ANDY and CAMILLE

ANDY and CAMILLE

Four o'clock in the morning, the thunderous noise of the alarm wakes Andy up.

ring! ring! ring! ring!

Andy Alf reaches for his bedside table, with one touch he deactivates his alarm and opens his eyes, he waits about two minutes and stands up, his slippers are on the right side of his bed in perfect order, Andy claps his hands twice and the light in his room comes on.

It is time to start with his daily routine, he wakes up a little, and in less than ten minutes he is taking an ice water shower, he has calculated his time, he uses a smart watch that marks how long the bath should last, so he defines his time perfectly, after the fifteen minutes programmed, there he is getting dressed with his sports clothes perfectly organized to go to do his exercise routine in the gym of his mansion.

At six o'clock in the morning, after having done his body maintenance routine, he takes a shower again, now with warm water to relax his muscles, fifteen minutes later, he combs his hair perfectly, massages his body with a fine cream, dresses in a dark black platinum suit, grooms his beard as every day, perfumes himself with one of the best French fragrances that his mother has given him and wears a beautiful gold Rolex on his left hand, which matches perfectly with his divinity.  And although he was not an entirely vain being, he was overly obsessive about order, presentation, schedules, grooming, and perfection.

Everything in his room was perfectly arranged, he had an adjoining room that served as his closet, each garment in his closet was ordered by tones and uses, his shirts had to be perfectly ironed, his sportswear was not used more than twice and he exchanged them, he had a person hired to take care of his clothes exclusively, if he did not like something he immediately changed it, or simply discarded it.

Andy was a young multimillionaire, an economist by profession, with a couple of doctorates and a master's degree, he was the CEO of the largest export company in the city, ALF & ASSOCIATES Company, the success of this company was due to the hard work of its CEO to business and management.

Besides being a successful businessman, he was young, he was only twenty-six years old, he was handsome, tall, his skin tone made his sensuality stand out, it was a cinnamon skin, dark brown eyes, his lock beard surrounded his jaw, his hair in perfect order showed how well cared for he was.

Despite being the CEO of his company and being able to have all the privileges he wanted, he was the first person to arrive at his office, at eight in the morning he was already starting his duties, the day before his cleaning employees were in charge of leaving everything in its place, his chair perfectly clean, his desk without a single trace of dust, his few paintings without a single uneven angle and his sculptures lay perfectly cared for. The aroma emanating from that office would attract the heart of any woman.

On the other side of the country**

“Camille, daughter, get up, you have to go to work at the cafeteria, hurry up little daughter, you'll be late!”

“Mom, mmm, I'm up!” Camille comes down the stairs of her humble house with shuffling steps, her slippers are so worn out that if anything they can cover her feet from the cold floor, her hair is in total disarray, her pajamas are a long old T-shirt of her deceased father, and her face is covered by two huge dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping.

“Daughter, did you get any rest?” Angela asks her daughter

“Not much mom, last night they extended my shift at that cafeteria, I had to work overtime, and I accepted, we need your medicines and food for little Carolain” Camille approaches her mother and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“Dear, have you received any response from the capital city from any of the companies where you have been looking for a job?” Angela looks at her daughter compassionately

“No mom, not being a graduate of a recognized university doesn't give me any opportunity," Camille looks frustrated at her psychologist diploma, which is hanging as the only decoration in the living room.

Camille, a young woman of twenty-four years old, lived with her parents in a small town a few hours from the capital, with the great effort of her father she entered a small university nearby where she managed to obtain her degree a year ago as a psychologist, while she achieved this small triumph two important events changed in her life.

Her father died in a traffic accident, leaving her mother alone to take care of her and her little sister Salome, who is now ten years old. As if that were not enough, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which required an aggressive treatment to save her life and prevented her from returning to work, so Camille, to survive with her family, had to take her mother's place in the cafeteria, since there was no work in town for a professional like her.

For a long time, she insisted, sending her resume, and applying to well-known companies in the capital, waiting for a response from one of them, but her hopes were fading away as she did not receive any, she felt that she was going to stay forever working in that place.

That morning after saying goodbye to his mother, taking his little sister to school, he receives a call on his old phone, he didn't know the number, however, he decides to answer.

“Hello?” she says in a very colloquial tone.

“Good morning, Miss, I'm calling from ALF & ASSOCIATES, are you Camille Ibis?” asks a woman on the other end of the line.

“Good morning! Excuse me for my way of answering, yeah i am, please tell me.”

“You applied for a vacancy in our company as head of human resources, I see that you are a professional in psychology, aren't you?”

“Yes, yes I am!” Camille's voice now sounded excited.

“Do you have any additional studies, such as a diploma, doctorate, or master's degree?” The woman on the other end of the line asks suspiciously

“No, not really” Now Camille knows that she will be rejected again, as in the previous offers.

“Well, Miss Ibis, your tests were one hundred out of one hundred, but because of your academic profile, now we could only offer you a vacancy as a secretary in the human resources area, we need one urgently”.

“Secretary? And how much would the salary be?” She says frustrated by what she has just been offered.

“Well, her salary would be about two thousand a month, plus her legal benefits, plus every two months she would have an extra bonus for her performance, not to mention that she would only work from Monday to Friday from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon”.

Upon hearing the working conditions that Camille was being offered, she remained silent, trying to assimilate that it was four times what she was currently earning, and she could not believe it, she made sure to corroborate what she was hearing.

“Are you serious, Miss?” she asks doubtfully.

“I don't understand your question, I am calling you for a quite formal offer, check your email, if you are interested, we will expect you on Monday at the company, remember that all your hiring is immediate and will be digital, so you would only have to come to work if you sign your contract before six o'clock in the evening”.

“Perfect Miss, thank you very much, I'll check my mail, thank you very much!” Camille jumps like an excited child, laughing with happiness in the street and although it is not what she expected for her profession, the conditions were right, and she could help her mother even more.

Camille had applied to this company about seven months ago, every month she presented different tests and interviews and had already lost hope of finding a vacancy in this place.

She was so happy that she had forgotten that she had to sign the contract before a fixed time, when she realized it was already seven o'clock at night, in her town the public internet sites were closed at six thirty, she had to look for a place where she could check.

“No, it can't be, damn it, the only good opportunity in my life and I lose it because of my absent” mindedness, it can't be!