Shaira's Inbox

10-First Task

"What would I do if see him on the streets?" Shaira was thinking of Nigel again. She sighed. It was her first day on the job and she must think other things like what would be her first task for this job instead of him. If she were paid of thinking about Nigel, she would probably be a millionaire.

She woke up early. It was one of the hardest things to do. But she had to do it anyway. It was better to do something like this than torture herself the whole day doing nothing but think of the guy who deeply hurt her heart.

Her mother was already cooking breakfast when she went to the bathroom to take a bath. By the time she finished her bath, breakfast was ready.Her father was already rushing to go out of the house for work. He wanted to take Shaira to the terminal.

"Let's go! It's already past 7:00."

"Coming!" Shaira replied.

As she looked at the mirror of the car, she noticed her face was not so well for a first impression. She had eye bags! Someone who is sensitive enough to read her face could tell that she spent a long time crying last night. She hid her face from her father. She told herself that it would be the last night she would cry for Nigel. If mother would change her pillows in the bedroom, she would notice the marks of the tears she had cried.

The first day at work was fine. She was working in a credit company that offers loans to groups of small entrepreneurs. All she had to do was to go to the areas assigned to them, meet the clients regularly, and collect the deposit slips. The newly-hired group that she belonged was not actually considered regular employees immediately. They had to undergo a six-month training.

"Hi!" Shaira greeted the group. They were seated in a long wooden table. The friendly faces accommodated her. There were still three vacant chairs near the place reserved for the branch manager.

"Oh my goodness. I wasn't late yet but I had to be earlier next time to avoid sitting in this area."The branch manager was there to greet them. Mr. Smith looked professional. He was in his mid-thirty's and he wore eyeglasses. He smiled at Shaira since he remembered the sincerity of her answers during the interview. Shaira smiled shyly. She then averted her eyes. As she looked at the other sides of the table, she studied the faces of her new colleagues. There were at least 20 of them on the table.There were two accountants who were not joining the meeting. They were supposed to stay that way. After a few minutes, another person occupied the space in the corner beside her. One more chair was left in front of Shaira.

"Welcome to our company." Mr. Smith began.

The door knocked. Leonil entered the office and everyone put their eyes on him. Some employees whispered with their seatmates.

"I'm sorry for being late."

"Come in, take the vacant seat." The manager was too kind to offer a chair to a newbie and a latecomer, Shaira thought.

"Thank you."

Leonil took the seat and noticed Mhay and his other friends beside him. They silently nodded and kept a little smile from each other. He knew at least three regular employees there for they came from the same school in college.

"Hi," he waved soflty to Shaira whom he only noticed after a few orientations from the manager.

Shaira admired his friendliness. He almost knew everybody. But she only grinned and nodded. She seemed to feel like she was going to have a new group. A group that she always wanted where there would always be laughter together. Just like high school days. She was the next to the youngest among the employees.

"First, you are going to accompany one of our regular employees and observe how they do the job for a week. Then you will be sent to a seminar the following week for a full orientation of the job,to understand its history, mission and vision, legal practices, so forth and so on. You will encounter tests and training during the seminar to let us know if you really fit the job" Mr. Smith explained.