Perhaps I should supervise the work going on there as well before returning home. She thought as she put a call to Lucia.
"Hey, I'm so sorry to disturb you, but bake me 30 sweetened cupcakes and have them packed up in a basket, please." She said and hung up.
She arrived at her mansion at exactly 3:00 pm. Taylor was seated in the courtyard, busy with a magazine. She greeted her and was about to walk into the house when Taylor called her back.
"Yes, Taylor?"
"I need some money." "Now and fast." She took a step back with a smirk on her face as she gave her a stern look, eyeing her.
"I don't remember being a bank where you opened an account with." She started.
"Oh really? Well, I'm your aunt, and I'm entitled to your wealth. "I need some money now!" She commanded.
"I've heard about enough of this nonsense. I'll give you money, but make sure you get your ass out of my damn house before I return!
"A million dollars." She stated, chewing on her gum noisily.
"What?!"
"Yes, you're more than rich to afford it." She said with pride, showing no remorse.
"Yes, of course. "What do you need all that money for?"
"Wait up! "All this insult because I asked for money?" She barked.
"There's no insult here, Taylor." "I'd send the money to your account; make sure you use it to start up something meaningful; it's going to be the last of its kind you'd ever get from me!" She meant every bit of what she said. Taylor was starting to be a pain in her ass and she needed to get rid of her as soon as possible before she rendered her bankrupt. Once in the house, she walked up to Sophie's room and instructed Andaline to get her dressed before she returned from work. Diego had already left to buy the items for charity, and Lucia had already packed the cakes in a basket and stuffed them in the booth.
She stepped into the shower shortly after to get refreshed before leaving for work. It took an extra hour to finish up everything she had doing, before she left the house in her blue slim-fit gown and shades.
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She arrived at her workplace at exactly 4:02 p. m. The area was calm and cold. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of presentations from systems. She was welcomed by a rush of cold breeze the moment she pushed open the door. Triana sat at her desk, doing her work effectively; she was the front desk officer. Anisa flashed her the cutest smile she was able to come up with.
"Good day, ma'am, how's our little señorita?" She asked, referring to Sophie.
"Oh, she's fine, thank you." She said as she walked past her to her office. She settled down once in the office, busy with some files, checking and doing some editing stuff before supervising her employees' work. She walked into Karina's office. Karina was my PA. She was busy with a presentation for an upcoming project.
"Nice work you have there." She complimented her before storming out of the office to check up on other employees, and so far they were doing just fine. Santiago was the only clumsy one who found it difficult to do his work effectively but she didn't mind, instead, she commended him for having done a great job today. Walking over to the centre of the room, she clasped her hands together, in a bid to get their attention directed to her.
"I want us all to meet at the board room now." She yelled as everyone moved to the boardroom. She arrived at the room shortly after with a small basket concealed with cotton material.
"I called you all here to say, you all have been good. You've been doing well, including you, Santiago. I'm very impressed to see that the company can run with or without me. I appreciate your efforts toward the growth of this company, and I want to give you an encouragement gift for all your hard work. I must've been hard on you guys, but it's for the success of our company." She took out a bottle of wine from the basket and popped it open, and had Karina fill up all 30 cups with wine while Triana distributed the glasses containing wine. "To us." She said with a smile as she raised her glass of wine in the air and they raised theirs too, chorusing "to us" as their glasses clinked against each other. She distributed the cakes to all 29 of them; there was one left over and it was supposed to be hers, but she gave it to Karina.
"I just dropped by to see how y'all are doing and to possibly get a little work done. I'm done for the day, and I decided to appreciate you all before I return home. Have a nice day, y'all."
"Karina, take some of the company's money and buy the janitors and other workers that weren't here appreciation gifts," I instructed her after leaving the boardroom with her.
"But..."
"Enough! Don't bother about it; I'll replace the money taken out. Just do as I said. Communicate the figures to me later; email me the files and a list of the purchased items with prices, as well as the list of employees you gave and the items you have.
