Pete walked out of his office and walked up to his secretary's desk flashing her his most charming smile, "Hello Clara!"
"Hello sir! Do you need something?" Clara asked eagerly as she stood up, feeling flattered that he had finally remembered her name.
"Please sit down. And yes you can help me. I'm in need of a personal assistant. Preferably female. Someone responsible and smart who could take care of Amanda in my absence. Not a slay queen please." Pete said as he sat by the edge of her desk.
"A babysitter?" Clara asked, just to be certain she understood what he was saying.
"Amanda hardly qualifies to be called a baby, but yeah. A long term part-time babysitter. Since Amanda is in school she can work. I'll prefer someone within the company if possible. That will kind of make the job easier." Pete added.
Clara looked at him and wished she could tell him that what he needed was actually a wife and not a personal assistant, or perhaps recommend herself for the position, but unfortunately she knew he wouldn't want that.
She thought about it for a second an decided that since she had been given the privilege of picking the personal assistant, then it would be best she recommended someone she was sure would never think of catching Pete's eye.
"I think Miss Kathleen Okorie would do perfectly for that position, she is smart, intelligent and I'm pretty sure she is good with kids too." Clara declared with a modest smile. Everyone in the company knew that Kathleen was very churchy, uptight and never welcomed advances from men.
He was certain he knew that name but he just couldn't remember where or how. "Kathleen Okorie? Why does that name sound familiar? Do I know her?" Pete asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
"She is just one of the staff in the HR department." Clara said, grateful that he didn't even remember who Kathleen was.
Having been introduced to all the workers in the building he had too many names in his head already. Well, he'd just wait to see what his prospective personal assistant looks like.
"OK, please contact her immediately I'd like to discuss with her." Pete said before returning into his office.
**********
By Monday afternoon Kathleen had totally forgotten all about her encounter with Pete and his daughter. Who wouldn't in her shoes? She had returned really late from choir rehearsals on Saturday evening because brother Solomon the only brother in the choir who was supposed to do a duet with her had failed to get his part of the song right, so they had had to rehearse the song over and over again until he finally got it right. By the time she finally got home around eight in the evening she had been welcomed by her nosy neighbor who broke the news to her that the transformer had blown and so there wasn't going to be light in the neighborhood for sometime. She had then gotten inside her room to discover that the soup she had made the previous evening after work had gone sour. She had been too tired to get something else to eat so she had simply washed the pot and showered before going to bed.
Then on Sunday morning she had woken up very early to meet up with church activities and had returned to the house late in the evening after house fellowship only to remember that she had failed to wash her work clothes on Saturday because of her outing with Sharon. She had spent the whole of Sunday evening washing and cleaning up her house before she had finally gone to bed.
She had been very reluctant to leave her bed when she woke up that morning. She had woken up feeling very discontented and dissatisfied with her life. She wanted more out of her life than the usual Monday to Monday rush. She wanted to earn more money, she wanted to get married, she wanted kids. Was that asking too much? Was God not hearing her prayers or was he not just ready to answer her yet?
This was the last day of August, and tomorrow they were going to be in the 'Ember months'. Before you know it, it would be Christmas, and she would have to go home for Gloria's wedding as well as to celebrate with her family. She didn't want to return home without at least being in a relationship. She had less than three months to work something out. Maybe Sharon had been right. Maybe she needed to put herself out there. How was she even going to accomplish all of that with her busy schedules?
"Are you okay?" Dave asked when Kathleen suddenly sighed.
"Are you talking to me?" Kathleen asked as she turned to look at him in surprise. She hadn't realized he was watching her. "Yes. Why?"
"You just hissed. I observed that you have been moody since you resumed work this morning." Dave said looking at her with concern.
"It's nothing serious jare. Some days are just like that. Thanks for your concern." Kathleen said with a smile of gratitude.
"If you say so. Just take things easy sha." Dave advised before returning his attention to his work.