“Where do you work?” she asks sweetly. It was the first thing she said to him, after gesturing him to come over to her car.
“I don’t have a formal job madam,” Patrick replies timidly. “I do odd jobs here and there just to survive.”
“But you are speaking very fluently. How far did you go with your studies?”
“I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Maasai Mara University.”
“So what exactly are those odd jobs that you do?”
“I do online writing.”
“I hear it pays quite a lot.”
“If you have an account, then I hear you can make a decent amount. But I can’t afford an account, so I receive work from people with accounts and then they pay me a commission. It is not a lot, but it pays the bills.”
“What kind of account?”
“An online writing account.”
“Okay, forget I asked. Would you like to have a formal job?”
“Of course I would. If I got a job that offered me more than I am currently earning, I would take it.”
“I like that. I run an events company, and I liked how you conducted the ceremony today. I think will a little experience you can make an excellent professional MC. Are you heading home right now?”
“Yes I am.”
“Where do you live?”
“I live in Kangemi.”
“It is actually on my way. I can drop you home as we talk some more. Come on, get in the car.”
Patrick hesitates for only a microsecond before entering the car. He doesn’t know Regina personally, but he has seen her around church. Being an usher in church, he has seen about everyone who passes through those doors.
Regina is a beautiful woman. She is just slightly shorter than Patrick, with a dark, flawless skin. Her hair is dreadlocked, but the locks are kept neat and are held at the back in a ponytail. She is not exactly plus size, but she is curvaceous without having excess fat in any part of her body. But the main attraction is her face: she has pretty, round face with dimples, and her eyes seem to dance mischievously in their sockets. Patrick doesn’t want to look at her lips, because they are attracting thoughts in his mind that are decidedly sinful.
Patrick has seen her around church before, but he has never thought about her as an individual. In a church teeming with beautiful women, both young and old, it is impossible for an usher to centre on any one of them, unless he meets her somewhere other than at the entrance of the church on a Sunday morning.
But today, seated in her car, Patrick has nothing to think about other than the gorgeous woman who is seated next to him. He stares of the window in order to ignore her, but her sweet-smelling perfume makes her feminine presence difficult to ignore. One way or the other, Patrick is acutely aware that he is sitting next to a very beautiful woman. Patrick is a Christian, and the very fact that he is having sexual thoughts about a woman who is not his wife is filling him with guilt. And this is a woman who cannot be his wife: she is way above his league, is possibly married, and is going to be his boss in the near-future.
Besides, she is at least fifteen years his senior.
Regina seems to be in her early forties, perhaps even older, because these days you cannot tell a woman’s age by just looking at her. She has the kind of self-confidence that comes with age and success. Regina seems to be at completely at ease with herself. She has just told him that she has her own company, and by the looks of things the company is doing well. The car they are in right now is a brand new Volkswagen Touareg; that not the kind of car that a broke entrepreneur drives. Even the way she is dressed screams success; she is a boss lady.
Sexual fantasies aside, Patrick is a jobless twenty five year-old bereft of confidence and esteem. He graduated two years ago and since then he has tried to land a job to no avail. Each rejection hit him hard and his self-esteem suffered. He still manages to keep appearances in church. He is a funny man in church events, which is why he was selected as the host of today’s event. The other reason, probably more important, is that the church did not want to spend money by hiring a professional MC. Patrick’s situation is so bad that the pastor had to buy him a cheap suit with which he hosted today’s event. That suit was the only compensation he received for his services.
“What are you doing tonight?” Regina asks.
They are now exiting Thika Road and easing into Prof. Wangari Maathai Road, previously and still popularly known as Forest Road. They are coming from a church fundraiser that was held at one of hotels along Thika Road. Patrick was there as the volunteer MC, while Regina was there as a church member and donor.
“I will probably do some work and then maybe watch a movie before I go to sleep.”
“Why don’t we pass by my office so that I can show you what we do? It is still early so we can even discuss terms of engagement so that on Monday you can just get started.”
