6; Father's Scream

Mrs. Tonia said nothing after Flora exited the room. She sighed and walked over to sit beside Anita on the bed, while Favour and Esther left next.

"You shouldn't be harsh with your sister. Fighting with Flora wasn't necessary," Mrs. Tonia said as she sat down.

"I know, Mom, but they disrespect me too much, and it is getting out of hand," Anita replied.

"It is okay. I understand, but don't change yourself because of them. Keep being my sweet and calm daughter."

"Okay, Mom." Anita sighed, staring at her mother. Glory walked up and sat on the bed as well.

"I have to go now and join your father. Glory, go pack your bags and come join Anita here."

"Okay, Mom," Glory replied. She stood up from the bed and walked out of the room, heading to the room she previously shared with Lisa.

Flora was in that room, arranging her clothes into the wardrobe. She did not utter a word to Glory, who stepped in, picked up her box of clothes, and carried it out.

Lisa sighed as she returned from the kitchen. She found Flora in the room she now shared with her.

Lisa asked no questions, as she also disliked Anita and Glory.

Glory exited the room and walked back to join Anita. Anita was busy texting Temisa, but Temisa called her instead.

"Hello, girlfriend. How is home?" Temisa asked.

"All fine. And yours?"

"All good," Temisa responded, sadly.

"What’s up? You don’t sound too happy," Anita asked.

"I know. It’s a long story. Remember my father didn’t show up at the graduation ceremony? Now he is asking for my results and telling me to submit them to the Benson Group. As you know, I have no interest in working with them."

"What! That’s good news. You should be happy. So quick! You just graduated, and you already have a job at your doorstep, unlike us, who will have to wander the streets and companies submitting applications."

"Hmmm. You can say that, but that’s not what I want. At least not for now. Besides, given my results, I doubt I will get the job," Temisa complained.

"Hmph. Be happy at least that you have your father’s support, unlike mine," Anita ranted. The phone call went silent for a while.

"It is okay. But the truth is, I am not having high hopes about working with the Benson Group. I know they are the most sought-after group of companies, but I am not interested," Temisa said flatly.

"I know, but you can still apply. I will be submitting mine there too. I didn’t want to bother you about it earlier or ask you to help me talk to your father. Probably, if I submit mine now and they accept me, we can work there together, and you won’t be bored with office work anymore," Anita said.

"Really? So you plan to submit your CV to them too?" Temisa asked.

"Yes. But I didn’t know your father also had plans for you to work there. I didn’t want to bother you with it."

"Oh! There is no problem then. I will just submit my application and give you updates on when they approve me. Although, you know it is through my father, so there won’t be too much stress," Temisa beamed.

"Yeah, lucky girl," Anita hyped her up.

"Thank you, but I am only submitting because you said you will. If I don’t get to see you there, then I will quit," Temisa informed her.

"Okay, I will. Let’s hope they accept me too. Good night," Anita ended the call after Temisa responded, "Good night to you too."

Anita put her phone down and found Glory in the room, arranging her box to fit into the wardrobe she had previously shared with Flora.

Anita sighed. All her siblings had dark skin, except for Lisa, Glory, and herself. Lisa was fair brown but not white like Anita, while Glory was brown, and the rest were dark.

"Did Flora ask you anything when you went there to carry your box?" Anita asked.

"No," Glory responded. She walked over to sit beside Anita on the bed after finishing arranging her box in the wardrobe.

"I am sorry for what happened earlier," Glory apologized faintly.

Anita smiled at her. "It is okay. None of it was your fault. Let’s just hope Flora, Favour, and Esther stop annoying me in this house." Anita placed her right palm on Glory’s hand.

"Hmph. I hope they stop..." Glory sighed.

"It is okay. So, what did you want to discuss with me before Flora interrupted us?" Anita asked.

"I just wanted to ask about your university. Is studying Business Administration difficult?" Glory asked.

"No, not too stressful. You just have to keep your focus high and not get distracted by handsome guys and girls in your department who might ask you out," Anita replied. She turned and switched off her laptop, as she was already tired.

"So, you don’t have a boyfriend in school or any guy who likes you?" Glory asked, surprising Anita.

"What? Glory! What do you know about boyfriends?" Anita questioned, her eyes wide.

Glory only smiled.

"Okay, I don’t have a boyfriend because I don’t want to lose focus, and you shouldn’t either," Anita advised her little sister.

Glory continued to smile. "Okay. "

"It is okay. Later, you should show me your results for this term since I’ll be around. I can be your extra coaching teacher," Anita said.

"Really?" Glory jumped up happily from the bed and hugged Anita tightly. "Thank you, Big Sis."

"You’re welcome. Can I breathe now?" Anita asked, as Glory was almost suffocating her with her tight hug and chubby body.

"Okay, let me go and freshen up before sleeping." Glory let go of Anita and walked to the restroom.

Anita sighed and decided to play with her Android phone, as it was already late.

Anita decided to browse information about the Benson Group online to learn what the company was like. She typed "Benson Group of Companies" into the search bar and saw recent news updates about the company.

She read through some of the recent news and saw the announcement regarding the new handling of company ownership by Master Liam Jackson.

Anita sighed as she stared at the photos from the company’s conference hall, scrolling down to photos of the new CEO.

Lost in her thoughts and search, Anita didn’t notice when Glory returned, climbed onto the bed, and drifted to sleep.

Anita sighed as she heard Glory snoring peacefully behind her on the bed. She scrolled through the timeline posts of the new CEO, checking his profile page. His profile didn’t have many updates.

Exhaling, Anita clicked on Liam's profile picture, wanting to see the face of the new boss she might work with in the future if her CV got accepted.

However, as she stared at his display picture, she noticed the date it was posted: six years ago. He looked younger in the photo.

Anita left Liam's profile page, and browsed how to submit her letter of application and certificate to them instead.

Finally, she found an available application form online and checked for open positions.

Anita copied the company’s email address and decided to write a letter of application, as that was the only way to submit an application to work with the company.

Since she was tired, Anita decided to type a fresh letter of application to the Benson Group the following day.

After copying the email address, she put her phone on her shelf and drifted to sleep.

-----

The following morning at home, Anita woke up to hear her father scream, "No!" She jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room to find out what happened.

"What happened?" They all gathered in the living room. Their father sat on the black couch, placing both palms against his head as he fought back the urge to cry.

"Mom, what’s the problem?" they asked their mother. She shook her head, not responding, and paced up and down in the living room.

"Father... what’s the problem?" Flora asked, sitting beside their father. He shook his head in regret and wiped away the tears daring to fall from his eyes.

"Mom?" Anita walked up to their mother and held her hands. "What’s the matter, Mom?"

Mrs. Tonia finally responded, "I don’t really know. Your father got a call this morning, and the next moment I heard him scream while discussing with the caller. I don’t know what the problem is..."

Mrs. Tonia stared at her husband, seeing him try so hard to prevent his tears from falling. He finally stood up from the living room couch. He was already dressed in his deep blue suit, ready to leave for his office work on that fresh Friday morning. But he sighed and walked back to his room, shaking his head regretfully.

"Father!" Anita, Flora, and Favour rushed toward him, but their mother quickly stopped them.

"You girls should let your father be. I will talk to him and find out what the problem really is," Mrs. Tonia assured them.

"Are you sure, Mom?" they asked in confusion, wanting to see their father.

"Yes. Just give him some time. I am sure he will finally let us know what the problem is."