The Billionaire & I

1.

"Move out the way you deranged cocksucker!"

The taxi driver singlehandedly manoeuvred his way through the morning New York rush hour traffic, aiding me in arriving at my destination faster. My fingers tightly held on to the rough leather of the passenger seat as he made another sharp turn. I was overwhelmed but grateful.

"Sorry miss!" He yelled from his driver's seat.

"It's no problem," I assured him, then checked my watch for the fifth or maybe fiftieth time since entering the taxi. It showed five minutes past eight. I was officially late.

"Dieter and Leona miss," the driver announced as the vehicle decelerated to a halt outside the dark blue tinted skyscraper.

"Thank you so much," I checked the meter and handed him a twenty-dollar bill, "keep the change," then alighted the car.

In reality, I couldn't afford to act as a philanthropist and give away spare change to taxi drivers but it didn't matter much right now. I was too late and appreciative to be concerned. I half-heartedly watched as the cab sped off before turning to face the large building behind me.

Dieter and Leona, a large technologies marketing company that started small, from nearly nothing, in the 1980s and owned by Russian husband and wife. Dieter and Leona Lukas came to New York in early 2000 and had, in the last twenty years grown to International standards.

This was why I was lucky to have received the email two weeks ago, after coming in from another unsuccessful interview, that I got the job as a sales analyst in their secondary sales department.

Standing outside the building nearly felt surreal. There were several other skyscrapers in the vicinity; it was a busy street known for quite a good number of vivacious billionaires and businesses. Many others, like me, probably, hopeful for their futures and the day, moved about. I checked my watch again and groaned. My feet quickly carried me up the stairs that led to the entrance of the building.

Was I terrified? Yes.

Nonetheless, I carried myself with the amount of confidence only a latecomer could muster and walked past the revolving doors. The temperature difference was a welcomed pleasure, the cool air engulfed me whole. The lobby of the building was also filled with people of different calibre carrying papers, files, laptops and earpieces around. Everyone seemed busy.

"Good morning." I greeted one of the ladies behind the receptionist desk on reaching the long table.

"Good morning, Welcome to the Dieter and Leona mega tower. I'm Ishanel how may I help you today?"

"I'm Ophelia Duhamels, I interviewed for a job about a month ago and received the email that I could start work today two weeks ago," I said all under a single breath.

"Oh, I see, what department please?" She asked.

"The sales department, the secondary department," I replied and she nodded then pressed a few keys on her keyboard.

"I'll call Mary and she will be here to assist you in a bit," she smiled and I nodded. While waiting, I noticed almost everything and nothing. Two ladies one in a black skirt, the other in a pantsuit passed by talking about their respective weekends. Their weekends sounded awesome.

I crossed my feet and looked away. My weekend was spent mostly in anticipation of today, Monday. When my mind wasn't on the start of my new job, I thought about how my rent would be due again next month. Then, of course, I remembered my new job and anticipated it all the more. But, as though my plight wasn't hard enough, the universe snoozed my alarm.