CHAPTER 4-ADRAIN

‘’Today is going to be a great day’’

I said to myself, like I always did every time I stepped out of my car and made a short walk to office building from the parking lot. One thing I knew for sure about today is that- number one, it is not going to be a regular day at work because my father emphasized on the fact that I must come in well-dressed in clean, well- fitted and appropriate attire which of course meant a suit, I thought. So, I had chosen my best, a well-tailored two-piece suit in navy blue, this was my most expensive suit designed by PRADA, and paired it up with my sleek, black pair of oxford shoes that perfectly complemented the suit. The whole look depicted elegance, comfortability, richness and on top of all it was professional. I had killed it. And my father would be proud of me. If you could tell fashion is my passion and I used it as a great tool to express my formal mood today. If fashion was a language, I know I would be fluent.

 I entered the building with a wide smile on my face radiating a sense of welcomeness. As usual, I made my way to the receptionist’s desk where Felicia sat. We had our morning ritual, a brief chat with before I went upstairs.

“Hello Felicia, how is it going? ‘’ I asked out of pure concern.

“Good morning, boss. I’m doing great, I mean the real work has not yet started so I’m good. You look sharp today. How was your night?”

‘’Thanks a lot. It was great, I’ll catch up with you later.’’ I said as I walked away

Felicia was a middle- aged women, probably in her early forties, she is the first face people see when they walk into the building, so I had to make sure she looks appropriate and is in the right frame of mind for the job. Plus, she’s very friendly and always cares about my well-being. Over time, we’ve built a strong rapport.

I took out my phone and began to read and reply to the company’s emails which was a side task I did while I was in the elevator. When I got to the 5th floor, I headed straight to my office to get busy. My secretary was already so engrossed in the work she was doing on her computer. Fingers flying across the keyboard, eyes fixed on the screen, she hadn’t noticed me.

‘’Good morning, Lena. How’s it going?’’ I asked in an attempt to shift her gaze and attention.

She quickly raised her head to glance at me, stood up coming to my direction, took my bag and we walked towards my space.

 “Hello, Adrian. Today looks like it’s going to be a busy day because I have already received about 20 calls, and most of it are about our new project and the app development, mainly IT stuff.

‘’I mean, which day isn’t a busy one?’’ I reckon. She smiled faintly and continued running me through the day’s agenda including the meeting my father had scheduled.

She quickly raised her head to see me and stood up coming to my direction, took my bag and we walked towards my space. ‘’ hey, Adrian. well, today looks like its going to be a busy day because i have gotten about 20 calls already, and most of it is about our new project and the development of the app, mainly IT stuff.

‘’I mean which day isn’t busy.’’ I pitched in. She continued to run me through the agenda for the day and the meeting my father had organized today.

Lena is a workaholic. She usually comes to work earlier than I do and always stays longer after I have left. I always tell her she needs a break, a reset, but she never listens. I have decided to give her a raise to acknowledge her hard work. She deserves it. She keeps everything organized and honestly my work would be chaos without her. I’d guess she’s in her early twenties since she joined us when she was fresh out of university.

‘’Alright then, forward any call you get to me. I’m going to continue my email work while you handle your side.’’ I replied.

‘’Alright, sir ‘’ she replied.

 The office phone rang sharply -gring...gring...gring - and I alerted Lena to forward it to me.

‘’Good day, this is Vans Companies.’’ She said, then forwarded the call to me probably after the person on the other side of the line had finished speaking.

‘’This is Adrain’’ I said calmly.

‘’Yes, you are exactly the one I want to speak to! Do you know how many calls I have received this morning about your broken website and how the customers are struggling to access the shop?!’’

This tone was my uncle’s. He was furious, as always whenever something interrupts the company’s operations. He oversaw customer service and sales, so any issue that affected business went to his nerves.

“I heard about it and we’re working hard to fix the problem. It’s going to take some time.” I falsefully reassured him because I couldn’t let him know that I was oblivious to the issue. That was the smartest thing I could think of.

“I’ve heard this too many times today. Be quick, Adrain. You’d better fix this problem before I step foot there to take people’s jobs away from them! Go fix this.” He warned and hanged up, not ready to take any excuses.

“This is a perfect way to start the so-called good day my father promised today to be. Nice.” I said under my breath, so no one could hear me.

My uncle doesn’t make empty threats and if he said he would fire some workers because of this issue, I trust that he would surely do it.

I needed answers, I had to go check out what’s going on at the Computing & IT department, they must have an explanation for this. I decided not to call Avery ahead of time about my coming- I wanted to know if they are working on it like they told my uncle.

 I slipped back into my jacket, told Lena I was going to check out the issue and then left my office. I took the elevator to the 4th floor where the IT department was located.