Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"From the way this is quite much, I am sure the story behind it must be equally as much also, so begin talking, my sweet cousin," Sophia said immediately as they stepped away from their grandmother into the kitchen.

It wasn't much, aside from it being a tardy compartment; it was just a separate room as cooking had to be done somewhere else to avoid any sort of fire outbreak. Still, they managed to make it work, just like they managed to do with everything. The kitchen had two gas stoves and some pots. It was all they needed, and they were satisfied with it.

"So come on now, cousin, start talking," Sophia pressed Justine further.

"Why are you in such a hurry to let me tell you everything? At least let us light up the stove first and begin cooking," Justine said to her, being hesitant.

Sophia hurriedly grabbed the lighter, set the stove along with a pot and water, then turned to her cousin. "Now spill the beans."

"Alright, tiger, you might want to slow down and reserve the energy for your fancy school, don't you think?" Justine teased her.

Sophia looked right back at her, not changing her facial expression one bit.

"Alright, fine then, I'll talk," Justine said as she picked up some potatoes from the grocery bag and started peeling them.

"So, here I was, minding my own business," Justine began speaking, "looking for jobs from store to store and from one coffee shop to another. Trust me when I say this, it was hectic as it usually is."

"Of course, I know how stressful it is. Why do you think I gave up?" Sophia chimed in.

"Do not interrupt me! You are the one who asked for a story," Justine snapped at Sophia as she kept on peeling the potatoes.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, jeez. Carry on with the story."

"Then, one of the stores I ran into," Justine continued, "there was a sign out that there's a vacancy for a personal assistant to the manager. The ad also stated that no work experience is needed and interested personnel should apply within. It sounded like a good offer, so I took up the challenge and decided to apply.

I met this rude-looking receptionist, but you trust me not to care about what anyone thinks or the bad character they think they possess,mine is way worse trust me."

 So I walk up to her and tell her I am interested in getting a job here, and I would like to meet the person that is meant to be in charge of my interview.

And now, here's what she did that annoyed me. She disrespectfully sized me up from head to toe, then pretended like she didn't hear me, as if it wasn't a person talking to her. Justine sounded pissed upon recounting this memory to Sophia.

"That is a terrible thing to do. Sometimes I wonder why some people act like that. She is a very dumb person for her to act that way. How did the dummy even get a job?" Sophia said this, trying to make Justine forget the anger.

It worked, as she seemed to lighten up a bit. "Well, I wasn't going to be disrespected anyway," Justine continued. "So I repeated my request to her in a polite tone again, but this time it was more firm... and maybe a tad loud, to be honest. But I didn't care. I told her I wanted an interview. It was at that moment I was able to catch her attention."

"Please lower your voice. Shouting is not a practice that is allowed here," she had said to me.

Well, I looked her straight in the eyes and told her I would have to shout if not that she was a deaf receptionist. I think that struck a nerve within her because she became very pissed.

"...And I liked it. You want to go around looking down on people, and now it was her turn to shout."

Justine giggled as she said this, and Sophia also joined in.

"How dare you insult me? What do you mean I am deaf?" the receptionist shouted back at me, Justine continued narrating her story to Sophia.

"Am I wrong? I walked in here, asked a question, and did not get a response. Well, it's either you are deaf or you're just a very bad receptionist," Justine said back to her.

"Young lady, you must leave this premises this instant. I have had enough of this. It's either you walk out, or I call security to throw you out!"

"You are very unprofessional. That won't be necessary," I snapped back at her. "I am already leaving." I turned around to leave.

    "As you should have," Sophia said to Justine, encouraging her.

"What's going on here?" I heard a voice call out just as I turned.

"It's this lady causing a nuisance. I already sent her out," the receptionist said.

"You didn't answer my question, receptionist. I asked, "What is going on here?"

The voice sounded so calm and mature, I had no reason but to turn around. This person looked like he commanded a lot of respect. It was easy for me to come to the conclusion that this person was of high importance, probably the manager or something.

"Exactly what I told your receptionist here—that she is deaf. A simple question you asked her, and she's answering with an off-pointer," Justine said to him.

"You may leave now, young lady," the receptionist snapped back at me.

"Enough of this," the man raised a hand to silence the receptionist, and God, it felt good to watch.

"May you state your business here, ma'am?" he said as he turned to me.

God, he was young and handsome. He had such blue eyes and curly dark hair. I kind of felt a knot in my belly as he talked to me.

I kind of stuttered a bit before gathering the courage to speak to him. "Well, I saw an ad placed outside about there being a vacancy. I walked in here to apply for the position, but the receptionist here kept on acting like I didn’t exist. Is that any way to treat potential employees?"

I decided to fake being emotional. "I only want a job. Is that a crime?" Justine began sobbing silently.

"Hey, hey, I am really sorry that had to happen. Please, do well to wipe those tears of yours and come into my office. Let’s have that interview."

      He stretched out his hand and guided me into his office.  

"That is so sweet, Justine. Would you look at how your luck just turned? But I can’t help but feel like you have deviated from the purpose of you telling me all this. Where did you get the groceries?" Sophia pressed.  

