The Bank Client

Chapter 9 - Pantry & Party

It's been two weeks and nothing extraordinary has happened except that Ana realized she still haven't bought any groceries to refill her pantry. Her training is taking up on its pace. The weeklong orientation's done and they're now tackling the bank products.

"Cece, do we still have supplies in the pantry? "Ana asked the cleaning lady which is now more of a housekeeper to her. Cece comes in the morning to prepare her breakfast, then she comes back in the afternoon to clean the condo and prepare her dinner. "It's been two weeks already. Do you want me to run to the grocery for next week's menu?"

"Oh, no, Miss Ana! The pantry's still full and the supplies come with the accommodation." Cece paused from washing the dishes. Ana invites her to dine with her at night. She said she felt alone and that's one thing she can offer to Cece for her services and for the latter's refusal to accept her extra tip. "F-for this floor only. And for the penthouse upstairs."

"Is that so? How lucky can I be? I guess I'll have to invite Earl and Jane for dinner one of these days." Ana sounded amazed that she giggled. "Would that be ok, Cece? You'll be preparing dinner for three. My friends said the grocery that the hotel offered was only a welcome pack. Good for a week."

"No problem, Miss Ana. Just tell me when would that be."

Ana got up from the table. "Is there somebody leaving at the penthouse, Cece?" She stopped midway to her room.

"I have no idea, Ma'am."

"I wonder how it looks like... my unit here already looks nice. My ex's... never mind." Ana waved her hand. "Just lock the door when you leave, Cece. Goodnight."

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"Ladies and gentlemen, now that we are on the bank products, I'd like to announce that some of you will be asked to accompany our high-ranking officers on some of their business meetings." The training facilitator announced. "That includes our CEO, VPs, AVPs, and Board of Directors. This will not be limited during the period of our discussion on the bank products but this will go on even when your tackling other topics in the course of this training."

"You will be there as observer, and if you have a brighter idea to suggest on what bank products the prospective client needs, feel free to suggest. After all, you are future VPs and AVPs of this institution," the facilitator continued. "Beth shall be informing you of your scheduled client calls."

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"Hey, Ana! How nice of you to drop by my office." Macario Ramos stood up from his swivel chair and gave Ana a peck on her cheek.

"Good morning, Mr. Ramos." She greeted him with a smile. Here she is standing in front of none other than the CEO of bank. And now barely on her third week of training, she was one of the firsts who were called for the marketing strategy training. She was ushered in by one of his staff, who is now closing the door behind her.

"I was just informed that you'll be the one accompanying me to dinner the day after tomorrow. How's Ryan?" There it goes again. Sometimes, Ana would like to believe that she's given all this privileges because of Ryan. She had met Mr. Ramos before, when she had her first training with the bank. The second time was when he visited Iloilo branches that he even had a dinner meeting with her and Ryan, the latter being the the number one client of the branch she was assigned to and a valued client of the bank as a whole.

"Uhmm... h-he's fine. Busy as usual." She nervously said. She has no idea about Ryan's whereabouts now. It's not that she doesn't care, she just don't have the time to snoop around. She only get updates from her friends who had the luxury of reading society pages of magazine and newspapers. Sometimes, she'd only get upset from reading news bits, especially now that with her silence and absence from his affairs, he'd been linked with a half-Filipina model who is a daughter of one of Ryan's dad business partners. "About the dinner, Mr Ramos..."