To Love Or Not To Love

Chapter 41

ZIYANDA

"And that is how we as the Ezizweni marketing department will be able to help your company grow." Adrian my colleague, says as he closes off on the presentation.

We are all very anxious right now as we look over at Mnqobi and his team. We have worked very hard to make sure this deal gets finalised. All the research and sleepless nights have all been for this moment. This moment that could either break or make this company as a whole.

We are all on the edge right now. People are biting on their nails, tapping their feet repeatedly or either sweating profusely. Anything that shows signs of nervousness is visible in this room. It doesn't help how long the man who has us by the neck, is taking forever to respond.

Mnqobi finally decides to say something as he clears his throat. "I love it! It has so much potential and authenticity that many people will be able to relate to it. This will show our clients that we have their best interests at heart. It's a deal Mark and team."

The energy in the room is great as we hear a sigh of relief from each end. Everybody was scared shitless but now I can confidently say we are all thrilled. But no one is as thrilled as Mark is right now. Oh damn right he should be!! Not after all that pressure he put us under. I think we can take this as a test because it showed us flames.

Both Mark and Mnqobi stand up to shake hands before our client exits the room. Mark then turns to face us after shutting the door with a wide goofy smile on his face. I still suspect that he's getting a promotion for all of this, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

"Wow people!! Thank you all for playing your roles to the T. As much as I have been a pain in the butt to all of you, I'm glad you pushed through. And now we can celebrate as we are going to be ranking with the wealthy folks." He says.

We all chuckle and Adrian asks, "So can we have drinks now boss?" We laugh again because well, Adrian is the office clown and he's right. We really do need a drink or two after this.

"Yeah of course Adrian, you can all have drinks. You guys deserve it! And once again guys great work, keep it up." He says with a smile and exits the boardroom leaving us to talk about the stress of work in it's entirety.

I decide to stay back for a while and mingle with the colleagues. I don't have any friends here but it's okay to just be social with everybody. It is crucial that we have a helathy work-relationship for the progress of our work. Two glasses of champagne later, I decide to head back to my work station to gather my stuff.

Mark already gave us the go-ahead to knockoff early because we've earned it and of course we need the rest. Too bad for me, I don't have the privilege to rest today as it is Zim and Nkanyezi's engagement party. They finally settled on a day and it has been a long while coming.

I just sent a text to inform Mnotho not to pick me up from work as I'll be taking a taxi back home. He responds asking if he should fetch me but I assure him that I'll be taking a taxi back home. He is such a sweetheart and I can't wait to see him later on tonight. I send him a heart emoji as I log off and head to the taxi rank.

"Bye Refilwe." I say to the lady who has taken over as a receptionist since Zim left. She's really nice but I'm not looking for anymore friends from work.

So about Mnqobi...well I'm glad he didn't pay any attention to me during the meeting. This means that he's accepted that we can never be a thing. It would have made working on his project very disturbing and I would obviously have been unproductive.

I love my job and in as much as I complain about it a lot, it is what I chose to do.  I wouldn't want to lose it because of silly disagreements with a client. Having to look for a job in SA is a real challenge and even securing an interview is a mission on it's own. I'm not looking to go through that entire process again after being blessed with a job.