Keller's two weeks off were up, and he resumed at the company at the entrance of Keller's office; he bumped into someone, and lo and behold, his high school crush was right before him, Charlene. She was still as beautiful as she was back then in high school. Her face hadn't changed a bit, but her body had changed because she had added weight and now looked mature.
Charlene Scott was the most brilliant and beautiful female student back in high school, she was the crush of most of her male classmates and even those in higher classes than her, she was also a very neat student who could never be caught unfresh, Keller had a huge crush on her back then but couldn't tell her because she had a lot of boys flocking around her, so he believed she would turn him down, so he stayed as a friend with her though it was hard for him to hide his feelings from her he tried and Charlene never noticed he had a crush on her, she saw him as a friend and classmate.
He couldn't believe his eyes;
" Charlene!" He said looking astonished.
" Keller!" Charlene said, looking astonished too.
" Charlene, is this you?" Keller said and gave her a warm hug, he held her so passionately.
Scarlett, who was behind him with his bag, became jealous. She didn't like the way they hugged; she never liked seeing any woman around or close to Keller anyway, and her cousin wasn't exceptional.
" Yes, it's me," Charlene said as Keller released her from his arms
" Wow!" Keller said, admiring her.
" Do you work here too?" Charlene asked with a smile.
" He's the boss," Scarlett answered her, rolling her eyes.
" Please, I can answer her myself," Keller said to Scarlett.
" Sorry sir." Scarlett apologized, she carried his bag into his office and left the both of them.
" Yeah, you were saying?" Keller asked with a broad smile.
" So you're the CEO?" Charlene asked, looking surprised.
" Yeah, I am, and you, what are you doing… … … wait a minute, are you the new cleaner?" Keller asked, looking astonished.
" Yeah, I'm the new cleaner., I just finished cleaning your office." Charlene said, pointing into the office.
" Yeah, I can see that. I already perceived the scent from here, and I must commend you; you're doing a great job ...…. Charlene, what happened? Why are you working as a cleaner? You were the most brilliant student back then in high school. Though you left us without a proper goodbye, we were told by the head teacher that you relocated with your parents, what happened to you?" Keller asked in a very low tone, looking unhappy.
" Shit happened, Keller," Charlene said in a sad voice.
" Please can you tell me more about it?" He asked, looking into her eyes.
" Keller, it's a long story. Don't let me take your time; besides, I still have work to do; I haven't cleaned some offices." She said sadly.
" Charl, I have all the time in the world, have you forgotten I'm the boss here? You can always do the cleaning later and I'll talk to the rest of the staff not to query you, ok? So come inside, let's talk because this isn't the position I expect you to be; you were a bright student back then in high school; you shouldn't be cleaner now." He said he collected the mop and bucket from her, he kept them aside and they both went into his office.
As they walked into the office, Charlene said to him;
" You still call me Charl."
" Oh! That, I'll forever call you Charl." He said and laughed.
" Oh! Well done, I see what you did there." She said smiling.
" Of course, I know you'll understand, you're still as smart as I know you to be," Keller said as he offered her a seat.
" Thank you." She said as she sat.
" You're welcome, so tell me, what happened?" He asked in a low voice.
Charlene cleared her throat and began to speak. She told him how her father lost everything in his warehouse in a fire accident, and his biggest mistake was not ensuring his company, and that was how all they had gone down the drain.
She said she and her parents never relocated; they were still in New York City, but her parents had to tell a lie because they couldn't afford her fees anymore, and they also had to move into a smaller and cheaper apartment since her father already sold the house and cars to pay up his debts. Things were rough for them, but they pulled through; her parents were able to send her to college, where she met her baby daddy Ramsey.
They had been friends for three before they became lovers but she didn't know what changed or why he fell out of love with her, he used to be an amazing and supportive friend to her, and that made her fall deeply in love with him but as soon as they started dating, she began to see the other side of him she never knew about, she waited and prayed he changed but he never did, she didn't leave because she loved him so much. When she finally summoned the courage to leave the relationship she found out she was pregnant with Hilda, so she had to stay back thinking Ramsey would change since he was about to be a father but he never changed till the day he chased her and her daughter out of the house and he hasn't asked after them since then.
She said she had realized that she had been in love with herself all this while, Ramsey never loved her. Maybe what he wanted was just sex, but she pushed for more. Now, see where that has gotten her. She said she didn't regret going into that relationship because it gave her the most precious gift ever, which was her daughter, Hilda; she said she had been the best thing that had ever happened to her since she lost her parents.
" How did they die?" Keller asked
" They died in an auto crash, on their way to work one morning," Charlene said as tears dropped down her cheeks.
" Hey, I'm so sorry about that," Keller said as he stood up from his seat to console her.
" Thank you," Charlene said tearfully.
" Was that why you moved in with Ramsey?" He asked.
" Yes, they died in my final year at college; I moved out of the house because it kept reminding me of them; it began to affect my studies, and besides, I couldn't keep up with the bills, so Ramsey asked me to move in with him, we just started dating then," Charlene said as she wiped off her tears.
" It's ok Charl, you know what?" He asked.
" What?" Charlene asked in a low tone, raising her head to look at him.
" Send in credentials tomorrow, though there's no vacancy at the moment but I think I can fix you somewhere." He said to her,
" Wow! Thank you, Keller, thank you so much, but who's going to handle the cleaning henceforth?" Charlene asked, looking concerned.
" We'll hire a new cleaner, it's nothing serious," Keller said and went back to his seat.
" Thank you so much, Keller," Charlene said as she stood up to leave.
" Enough of the appreciation, Charl, pls make sure you send your credentials to my email as soon as you close from work." He said to her,
"Thank you so much but I don't have your email address." She said,
" Ask Scarlett on your way out," Keller said, smiling.
" Ok, sir," Charlene said excitedly.
" Don't even start, what's up with the sir? Ain't we friends anymore?" He asked with a frowny face.
" We are, but you're my boss, so I have to accord you some respect," Charlene said, looking down.
" You won't address me as sir, address me by my name, understand?" He said smiling.
" But the rest of the staff address you as sir, even my cousin too, Wouldn't it be weird to address my boss by his name?" She asked, looking confused.
" You're not them, they're not you, you're different, Charlene, so you address me by my name, and that's final. No more talk." He said to her as he picked up a file from his desk.
" Ok, Keller, thank you. Let me get going." She said and turned to take her leave.
" Good, see you later then, bye!" Keller said with a smile.
" Bye!" Charlene said and shut the door.
" Charlene, Charlene, Charlene. My Charlene, it's so good to have you back. Wow! What a small world." Keller said to himself happily.