Kelvin
I spent a wholesome evening with my mom and sister last night. We cooked together, had some gossip together and spent time on mass media before retiring to bed. Sleeping back at home was relaxing and I almost forgot I got employed a few hours earlier.
The next morning came by quickly and it was my mom who reminded of what happened yesterday. I did all the necessary things I had to do and I was ready to leave by 7am.
"See you soon." my mom bid farewell as I stood by the door. She then got out of her wheelchair and I tried to put her down but Hannah held me back.
"Just let her be," Hannah insisted. "She won't listen to you. She did say she's improving."
I sighed. "Fine. Then this is it. I'm leaving. A last hug before I go ?"
I opened up for a hug and Hannah smiled as she came forward to hug me. We hugged for more than a minute and I wanted us to break apart but Hannah wasn't letting go. I literally had to force her off me before we separated finally.
"I'm escorting you till you get a car." she informed. I just nodded at her.
We walked on to the streets and had a chitchat before we finally got to a junction. We had to wait for a taxi to pullover and when it did, I waved Hannah goodbye and got in the car, which drove me off back to my apartment in Achimota 20 minutes later.
I paid the driver and went up to my apartment. It was exactly the same way I had left it. I prayed as I sat down to rest and when I was done, I stood up to organise the place. I don't know when the driver would come, so I had to pack my things and get ready.
I got to my wardrobe and started picking out clothes I thought would come in handy. I folded them nicely and placed them in my medium sized luggage. I added some shoes and belt. I added basically anything I considered appropriate for a House Manager.
All the stuff couldn't fit in one luggage so I brought in another medium sized luggage and it solved the problem. Perfume, cologne, pomade, deodorant and other things were included. When I had finished organized them in the two luggages, I moved on to my apartment as a whole.
The apartment was generally tidy but I was leaving and it would be a while before I came back. So I started arranging the place and made it look like I was moving out indefinitely. Everything was in place and I found a place to sit down and take a breather.
The only downside to this whole movement is that I had paid for rent this month and I was leaving when it was barely the middle of the month. I just concluded that it was for the greater good. One day, I'll finally leave this nice apartment for good.
I heard the noise of a car's engine from downstairs and the noise stopped as the car parked. I peeked through my window and saw a Range Rover SUV. I immediately knew it was the driver Mr. Hanson had sent to come pick me up and I was ready.
I carried the two luggages in my hands and locked my apartment as I got out. I went downstairs and exited the building to meet the driver. When he saw me, he got out of the car and greeted. I responded and he took the two luggages from my hands and placed them in the boot of the car.
Strange to me, he didn't allow me open the door of the car. He insisted to do it for me instead and I reluctantly agreed. I sat down in the front seat and the driver joined in later. He drove the car and we were off.
I thought the driver would conjure up a conversation but he did nothing but drive and focus on the road. He took his job seriously and I respected him for that. I was sure he would only talk if I spoke to him but I wasn't in the mood for a chat, so I just kept quiet too in the car as he drove on.
10 mins didn't even pass by and we finally got to the house. I'm certain we had even spent five minutes to get there. It's either the driver was fast or my house is much closer to my Hanson's than I thought.
We got to a golden gate with some stylish roofing on it. There was a CCTV camera outside and it was verifying us first. We waited for a while before the gate opened for us. As we drove into the house, I looked back and saw two small nice houses behind the gate on each side. There was a man outside in white uniform. Seems he was a security guard.
From the gate to the main house was a little distant but before we got there, we had to use a road around a car park, which had a blue canopy covering the cars parked under it. There were 2 long storey buildings facing each other and the car park was in the middle of the two buildings.
The storey buildings were posh and nicely furnished. They were just a few metres away away from the main house. Beside one of the storey building was a basketball court. We drove past the storey buildings and car park and finally got to the main house. The driver parked the car and opened the door for me. He also got out and took my luggages out of the boot.
