At The Auxiliary Armory PLCTim pulled off his mask before he got to the General Manager's office and opened the door expectantly but he was not prepared for what he saw. His eyes went straight to the secretary's desk and he was disappointed to see it empty.His disappointment was visible to all but the clerk could not say the reason.“Good day, Sir,” the. The clerk greeted him.He breathed in and out to relax his utter and still despondency before he answered, “Good day, Clerk. How is the work going?”“Work is going well, Sir. Kindly take your seat,” he answered and directed him to a seat.He fixed his eyes on him as though he could get the answer to his question from his face before he sat down and appreciated him, “Thank you, for the offer, Clerk.”“You are welcome, Sir. The secretary is with the GM. You will see him when she comes out,” he informed him.As simple as the information was, it soothed his troubled spirit.“I got it. Thank you for informing me,” he answered not knowing
At Mount OliveThe bigamy suit had begun, and all odds seemed against Cecilia and the fake Duke because Tim only presented the picture of the demolished house and alleged that she dumped her husband in the hospital and married the fake Duke. The suit came up a few days after the duke was released at the police station, and he was distraught.Everyone, including Cecilia, was not aware of how the corpse of the original Duke left the palace, but they could not state that as their defense. Rather, she admitted that she dumped him in the hospital but denied marrying the fake Duke.“Why can't anything good come out of Cecilia?” He asked himself in utter hopelessness and began to beat her. Incidentally, her witchcraft was unable to save her.The day they appeared in the court, the two were better described as dead. They were so Ill, and as planned, the old man did not appear because he was critically ill but his lawyer did a good job.Presently, the fake Duke's hope was the new palace. He co
Interestingly, the pressmen who were waiting outside the court were surprised about the story, which was already online, because they did not get such details. It rendered their waiting useless.“The blogger must be in the court with a hidden camera,” one of them said.“That is serious. How did he pass the door with the camera without being dictated?”“I wish I knew.”At Tim's House“Yippie!” He raised his two hands and exclaimed. His domestic staff members were used to such excitement since he started seeing Stephanie and were not surprised. Before the court arose, he uploaded the proceedings on the internet. “Foolish girl,” he cursed her and began to wait for lunch.While waiting, he called Justice Vancouver to appreciate him but he was not available. He hardly cut the call when Barr. Gibson called to inform him of the latest. He picked up the call and greeted him, “Hello, Barrister. Are you out of the court?”“Yes, Tim. We won the case,” he informed him ecstatically.“Wow! How d
“This silly girl will never stop to anger me,” he answered while they walked out of the lobby.“Which girl?” He asked at once.Jerry was too angry to speak and Collins helped out, “It is Miss Dickson. She attacked her colleague.”George stopped suddenly and asked, “Did she come to work today? I thought she went to court.”“Maybe she returned from the court with anger and decided to vent it on her colleague,” Jerry stated.“She must be punished,” George said and inched backward.“No need to go back. I have taken care of that,” Jerry declared.George mellowed and asked him, “What did you do to her?”“I asked the Corporal to send her to the guardroom.”“That is good. Inform the Corporal that she will be there until 8 PM.”Jerry grinned and accepted it, “It is all right.”In The Staff BusWith the embarrassing post about Laura, many wished to see her at the canteen but failed. Bright looked out for her, too, but missed her. He hoped to see her at the lobby but George visited the Steel Mil
She looked down immediately at the humiliating message. Previously, they did not worry about subscriptions because the company provided all of that.“What do we do?” Her husband asked her dejectedly.His phone had been bad for over a week and they were waiting for the month's salary to fix it.She swallowed hard and answered, “Let us wait. She will be back.”To their disturbance, she did not return even after 6 PM. Her mother never bothered to ask questions again but began to cry.“What have we done to deserve all these? She must have been detained.”Her father ran his hand over his head and lamented, “How can we lose all our children in one year? We can't even do anything to help them.”They were in that awkward condition when the door opened and they looked up. She walked in with a heavy heart and sat down dejectedly. Although she was back, they were like a woman who recovered from an illness only to return from the hospital and discover that her child had died.“Welcome back,” her
The Next Day - At The ComplexGeorge arrived that morning and looked sternly at Laura without minding whether she noticed him or not. Everyone was surprised and paused to know his reasons for such a look. Likewise, Laura died and was resurrected when their eyes met.'If not that she is our gold mine, I would have court marshaled her,' he said and moved on.Now, Laura was drenched with sweat. She watched him until he got up into the lift. When the gates closed, she breathed freely. Others shook their heads in sympathy for her and went back to work.Meanwhile, Tim and George had agreed to visit the boys after work but Tim arrived earlier than necessary. To avoid suspicions like the other day, he visited George's office and met him smiling happily.“What is it? Did you win a jackpot?” He asked after the greetings.“It is not far from that. I got a letter from the Promotion Board.”Although Tim expected that there would be a promotion for the year. Considering his age and the number of ye
