The Next Day - At Laura's House.Based on her parents' advice, she dressed modestly. When she was set to leave, she walked to their apartment to announce her departure.“Good morning, Mom and Dad. I hope you slept well?”“Good morning, my dear. We slept well,” her father responded.“I hope you slept well too?” Her mother asked.“Yes, Mom. I'm leaving. Take care of yourselves.”“It is okay, dear.”“Remember my advice. Don't disrespect Barbara. She is your boss,” her mother cautioned her.“Yes, Mom. I will be careful. Goodbye.”“Goodbye,” they responded and watched her as she walked away.“From her dressing, you can see that she will be careful,” her father pointed out.“Yes. She is ready to work peacefully with her.”She got to the bus stop and greeted everyone cheerfully. Her dressing and attitude of consideration stirred some staff members especially those who were unaware of her demotion. All the same, they responded, “Good morning.”Soon, the bus arrived and they boarded. Bright a
They never expected that their opinions would be read publicly and exposed before Reuben.“Secretary, collect their petitions from them and read out what they wrote,” George ordered when they hesitated.“Okay, Boss,” he said and stretched out his hand to them but they were reluctant to release their papers.“What are you waiting for?” Capt. Bruce barked and collected the papers from them angrily.He handed them over to the secretary at once and he began to read.“Three months without salary. One year deduction in salary by fifty percent. Sack him. Pardon him. Outright dismissal. Lock him up in the guardroom for one month.”“Ha!” The two Captains exclaimed and faced George.Bright was astounded and wondered if they would ever be leaders in their lives. He looked at Reuben who was already weeping and had compassion on him.“I'm innocent, General. I have a pregnant wife and children. I don't know how they will survive. Please …"“Who wrote 'Pardon him'?” George interrupted him and asked.
At The Auxiliary Armory PLCAt The Car ParkAfter they left the President's Office, the five liars were led to the guardroom while Capt. Bruce and the two returned to the car park. They sat at the drivers' shed in silence. For whatever reason, Capt. Bruce felt that he was responsible for all the trouble.“Maybe I should have believed Reuben and followed up on his complaint. But I didn't ask them to lie against their colleague,” he thought after mulling over the whole issue and got up.He walked to the bus and looked at it again. Meanwhile, Barnabas was regretful and did not know what to say to Reuben.“I did not mean to implicate him. I don't even know that it was his bus,” he tried to justify his act.However, he was relieved when Reuben spoke and exonerated him from his haters.“Why did they hate me so much? I can't remember having any conflict with them.”“It baffles me too. How can they attest to what they know nothing about?”“If I may ask, was it the General who drove the bus? W
At that point, Laura stood up too out of fear of being reprimanded.“Yes,” he answered and walked away.Now, Barbara had collected all the envelopes and apologized to the Cadets, “Thank you for your patience. It is not in our characters.”The Cadets were more interested in submitting their applications than the apologies. They walked away happily at once.Nevertheless, Bright joined George and they left.“What happened? Where were the officers?” He asked.“She went to the Personnel Department to drop the applications that she collected previously,” he answered.George was not aware of who he was referring to but he asked, “They were supposed to be two, where was the second person?”Even though he would not like to create more problems for Laura, he had to protect himself.“She was there.”At The Production DepartmentPresently, they were at the department's entrance and they walked in. George forgot about the front desk and saluted Capt. Miles. After he returned the salute, they began
Now, Barbara was inquisitive when she heard Jerry's voice and wished to know what happened in her absence. She searched their faces for a clue but got none.“I will find out from the Lance Corporal later,” she resolved.Laura returned and sat down. She never bothered to go to the canteen because she was aware that there would be nothing for her.Not quite long after, George came out of the elevator and they closed for the day.At The GuardroomThe five liars were sitting on the bare floor and waiting for Capt. Bolton's next action. They were too shocked to speak with one another especially when they knew that they brought the calamity to themselves. To their amazement, Capt. Bolton's instructions, some staff members from the Media Department arrived with the cameramen to record their confessions.“Why were you locked up in the guardroom today?” A Media Team Member asked one of the culprits.One cannot be wrong and bold at the same time. Their guilt bled into their expressions at once.
