The New Personal Assistant

"Miss Anderson, please take a seat."

She did as she was told.

The office was very large with an extremely wide window which gave a breathtaking view of the city.

His desk was pretty wide as well and it sparkled. His office furniture was mostly a mixture of ash and white.

There were a couch and a fairly large table situated in the centre of the office and on top of it was a bowl filled with candy.

She was sited on the couch and her eyes stared longingly at the sweet looking candies but she managed to control herself.

She brought her attention back to the man seated behind the enormous desk...her new boss—well she hoped she got the job.

He was much younger than she thought he would be. He was immaculately dressed in a very expensive-looking black suit, which made him look intimidating.

He had chin-length dark hair which framed his face so perfectly. His hair was trimmed slightly shorter at the back.

As she stared at him, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

She felt even more so when he didn't say anything but seemed to just observe her with his expressionless face, but all too striking bottle-green eyes.

Finally, after a few seconds, which seemed like minutes, he spoke.

"It came to my knowledge that you applied for a job here." His voice was low, his eyes boring into hers.

"Yes, sir." She managed to quickly say.

"And due to your lack of experience, you weren't given the job." His face was stoic but not as hard as he addressed her.

"Yes, sir." This time she replied weakly in a quiet voice.

He was silent for a while before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry Miss Anderson that vacancy has been filled. But there is something I can do for you." His voice calm as he spoke.

"Recently, my assistant resigned and I've needed one ever since." He paused, it seemed almost deliberate as if to set her on edge even more.

"Are you interested?"

His gaze on her never for once faltered.

It was as if her tongue had glued to the roof of her mouth because she found herself opening her mouth but it would seem instead of words coming out, only air came out. But, thank God her brain decided to boot start then.

"Yes sir, I would very much like that sir." She managed to say.

"You're a very intelligent woman Miss Anderson and I look forward to working with you."

'Oh.God.'

Sarah wanted to cry right then, but she couldn't bring herself to make a mess of herself in front of her new employer.

She reminded herself that good first impression was very crucial.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat before speaking.

"Thank you, sir." A treacherous tear got through past one of her eyes. She quickly wiped it discretely before he could see it.

He stood up and walked towards her. He held out his hand for a handshake and she quickly stood up and they shook hands.

"Thank you, sir, you won't regret this."

Their hands parted.

"I want to believe so. You may leave. I expect you to be here tomorrow at 8 am sharp. The rest we'll discuss tomorrow." He instructed, his tone firm.

"Yes, sir."

"My secretary will show you out."

She made to move towards the door but stopped when she heard her name.

"And Miss Anderson..."

She turned back towards her new boss, ears attentive.

"Yes, sir?"

"I don't appreciate tardiness from my employees. Be on time."

"Yes, sir." With that, he walked back to his desk and continued his work without another word.

She walked out of his office feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

She just couldn't believe it, she had a job now.

Oh, God! She had a job!

She looked up and muttered a quick prayer of thanks.

The Lord indeed is good all the time...

....and all the time the Lord is good.

She met the secretary and she was escorted to the ground floor. The secretary wasn't exactly chatty, she was very formal but Sarah didn't mind, she really liked her outfit and she also made sure to thank her.

In record time they got to the ground floor, it was bustling with people.

Sarah was eager to see the receptionist, whom she now knew as Miss Cartwright, she wanted to thank her for all she did for her.

Having sighted her, she walked briskly, almost jumping as she neared her.

"Oh my gosh. How'd it go?" She sincerely looked nervous.

She thought her overly large grin would have given her away.

Sarah nodded her head vigorously as if nodding once wouldn't have conveyed her message fast enough.

"I'm happy you got the job, Sarah, you deserved it."

"I wasn't about to let them kick you out. I know it's not much but it's something, right?"

Honestly, she wanted to hug her but that would be unprofessional. She had to remind herself that Miss Cartwright was still at work and was expected to be 'working'.

"I can't thank you enough Miss Cartwright. I'm greatly indebted to you." She said, her voice thick with emotion.