"Don't keep me waiting!" She warned her sternly before getting into the car.
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The drive back to the mansion was slow and quiet due to traffic jams. It was a thing of surprise that a lady of her calibre was found queueing up behind low-class cars in a traffic jam. She could use her status as a celebrity to clear up the road but she wasn't in for that, instead, she waited for the congestion to lessen. She was starting to develop a migraine from the continuous honking of car horns. The traffic lessened, and she was home in minutes. Sofia was already seated on the couch downstairs, waiting for her. She was dressed in a pink off-shoulder gown with a pink tiara on her head.
"Mamá." She said as she ran towards her mom with outspread arms. Anisa carried her up in her arms and gave her cheek a gentle pinch.
"How are you?" She asked.
"Fine, mama."
Diego walked in on them, interrupting their mother-daughter connection, to inform her that he had already put the stuff in the other car. She told him to drive them to Rosa's orphanage home, which he did without resentment. They arrived at the place an hour later. The children were busy playing outside, while most of the teenagers were busy on their phones. She stepped out of the car with Sophie, and they walked toward Rosa. Rosa happened to be the owner of the orphanage.
"It's good to see you again, señorita Anisa." She greeted. "Oh, my little cupcake, how are you?" She asked, pinching Sophie's cheek playfully.
"Y'all are going to make me have pinch blushes," Sofia said with a little frown on her face, and she chuckled as Sofia had no idea what she looked like right now.
"Thanks, ma'am."
"How's the orphanage and the kids?"
"Fine, everyone seems to be happy and satisfied." The middle-aged woman said with a faint smile playing on her lips.
"I came to pay a visit and to say..."
"Yay, Catarina!" Sophie said in excitement, cutting her mamà short as the girls ran towards each other with outspread arms. Catarina is a 5-year-old girl; she's blonde and beautiful; she's also autistic.
"Kids," She said.
"So, I was saying I came to visit and to"
"That's not the right way, Catarina!" Sophie said, cutting Anisa short again. She had bent down to the toddler's level to talk to her.
"Hey Catie," Anisa said to Catarina, and she flashed Anisa her cutest smile. "How are you?"Anisa asked as Catarina maintained the smile that played on her pursed lips. "It's nice to see you're fine." "I got you some gifts; I'm sure you'll like them." She turned to face Sophie, and she held her hands.
"You don't want to be a noisy kid, okay?" I and Rosa are trying to have a discussion, and I'm sure Catarina wants to play with you. Right, Catarina?" She asked looking at Catarina, and she slowly blinked her eyes. "You see, she wants to." "Search for somewhere to play so you don't interrupt Mama's discussion, okay?" Sofia nodded briefly and Anisa kissed them on the cheeks before Sofia scampered away with her friend.
"Lovely kids." Mrs. Rosa added.
"I'm sorry about that. I was saying, "I came to visit and to drop off some gifts." Anisa continued with an easy and less interrupted flow.
"How kind of you, Anisa?" Ms. Rosa said and Anisa in return gave her a look of *stop flattering me*. Diego assisted her in carrying the stuff from the boot and placing it beside Rosa.
"They all have labels; please, don't mix anything up." Catarina's is special as it's from a very good young heart, Sophie. I also got her stuff. Please do well to distribute the gifts as they should be distributed.
"I already sent some money into the orphanage account; do well to place a call on me if you ever need anything." Rosa was beaming with smiles all over as Anisa spoke. She smiled at Rosa and took out her phone and made a quick transfer to her aunt, Taylor before beckoning for Sofia to come so they could leave. Catarina came running toward Anisa with a pack of chocolate, which she showed the moment she got closer
"Sophie....me...chocolates." Catarina managed to say, and she smiled at her, hugged her and squeezed some extra chocolates into her tiny hands before leaving with Sophie.
"Bye Catarina." She said, waving at her.
"Bye Catarina. I'll bring you more next time." Sophie said as she blew Catie an imaginary kiss before they drove out of the place.