Chapter 6: Mother's advice

Mrs. Tonia didn't say anything after Flora exited the room. She sighed and walked up to sit beside Anita on the bed, while Favour and Esther also exited the room.

"You shouldn't be so harsh with your sister. Fighting with her wasn't necessary," Mrs. Tonia said to Anita as she sat beside her on the bed.

"I know, mom, but they keep disrespecting me too much, and it's getting out of hand," Anita replied.

"It's okay. I understand, but don't change yourself because of them. Keep being my sweet and calm daughter," Mrs. Tonia advised Anita.

"Okay, mom," Anita sighed as she stared at her mother, while Glory walked up to sit on the bed too.

"I've got to go now and meet your father. Glory, go now, pack your bags, and come join Anita here," Mrs. Tonia said.

"Okay, mom," Glory replied. She stood up from the bed and walked out of the room to the one she shared with Lisa. Flora was already there, arranging her clothes into the wardrobe, but she didn't say a word to Glory, who stepped in and carried her own box of clothes out.

Lisa sighed as she returned from the kitchen and found Flora in the room she previously shared with Glory. She didn't ask any questions, as she also didn't like Anita and Glory either.

Glory exited the room and walked back to join Anita, who was busy texting Temisa. Temisa decided to call instead.

"Hello, girlfriend, how's home?" Temisa asked.

"All fine, and yours?" Anita replied.

"All good," Temisa responded, sounding sober.

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

"I know, it’s a long story. Remember, my father didn’t show up at the ceremony? Now he's asking for my results and telling me to submit them to the Benson Group. Like you know, I don't have any interest in working with them," Temisa said.

"What! That’s good news. You should be happy. You just graduated, and now you already have a job at your feet, unlike us who will have to start wandering around the streets and companies, submitting applications," Anita said.

"Hmmm, you can say that, but that's not what I want, at least not for now. Besides, I doubt I’ll get the job," Temisa complained.

"Hmph. At least you have your father's support, unlike me," Anita ranted, and the phone call went silent for a while.

"It's okay. But truth is, I’m not too hopeful about working with the Benson Group. They may be the most sought-after company, but I'm not interested," Temisa deadpanned.

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

"Really? Do you have plans 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 about it," Anita replied.

"Oh! There’s no problem then. I’ll just submit my application and give you updates when they approve me. Although, you know this is through my father, so not too much stress," Temisa beamed.

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

"Thank you, but I am only submitting because you said you would. If I don’t see you there, I’ll quit," Temisa informed Anita.

"Okay, I will, but let’s hope they accept me too. Goodnight, girlfriend," Anita said as the call ended, with Temisa replying, "Yeah, goodnight too."

Anita put her phone down and found Glory in the room, arranging her box to fit into the wardrobe she previously shared with Flora. She sighed as she noticed that all her siblings had dark skin, except for Lisa, Glory, and herself. Lisa had fair brown skin, not white like hers, while Glory had brown skin like the rest.

"Did Flora say anything to you when you went to get your box?" Anita asked.

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

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier," Glory apologized faintly, and Anita smiled at her.

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

"Okay," Glory sighed.

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

"I just wanted to ask about your school. Was it difficult to study business administration?" Glory asked.

"No, it’s not too stressful. You just have to stay focused and not get distracted by handsome guys and girls in your department asking you out," Anita replied, turning off her laptop as she was already tired.

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

"Glory! What do you know about boyfriends?" Anita questioned, wide-eyed, making Glory smile.

"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, while Glory continued to smile.

"Is it okay if you show me your results for this term since I'll be around? I can be your extra coaching teacher," Anita said, and Glory jumped up happily from the bed and hugged Anita tightly.

"Thank you, big sis," Glory said.

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

"Okay, let me go and ease myself before sleeping," Glory said as she let go of Anita and walked to the restroom. Anita sighed and decided to play with her phone as it was already late.

Anita decided to browse information about the Benson Group to know what the company was like. She typed "Benson Group of Companies" into the search bar and saw recent news updates about the company on her phone screen. She read through some of the recent news and saw the new handling of company ownership by Master Liam Jackson. She sighed.

Anita stared at the photos from the company's conference hall and the photos of the new CEO. Lost in her thoughts and search, she didn’t even notice when Glory stepped out, climbed onto the bed, and drifted to sleep.

Also, Anita sighed as she heard Glory snoring and sleeping 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 about him. She sighed and finally clicked on his profile picture, wanting to see the new boss she might work with if her application got accepted. 

As she stared at his display picture, she noticed it was posted six years ago, and he looked younger in the photo. She sighed again and left his profile page to browse how to submit her application instead.

Anita finally found an available application form and checked for available positions. She copied the company's email address and decided to write a letter of application to them, as that was the only way to submit an application.

Feeling tired, Anita decided to type a fresh letter of application to the Benson Group the following day. After copying the company email address, she kept her phone on her shelf and drifted to sleep on her bed.

The following morning, as she woke up, Anita heard her father scream out, "No!" She immediately jumped out of bed and rushed out of her room to find out what happened.

"What happened?" They all gathered in the living room while their father sat on the couch, placing his palms on his head, fighting back the urge to cry.

"Mom, what's the problem?!" they asked their mom. She shook her head, not responding but rather pacing up and down in the living room.

"Father, what's the problem?" Flora asked as she sat beside their father, but he shook his head in regret and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Mom?" Anita walked up to their mother and held her folded arms. "What's the matter, mom?" Anita asked, and Mrs. Tonia finally responded, "I don't really know, Anita. Your father got a call this morning, and the next moment I heard him scream out while discussing with the caller. I don't know what the problem is." 

Mrs. Tonia stared back at her husband, seeing he was trying so hard to prevent his tears from falling. He finally stood up from the living room couch, already dressed in his deep blue suit, ready to leave for work as if it were a fresh Friday morning. He sighed and walked back to his room, shaking his head regretfully.

"Father!" Anita, Flora, and Favour rushed up to their father, 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 said to 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."