nstantly, the house was quiet, and only the chiming of the clock could be heard. After a long while, her father took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to speak.“This is a trying time. We only have to be strong and hope for the best.”“For how long?” Madeline cried out and released her suppressed emotions.“Please don't cry, Mom,” Laura cried out too.Likewise, her disillusioned father was lost of what to do.The Next DayAt The Front DeskPresently, Barbara had concluded that Laura was a witch and had been hexed by another one. She made up her mind to ignore her and work alone.“She can implicate me if I don't keep her where she belonged,” she told herself and continued her work.Nevertheless, she had forgotten about her threat to call the Management's attention to her salary until Laura called her attention.“Barbara, I wish to plead with you to let the issue of my salary pass. I promise to work peacefully with you as your assistant.”Barbara had never had it so good and gra
“You are welcome, Captain. I would have felt bad if it had been sold,” Mr. Watson responded and handed the car keys to him.“Wow!” He exclaimed and collected the keys.He turned around and saw the euphoric Bright and said, “Take your keys. Move it to the car park.”He collected the keys happily and showed his appreciation, “Thank you so much for this, Captain.”“Ha, my car!” Laura could not hide her disappointment and exclaimed aloud.Barbara looked away from Bright and looked at her but could not comprehend her exclamation. Quickly, she ignored her and faced the vestibule. Now, Bright had gotten behind the wheel and turned on the ignition.“Park at the right place, or you will do a frog jump if you park at a Captain's parking lot,” Capt. Graham teased and they laughed loudly at his joke.Barbara did not know what Laura knew about the car and laughed too. Likewise, Bright drove off and the Accountant walked back to the elevator with his guest.Nevertheless, Bright was preoccupied with
Meanwhile, Mark was wondering why the President and the Major were quiet and allowed only the driver to speak.“Sure, we can,” he answered all the same and looked at the bulldozers.He pulled off his jacket and dropped it inside Jerry's car. Max did the same and they got into the truck. George pulled out his jacket and hung it on one of the seats on the bus. Presently, he was left with his camouflage T-shirt.“You can have your lunch before we return,” Tim faced Collins and instructed.“We will wait for you, Boss,” he declared and Tim agreed with him.Without any waste of time, they got into the truck.“Good morning, General,” the driver faced George and greeted.Likewise, after his response, he faced the others and gave a general greeting, “Good morning, all.”They answered him one after the other. His assistant greeted too and he moved. Apart from Mark and Max who were writing, the rest although armed were on a sightseeing. The bulldozer was clearing and grading the push and it slow
Dale walked him to his car. After the salute, he watched him get in. He waved at him and said, “See you tomorrow.”“See you tomorrow, Boss,” he responded and drove away.“Nice man,” he mumbled and returned to his office.That morning, as early as 8 AM, he summoned the staff members and cadets at the Assembly Hall for his valedictory and they gathered with long faces. He smiled at them in his usual nature and began to address them. He hardly spoke for five minutes when the students began to cry and he was scared.'The Head of State will assume that I instigated them to do this' he said to himself and pleaded with them, “If you love me, don't cry. We don't have a permanent office.”Nevertheless, his plea fell on deaf ears and they cried out the more. He looked at the staff members and hoped that they would assist in placating them but they were downcast as well.“Stop crying. We are still together in Canterbury,” he continued to plead.At that point, his well-prepared speech was useles
At The Mining Field Valentine and Fabian returned from Birmingham the previous night after ensuring that Ann had settled down. They were at work when Richard arrived and they welcomed him warmly. After the greetings, he informed Fabian that he would perform at the event and he was excited.“Thank you, Major, for finding me worthy to be at the occasion.”“You are welcome. Kindly give me your stage photograph and name,” he requested and he did.“Thank you, so much for accepting the invitation despite the short notice.”“It is my pleasure, Major. I haven't been to Mount Olive before. How do I find my way?”“The supervisor will bring you. You will arrive incognito so that the youths will not overcrowd the event.”“I got it, Major.”“Good. Kindly share your bill and payment details with me,” Richard requested.Valentine who was smiling happily all the while said, “I'm happy for you, Fabian.”“Thank you, Supervisor,” he said and faced Richard, “I appreciate the gesture, Major. I will do th
The General Manager believed him and said, “The manual is there. You should have read through it.”“I did. But I had a problem along the line.”“I see.”He stood up immediately and appreciated him, “I'm grateful,” he said and returned to the Secretary's office.To avoid exposing himself, he brought out his phone and the manual. Then, he looked at the clerk and requested, “Kindly put me through on how to use the phone.”He smiled and walked to him. He sat beside him and began to teach him. As a good student, he learned faster, and appreciated him afterward, “Thank you for your assistance.”“It is my pleasure,” he responded and returned to his seat.Then, Tim got up, looked at Stephanie, and said in a low tone, “It's remaining one a half day.” She smiled softly and he walked away. Meanwhile, the edited jingle of the ceremony was on air. The posting of news was not as domineering as it was the previous day.At Mount Olive The edited jingle left much to be desired. Instead of including
“Huh!” He exclaimed and laughed euphorically.Tim was infested and laughed as well.“How can I invite them?” He asked him.“Are they not your friends? Let me have the names of the friends you wished to invite.”“It is all right,” he said and gave him the names of eight Dukes and he walked away.He got to his room and contacted the fake Duke and asked him to invite them.“Sir, we have invited them but they declined the invitation,” he answered.Tim was surprised and asked him, “Why? Did they give any reason?”“Not at all. They arrogantly turned the invitation down.”“It is all right,” he said and ended the call.At Lt. Col. Ben Smirnoff's Office He has been as happy as a lark and dancing with all his might since the breaking news.“They are no longer searching for the poster of the scandalous post. Maybe they searched and could not get me," he said to himself and continued dancing. Unfortunately, he had no friends to share his joy with nor did anyone call to rejoice with him. Not bec
Tim walked into George's office and they locked eyes. He noticed that he was sad and inquired, “What's up, Boss?”“I don't know how the boys would cope with a new Commandant,” he sat down and responded.“You just said my mind. You should have advised the Second in Command.”“The Head of State distorted his work after he submitted the list to him.”“Ha! He must have his reasons.”“What could be his reason? That was the man responsible for the scandal against him,” Tim blurted out.George was bewildered and he locked eyes with him. After a while, he spoke, “Maybe he wished to disgrace him by sending him to where he cannot function well.”Tim looked at him for a while before he said, “You may be right. I have not thought of that. But he should not joke with the children's studies.”“Let's watch out.”Tim wanted to speak but the door opened and he halted. George smiled when he saw the visitor. Tim turned and saw the General Manager. He got up at once and greeted him, “Good morning, Maj.
