to her lips and asked, “Tony, my man, will you marry me?”

By then, tears were flowing from eyes as I was overwhelmed with emotions like I have never felt in my entire life.

>>>To be continued>>>

As narrated by Dr. Love