"Umm, I'll take off the gloves sir." I said. This was an attempt to appease him.
"Oof… there's no need. I'll get you new ones. They're so ugly." He said.
I was taken aback.
"Meanwhile, I've got a lot of clothes my grandson asked me to give away. He's built just like you." He said
But I was still quiet. This was kindness and I always appreciated it.
I fell to my knees and thanked him. He was embarrassed.
"Alright, alright. It's time to get to work. I'll give you a tour of the place." He said.
***
"Mr Smith is a nice person." I said to Ria and Daniel while we had dinner.
"Yes, he is. It is said that he has lived with Mr Powell for close to forty years now." Ria said.
"Who is Mr Powell?" I asked.
"He's the boss. We rarely ever see him." Ria said.
***
"Those are lilies. I love how good you handled them. I have never seen them as beautiful as this even when I had a celebrity gardener." An old man said to me.
"Good day sir. Thank you for the compliment" I said.
"It's not a compliment. It's fact." He said flatly.
"Powell." He simply said and gave me a handshake not minding the dirt.
"You. don't. need. to. people please. For anyone." He stated while staring at me and that was when I realized that I was unconsciously trying to clean up for fear of looking dirty to him.
"Now tell me why you took care of those lilies. I watched you cater to others but not with so much care as you did with the lily." He said.
"Oh lily represents luck in Chinese tradition, and I love to have luck." I said.
He nodded and we spoke about other things.
"Wow, you seem knowledgeable." He said and I smiled.
"I'd love to go back in to take a nap." He said. I figured out he was the owner of this mansion.
"Okay sir. Thanks for talking with me." I said and bowed.
"Oh, I should thank you. It was a breath of fresh air talking to you. I have been surrounded by a bunch of idiots lately." He said.
"Oh and do you have any qualifications? You sound rather intelligent." He asked.
"Oh No Sir, I do not." I answered, feeling embarrassed.
"Hmm, that's odd, you sound very educated and intelligent." He said.
"I think that's because I loved to read, although I don't do much of that anymore." I replied.
"What do you think about becoming my personal assistant?" He asked out of the blue.
"Wha…wahat?…what Sir? Your personal assistant? I'll be elated!" I stumbled through words.
"Cool, once you're done gardening. Meet me inside. I should be awake by then. Let me go rest my head." He said and I bowed again.
"You don't bow for another man. I see the fierceness in you. Don't quench it because you think someone is bigger than you." He said and started walking back towards his house.
"Oh and by the way, those lilies really did bring you luck." He laughed and shook his head.
***
"As my personal assistant, there are a lot of things you'll be responsible for. Scheduling, responding to emails and calls, setting up meetings and some administrative tasks. Here, these are some of the major tasks that you'll take up." Mr Powell said and handed over some papers to me.
"Go through them. The driver will be here soon. I asked him to go get me something. We will be leaving for the office soon." He said.
"Okay sir." I simply said while trying to hide my joy.
After Mr Powell hired me outside, he gave me some money to go shopping because I needed to look 'presentable' as his personal assistant.
And now we were going to the office, it felt more real as the hours went bye. I was really employed.
While at home, I had done my research and discovered who this man was. The most influential person in the country.
***
"Orlando, this is my new personal assistant, James. Work with him. Show him the ropes since you have filled in the role for some time now since my previous personal assistant left.
He turned to me, "James, this is Orlando, my secretary. He'll show you my schedule and everything. He'll hold your hands until you can work by yourself." He said.
"It's no problem sir." I replied.
Then I went in for a handshake, "nice to meet you, Mr Orlando." I said.
"Nice to meet you too. When you're ready, let me know and we can begin work." He said.
"I am, if you are." I replied.
***
"I must commend your hard work, you have performed so excellently in this little time frame. I threw so many punches that would make you falter but you didn't. You just successfully carried out tasks that even my staff of ten years find difficult to do." He praised me.
"Thank you sir." I responded with all humility.
I must admit that working here was challenging but I loved the challenge. I got to use my brain just like I loved.
I delighted in solving new challenges everyday.
"You'll join me at the board meeting today, not as my PA alone. But I want you to give opinions on various topics. You're smart. You might as well put your smartness to good use." He said.
I was surprised but I hid it and mentally prepared myself for the board meeting.
During the board meeting several questions were thrown my way by Mr Anthony Powell.
I answered as swiftly as I could. I could see how impressed the members of the board were with me.
"You've got a smart one there." A man said from across my side of the table.
"Oh I know that. I'll like you all to meet James Black my prodigy." He announced.
The meeting was over and I was still smiling from the fact that Mr Powell called me a prodigy.
When we got back to his office, he took off his jacket, "sit," he ordered me.
"I know you might still be reeling in the compliment I just gave you. But you have to get over that quickly as I have something more important to share with you." He said in a stern business-like voice.
"Okay Sir, I'm listening." I replied.
"Good." He locked his fingers together, "I'm promoting you to the COO of Powell group." He announced.
"Chief Operations Officer?" I questioned in an almost whisper.
"Yes. I trust you to do a good job with the responsibilities you'd be handed over. Resume work tomorrow." He said.
I sat still and closed my eyes. Reeling in shock. Has my bad luck disappeared? What sort of good fortune was this? Was this all a dream? I opened my eyes…