THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 82

THE ROMANTIC OFFICE SAGA: PART 82

Irene’s statement stubbed my heart and by Sally’s facial expression I could tell she did not expect such from Irene. I sat there not knowing what to do and I could feel some sweat streaming inside my shirt despite the fact that it was a chilly morning. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Irene’s statement sank deeper and deeper into me. There was no point of telling her to repeat. The fact that I had sex with her without any protection meant Irene’s statement could be true.

But it was Sally’s statement that even made me more confused and bewildered. 

“Congratulations! You are going to be a mother soon! Welcome to the world of motherhood!” Sally told Irene and even did something else I did not expect, she stood up, went and took Irene to stand up and even hugged her. That move clearly took Irene by surprise. 

Irene sat down, Sally also took her seat.

“Now, Irene. I will plead with the management to consider you. You need a job very urgently so that you will be able to take care of yourself. I promise to speak to them on your behalf. However, I do not guarantee any positive reply, but at least I will have tried.” Sally told Irene smiling.

“Thank you Sally.” Irene said.

I remained silent. 

“Ok. Since I still have your number, all I want is you to go. Expect a call from me soon. Where are you staying?” Sally asked Irene.

“At my sister’s place for now.” Irene said.

“Fine, very soon, I will call you.” Sally told Irene.

Sally left me at her office as she escorted Irene to the gate.

When she returned, she was smiling.

“Sally, I do not understand. What is the meaning of all this?” I asked her.

“I should be the one asking you that question. Anyway, I am not going to keep you in the dark, I am going to convince the directors to return Irene. Tell them she is repentant and would wish to work with us. It is calling keeping your enemy closer to monitor her moves. Irene will be so instrumental in revealing much more about their criminal network. I hope she does not try something fishy.” Sally said.

“Sally, you are crazy! This lady tried to kill you!” I told Sally genuinely concerned. 

“Yes, she did. But did you even expect that our own boss tried to kill us? Come on, honey, Irene must be made to say more. That has opened a Pandora box. What else does she know? We must know what she knows. Besides, billions of monies stolen…it does not make sense that none of the directors is willing to take up the matter and perhaps follow up to know whether the money is somewhere and recoverable. That seems suspicious to me.” Sally told me.

“What are you insinuating? That one of the directors could also be responsible?” I asked Sally. 

“Yes, and Irene does not seem to be aware too.” Sally told me.

Sally did not seem bothered with Irene’s revelations that she was pregnant.

“My dear, I am sorry about what Irene has said.” I told Sally, not sure how she would react.

“What are you sorry for, for Irene being pregnant?” Sally asked looking at me.

“Yes.” I answered after some hesitation.

“Our traditions allow a man to have as many wives as he wishes. That is up to you to decide, not me.” Sally told me, a statement which took me by surprise. 

As I was about to talk, she told me, “Tony, we have wasted enough time already this morning, go to your office and continue with your day, we shall discuss that later when we get home.” She spoke with some finality and I left her office.

=========

As I sat in my office, I kept thinking what Sally had just told me. I felt like she was trying to bite more than she could chew. What was she thinking? Was she serious she wanted Irene to come back? I had also expected a bitter reaction from her about Irene’s pregnancy, but her reaction was so calm. She even told me she does not mind me having more than one wife! 

My day that day was marred with confusion and I just wanted weekend to arrive for me to go and relax.

=========

In the evening, I realized Sally was not so keen on discussing Irene’s revelations about her pregnancy. She sounded serious all she wanted was Irene to come back in the company.

When I tried to protest against it, Sally said, “Tony, Irene will blackmail you with that pregnancy and have her way, besides, the child she is carrying is innocent.” 

“How are we going to handle her once she comes back?” I asked Sally. 

“We shall know when the time comes. But her body language tells me she is completely subdued and desperate. Let her come back.” Sally said.

=========

Following day on a Saturday, we set to go to Amboseli national park. We were Ken, Reginah, Sally and me.

Reginah was more than excited to know how Sally conducted hypnosis to Irene. Sally told Reginah a lot on the way and it was obvious the two were about to become great friends. 

For me and Ken, we sat at the front seats and talked about general life matters including current affairs, politics and sometimes women.

We arrived at a wilderness and Reginah told us to stop and we stopped.

“This is perfect spot.” Reginah told us.

We got outside. The place looked so deserted except a few scattered big rocks. 

“Reginah, we had a purpose of coming here. But I think you carried nothing.” I told Reginah.

She looked at me and smiled. Before she even answered, suddenly, 6 police officers wearing some military like uninform seemed to emerge from nowhere. They were perfectly camouflaged by the rocks we did not even realize they had their tents close by. They also had guns, knives and several other items and walkie talkies. 

They saluted Reginah due to her rank.

“Ok, we are going straight to business. Ken, go with Corporal Kinyua he will show you where to hide your vehicle, the rest of you follow me.” Reginah was in total control.

We followed the police officers to a place beyond the rocks and surprisingly it looked so flat with some practice spots for shooting.

Reginah told one of them to give me a G3. It was heavy. 

“I told you, you should have become a police man.” Reginah told me.

We got busy and they gave me basic instructions on how to handle a gun and use it. Then time for target shooting came.

