At Scarlett's residence, she ushered Charlene and her daughter in, offered them drinks and took their bags to the guest room. She came back to the living room, patted Charlene on the shoulder and said to her;
" Charlene, please don't overthink it, he's not worth it."
" Thank you, Scarlett," Charlene said, holding her hand.
" You're welcome, dearie; please feel free; feel at home. This is your new home now, ok? Please look after Hilda, don't get absent-minded,; she needs all the love, care and attention she can get right now. Be strong for her, Charlene." Scarlett said, looking at the angel before her. Hilda was an extremely beautiful child.
" I'll be strong for her; thank you so much, Scarlett; if it weren't for you, where would we be now?" Charlene said, almost tearing up.
" It's fine, Charlene; what is family for? You're family, have you forgotten? I need to get going now, my boss is waiting for me at work." Scarlett said as she picked up her handbag.
" Yes about that, please, I need a job; you know Ramsey has been the one stopping me from working; he preferred seeing me at home all day and jobless. Scarlett, if there's any vacancy at your company, please put in a word for me. I need a job now, you can't be the only one providing for the house." Charlene said.
" And am I complaining? You just got here and you're already thinking about providing for the house. It's fine, Charlene; I'll let you know as soon as there's a vacancy at the company." Scarlett said with a smile.
" Thank you, Scarlett," Charlene said.
" Enough of the appreciation, Charlene; I need to get going now. See ya!" Scarlett said, kissed Hilda and left the house.
" Come to mummy baby, we'll be fine, ok?" Charlene said as she stretched her hand to carry Hilda.
" Ok, mummy." Hilda nodded innocently.
" Why does daddy hate us so much?" Hilda asked pitifully as she sat on her lap.
" I don't know, Hilda. Please don't disturb yourself with your pretty head over him, he's not worth it, ok?" Charlene said.
" Ok mummy, I love you," Hilda said and hugged her.
" I love you more, my angel," Charlene said with a broad smile as they hugged.
A few days later, Scarlett got back from work looking so worn out, Charlene asked her as she sat on the couch.;
" What's the problem? You look so worn out, are you ok?"
" It was hell at work today," Scarlett said, placing her hand on the head.
" Really? My two bosses had an altercation today, and the CEO got injured in the process; you need to see his hands; they were badly bruised." Scarlett said, shaking her head.
" What! Was it bad?" Charlene asked, looking surprised.
" Yeah, it was really bad; I had to call other staff to join me to stop him from injuring himself any further because he was hitting the wall furiously and that got his hands badly bruised," Scarlett explained.
" Wow! That was bad, but what could have caused such a heated altercation?" Charlene asked, looking curious.
" Well, the cleaner didn't resume early today, so the M.D. walked into a dirty space. As she walked into her office, she asked me why I hadn't cleaned it since the cleaner hadn't resumed, and I told her I couldn't do such a thing because it was not my duty; she had a personal assistant. Would you believe that this lady got angry and slapped me? My boss, the CEO, walked in on us and flared up. He was angry at her for slapping me. They got into a heated argument, which led to the altercation. The boss was hitting the wall just to prevent himself from hitting her." Scarlett narrated.
" What! So you mean you both bosses got in a fight because of you." Charlene asked with her eyes wide open.
" Of course," Scarlett said with a smile.
" Is that a good thing? Don't you think this incident might get you fired?" Charlene asked, looking worried.
" No, it wouldn't. The CEO won't allow that, do you know how long I've been working with him? Almost four solid years now, and he has never once complained about my work. What does that tell you? It means that I am very diligent and careful when it comes to my job, and I'm sure my boss wouldn't want to lose me." Scarlett said with a smile.
" Are you both dating?" Charlene asked with a smile.
" No, it's against the company's policy," Scarlett said with a frown face.
" So, you like him," Charlene said in laughter.
" No, I don't. He's not my type of man." Scarlett lied, rolling her eyes.
Scarlett was Keller's secretary, she was 5'7 feet tall and a very pretty lady, she was the most beautiful female staff at the company, she had most of the male staff at her beck and call including the married ones who were adulterous, she never looked at their ways, the only man that has gotten her attention was Keller, her boss. She has been working as his secretary for over three years now, and she has had a crush on him from the very first day he employed her though she has tried so hard to hide it, as time goes on, it became obvious to few of the female staff. Those who could confront her confronted her, they advised her to shoot her shot before it was too late for her, but she refused to take their advice, and those who couldn't confront her kept on gossiping, but Scarlett never gave a damn about them.
" Are you sure? Because your face says otherwise, it seems like you hate the company's policy for being against office romance." Charlene said, still laughing.
" I'm being honest, I don't like my boss. What we share is just a boss and employee bond." Scarlett said.
" Ok if you say so," Charlene said.
" That reminds me, the cleaner has been fired, so I put in small words for you with the H.R I was asked to tell you to come to work very early for the interview, if you do well you can probably start working tomorrow as one of the company's cleaners. You can manage that for now till you get a more lucrative job." Scarlett said softly.
" Really? Thank you so much, Scarlett. Thank you." Charlene said, almost tearing up.
" C'mon Charlene. It's not a big deal, it's just a cleaning job." Scarlett said, looking at her.
" I know it's a cleaning job, at least it's something. Now, I have a job that can help fend for my daughter." Charlene said as she held back her tears.
" Yeah, concerning Hilda. I'll be enrolling her in a school nearby tomorrow. You know you won't be at home to look after them anymore, so she has to be in school. You don't have to bother about going with us tomorrow, just go to the company very early. You know it's your first day at work and first impressions matter a lot." Scarlett said.
" Wow! Thank you so much Scarlett, thank you." Charlene said and she hugged her.
" It's ok, Charlene. By the way, where's Hilda, I haven't seen her since I got back." Scarlett asked, looking around.
" Yeah, that's because she's taking a nap," Charlene said.
" Oh! Ok then, I'll be in the room. I need to rest, I had a very long day at work today. My feet hurt." Scarlett said as she stood up from the couch to leave for her room.
" Ok, darling. I'll make dinner now." Charlene said after her.
" Please do, I'm famished," Scarlett said without looking back.
" Ok, it will be ready soon," Charlene said with a smile.
" Alright, thank you," Scarlett said in a faded voice.
" You're welcome..... Yes! I have finally got a job, can't wait to share this news with Hilda." Charlene said excitedly to herself.