First day at work

Sunday evening

"Myles could you please keep it down, I'm trying to get a perfect office wear for tomorrow" "mom people wear suit to work" "I know, but I don't have suit so I'm looking for a decent dress to wear"

Claire woke up very early in the morning, she prepared Myles for school and told him to go to Em's place so that she will take him to school.

Claire wore an off shoulder baby pink short gown with length at her knee, her long black hair was packed up, while some strands of her curly hair dropped on her face. She wore a mild makeup. She viewed herself in in the mirror and was satisfied with what she wore. She then wore her black heels and carried her black purse and left for work.

She arrived her work place sharply 8:15am, the place was very crowded with people moving in and out, she sighted Mr Albert the same spot she saw him when she came to submit her application letter"

"Good morning Mr.Albert" " good morning, you look familiar" "I'm Claire, the lady that came to submit her application letter last week" " oh I'm sorry, I can't remember that doesn't matter anymore, you are welcome, you can sit over there for the main time" Albert said pointing at the guest chair.

Claire sat and watched the operation of the company, very busy indeed, suddenly the environment became tensed, two cars and two police vans drove in.

A tall handsome looking man, who wore an expensive navy blue suit highlighted from one of the cars, two policemen were in his front while two were at his back, his stone cold face could make one lose all the courage he has, beside him was McDonald, he was holding a laptop bag and different files in his hand.

The tall man walked into the main building after sending the police officers back to the van. Everyone inside the building stood up and greeted him uniformly except Claire who was taken aback by what she saw. The man's eyes traveled round the whole room and caught that of Claire. Claire wanted to stand so badly but her legs wouldn't, she felt like the ground should open and swallow her, after a while of the intense battle of eye to eye, the man whispered some few words to McDonald before going upstairs

"May I have your attention" McDonald asked and there was a pin drop silence "the boss wants to have a meeting at the cold room, every one must me there, even the new employee"

"When?" A young lady asked "now" McDonald replied

Claire quietly stood up and walked up to mr Albert

"Claire you are courageous" Albert said looking very surprised "why did you say that?" "That man is our boss, you are lucky that he didn't question you about why you sat in his presence" "oh about that, I didn't know how it happened,it just happened, so em where is the cold room" "it's upstairs, we should be going" the two walked together upstairs "why do they call it cold room?" "You will find out yourself" a wicked smile smile crept on his face.

The cold room was as cold as the Atlantic Ocean itself, one could freeze in there "I get why they call it cold room" Claire stated "this room temperature is not as low as that of the war room, you will understand when you enter there"Albert said before taking a seat

Everyone was sited round the extremely large table in the room, Claire sat next to Albert, beside her was an old lady who was busy writing something.

Everyone stood up when the boss and his assistant walked in

“Good morning Jeff" the employees greeted simultaneously, Jeff eyes traveled round the room and hit that of Claire again. "You all can sit down" his voice roared like that of an hungry lion,he adjusted his tie before clearing his throat to talk "you guys are all welcome to a new week" he paused and looked around "last week, I didn't like the rate of goods sold, it was very poor, who is the HOD {Head Of Department} of sales and marketing department" a short man stood up "what happened last week?" "Good day Jeff, other companies producing flour sell their products at a cheap rate though less quality, the people will go for the cheap ones" the man complained "what should be done?" Another man stood up "we should also do as the other companies do" the man said, Claire didn't know where she got the courage to stand up and talk "good day sir" she paused and looked around, all eyes on her she swallowed deep before continuing talking "sir, I say we reduce the price and continue with the same quality of the flour" Jeff his pen upside down and hit it on the table, he leaned back at his chair and spoke "why?" "The people will begin to buy your product and will see that there is a higher and better quality than other companies so when you increase the price they will have no cause to complain because the money worth the quality" Claire spoke with boldness, Jeff nodded "sir, it will cause losses for the company" the second man spoke with anger "I have made my decision, we go with her plan, period" Jeff said and left the room

Employees started going to their various offices, on the way to her office, Claire collided with McDonald "that was wise of you in the meeting" McDonald complimented "thank you" "keep it up" said McDonald before they departed.

Claire's office was located downstairs, the office had an air conditioner and it was well ventilated, the scent of the room smelt like a garden full of flowers and fruits. Claire sat on the roller chair, her mind flashed back what happened at the cold room. Jeff voice and face sounded familiar, she felt she had seen him somewhere but still she couldn't remember where, she had a deep feeling she had met him but the question is where and when maybe she was imagining things, she pushed everything aside and continued with her work