"Will you calm down and let me finish? We are already getting to that part," Justine snapped back at her.  

"Well, the food is almost ready, and I would like to know before I eat a spoon out of it."  

"Just shut up and let me finish, please. Then we can both eat."  

Sophia nodded her head in agreement. Justine equally seemed excited to recount this side of her story.  

"So I walked into this really nice office. It had all sorts of decorations and a large table. I wondered how this young man got to be in charge of such a place. I mean, I am pretty sure he was only two years older than I am."  

"Well, he asked me to sit and began asking me the usual questions.  

‘So, what’s your name?’ he asked me as soon as I was seated.  

‘My name is Justine!’ I replied to him with a smile.  

‘Well, my name's Ward. I'm in charge of this place,’ he said, stretching his hand forward to exchange a handshake with me."  

I found him to be very polite, as he kept on apologizing for what the receptionist did.  

"‘She is going to face a query for that. She can’t go around acting rude to potential colleagues of ours.’  

In my head, I’m like, colleagues? Does that mean there’s a chance of me getting this job?  

‘So, what can I do to make this right? Anything you want?’  

Justine smiled. She was taken aback by this question, but it was such a nice gesture from him. I didn’t know what to say in response.  

‘Well, that wouldn’t be necessary,’ I said to him. ‘I am fine just the way I am.’  

He clearly disagreed with that. ‘Nonsense. Give me your account details. Let me make you a wire transfer, at least for all your troubles. It’s the least I can do.’  

I wrote it on the piece of paper he handed over to me. I will not lie—I got excited at the sound of money, but I had to maintain my composure and not seem like a greedy person."  

     .."And I will hope to see you resume here next week. Congratulations, you got the job."

A huge smile spread across my face as he said this. "Thank you so much! I am really grateful for this."

He nodded his head and started fiddling with his phone. Then, he handed it over to me and asked that I input my personal number there.

It was then I knew that this handsome CEO might also have a thing for me, Justine continued narrating to Sophia, who was totally enjoying this story now.

"So, I did, and he offered to escort me out of his office. We finally got out of the store.

‘See you next week then. I will be in touch,’ he said to me as he waved goodbye and walked back in.

A few steps later, my phone vibrated, and it was a message from him asking if I had seen it.

‘Seen what?’ I thought, till I opened my bank app and saw the balance. He sent me money. I thanked him.

And that, my dear cousin, is where I got the money to buy all this." Justine concluded her story with a satisfied smile.

"Well, that sounds great! I am really happy you got the job, cousin, and also a huge admirer all in one day. Talk about eventful!"

"Shut up, Sophia. Food is ready. Let us go and eat."

Sophia served a portion for each of them, including their grandmother, and they walked out of the kitchen.

"We thank the heavens and your new boss for this meal," Sophia said to her cousin as soon as they were done eating.

They were in their shared room now. Sophia was on her phone, making research about her new school. She wouldn’t want to blow her chance tomorrow and mess everything up. She had never been this scared over something. It would be such a pain if it didn’t work out after all this hard work.

"You anxious about this, cousin?" Justine asked her.

"Yes, I am. I just don’t want to blow it. I put a lot of energy into this," Sophia said to her.

"Don’t worry, cousin. Everything is going to go smoothly. I can accompany you there if you want," Justine offered.

"I would love that, to be honest. It will give me a sort of emotional support. But don’t you have somewhere to be tomorrow?" Sophia asked her cousin.

    "No, I don't actually, and it will be good for me to check out that fancy school. Know if there's anyone that would want to give my cousin trouble."  

Sophia laughed out. "Please, you will do no such thing. But well, great then. We best get to sleep now. We leave first thing tomorrow morning."  

"Oh, come on. You, of all people, know I am not a morning person. But if it's anything to make my cousin happy, then I'll do it."  

"Goodnight, cousin," Justine said as she turned off the lights.  

"I really appreciate you in my life, Justine, you know that? You're like the sister I never had. Can't help but think about what life would be like without you."  

Sophia didn’t get any response. She turned and saw that her cousin was fast asleep.  

"Typical Justine," she said with a slight laugh. "Goodnight, cousin."  

She closed her eyes to sleep. It didn’t come initially, as thoughts kept racing in her mind, but she decided to keep herself calm, knowing things would be better from here. She didn’t know when she finally fell asleep.  

Sophia was jerked awake by the sound of her loud alarm. It kept on beeping non-stop.  

It was 7 a.m. sharp.  

"Oh hell," she cursed under her breath as she jumped up from the bed.  

She hurriedly rolled over to her cousin and tapped her. "Come on, Justine! We are going to be late."  

Sophia immediately stripped herself of the clothes she was wearing, revealing her bare, fit body. She quickly wrapped a towel around herself and walked into the bathroom.  

She had to make the bath as quick as she could. She felt so angry with herself for oversleeping. It was mostly because she was anxious and hadn’t slept early.  

She turned on the shower, and nothing came out—not a single drop of water.  

"You have got to be kidding me!" she yelled out in frustration.  

The water bill was yet to be paid. It was overdue, and

she and Justine had totally forgotten about it.  

"You have got to be kidding me," Sophia repeated, her voice growing louder.