CHAPTER 12: MEETING HER HOUSEMATES.

MEETING HER HOUSEMATES.

"All passengers fasten your seatbelts, we are about to land," a voice was coming from the speaker in the plane.

Anne decided not to quit her job and instead face it head-on just like her mother had advised her.

The plane landed and Anne came down from the plane, she walked out of the airport, and the wind blew on her face making her blond hair dance around with it.

The company's car was already waiting for her outside the airport, when the driver, an average-looking man in a blue T-shirt and black shorts saw her, immediately he knew she was the one, Mr Richmond sent him to pick.

She was wearing a black gown and a dark green trench coat that covered her from her neck to her feet and wore black boots with her signature glasses on her face, she looked boring, the man thought to himself.

He walked up to Anne and introduced himself, "Good day Ms. Mccody, my name is Mr.. Fowler and I am the driver sent by Mr. Richmond himself to pick you up," he said and motioned to a dark orange colored car that had splashes of white patches on it.

Anne was skeptical about the man until he smiled and brought out his ID card, "good day to you also," she said feeling satisfied and relieved, she was happy she wasn't going to go through the hurdles of hailing down a taxi with the bags and luggage she brought with her.

Mr. Fowler helped in carrying two of her pieces of luggage while she carried the bags and they dropped it in the trunk before entering the car.

He started the car and drove off, taking her to the apartment, the company had provided for her.

As the car was in motion, Anne couldn't help herself but asked, "How many years have you worked for the company?"

The man hesitated a bit before answering, it wasn't a common thing for someone to ask you how long you have worked in a place, but as Anne was also a staff of the company although in another branch, he was willing to answer.

"I have been working in Astro World for almost four years now," he answered, his eyes still on the road.

Anne felt nervous all of a sudden, "Have you worked closely with Mr Richmond before," she stammered, she wanted to know more about the man she was going to work for.

The man looked at her from the front mirror, his left eyebrow was raised in question, telling her to elaborate more.

Anne felt flustered before clearing her throat, "You know I am going to resume work as a secretary to Mr. Richmond, I wanted to ask if the rumors that have been circulating were true?" She asked.

The man hummed in agreement, "Although I am a driver I am not Mr. Richmond's driver, as far I can remember from the time I have been working till now, you will be like the twenty-fourth secretary, Mr. Richard has had," the man said, shrugging his shoulders.

"But who knows you might be different from the rest," the man said reassuring her but Anne became more nervous.

Anne's face became pale, losing all its earlier colors, what did hell was I supposed to do now? She was just like the slave girl in her mother's story, unlike the slave girl she wasn't sure there was going to be a happy ending for her.

"Why me? She said beneath her breath.

They finally arrived at the staff housing unit, the driver helped her in bringing down all her loads and bid her goodbye before entering the car and zooming off.

The staff housing unit was a terrace, in each apartment three staff were assigned to one.

She saw an elderly man and a lady standing in front of the building who she later got to know was the caretaker.

The man introduced Anne to Coco, who was going to be her housemate, a tall brunette with an hourglass figure, long slender legs, and skin that glowed under the sun, the lady wore a red crop top and biker shorts which made her legs look even more longer and elegant.

She looked like a goddess and the caretaker was having a hard time talking to her, all the man could do was stammer and shift his eyes from one side to the other without looking at her face.

Coco smiled, her face brightened more, she stretched her hand to Anne for them to have a handshake, "Nice to meet you, Anne," she said her voice sounding like warm honey to Anne's ears.

Anne smiled and also stretched forth her hand and they shared a handshake, "nice to also see you, you look so pretty if I would say," Anne felt a little intimidated by Coco's presence, not that Anne wasn't beautiful but Coco's kind of beauty was a seductive one.

 I can't believe my housemate is this hot, Anne thought to herself.

After the introduction, the caretaker left, and he practically ran from the place so he wouldn't get into trouble, Coco was too enchanting for him, he thought as he left the girls.

Anne looked at the man retreating, it was as if someone was chasing him.

"Don't mind him that how he behaves to every girl in the building," she said warmly.