"Don't worry, the secretary and I are buddies."

"But Miss Cartwright makes me sound old." She said the 'old' comically while scrunching up her nose as if she smelt something foul. The gesture made Sarah smile.

"You can call me Judy." Finally, she knew her name.

"And don't be silly Sarah, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'll see you tomorrow, and maybe we can get our gist on during lunch break." She smiled again at her sense of humour.

She then shooed Sarah off.

Sarah complied although reluctantly. She said goodbye to Judy but not before thanking her again and again.

She walked out of the building with a smile. This was her second time coming out from the building that day but this time,

she felt elated and extremely happy.

She inclined her head to the sky, looking at the clouds moving lazily overhead. She couldn't help but feel things are going to be just fine from that moment on.

"Thank you, Jesus."

|||••|||

This is it. She was now a PA, she needed to act like one. She woke up 5:30 am just to make sure she got to work very early.

She packed her cellphone, a notebook and a pen and a few dollars into her black handbag.

She wore black flats today, she never really liked heels, she could do with them, fine, but they always hurt her ankle.

After her quiet time she had had her bath and this time she wasn't in a hurry so she had time to whip herself a fairly decent breakfast.

She quickly checked the mirror to see if her bun was well done. When she was satisfied with it, she checked her wristwatch, it was 7:00 am on the dot.

She quickly made her way to the bus stop, the bus was to leave by 7:05. When she got there, it was almost full.

'Thank God she made it.'

She got to work by 7:37 am.

She stood by the door staring at the building for a moment.

'From that day onward, she would be working here.'

She smiled at the thought.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the building, the air-con hitting her full force.

Her eyes immediately sought out Judy at the reception. She found her there looking as beautiful as ever but she hadn't noticed her.

She seemed to be deep in thought, her eyes had a faraway look in them. She hoped she was fine.

"Hi, Judy."

"Oh, hello Sarah. You're quite early."

"How do you feel on your first day at work?"

The deep frown lodged on her face had long vanished, she was now beaming at her with a huge smile.

Sarah made a mental note to ask her what's bothering her during her lunch break.

"I feel ecstatic, although a little apprehensive," Sarah admitted.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr Snow's really easy to work with. You just have to be diligent, he appreciates hard work. He's nice, working with him will be a piece of cake. And you're early, that's a good start."

"Thanks, Judy, you really know how to make a person feel better." Judy grinned at that.

Sarah wished she could do the same for her, it's the least she could do.

"I best be going, I'll see you at lunch break?"

"Sure."

"Bye."

"Good luck Sarah." Judy gave her a thumbs up.

Sarah quickly made her way to the top floor, taking steady breaths on her way.

Soon enough, she reached the top floor. She was led to her office by the secretary. It was a really beautiful office, she could see herself liking it here.

She had a fairly large desk, on top of it was a Dell laptop. There were file cabinets by the corner. The office was perfect.

She noticed two other doors in the room and asked the secretary about them. She told her the one by her left led to Mr Snow's office while the other led to the washroom.

"Mr Snow got held up in a meeting, he'll be here shortly." She was told.

"Okay. Thank you, ma'am." The secretary smiled at her use of 'ma'am'.

"Please call me Kate." Sarah smiled at her.

"Thank you, Kate."

"In the meantime, you can get yourself familiar with your office." She nodded.

Soon enough, she was alone, in HER office, her very own office. She quickly sat down and placed her bag on the desk and removed her cellphone, her notebook and pen. She set them up neatly on her desk.

She quickly bowed her head and prayed for a few minutes.

"Lord, let this be a good experience for me."

She wasn't given much time to settle when she heard a knock on her door.

She quickly stood up and placed her bible carefully in her drawer, she'll meditate over it when she got home.

"Come in please."

The door opened, it was Kate.

"Mr Snow's in his office now. He requests you see him immediately." She nodded her head.

"Thank you, I'll be right there."

Kate left.

