GIRL FRIDAY (Completed)

Chapter 1 - Answered Prayer

Hello my dears, so nice to be back :) 

I missed all of you, missed the action here on Wattpad but no worries, I'm back and hopefully you will like what I have for you this time. I will be trying to push a story lighter than my usual style, we all need to to lighten up a little, considering the recent events happening in our fandom and elsewhere in the world. 

So let me introduce to you the world of Nicomaine Mendoza, a simple and positive girl who tries to battle it out between principles and morals, struggling to find her place under the sun while accidentally discovering love in her reclusive but handsome boss, Richard Faulkerson Jr. 

It will be the usual rollercoaster ride of emotions, but hopefully with funnier and light moments, and the usual fluff from time to time. Hope you like it my dears, looking forward to hearing from you again in this corner of mine :)  

Maine waited patiently for her turn to be interviewed for the Junior Secretary post. She wore her lucky red shirt and black slacks, heels and a blazer. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail, and light make-up completed her professional look. She looked cool and composed on the outside but anxious on the inside.

Faulkerson Consulting was a medium-sized accountancy firm that was part of the Faulkerson Holdings Group, a conglomerate that had interests in the food industry, real estate development and tourism. Getting into the company would be an achievement for her and an assurance that she could be on the start of a stable career path.

She hoped she didn't look too young for the job. There were actually fifteen of them asked to come by, then scaled down to just three. She was the third to be interviewed, and it worried her that the final interviewer might be too tired by the time she gets her turn.

Maine would have wanted to find a job that was more related to her course, but her financial problem couldn't wait. She needed to get this job now before classes start. She had a month to work and set aside money for her tuition, she can worry about other expenses later. The important thing was for her to get this job.

"Miss Nicomaine Mendoza please?"

She got up quickly, and followed the Recruitment Manager to enter the office of a certain Richard Faulkerson Sr. She was made to sit in the receiving area, and was served a glass of iced tea.

"Have a seat, Miss Mendoza. Mr. Richard Faulkerson Sr. is one of our partners, he will be interviewing you shortly. Good luck."

"Thank you ma'am."

She was left alone to wait for a few minutes. She looked around the room, admiring the Bali-inspired furnishings, especially the intricately carved mirror. She stood up to take a look at herself, to make sure she still looked presentable. She noticed a smudge on her eyebrow and tried to correct it, but ended up erasing half of her brow. Shit. Quickly, she took a brow pencil from out of her bag and tried to redo her brow.

"Ahem, good afternoon?"

Hala. She jerked at the greeting and faced him, feeling the pencil swerve across the bridge of her nose. It was too late to repair the damage, she faced him without bothering to check what her brow looked like. She slowly walked sideways, and greeted him back.

"Good....Good afternoon sir."

She noticed he was trying to put on a straight face, making her blush a deep red. Patay na, hindi na ko matatanggap nito.

"Hija, sit down, don't be afraid hindi ako nangangagat, pag gutom lang. I am Richard Faulkerson, Sr. by the way. "

He reviewed her resume and looked at her then quickly looked away again. Tangina, natatawa talaga siya sakin, goodbye job.

"I was scanning your resume and I noticed you're still studying. Being my secretary involves a lot of work, won't your studies suffer? Dean's lister ka pa naman."

"No sir, I intend to enroll for classes in the evening just three times a week, two weekdays and whole day of Saturday po."

"I see that you're majoring in Accountancy. How long before you graduate?"

"Two semesters na lang po."

"Are you aware that the two other applicants are already graduates with job experience already? What would make me hire you instead of them?"

"To be honest sir, I will not attempt to prove to you that I am better than they are. Pare-pareho naman kami nangangailangan ng trabaho, so patas lang kami o baka mas qualified pa sila. Pero sana sir, kung sino mas nangangailangan sa amin, yun na lang po kunin niyo. Kung employed pa sila sa mga trabaho nila at wala namang takot na mawawalan sila ng trabaho, then sana i-consider niyo po ako. Please give me this chance because I work hard and I learn fast."

He was silent for a moment, as though processing what she said. Then he spoke again.

"Are you the breadwinner of your family?"

"Not really sir. My mom has a small business of her own, but business is not that good lately kaya I needed to find a job to pay for my tuition. I felt I needed to do this because my mom is a single parent and I have other siblings that she has to worry about."

"Ano bang business ng mommy mo?"

"We have a coffee shop in Bataan that also sells take-out baked goods. There are five of us and still three of us in college, kaya gusto ko pong tumulong sa mommy ko."

He read through her resume again. After a while, he nodded to her and asked.

"Ok, when can you start?"

"Po?"

"When can you start work?"

"Immediately sir."

"Sige......ganito. I'll ask HR to prepare an offer sheet now, just wait here ok. Saka hija, ayusin mo kilay mo para maging dalawa ulit." With that he winked at her and chuckled as he left the office.

She immediately ran to the mirror and saw the angry line between her two brows and the smudge above her right brow. Quickly she fixed the damage as she tried to slow down the beating of her heart. It seems they were offering the job to her. She sat down at the couch and tried to calm herself.

Her gaze fell on a framed photo on the console near the mirror. It was the portrait of a really handsome guy, his smile so engaging with that deep dimple on his cheek. The photo looked so life like, as though he was looking straight at her and would blink any time now. She was about to approach the photo to take a closer look but Mr. Faulkerson was back with the Recruitment Manager.

"Ok, Ms. Mendoza, here we go. I have here our offer sheet, and I hope you will be happy with our offer."

The pay was surprisingly more than what she was expecting, considering she was an undergraduate. She was also given a tax shield, which made her take-home pay bigger. The benefits were generous, and on the whole, Maine was happy with the whole package.

"Sir, thank you very much for this. Parang ang laki po ng sweldo for an undergraduate."

"Hija budgeted yan for the position level so it's not really a big deal. I chose you because I like that you were realistic about yourself and how honest you responded to my questions. It speaks of good character and I like that in my team. But this is hard work, ok? I expect you to always work hard, nothing less."

"Yes sir, I promise I will work hard."

They signed the contracts and Maine was given an orientation on the documents she needed to submit for employment. She was given a copy of the employee's manual and the employment contract. As she was on her way to the elevator, she overheard women chatting.

"Chona, hindi pa graduate pero yun ang na-hire, mukhang may backer kaya siguro natanggap."

"Tignan natin ang galing niya, baka one month pa lang bumigay na yan."

She felt paranoid, certain they were referring to her. But she was not doing anything wrong, and she made a promise she will just try hard to get along with everybody there. 

She passed by the church to give thanks for her good fortune.

"Thank you for this wonderful day Lord. Matutuloy ko na pag-aaral ko."