The Canterbury Defense AcademyIt was a few minutes past 4 PM when they drove in and the school was quiet. They were filled with guilt for being the only parents around to disturb.“Are you sure that this is good?” Tim asked him.“I know that it is not good. I will see them all the same,” he said like a spoiled child.“It is all right. I wish to see them as well,” he said and called the Housemaster.The phone began to ring, and they waited anxiously for the Sergeant to pick up his call. Eventually, it timed out.“He must be busy,” he pointed out.“I can call Gerald and he will fish him out from wherever he is,” George proposed.“Let me try again. If he fails to pick up, we will call Gerald.”He tried to do that but the Sergeant's call interrupted his. His face beamed with joy and he looked at George's smiling face.“He is calling back.”“Yes,” he said and received the call.“Good evening, Tim. How is work?”“Good evening, Sgt. Dotson. My work is fine. And yours?”“Work is fine. How m
A Few Weeks LaterThe two officers that Tim recommended for promotion had been invited by the Board and he was happy. The thought that George would be promoted as well gave him more joy and a sense of accomplishment.“Grandfather would be happy to hear this,” he said to himself.Nevertheless, the Supreme Military Council had eyes on the Auxiliary Armory PLC as one of the Economic Power House of the country. The discovery of the precious stones was no mean feat, and they recommended the Accountant, and he was happy. Now, Lt. Col. Ben Smirnoff had been waiting patiently for an invitation letter from the Promotion Board but got none. He was not too bothered about it until he learned that the Commandant was invited. His breath almost ceased out of anger.He stared at the wall for a long time before he asked himself, “Why would he be invited without me? He is at it again. That was how he got to his present position after I informed him.”Nevertheless, he has not spoken with him since the
That evening, they closed from work for the day and resolved to visit the estate and show their appreciation for their cooperation.Likewise, they brought some farm produce to them. To cap it all, the hunters among them brought five sizeable edible gray squirrels.“These are from our hearts. Kindly accept them,” one of them said cheerfully.The workers focused on Valentine who was thrilled with the gesture. The foreigners were thrilled with the neighborliness and waited for him to speak.“This is wonderful. We are happy to know that you found us worthy of your friendship. We appreciate it,” he said.“Thank you for accepting us.”“I hope no one is molesting?” Valentine asked.“No, Supervisor. We appreciate you for your presence.”“You are welcome,” Valentine said and they walked away.He turned and looked at Pa Suresh, who was smiling beside him, and asked, “What do we do with the gray squirrels? I have not eaten it for a long time?”Before he could speak, Tyler and his friends walked
“Thank you, Mark,” they responded one after the other.“Kindly take us to the pavilion,” George requested.“It is all right, President,” he answered and led the way. They moved with him and George was surprised to see Tim walking with the General Manager.'When did he arrive?' He asked himself.Some days are heavy but Tim had to grin and bear it. They checked the pavilion and took notes of the minor work they needed to do before Sunday. George did not have the chance to speak with Tim. However, he was confused when he got on the bus with them.When he looked around and did not see his clunker, he asked himself, 'Did he come with us?'Tim was obediently sitting beside the GM like a wimp and he had forgotten about him. They returned to the complex afterward and got out of the bus. To avoid missing out completely that day, he decided to take the plunge.He followed the General Manager back to his office. When they got to the door, he asked him, “What brings you, Driver?”Now, he had ope
At The Complex.A slave may also have slaves. Tim wished to see Stephanie and would not want to explain his purpose of visiting her to the General Manager. Instantly, he came up with a reason for him to leave the complex and called George.He picked up the call immediately and greeted him, “Hello, Boss. How may I assist you?”“Hello, George. Kindly get your managers to find out if the borough is ready for His Excellency to use it on Sunday.”“Huh! Sunday?”“Yes. It is urgent. We just got off an emergency meeting.”“It is all right, Boss. We will be there right away.”“Thank you for that,” he appreciated him and cut the call.George informed the General Manager of the development and he was on his toes. However, he was happy to hear that. He recalled the line of wisdom that said, to whom much is given, much will be required and attributed it to the recent promotion.He informed the other managers and they converged in the vestibule.Shortly, Tim drove in and arrived at George's office
