A Rose For Nelly

Chapter 9

Nelly's POV

I sat there staring, I couldn't help it,
It must be the insomnia but she actually looked better than I remembered
A little disorganized yes, but non the less beautiful
Glad you could stumble in on us
Miss ? I questioned with a smirk,
regaining my composure as she sat across me
'Long-John' she answered
Of course I remembered her name I just didn't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that
"Well then I'll get right to it' I said
'You have both been selected for a position'
But as you know there is room for just one of you
To that effect you will both be hired on probation for a period of 3 months after which one person will be chosen and
well, I said raising an eyebrow
You can both guess what happens to the other person"
You will work with and report directly to me
"Any questions? I asked as I made to stand up
" just one" she said putting up her rather short hand
Yes? Miss Long-John
I answered with raised eyebrows
Will we be paid? she asked
I looked over to the young man sitting beside her, whom I had learnt was named Timi
he was nodding frantically
"Yes" I answered
half of the supposed pay for the victor or should I say employee
I answered as I made for the door
'You start on Monday"
"Wear something decent and don't be late"
I added as I threw one last glance at her before exiting the door.

Rose's POV

I was back at my apartment, impatiently waiting for M.J to walk through the door so I could tell her all that had happened.
Today had been quite exhausting for me
I had slept relatively early the day before and had forced myself awake because of a dream I had had
It wasn't a bad dream though, it was just an inappropriate one.
I had finally fallen back asleep in the early hours of the morning
and had woken up a bit late
And as a result I had got caught up in the Lagos traffic
Which had made me inexcusably late
Uh!!! I groaned out loud
And what more that....that man that calls himself Mr O'Brian had not even wasted even a second to gloat about it
Why did he always have to be like that
It was like being an asshole came naturally to him and he didn't even have to try
Surprisingly that wasn't the most disturbing part of our meeting
It was that we would have to work directly with him?
Oh God! no,
I mean, he made it no secret that he didn't like me
So yes I was a little surprised when I heard that I had been chosen
But to work and report directly to him?
Now I knew he was just prolonging my suffering
So he could gloat some more when I finally lost to that other guy
because obviously he would be the one to pick and there was no way in hell he would pick me. I thought
But why??
What had I done to deserve him hating me this much.

I was distracted from my thoughts by the creaking of my door
It was my neighbour Tosan asking if he could borrow salt,
I gave him what he wanted and he left
I had really used up my savings from working for my aunt before her move that I was almost down to my last penny
I heard the door creak a second time
I turned around to see Maryjane standing in the doorway
What are you thinking about she asked
Talk to me she demanded
taking my hand and leading me to seat on the bed where I told her everything that had happened
From the call to the meeting and the annoying job proposal
'But you can't do anything' she stated
"You need this job"
'I know' I affirmed
I have no choice, which is why
I thought
I'm not going to let him make a fool out of me
I'm going to work really hard
And if I don't get picked it won't be because of my incompetence
It would solely be because of his hate for me.