She quickly moved to the door by her left, the one which led to his office.

She knocked softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

One heartbeat...

Two...

"You may come in Miss Anderson." Came his voice from the other side of the door.

She took a deep breath and opened the door.

She walked towards him with measured steps and stood in front of his desk.

"Good morning sir." She greeted politely.

He was concentrated on some paperwork he was signing. When he heard her voice, he dropped his pen and looked up at her, he was wearing reading glasses.

He removed them and placed them gently on the desk.

"How are you, Miss Anderson?"

"Excellent sir." She replied.

"Good. My secretary informed me that you've been here for quite a while. She told me you were early."

She nodded her head in confirmation.

"My apologies, I was held up at an important meeting."

Her eyes widened a fraction, why was he apologizing? He is the CEO.

As if hearing her silent mental question, he added.

"I like setting good examples for my employees, and one way to do that is by keeping to time." He placed his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on his entwined hands, his eyes serious.

"I assure you, it won't happen again and if it does, you'll be noticed prior."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have your notebook with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I need you to take down my schedules for the next two weeks. But first, let's discuss your monthly payment."

She nodded.

"For your first month, you'll be under close observation. If I'm impressed with your work, then you'll get your salary at the end of the month but if you're finding it difficult to do the work properly, I'll give you another two weeks."

"If by then you haven't gotten a grip on the job, without any regrets, we'll have to ask you to leave."

She swallowed hard.

"I understand sir."

"If you successfully carry out your tasks effectively, at the end of each month you'll be paid."

When she heard the amount, she was stunned.

Her salary was unbelievable.

It was much more than she thought it would be.

Moreover, she had prayed about it and committed it into his hands and this was His answer to her prayers.

God was definitely involved.

'Ask and it shall be given unto you'

That is if you don't doubt in your heart.

She stared into his bottle-green eyes like she really looked at them.

They looked...empty.

Empty.

That was the best word she could use to describe them.

"I understand sir." She quickly swallowed the lump in her throat.

He unclasped his hands and brought out a file from his drawer.

He put his reading glasses back on.

"These are my schedules for the next two weeks, please write them down."

He began the lists. Her hand moved quickly trying to get all the dates, meetings, events and other important things down.

Not once did he pause.

She was glad when he stopped. She looked at what she had written and was happy to see that she managed to get all the schedules down.

"Did you get all that?" He asked her as he skimmed a large amount of neatly arranged files and document on his desk for something. Then he stopped as if remembering something.

"Take down my office number." So she did.

"I have yours. Keep your phone with you at all times, I can call you anytime and ensure you respond to the messages on time.

"Yes, sir."

"I appreciate orderliness Miss Anderson, please ensure I'm informed about my schedules in record time, I don't like being late...to anything."

"Duly noted sir."

"Good." The word came out in an exhausted breath. He removed his reading glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

He looked exhausted.

Before she had the chance to think over her words, they came blurting out.

"Have you eaten sir?" The words came tumbling out before she could stop them.

There was silence for a few minutes and she got nervous at his lack of response.

Suddenly, the window seemed more interesting.

She wasn't going to let her apprehension show though.

Since she wasn't looking directly at him, she couldn't quite see his expression.

She wondered if her question was too informal?

Finally, he spoke.

"You need not worry about that Miss Anderson." Since he was speaking to her now, she had to look at him.

So, reluctantly, she did, but he wasn't looking at her, his head was turned away from her and he had a faraway look in his eyes.

Sheepishly, she gave a small 'Yes, sir.' Although she felt sheepish, she didn't regret asking.

She was just naturally a caring person.

Her mom had warned her about it; some people took advantage of that and many times, the care is never reciprocated.

But she didn't show care to people to receive it back in return but because it's the right thing to do.

"Your lunch break will be by 1:30. You can order anything you want from the cafeteria, it's free for you."

"That will be all for now Miss Anderson."

"Yes, sir and thank you for the kind gesture, sir." She said.

She turned and walked back to her office.

...