He was carrying them to the house when I stopped him. "Where are you taking them to ?"
The driver was about to answer but a man dressed in white long sleeves, a black bowtie and black trousers emerged and spoke up.
"He's taking them to your room, Mr. Walter."
The driver resumed and walked into the main house using one of the doors. The guy in white long sleeves approached me and brought in his hand for a handshake. "I'm a worker here and my name is Mike. Mr. Hanson assigned me to show you around before you start working here."
I accepted his handshake. "I would be glad to know more about the place then."
We broke apart and Mike started the tour. He pointed towards the main house. "This is the main house of the Hansons. It's also where you would be staying. We will go inside soon but let me show you around the compound."
"Okay." I agreed.
We strolled on the road and there were ornamental trees and bushes which were carefully planted on the grass beside the road. The trees and hedges were also decorated from the gate to the main house and the whole compound was beautiful from the adorning effect of the vegetation around. There were also night lamps everywhere.
As I was soaking in the beautiful scenery, we finally stopped at one of the storey buildings. It was a one storey building, just like it's twin and it was painted white. We stood in front of it and I was sizing it up.
"This is one of the guesthouse Mr. Hanson built for visitors." Mike spoke. "So when friends come to visit, they can spend the night here."
"It looks great." I complimented.
"Indeed," Mike agreed. "There are 10 guestrooms in the building. 5 on the first floor and the other five upstairs."
"That seems a lot, doesn't it ?"
Mike held in a laughter. "No. Not really. There are a lot of people who can visit Mr. Hanson in one event. Sometimes the guesthouse get full and the rest have to go home."
I laughed. "Then a lot of stuff happens around here."
"Of course," Mike affirmed. "Each guestroom has a queen size bed, a large wardrobe, a medium sized nightstand, a lamp, standing fan, dressing mirror and some minor accessories."
"What about the bathroom ?"
"Ah yes, the bathroom. There are 4 bathrooms in the building. 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs. The same applies to the washroom also." he notified.
"Oh I see." I muttered.
"Do you want to go inside and have a look yourself ?" Mike inquired.
I nodded my head slowly. "No. Maybe later."
"As you wish, Mr. Walter." he said politely. "This is just the most important details about this guesthouse. Let's move on to the car park in front of us."
We moved to the car park which was a stone throw away. There were 8 cars parked there under the shade of the blue canopy. And the cars were properly arranged. We stood on one side of the car park.
"This is the car park and where all the cars in the compound are kept. Nothing much here. Let's continue, shall we ?"
"Alright."
We walked around the car park and went to the other side of the park, which was were the second storey building was. This storey building was painted yellow and that raised an eyebrow.
"Is this also a guesthouse and the same as the other one ?" I asked.
"You are almost right," he nodded. "This is also a guesthouse but it's a little different from the other one. This guesthouse has 12 guestrooms. 6 at the top and 6 at the bottom."
"So the only difference is the room number right ?"
"Not quite." Mike answered. "You see, the white guesthouse has spacious rooms and fancy accessories than the yellow guesthouse. The yellow guesthouse just has 2 more washrooms than the white guesthouse."
"Okay I see." was all I could say.
"Most of Mr. Hanson's important guest go to the white guesthouse. The less important come here." Mike informed. "Shall we move on ?"
We walked across the yellow guesthouse, moving further away from the main house. We got to the basketball court and Mike explained it was built purposely for friendly games between families in the Hanson family. From the basketball court, there were two open huts which were as distant from each other just as the guesthouse.
"They're for relaxation and just resting under the sun." Mike pointed out.
In between the two open huts was a fountain which was set the same way as the car park was set between the guesthouses. There was a road constructed around the big magnificent fountain. The fountain was the nearest built structure to the distant gate. From the fountain onwards was just a straight road that lead to the gate and ornamental plants decorating the huge area.
I'm not kidding, Mr. Hanson compound is huge and grass covered most of the area of the compound. The walls surrounding the house were painted white and it was such a beautiful scene. I almost got distracted admiring it all till Mike got my attention.