At Tim's House They met the old man waiting for them in the parlor and felt bad.“We apologize for keeping you waiting, Old man,” Tim apologized when they walked in.He smiled and accepted, “Never mind, Young man. How was your outing?” He looked at the two boys and inquired.“It was fine, Old man,” they answered immediately.“Welcome back,” Francis who began to set the table when they returned, greeted them.“Thank you, Francis,” they responded immediately.Afterward, they settled down to eat. “Was she surprised to see the gifts?” The old man asked curiously.“Yes, Old man. She almost fainted,” Samuel answered.“I recorded everything," Gerald said and the old man requested to see it.He turned on his device and passed it to him. He began to watch the video and Tim studied his countenance.“Oh! She appreciated it,” he said when she hugged Samuel.“Yes, Old man. She is a nice person,” Samuel pointed out.“You are right. It is obvious.”Tim was happy to hear that and asked further, “Is
At The Lobby After Laura's father upset her the previous day, she had not fed well. She was hoping to do that at the canteen during lunch. Now, Barbara wished to impede that.“I can't wait for her anymore. It is my right to go for lunch and I won't miss it because she chose to be away from work for no good reasons,” she concluded. Although troublesome, she was justified in being upset. When she saw some workers returning from lunch with their bottles of sweet drinks and neatly packaged cake, her desire to be at the canteen increased.“She can explain her truancy to Capt. Jaja,” she said picked up her phone and walked out of the cubicle.She was walking briskly and bypassed George who was walking back leisurely with Jerry and his colleagues. He smiled inwardly and said, “You came too late.”Nevertheless, she got to the junior staff canteen and ordered her food before she sat down. While she was waiting, she saw the gigantic cake in the senior staff canteen and wished to have a taste
At The Canteen After the clerk left to get Stephanie, Tim walked back to his car which he parked at a vantage point so that he could see through the canteen's transparent glass window. He smiled heartily when he saw her walking with the two.“Oh, my God! She is pretty,” he said to himself.Meanwhile, George and the other managers had recovered from the shock of the decorations and were sitting on their seats. Samuel was with Bright and taking instructions from him. On the other hand, Bright had informed Barbara that she must work closely with him and return to her office after the celebration.“Ha! Miss Dickson will be mad at me if I fail to return on time,” she made clear.“Tell her that I delayed you,” he undertook for her, and she was calm.Meanwhile, the General Manager and clerk walked Stephanie to the door like a father who walked her daughter through the aisle on her wedding day. Stephanie glared at Bright and said, “You have done your worst. Right?”The GM overlooked her bic
“I'm here, Secretary,” he said when he got to the office.“That's good. I called you because …,” he explained.The clerk smiled happily and asked him, “What do you want me to do?”“Let's go. The cake will arrive soon.”“It is all right.”They got to the lobby and Bright gave Laura a hateful look. He smiled at Barbara and requested, “Kindly come with me, Barbara.”“Oh!” She exclaimed, got up from her seat, and adjusted her wears. Laura could not look at them but kept herself busy with her phone. When Barbara was set, she joined them and they moved. Nobody was surprised when she looked at them with an unreadable expression until they walked out of the door.Within her, she wished to be like Barbara who could relate freely with everyone.“Where are we going, Secretary?” Barbara asked.“To the canteen,” he explained and moved on.Instantly, his phone rang and it was the attendant. He stopped in his tracks and picked up the call. The two stopped, too, and waited for him.“Hello.”“Hello,
“My goodness. Mine was in October. I should have informed him so that he would return the gesture,” Bright teased.“Too bad. That will be in the coming year. I called you to plan it out. How will he surprise her?”“Does he have any gift for her?”“Yes. One of them is a cake. I will give you the contact of an attendant in the mall. You can ask her to deliver it.”“I see. Leave the planning for me. I will inform the General Manager and he will keep her busy until we are set.”“That is good. One more thing. I don't want the former secretary to be part of the celebration. You know the feud between them.”Bright smiled slyly and said, “I got it, Boss. I know what to do to her.”“I trust you. I want a seamless job.”“You can count on me, Boss. Congratulations once again on your well-deserved promotion,” he said sincerely.“Thank you for the compliment. Kindly share the pictures and videos with me.”“I will do that after editing them.”“That is good to hear. Thank you for always covering my
“Oh! I did not see it that way. We should do something different from Oliver's regime. I will invite the Head of State or his representative to the celebration,” the fake Duke said.“Yes. Then you will collect the certificate of recognition,” another elder said.“Also remind him of our allocation. We will use part of it for the celebration,” Elder Kefas stated.They wallowed in fools' paradise and they were happy to arrive at a consensus.At Tim's House They returned home happily and the old man was emotional. He looked at Tim and poured out his mind, “I would have been dead by now if not for you, Young man.”George, who was about to walk to his room, was touched and stopped in his tracks. He faced Tim and waited for his response.“Think nothing about it, Old man. We would all have been dead,” he said and faced Samuel.Samuel was emotional, too, but he smiled dryly and rested his head on Tim's chest. He crossed his left hand on his shoulders and the old man said, “I'm hearing this fo