Kay did not want to argue further with him and concurred, “It is good, Your Excellency” “Good. Publish the postings and the take-off date and time at once.”“I will do that, Your Excellency.”“It is all right. You can leave.”“It is all right, Your Excellency,” they appreciated him simultaneously and walked away. At The Second in Command's OfficeThey got to Kay's office and he asked Tim, “What kind of posting is this?”“Huh! Can Ben manage the school?”“It baffles me. I thought he would punish him because of that scandalous post against the school and the government,” Kay stated.“I thought so as well. Does it mean that he is compensating him for working against his government?”Kay walked to his swivel chair and sat down while Tim sat on the visitor's seat and waited for his response.“That is the challenge. He will assume that his act was not discovered.”Tim noticed that he was angry and pacified him, “Don't let it bother you. Just publish the postings.”“Thank you for your conce
At The President's Office Bright and Gilbert have observed that George laughed exceptionally aloud whenever Tim was with him and that day was no different. He walked in after he left the General Manager's office. Nevertheless, George had been curious to hear the outcome of his visit.He looked at his hand and grimaced his face, “What did he give to you?” He asked him anxiously.“I have not checked it,” he answered and sat down.He brought the gift out of the shopping bag and a smile beamed across his face, “It is a handset,” he announced happily.“Wow! What did you do for him to attract this? I mean what attempted deceit did you foil during the Widow and Widowers Empowerment Program?”Tim laughed and narrated the story. George laughed aloud and pointed out, “Oh! They don't value you but wish to enrich themselves through you.”“Just imagine that but he regretted it. Seeing a supposed ghost will disturb him any time he remembers it.”“You are right. Congratulations on your New Year gif
Tim shook his head and asked her, “What is remaining? Just make it five times a week.”“No. I'm not selfish. Four and a half are all right by me.”“Not selfish indeed. If I do, what will I tell your boss is my reason for frequenting his office?”Now, the die was cast and she looked forlorn. They locked eyes for a while and saw the burning desire they had for each other in their eyes. Tim looked away and his eyes fell on her phone.“Your phone is fine,” he complimented her.She smiled happily and said, “Thank you for the compliment. It was my birthday gift.”“Wow! That birthday cake was one in town and now this.”“I was shocked as well. Even the former President's wife had not celebrated her birthday with such size of cake,” she explained.“I see. What is the brand of the phone? Let me take a look.”She innocently gave him her phone and he pretended to be studying it. He kept her busy with compliments while connecting her phone to his. When he was done, he teased her by asking, “Can w
At The Complex Soon, he was in the complex. He got out of the car and Richard drove off at once.Tim walked into the lobby, greeted his men with his head, and walked to the elevator. He pressed the button of the last floor and waited. When it opened, he walked in.The unfriendly-looking security team answered his greetings and let him in. He walked in and greeted Bright and Gilbert accordingly before walking into George's office.He was happy to see him and asked him immediately, “How did it go?”“It went well. They have started planning how to visit the house.”“Huh! So early?”“It baffles me too. Samuel reminded me of the Waitangi Day holiday.”George laughed aloud and Tim was infested.Nevertheless, Major Bolton came around earlier to have a private meeting with George before the Weekly Meeting. He heard them laughing and wondered if another manager was there. He opened the door and walked in and was surprised at their familiarity. “Good morning, Major,” Tim got up from the visit