"Are you done enjoying the view ?" he smiled.
"Yeah, I am." I chuckled.
We turned back and began our journey back to the main house. I was starting to see the light in what Hannah did. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea staying here and working for some time. I could really enjoy this place. Right as we were walking, something crossed my mind.
"Erm Mike, where's Mr. Hanson ?"
"He has gone out to attend to a problem concerning his daughter." he said. "He will be back soon, if you are eager to see him."
"That would be okay," I responded. "Remind me if he comes back."
"Yes, Mr. Walter."
I chuckled. "Can you stop calling me Mr. Walter ? I prefer the name Kelvin. That would be okay."
"As you wish, Kelvin." he obliged.
"Also, I have been wanting to ask you this....do you also stay here in the house ?"
"Yes, I also stay here in the house."
"Where do you stay at then ?"
"In the yellow guesthouse of course." he revealed. "That's where we workers stay in. Currently, 4 out of 8 who work in the main house sleep in the yellow guesthouse."
"What about the rest ?"
"They go home of course." he answered. "It was their own choice. They decided to be going home and we decided to stay and go home at least on weekends."
"That's interesting," I commented. "So do you enjoy your time staying here ?"
Mike shrugged. "It's okay for me. The peace and quiet in this place is very enjoyable but sometimes the tasks I do can be overwhelming."
"So you've been coping ?"
"Kind of." he hummed. "So, is there anything you would like to ask again ?"
"Yeah, how efficient is the security here ?"
"Uhm, it's the standard," Mike pointed around at CCTV cameras. "Those are security cameras that monitor movement on the compound. A guard in one of the houses at the gate watches the live footage to make sure all is going well."
"Are they everywhere ?"
"No. Just outside. There aren't any cameras inside of any of the buildings." Mike also pointed to the walls surrounding the house. "The walls also have electric powered wires on top of it, to prevent people from jumping in."
"What happens if they detect a threat ?" I asked.
"A siren would be sounded and the guards would take care of the issue. The bodyguards aren't here at the moment but no worries, they normally patrol at night."
"Okay," I sighed. "So I'm guessing you have showed me all around the compound right ?"
"I haven't showed you the swimming pool yet." he reminded. "It's behind the main house. So we are passing through the main house and getting to the pool side using one of the backdoors."
We trekked to the main house and I admired it as we got closer. It was painted white and had magnificent columns supporting it. The main house was a 2 storey building beauty and was as long as half a football field. There were three grand entrances to the house and we got inside using the middle one.
The middle entrance led us to a big hall which was one storey building high. There were like 10 sofas arranged in a rectangular formation in the big hall. In the middle of the hall was a fancy glass table which had a vase containing flowers on top. The hall had the biggest widest plasma TV I have ever seen in my life.
The hall also had pictures of Mr. Hanson and his family on the wall and I didn't have time to take notice of them well. The hall was decorated with sculptures, speakers, high curtains, lush cushions, a glass cupboard wielding glam artifacts, stools and a well oriented lighting.
We got out of the big hall through a doorless exit and walked straight through one of the well lit hallways which had a door at the end. The hallway was surprisingly quiet at the time and walking through it, we made some noise with our footsteps. We got to the end and Mike opened the door and got out first. I followed and there we were, standing before the pool which was some distance ahead.
The pool was moderately long and filled. There were 3 sunloungers with standing umbrellas on each side of the pool. And there were ornamental plants all over the grass area after the poolside and open huts.
"This is the pool," Mike directed. "The standard one with all the features attached." He pointed to the two open huts which were after the pool and were distance apart. "Those are also open huts and I'm assuming you know what they're for ?"
As I looked at one of the open hut, I saw two ladies under them and I easily recognised them. It was Sonya and her friend. Coincidentally when I looked over to their direction, my eye met with Sonya's and I was frozen with shock.