“You want to hire me?”
“Yes, that is what I said. Unless you don’t want the job, of course.”
“Oh I do want the want the job! Thanks madam.”
*
Regina’s office is in Parklands, on the fifth floor of Laos Community Centre, a new 14-floor building that has been erected on a piece of land that previously hosted a bungalow owned by an Indian family. The office itself is expensively furnished, making Patrick even more intimidated. At the main reception is a beautiful lady sitting on a leather rotating chair behind a massive brown desk. Behind her, the company announces itself as Regina Events Limited. The reception is furnished with leather seats and glass tables. There is a glass tank on one side where goldfish can be seen dancing.
“This is Daniella. She is our receptionist and administrative assistant.”
Patrick greets her politely and then follows Regina through a corridor that has cubicles on both sides and a door as its end. The door has her name on it: Regina Mutiso, Chief Executive Officer. Regina opens the door and it leads to a smaller reception that seems to be a miniature version of the front office. It is manned by another beautiful lady.
“This is Purity, my secretary.” Patrick nods at her and she flashes him a beautiful smile.
Regina leads the way to an inner office, a spacious room with large windows. She gestures him to sit on a white, leather couch while she sits behind her massive desk. She takes out a notebook and a pen from a drawer and places them on the table. She then lifts a white phone from its cradle and punches some numbers.
“Purity please bring us some tea.”
She shuffles papers and arranges her desk until her secretary comes with a white, porcelain pot of tea and a white, porcelain sugar dish. She places them on the glass table in front of Patrick. She disappears again and then comes with two white, porcelain cups on white, porcelain saucers, each with a tea spoon. Regina seems to be obsessed with white.
“I presumed that you do not have a problem with tea and milk. I am sorry, I should have asked.”
“It is okay,” Patrick replies. “I have no problem with either.”
After Purity leaves, Regina leaves her desk and approaches the coffee table where the tea is. She pours two cups of tea.
“How many spoons of sugar?”
“Two.”
Regina pours two tea-spoonfuls of sugar in Patrick’s cup and three in hers. She sits down opposite him.
“Welcome to my little company. I have three departments: events planning, photography and administration. Events planning department is the core of the company. That is my specialty. People entrust me with their events, whether they are weddings, parties or corporate events and I plan every single detail. I work with two assistants in that department.
I used to outsource photographers and MCs, but I started losing clients because I could not guarantee the quality of service. That is why I decided to get my own MCs and photographers. Photographers have their own department because there is a lot of work that goes into producing the photos and videos after the shoot itself. MCs are part of the administration. I have two MCs as at now; one doubles up as our accountant and the other is Purity, my secretary. Purity is also the one who manages our social media accounts, but that is the docket I want to give you. You will be an MC, but when we don’t have an event you will be running our Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and Instagram accounts. Our YouTube Channel will remain with Purity. I am proposing a starting a starting salary of sixty thousand shillings gross. What do you say?”
Patrick is dumbfounded. He makes an average of fifteen thousand shillings a month from his online writing gigs. Sixty thousand a month gross means he will probably make about fifty thousand a month net-which is still a lot of money.
“Yes I am in. Do I get an employment contract?”
“Yes, on Monday you will find it ready. But there is something I need you to do for me.”
“What is that?”
Regina crosses over and sits next to Patrick. She wraps one hand around his torso and places the other on his cheek; then she kisses him deeply on the lips.
“Will you be my lover?” she asks when she finally unlocks her lips from his.
(Continued Here)
Image by Atimedia from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/vw-volkswagen-touareg-v8-338895/
*
To purchase any of the books in our e-bookstore (including the latest one, Besieged by Vultures), you can follow either one of two main ways:
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MANUAL METHODS
If you are completely unable to use the above two methods, you can still purchase your copy manually. The only disadvantage of this method is that you will have to wait for a few hours before you get your copy. But eventually it will come.
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See you all on Friday.
–Edward.