Anne frowned at her statement, "But he wasn't like that with me, he looked okay when he was talking to me but then he talked to you and got all goggey eyes for you," Anne smiled as she was talking, showing Coco that she was only joking with her.

Coco pursed her lips as if she was thinking about something, "the clothes in your luggage are similar to the ones you are wearing now? Coco asked curiously.

Anne nodded her head in agreement, I like wearing clothes that fit me, I like wearing baggy clothes that give me access to move around freely," she said firmly.

Coco looked at Anne's outfit secretly, taking note of the fact that Anne was not keen on her dress, she looked like a clown but she seemed like a good person, Coco thought to herself.

Coco nodded her head and shrugged her shoulders, "That's cool, how about I help you in carrying your bags, and luggage and showing you our apartment?" She said Coco was excited to show Anne around.

Coco entered the door code and ushered Anne inside, Anne was amazed at how beautiful the apartment looked, everything was furnished elegantly and placed stylishly, and the windows were wide open, bringing in a lot of natural hair.

Flowers were arranged in strategic areas around the living room, the chairs were made of quality leather.

Anne's eyes were eagerly taking everything in, Coco had to touch her before she noticed Coco was still standing beside her.

"I would have shown you our other housemate but she is still sleeping and I can't wake her up, let me show you your room and get you settled in," Coco said warmly, she saw the way Anne's eyes lightened in amazement and felt proud of herself.

She showed Anne her room and dropped the pieces of luggage on the ground, "That's all, have a little rest for now, later on you can join us for lunch, I'm sure by then Belle should be awake; so I can introduce you guys, bye!" she said in a singsong and let the room.

Anne was so tired, that the activities of the day had drained her of strength. She couldn't even unpack or remove her shoes, she fell on the bed and slept away.

She woke up to someone shaking her legs and telling her to wake up, "hmmm," she said and groggily opened her eyes and saw it was Coco.

"Wake up sleepy head, you were sleeping and missed lunch, I didn't want to bother you because you just arrived but I have already prepared dinner and I am sure you must be hungry," Coco said, her eyes filled with warmth that made Anne wanting to please her.

Anne walked out with Coco walking behind her making sure she wasn't slacking.

They entered the kitchen, the kitchen was huge and painted in cream paint, and the scent of the food Coco cooked was permeating about in the air reminding Anne of home, there was a big dining table and four wooden chairs around the table.

A girl was sitting in one of the chairs pressing her phone, she had red hair and looked very petite almost like a fairy, as she was pressing her phone, her bones were so refined and fragile that Anne thought her fingers were going to break and felt like protecting her.

She was so engrossed in her phone and didn't notice when they entered, "Belle!" Coco shouted her name and the girl looked up, blinking her eyes.

"This is Anne, our new housemate that just arrived today, and Anne, this is Belle, she is staying in the second room and is the slugger head of my life," Coco said, although her voice was firm her eyes were laughing.

"Oh! Hey, nice to meet you, Anne," Belle said and hugged Anne tightly.

Anne was surprised and hesitant to hug Belle back, she wasn't expecting Belle to hug her but when she saw Coco smiling down at them, she felt comfortable and hugged Belle back.

Coco set the table, although Coco looked like a goddess she was motherly at heart, she was homely and the meal of chicken sauce with blueberry bread and a glass of wine tasted as good as it looked, Anne thought as she sipped on her glass of wine, she closed her eyes as she experienced a rush of flavor on her tongue.

"Coco! You never cease to amaze me with your culinary skills, this is good, simple but elegant," Belle complimented as she slurped down her soup.

"Coco! You know tonight is the night, right?" Belle said with a bright smile on her face.

Coco frowned, "Of course, I know," she said in a fit of mock anger.

Belle faced Anne, " Coco and I made a bet and she lost the bet, so she has to make it up to me by following me to the club," Belle said excitedly.

Coco shook her head as she couldn't believe her friend, "Belle is such a party freak that she sometimes drags me along with her, I have to fulfill my promise to her," she said softly.

Belle clapped her hands suddenly as if she just thought of something wonderful, "since Coco and I won't be around, why don't you come with us to the club," she said smiling with her full teeth in view.

Anne's eyes widened in horror, "What!"