A demeaning offer

Valerie stood nervously outside the company's glass doors, smoothing her dress and taking a deep breath. She had spent hours rehearsing her responses to common interview questions. With a confident smile, she pushed open the door and stepped into the bustling lobby. As she approached the reception desk, a friendly face greeted her. "Hi, you must be Valerie. I'm Karen, the HR manager. Please, follow me”.

Valerie trailed behind Karen, and finally, she landed behind a long que. Despite her anxiety, when her turn came, she entered the conference room confidently, where two interviewers were seated. The conversation flew smoothly, with Valerie answering questions about her skills and experience.

After the interview, Karen escorted Valerie to the CEO's office. “The CEO has requested to see you in his office now," she said, opening the door. Although Valerie couldn’t figure out the reason for this request, she felt quite uneasy.

Valerie's eyes widened as she stepped inside the CEOs office. The office was elegant and classic. Behind the massive desk sat a man familiar. Despite his disguise in their previous encounter , Valerie easily recognized the man. The man who had followed her…and uttered the dumpiest pickup line ever. She felt a sting of embarrassment and anger, but tried to compose herself. Valerie's mind reeled as she sat down. Why was she summoned to the CEO's office?

“Miss Jones”, Chris started as he turned his back to her, gazing out the window at the high-rise buildings. “You do not stand a chance in this company, you’re grossly underqualified for the job,” he said dismissively.

“I am sorry, did l miss the part where you said , good morning, or welcome?”, she asked, trying to conceal a stinging numbness, but then pretending not to have heard her complaint, he added, “However, I’m willing to make an exception… for you”, her eyes sparkled with renewed hope. “I can offer you a position at my residence , as a housekeeper”. Valerie jerked her head up, taken aback by his insulting request. Was this some sort of payback for him?”, she thought, looking at Chris. At this point, she felt she had had enough, “Is this some sort of joke, or test? And cleaning after your mess? No, thank you”, she snapped, rising up.

He looked at her. “ I hope your ego is not getting in the way of your survival”, he said as he handed Valerie his card, “In case you change your mind!”, he concluded.

The meeting with Chris was brief and awkward. He offered her a position as his housekeeper, which Valerie declined, feeling insulted. As she left the office building, her thoughts swirled, why had fate brought her back to this man and now that the job opportunity had slipped through her fingers, what was the next right thing for her to do? Valerie walked away from the building, feeling defeated and lost. The city streets seemed to blur around her as she struggled to process her emotions.

Chris felt satisfied with himself for belittling her. He had never intended to genuinely offer her a job, but rather to humiliate her by proposing a housekeeper position, just to show her how ‘small’ she was to him. Upon spotting her application, he had crafted the entire encounter, using the job offer as a means to get back to her. He just felt he just had to do that to that, so she would finally understand how humiliating Chris Malvins would get in the way of her survival. He had conducted a thorough research on her. Orphaned at a tender age, she had moved to an orphanage. Left the orphanage at the age of nineteen, started working and had a trail of terrible fight records. Her previous job had ended because of a fight, again and now, she was currently unemployed and probably broke.

In the next few weeks, Valerie juggled from placing job applications to doing part time cleaning, baby seating and housekeeping. With exhaustion, she realized that she may eventually have to move into a shelter if she found no stable job.

One Friday evening, as she munched on a stale slice of bread, she stared at Chris’ business card, she could still hear his words echo… “I hope your ego does not getting the way of your survival?”.

She kept reminiscing about her decision to deny his offer. At such a prestigious institute, being offered a position of the CEO’s housekeeper was undeniably an insult. However wasn’t her ‘self respect’ truly getting in the way of her survival. She could now admit she needed any work she could get, as soon as she could. Ultimately, she made the daring choice to accept the offer. As she dialled Chris’ number, her heart was heavy with grief, but she just had to.

“Hello?”, he answered on the first ring.

“Hello, am l talking to Chris Malvins?”, she asked, trying to figure out where to start.

“Yes, who is it? New number! ”, he replied sounding drowsy.

“Its Valerie. I have decided to take the offer”, she said decisively. Valerie could hear a faint melody of old country music in the background. He did not answer for a moment.

“Hello, Mr Malvins, are you still there?”, she asked, praying he had not changed his mind.

“Oh Valerie, that is such great news, now if you will give me your address l will fetch you tomorrow, first thing in the morning”. Valerie wondered if he had to fetch her, when he could easily send a driver to her, but he insisted on taking her himself.

“I have a few things in my apartment, a few blankets, clothes, a mattress?”, she said warned. “l cannot leave those here”.

“I have a cellar in my house, you could keep them in there. You did great by choosing to do the right thing”, he said, his voice with a bit of excitement. She told him the address and hung up. She lazily stood up and made a cup of tea and went to bed afterwards.

Valerie was twenty three years old. She had grown up in an orphanage after the demise of her parents. Her father was the infamous alcoholic; an abusive, wretched and reckless one. He would beat her mother up, eventually she became frail and ill, then she died. After her death, he wouldn’t dare waste any chance he got to beat and torture her, even for the silliest mistakes she would make. He showed all colours of wickedness; he worshiped cruelty. She was in hell with no one to help her up until he died of drug abuse, and she was taken into an orphanage at twelve.

The orphanage was a sanctuary for her, a place where she finally felt safe and alive. For the first time, she was living, not just existing. However, the trauma of her dark past lingered, haunting her with nightmares and flashbacks. Despite the comfort and security of the orphanage, the memories of her past continued to torment her.

Counseling sessions helped her heal, but the experience had left an indelible mark. She vowed that as an adult, she would never again be a victim. To protect herself, she adopted a tough exterior, becoming aggressive and guarded. She built walls around herself.