YOU HAVE TO DO THIS FOR DANIEL.

Jamie was appalled when he saw a lanky girl walk in through the door. Her hair was disheveled, he sweaty clothes clung to her body. Her cheekbones were clearly visible and dark circles shadowed her sunken eyes. She looked just a tad bit better than the beggar on the street.

“Can the day get any worse?” Jamie muttered as he eyed her from top to bottom. His face scrunched in disgust as he saw the broken strap of her flip-flops.

He didn’t even bother to ask her why she was here. He took out his cell phone and rang up the security guards, “Do you guys have no F****** sense? Why did you let a beggar stroll into our office? Come in and drag her away before I lose my head.”

The girl was trying to catch her breath near the reception when two hunky bodyguards sauntered in and dragged her away roughly.

Sienna was too stunned to react. By the time she had regained her composure, the guards had already dragged her to the main gate.

“Wait! Please listen to me..” She yelled at the top of her lungs to attract their attention.”

“What is there to listen to? AE is a prestigious office. It is not somewhere you can just go for a stroll.” The man said shoving her towards the gate.

She stumbled but gripped the bars of the gate to regain composure. Her face burned with embarrassment. Her palm balled up in a tight fist. She drew in a few deep breaths and managed to say, “I am…”

“Don’t waste our time, girl. Just leave already.” The other man with a deep scar across his cheeks muttered.

“Please… listen to me…” She said and licked her dry lips. She gulped down the lump and finally managed to say in a breath, “I am an employee of this office.”

The man with the scar glared at her and gritted out, “Stop acting smart and leave else I will forget that you are a girl.”

“If you don’t believe I can show you my appointment letter.” She said and fumbled in her bag for the letter.

She kept rummaging through her bag for it. Her hands trembled badly making it difficult for her to search for the letter.

The bodyguard grabbed her bag and upturned it. All the contents in the bag; a granola bar, comb, perfume, a handkerchief, and a few other odds and ends fell on the ground in a heap. He growled, “See there is nothing. Now get the F*** outta here!”

The girl heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the envelope lying on the top of the heap. She picked it up quietly and handed it over to the security guard.

He gave her an exasperated look and pulled out a piece of paper from the envelope. His eyes popped out as he read the contents of the letter.

After he had finished reading it, he handed it over to the other bodyguard. His jaws hung open when he saw the appointment letter. He was sure there was a mistake. He was about to go and consult Jamie Sir about it when he heard his infuriated voice, “Why is there a stand up here? Hadn’t I given clear instructions?”

“Sir…” He said as his head snapped towards him. He gulped when he saw his eyes red with anger. Rather than saying anything he just handed the letter to Jamie.

“What is this now?” He queried as he glanced at the letter. He felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice-cold water on him. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t have made such a huge mistake.

“Whose appointment letter is this?” He spat out glaring at the girl.

“Umm… mine…” She managed to reply.

“Proof?”

She pulled out a wallet from her back pocket and showed him an id. She said, “I am Sienna. I was given this appointment letter yesterday and I was asked to join today.”

Jamie felt like killing himself. How could he have committed such a blunder? He was tempted to throw fire her right away but then what would he tell his boss. Wouldn’t he suspect that he hadn’t taken the interview well?

He was stuck in a really bad situation this time. He looked at her with distaste as a plan formed in his mind. He would just let her work for a week and then fire her for incompetence or better still frame her in something. Then he could wash his hands from all his responsibility.

For now, he had to get her to look a bit better.

“Pick all your things and come with me.” He commanded.

With shaking hands, she somehow stuffed everything into her bag as soon as possible. She was surprised when he started walking out of the gate rather than inside.

“Come quickly, I don’t have all day.” He prodded and stormed out of the gate.

Sienna’s head drifted from the gate to the building then back to the gate in confusion. Then, she trotted towards the gate quickly.

The man seemed to be someone powerful. She didn’t want to offend him.

He was waiting for her outside the gate with his hands on his hips. This time he didn’t even bother to say anything. He just walked ahead briskly. Sienna had to run half of the way to keep up with him.

“Damn! What have I got myself into.” The man muttered irritatedly.

Sienna’s eyes stung with tears and her heart clenched at his words. If only she didn’t need this job… If only she had another option…

She drew deep breaths and kept chanting to herself, “You have to do this for Daniel…. You have to do this for Daniel…”

This seemed to calm her down and her face regained its composure, Though in her heart a storm of emotions brewed threatening to engulf her, threatening to drag her to oblivion…