The dirt on jewel

Chapter 9

The mail was by an unknown but it felt like it was especially meant for me,meant for this moment.

The next day I was in the field,engrossed in work. It was predictable and not at all surprising that Arnold had now taken charge of the room,and made me work frantically. Arnold was very strict in matters of business,clients and Samantha,unfortunately MJ had all of these. It was nearing the lunch time but it seemed impossible that I could finish up the job,so I decided to stay to work rather than rest,at the moment.

On the other hand Leya had taken a few days off work to visit her grandma who lives in Canada. Leya's family is very much like my own,only they don't have a betraying son or a dead head-of family. Leya was always mollycoddled in her family being young,pretty and the only girl in a family of boys. While,I was always just the side-kick in my family,instead Juan got caress. Being the apple of my grandparents eyes,cosseted by my aunt and cuddled by an old friend of dad's.

"Ayana! Are you daydreaming now?" I heard somebody say behind me.

"Uh..no I wasn't. I was just planning how to manage my time."I replied while turning back and finding Cullen.

"Oh my!Cullen you scared me I thought it was Arnold again."I said in a hushed voice.

He giggled," I thought you found Arnold very calm and diligent!"

"Now don't you be sarcastic with me,Cullen. Also don't you have anything better to do?" Cullen knew how to play with words with everyone.

"Well,it's lunch time and the only thing better to do right now is eat." He replied in his usual manner.

"Is it,already? Gosh! I have got work to do. You can go and eat by yourself." I replied while turning back to start my work again.

"As you wish,Madame." He bowed and left the room.

File after file,mail by mail,stamping and editing,checking and re-checking I tried to finish the work assiduously. By almost 2:40pm I had managed to complete all the tasks Arnold had assigned to me.

Arnold and Samantha were just coming back after having a successful meeting with S&N. Arnold was especially pleased with the result of their talks with the sensational band. This collaboration brought both money and pride for the company,and anything that makes MJ successful is definite to make Arnold happy.

"Done,dear?" He asked me rather sweetly than he has done any time before.

"Yeah,Arnold. Anything else you would like me to do?" I asked him as sweetly as he did.

"Yes,I need you to go to the 8th floor were the trainees are,and ask them if they have any questions,need assistance with a task,or want me to come." He quickly responded to my query.

"Alright." I replied.

"Wait! And take these files to Aldwin Hellard,the new trainee." Arnold said.

"Sure,anything else?" I said.

"No." He replied while disappearing behind his desk.

I turned to the hallway,took the lift and went straight down to the 8th floor. On the 8th floor,there had been an empty room for quite awhile now. But from today onwards it was occupied by the trainees,Rae Martin and Aldwin Hellard. Both of whom I had seen on the day of the interview.

Rae is blonde,rosy-checked,about 25 years old. She wears florals and is just about the same height as me but looks taller because of her sky-scraping heels. She is what you call a beauty and a fashionista,but I think she has brains too,after all nobody without brains could enter the world of MJ!

I entered the room,it was quite small and the furnisher inside looked old too but at least the room was lighted and was busily in function.

"I am Ayana Adams,and Arnold has sent me to ask if you may require any assistance or have any queries which needs to be solved." I cleared my throat before I spoke for them to realise my existence in the room.

They both looked at me,expressionless.

"So if you have anything to ask,you can tell me so I can inform Arnold." I tried to explain further when there was no reply for almost a minute.

"I don't think there is anything wrong but maybe Aldwin has something to ask." Rae said politely.

I turned to face Aldwin but he was now looking back at his computer screen.

I walked to his desk and kept the files on top.

"I have edited these files,Arnold told me to bring them to you." I said in a serious tone.

"I'll go through them and let you know if any further editing is needed." He said in the same business like tone.

I left the room wondering how two people with opposite characteristics are stuck in the same room with each other. Rae is earnest,cordial,zealous but reverent. While Aldwin antagonistic,unenthusiastic but very thoughtful person. While Rae could charm people with almost all her characteristics I doubt Aldwin has anything except his looks to sway people around.

It was almost 5:00pm now and I was thinking on how many hours studying would I get after I reach home from the cafe. In a week I was having tests so I decided to start studying now.

"Miss Ayana?" I heard someone calling my name.

"Yes,yes." I said completely startled.

"Will you bother to look into this!" Aldwin said strictly.

"Is something wrong." I felt the same shudder inside me that I felt at the hotel while facing him.

"Yeah I hope you'll at least be able to identify your mistakes." He said and left the room.