The Inbound Fates

Chapter Five

Ellen

‘I’m sorry, Elle. I can’t make it for lunch today. How about you choose a day and it will be a date?’

I smiled at the text message as I reminisced the earlier incident where I had literally bumped into my long lost love. I felt giddy like a teenage girl because everything felt surreal. Who would have guessed that I would run into George on my second day on the job? Talk about fate being on my side or was it destiny?

“Miss Chunda; is everything alright?”
I looked up and found all eyes on me. I quickly wiped the smile off my face and cleared my throat before nodding.

“Yes; I’m fine.”

“Please solely focus on the meeting. One mistake will cost us a lot.” My boss glared at me a second more before his gaze moved on to Paula who had paused mid-speech. Paula continued and the meeting progressed throughout lunch and all I could think about was how I could not have made it either to lunch with George. 

“Alright. That’s it for today; we will meet again a week from now. Miss Chunda, please follow me to my office.” My boss concluded as he stood up and I quickly followed behind him with his PA in tow.

The three of us entered the elevator together and I held my breath as the boss talked on his phone all the way up until we got off the elevator. Our building had four stories and the top floor had three offices; the CEO’s office, the CBO's office and the COO's office. Their secretaries had some cubicles just before their office door. The PA sat on her office as the CBO opened his office and we walked in.

“I’m going to say this once; listen very carefully.” The CBO began once the office door closed behind me. “I don’t tolerate clumsy works and seeing that the CEO recommended you, you must be good. I will be watching you and I won’t hesitate to dismiss you once you mess up because you only get one chance.” Chief Banking Officer, Mr. Mvula, stated firmly.

“Yes, sir. I won’t disappoint you.” I replied.

“Good. Welcome aboard.” Mr. Mvula smiled briefly before pointing at the door and I took that I was dismissed so I left hurriedly.

When I came in yesterday, the assistant branch manager that was in charge of my training gave me a heads up already about Mr. Mvula. Regina had clearly told me not to get on the CBO's bad side. I had no experience but I was a hands-on person and I truly loved numbers. I was very confident in my ability so I knew I will succeed on the job.

We had an hour left of working hours and I made sure to conclude on a few tasks before calling it a day. I packed my things and exited my office. I made sure I had my car keys as well as my phone as I exited the bank and walked to where I had parked my car.

I took out the wireless headsets and connected with my phone as I drove away from my workplace. I dialed a number and it rang twice before it was answered.

“Hello, auntie.”

“Hello, how was the day?” I asked the maid I had hired to look after my grandmother in Mangochi.

She gave me a detailed report of the day and I corrected where I saw faults and reminded her of other important details she had to follow up. I was going to see how she performs in the days to follow otherwise, I wouldn’t hesitate to let her go. I couldn’t take risks with my grandmother’s well being. I rolled my eyes when that thought reminded me of my boss earlier. I guess we both gave one chance and couldn’t take risks.

I ended the call after exchanging a few more words. I was about to turnoff my headsets when I received a phone call from a new number.

“Hello.” I greeted cautiously as I didn’t know who it could be.