Reginah was the first and she hit the target perfectly. She was a sharp shooter, probably the best among all of them. But as for me, despite shooting to my best, I never hit the center target. I kept missing by several inches. Reginah kept reassuring me that I should get better with time, and it was easier to shoot at close range. We practiced with pistols too. Even Ken was allowed to shoot and he got the target. 

After so many attempts, I finally hit the target when I was nearly giving up.

It was around 2 pm and we were hungry when Reginah suggested we shoot an antelope or a gazelle to eat some game meat.

“Madam, these animals have gotten so wise of late. They know a gun, before you point, it moves making it difficult to hit and you can never get close enough.” One of the officers said. I somehow knew Sally could do that with ease. 

“We have to try.” Reginah insisted. 

We found a grazing spot where some gazelles were grazing from a distance and one of the officers aimed. Before he could fire, a lion roared from a distance and all gazelles bolted with speed.

“Damn! There they go. What next?” The man said.

“We can practice shooting a moving target.” Reginah said and aimed. She fired and one of them fell down. But before we could go for it, it stood up.

“I cannot believe I missed!” Reginah said. 

“No, you did not miss, the animal hit something and fell before you fired; it just stood up to continue running away.” Sally told Reginah.

“Out of luck, they are now gone.” Reginah said. The animals had gone out of view.

We continued walking lazily around the park trying to see if we would get an animal to shoot, but there were none close enough as most were well past shooting range. 

As we were about to leave, Reginah gave me a box. Inside it was a small pistol and 20 bullets. 

“We are still investigating Irene, do not kill her yet unless she is a threat. In case of anything, make sure you are never caught. You are not licensed to hold a firearm.” Reginah cautioned me.

=======

“Sally, you should have shot the gazelle for us.” I told Sally jokingly when we got home.

“I was not in the mood to shoot today. Besides, I never wanted them to know that I know how to use a gun. I cannot imagine them thinking I am a criminal.” Sally told me. It made sense.

She added, “Sometimes, you may be knowing something but you hide it from the people so that no people do not misunderstand you or judge you wrongly.” Sally told me.

=========

The following week was a busy one with cascading events as Sally, against my wish, negotiated with directors to allow Irene to come back. 

But it was even the directors who surprised us.

The founding director suggested that Irene be let to come back saying Irene and Angeline knew so much about company operations, clients, links, etc. such that having both exit at the same time might have a negative impact against the company.

“You will begin searching new business connections, new links, new clients and almost everything new. Let her come back. But continue monitoring her. Ensure she does not handle finance at all. Let her show you much of what they used to do with the late Madam Angeline and perhaps we can use her to gain more.” The director said.

“But we told you she tried to kill Sally!” I told the director. 

“She won’t. No one loves to go to jail; trust me. She will behave.” The director told us. 

“What about her pending court case?” I asked.

“We shall handle that amicably. For now, let her come back. Irene is like a necessary evil for us, she might be evil, but her exit will jeopardize our company. Also, when she comes back, I suggest we put her on a probation period of 6 months. Also let her report to the area chief every 2 weeks. The police will also monitor her. You can also monitor her as she continues with her work.” The director suggested.

“But why are you so keen on having her back?” I asked the director. His answer even got me more puzzled.

“Tony, when someone steals a mere goat, we send him to jail since we already know where the goat is. But when someone steals millions, or billions we cannot send such people to jail. We need to keep them around. They offer leads towards getting the money back. A society minus a goat there is no effect, but a society minus millions of Shs the effect will be far and wide. So, let those who steal millions at least enjoy their freedom so that the money will circulate and end up benefiting other people.” Kamau, the founding director said and even added something even more bizarre.

“Look at even in religion, God knows too well he has the power to get rid of Satan, we believe that too, but, Tony, let me ask you a crucial question, why doesn’t God get rid of Satan?” Kamau asked and before I even spoke, he said, “It is because getting rid of Satan means the end of the story. I am not saying Irene is a Satan, but we still have a lot to learn from her. She was so close to the deceased manager. She may even pull the strings from outside and destroy our company.”

Sally looked at Kamau keenly and asked him, “So do you mean that God has a lot to learn from Satan?”

Kamau looked at both of us and directed the question to me.

“Tony, what do you think of that?” 

“I don’t believe in religious stories.” I answered without hesitation; and it was the truth. 

Kamau was surprised and before he talked, Sally spoke, “It is true, I also think religion has a lot of elements that do not make sense. Like it does not make sense when you tell us Irene knows a lot about the company and hence the need to come back. Where will she stay? The office blocks are full already.”

“Our offices will be completed soon. Ken is doing a perfect job.” Kamau told us.

It was then I realized since the day Ken took over the project, we practically had not gone to the site to view it. 

“You see? You are not even aware that our office blocks will soon be finished!” Kamau said and laughed at us.

We laughed too.

“Ok, we get you now. However, before the blocks are finished, which office will she stay?” I asked. I did not wish for her to stay in Sally’s office.

Kamau looked at me as if weighing his answer and said in a clear confident tone.

“She will stay in your office, she will work under you and she will report directly to you. I expect her to start working the coming Monday. I have also spoken with her over the phone and briefed her. However, Sally will decide on Irene’s salary and she is free to review Irene’s job description.”

We looked at Kamau, then Sally and me looked into each other’s eyes with a lot of uncertainty. 

>>>To be continued>>>

As narrated by Dr. Love.