Chapter 6: The Call

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 exited the room next.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Flora was in the room, arranging her bag of clothes to fit into the wardrobe, and she didn't utter any 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.

Glory then exited the room and walked back to join Anita in her room. Anita was busy texting Temisa while Temisa gave her a call instead.

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

"All fine. And yours?" Anita asked.

"All good," Temisa responded sadly.

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

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

"What! That's good news. You should be happy. So quick—like, you just graduated, and you already have a job at your feet, unlike us who would have to start wandering about the whole streets and companies submitting applications," Anita said.

"Hmm, you can say that, but that's not what I want, at least not for now. And besides, my results... I doubt I will get the job," Temisa complained.

"Hmph. It's well, girlfriend, but be happy at least. You have your father's support, unlike mine," Anita ranted, and the phone call went silent for a while.

"It's okay. But truth is, I'm not having too much high hopes in working with the Benson Group. I know they're the most sought-after group of companies, but I'm not interested," Temisa deadpanned.

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

"Really? So you have plans of submitting your CV too with them?" Temisa asked, excitedly.

"Yes, but I didn't know your father also had plans for you working there too. I didn't want to bother you about it," Anita replied.

"Oh! There's no problem then. I will just submit my application and give you updates on when they approve of me. Although, you know it's through my father, so no too much stress," Temisa beamed.

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

"Thank you, but I'm 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, but let's hope they accept me too. Good night." Anita ended the call after Temisa responded, "Yeah. Good night too."

Anita set her phone down and found Glory in the room arranging her box to fit into the wardrobe she previously shared with Flora. She sighed.

All her siblings were dark-skinned, except for Lisa, Glory, and herself. Lisa was fair brown but not light like her, while Glory was brown with the rest dark.

"Did Flora ask you anything when you went there and carried your box?" Anita asked.

"No," Glory responded and walked to sit beside Anita on the bed as she was through arranging her box into the wardrobe.

"I'm sorry for what happened initially," 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 smiled as she placed her right palm on Glory's hand.

"Hmph, I hope they don't," Glory sighed.

"It's okay. So what did you want to discuss with me about before Flora interrupted us?" Anita asked her.

"I just wanted to ask about your university. Is it difficult studying business administration?" Glory asked.

"No, not too stressful. You just have to keep your focus high and not get distracted by handsome guys and beautiful girls in your department that might be asking you out on a date," Anita replied as she turned and switched off her laptop, as she was already tired.

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

"Glory! What do you know about boyfriends?" Anita questioned with wide eyes, and Glory only smiled.

"Okay, I don't have a boyfriend because I don't want to lose focus, and you shouldn't too," Anita advised her little sister while Glory continued to smile.

"It's okay. You will 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."

"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 let go of Anita and walked to the restroom while 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 and to know what the company was like. She typed the search for the Benson Group of Companies and saw recent news updates about the company.

Anita read through some of the recent news and saw the new handover of company ownership to Master Liam Jackson. She sighed as she stared at the photos from the company's conference hall and down to photos of the new CEO.

Lost in her thinking and search, Anita didn't even know when Glory returned and climbed on the bed and drifted to sleep.

Sighing, Anita 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, and she sighed and finally clicked on his profile picture, wanting to see the new boss she would be working with in the future—if her CV finally got accepted.

But as she stared at his display picture on his profile and looked at the date it was posted, it was six years ago, and he looked younger in the photo, making her sigh again.

Anita left the CEO's profile page to browse on how to submit her letter of application and certificate to them instead.

Finally, she got to see an available form of application and checked for the available positions left.

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

As she was tired, Anita decided to type a fresh letter of application to the Benson Group the following day. Done copying the email address, she set down her phone on her shelf and drifted to sleep on her bed.

***

The following morning in the Baker's home, as Anita woke up, she heard her father scream, "No!" She hastily jumped down from her bed and rushed out of her room to find out what happened.

"What happened?" They gathered in the living room while their father sat on the couch and placed both palms to support his head as he fought back the urge to cry.

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

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

"Mom?" Anita walked up to their mother and held her hands.

"What's the matter, Mom?" Anita asked, and 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 back at her husband, seeing he was trying so hard to prevent his tears from dropping. He finally stood up from the living room couch, as he was already dressed in his deep blue suit, ready to leave for his office work, as it was a fresh Friday morning.

But he sighed and walked back to his room, shaking his head regretfully.

"Father!" Anita, Flora, and Favour first rushed up to 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 told them.

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

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