Love is blind

Julia

I am Julia Brown, thirty years old and proud mother of Sem. I was born in England and have been living in the Netherlands for ten years. I owe the latter to my ex. I followed him here when he was offered a job here. I am grateful to him for that, by the way. I feel at home here. I don't miss England either. My parents died in a house fire when I was seven. Until I was eighteen I lived in a foster family, which I prefer not to think about. I was happy when I could finally live on my own.

I feel like it's going to be my year, or at least I hope so. Last year was not so successful. After twelve years I broke off my relationship with my fiancee. He felt it necessary to run off with someone else. He had apparently been in a relationship with someone else for almost two years. After I found out I never saw him again. Fortunately, I don't miss him for a second. I never dared to leave him, but now he made that choice himself. That was almost four months ago now. He has also not seen Sem since then. Which doesn't surprise me either, he never looked at his own child.

What also happened was that the company I worked for went bankrupt. So three months ago I was out of a job. It has given me some time to sort everything out and relax. Tomorrow I start my new job. I'm going to be Frederick Hansen's new assistant. He has several offices around the world. I remember him from before, when we both still lived in England. He was my father's best friend. Frederick was always like an uncle to me. Last month we met, here in the Netherlands. We got to talking and he offered me the job. I am happy with the opportunity he is giving me.

I wake up early. Probably a little nervous about my new job. At least I have time to get ready. What I'm busy doing when there's a soft knock on the door. It's Sem's babysitter. "Good morning Marie. Come in, your coffee is waiting. I'll wake up Sem."

After I woke up Sem and made him breakfast, the three of us sit at the kitchen bar for a while. Fifteen minutes later it's time for me to go. "Sem have fun at school and be nice to Marie. See you tomorrow ". "Yes mom. You have fun at work". I give him a big hug and leave.

After a little over half an hour of driving I parked my car. When I'm just about to walk into the building, my boss arrives. What I do like, this way I can walk along with him. "Good morning Mr. Hansen," I greet him as he gets out the car. "Good morning Julia. How good to see you again. Please it is Frederick. I'm not that old." He walks over to me and gives me a hug. I it's nice to see that he's just remained the same person as before, as far as I can remember. Despite his fame and wealth, he believes that everyone is equal.

We walk into the office together. He takes the time to show me everything and introduce me to many colleagues. We're on it for about an hour. With some we stay for a chat and with others Frederick is busy with work. "It's about time I show you your office." Frederick takes me to the elevator, to the top floor. Where you have a great view over the water. "It's not much. If you miss or need something, let us know and we will arrange it ". I look around my office. "Not much, he says. I could almost live here". My desk with a relaxing chair is near the door. There is also a large table with eight chairs, in the corner is a lovely couch and a large TV. The office even has its own bathroom and dressing room. "It should also feel a bit like home here. Personally, I think working in a homely atmosphere is the best thing there is. By the way, I can also recommend that you fill the wardrobe here. Sometimes an appointment can unexpectedly come up that I want you to be with. The appropriate clothing style can sometimes differ. It can therefore be useful if you have something of everything.". I nod understandingly. "Make it as personal as you want. I trust you know what is permissible. If you hold down this button you will have direct contact with my office. Disturb me during meetings only for emergencies. I don't need you today. This way you have time to set everything up a bit and get things you still need. When you leave the office, take this phone with you. It is connected to the telephone on your desk". He also shows me the most important things before he goes through the door to his office. Suddenly he turns around. "I forgot to say the most important thing. There is one person who is always allowed to walk through to my office. My daughter, Kimberly. Even if I were in a meeting with the president, she can always come in. You don't have to report that either. When the door opens, I know it's her." I nod. "Okay Frederick."

The rest of the morning I mainly focus on setting up the office easily for me and seeing how everything works on the computer. I decide to have lunch in the company restaurant. Soon after I found a place to sit, a number of colleagues joined me. We're having a nice chat. They are nice people. After a while they ask if I have met Mr. Hansen's daughter yet. It amazes me how they talk about her. That she has it high in her head and never said a hello or smile. That she probably feels too good for them. I decide not to go into it too much. I'm just saying I haven't met her yet. I don't understand how people can talk about someone like that and then also about their boss's daughter. To someone who has only been working here for half a day.