Chapter 5

I rushed to the office knowing I'm going to get a talk down. As I pressed the number on the elevator I thought of my Sister. There is so much said today, I don't even know where to start. My emotions are jumbled right now. One thing I noticed is the difference between our looks which was subtle at best when we were younger has become prominent. She is willowy with auburn hair, amazing tan and at 5.5', she could be called petite to my Amazon stature. I'm not fat, just curvy, you could say like Kylie Jenner and my skin gets red when I attempt tanning, emphasis on attempt here. We have the same eyes and similar jaw structure, other than that we are as opposite as we could get. It's natural as we have different fathers. The elevator made a ding sound making me come out of my reverie.

I peeked my head out to catch if the dragon was there. It seems luck has finally turned my side today as the coast is clear. I hurried to my station and busied myself looking as if I had something important to do. I never had much to do except for these past couple of months.

I asked Rose about the dragon. Rose is in the accounts department, not up on the ladder but in a better position than me. Of course, having a degree and 4 years of experience helps. She befriended me when I was new here. We are not besties now, but we do go for an occasional drink sometimes.

' What happened to the dragon? Shouldn't she be breathing fire already?'

'She got called from top floors’, she whispered back.

That floor is for the VIP of our corporation. Even Sinclair's have their main office here, though they have many branches all over the world.

'Why? She is just a secretary-manager. What would they have use of her? '

'Who knows', she said and resumed her work.

I checked Mr. Knight's cabin on my way back to ask if he needed help with anything but it's empty. It's unusual for him to leave the cabin without giving me any instructions on work. I returned and did some work on the report I have to fax. By the time I completed it was already 4.

Maybe he left for the day. As it is, he is not feeling himself with the big news. I stayed for another 2 hours to compensate for my tardiness even though there is nothing to do except arrange Mr. Knight’s calendar.

When I reached my block, I'm bone tired. I just want to wash away the subway smells off me and lay in my bed. As I reach my floor, I can hear the song 'Hello, is it me you're looking for' playing.

I turned at the stairs to see a guy clad in a towel leaning against the half-closed door.

' hey babe, want to join me?', he said smilingly.

I sigh and roll my eyes. Why me? And no, there is nothing wrong with me or him. Unfortunately, the said guy is my neighbour Richard who is 9-year-old.

'Please say you wore something under that thing', I asked as it started slipping.

''Should I have? But that novel dint says anything like that', he is clearly upset that something went wrong.

'Ugh...piece of advice, don't read any of your mother's novels and stop flirting with me', I yelled as I walked to my flat. Sadly, he is the only male who is taking an interest in me right now.

After doing my night ritual, I scroll through my contacts as I lay on my bed. I found the contact I was looking for; it has been some time but I'm sure there would be a response.

I just sent a small message. He will understand.

Bobby Thompson. Long Beach, NY. 49yr old.

I arrived the next morning at an empty office since it's before 9. I logged in and started checking emails. I was in the process of opting for the report to the server when James tapped my desk.

James is in the HR department. Two floors above this. We never talked other than an occasional nod. I got to know about him through Rose. Rose is the connection to my office gossip. She knows everything about everyone. It's like she is Father Rose and everyone makes confessions to her.

'Need you on the top floor. ASAP', he said and left as suddenly.

'The TOP one?', I questioned.

'What else', he said rolling his eyes.

'What? Why?', I exclaimed, shouting to him to retreat back.

I don't know anyone on that floor, they are as high as they can get on the corporate ladder and I'm as Low as there is.

Our building has 50 floors. The first 10 floors are rented out to other offices that are not in the same field. The 11th floor is for us, menial laborers. The remaining floors except TOP 4 floors contain security, accounts dept, logistics, programmers, design dept, deployment team, project handlers, cafeteria, PR dept, HR dept, managers, finance dept, etc

The entire top floor is for our CEO and a small reception area for his assistant. I worked myself into a minor panic attack when I reached the 50th floor. CEO's are not needed to fire a lowly assistant secretary generally. But I can't fathom any other reason for this call.

'Hi, I'm Erica Anderson, assistant secretary to Mr. knight. I have been told to report here’, I said to the secretary who looks like a bombshell. She looked me up and down and found I was lacking I guess from the sour expression she threw my way.

'You can go through that door. Mr. Sinclair has been expecting since this morning', she said accusingly as if I'm late on purpose. Right, this girl has some issues.

I knocked on the door and waited for 'come in' to be heard.

The door says Raphael Sinclair, CEO in bold letters on the nameplate. Holding the knob, I feel my palms sweating just from the anxiety of being in the same vicinity as our CEO. I took a deep breath, shaking my anxiety, and entered the office.