Chapter 19

Guess what today was!! It was a business gala day. I was really excited and have been looking forward to today. My company sent out invites to top-tier industries and establishments all over New York. As was expected, prospective clients and awards.

I had already done a video call with Jane after she left the restaurant. She went straight to the company's hall already set for the gala and video called me. Everything was perfect and I was impressed already.

I got up from my bed and went straight to my desk to pick up my iPad. I went back to the bed and jumped into it in excitement. What could go wrong today? I logged into my email to see lots of emails from both clients and business partners.

"I’m so thrilled for you—planning your own business gala is a milestone."

"We've needed a digital company like yours in the community for some time—thank you for inviting us to your business gala."

"I'm sure it's a great feeling of accomplishment to organize your gala. Congratulations on your efforts."

"I enjoyed working with you previously at Irvington and I'm sure your drive and dedication will make this business gala a success. Congratulations on doing such a great job of always developing new project ideas for your digital company.

"The extra time you've been putting in on this gala has really paid off, and I believe that you have presented an ambitious and attainable set of goals for your team and the company. A multi-company in Dubai reached out to me and couldn't stop talking about your company."

All of these emails put a huge smile on my face. It felt so good to be successful and it was simply because I had put in the efforts. Owning a digital company wasn't so easy.

Each day, I communicated with the marketing/ sales department in regards to all the digital products we had to market to other small digital companies. The graphics/ product design department handled application designs, photoshop, web creation, and more. The creative department handled mock-ups, content creation, etc. I was in charge of overseeing all of that.

And today, we were closing a deal with some major companies to be their long-term producer and I couldn't be happier. That meant more money, more deals.

After responding to the mails, I stood up and went to my window. Something caught my eyes and it was Kharis. She was trimming the flowers and Lois was right there, beside her, probably being a New York comedian at that moment. I could see her laugh so hard. I had never made her laugh. I don't think she had ever smiled genuinely right in my presence.

I chose to ignore them and prepare for work. Oh yes, I had to go to the office to make sure everything including reservations were in their perfect place and the team looked their best.

It was 9:15 am. I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I got out in 6 minutes, walked to my wardrobe and dressed in a royal blue suit and trousers, black tie, and left my room.

Before leaving, I peeped to check if Kharis and Lois were still acting as love birds in the garden. I wonder what their conversation was all about. It must be really intense for her to laugh like that.

Just like Marilyn Munroe said, " if you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything." What is Kharis already doing with Lois, I let out a groan and walked downstairs.

I met her in the kitchen fixing breakfast. I sat on a chair in the kitchen and she was unaware of my presence because she had an earpiece on. When she turned around to see me, she almost poured the hot coffee on her skin.

I was scared to death.

"What if you hurt yourself and poured this on your skin. Do you want a permanent scar?".

She looked at my face and asked what I was doing in the kitchen.

Wow.
"This is my house woman, '' I answered.

She rubbed her hands and said, " This part of the house doesn't belong to you. You can't just walk into the kitchen whenever you want".

I was flabbergasted. I didn't even understand what happened. I just saved her life by stopping the steaming hot coffee from spilling on her skin. And all she could do was claim my kitchen. This woman was complicated.

I kept quiet and headed straight to the dining table. After a few minutes, I saw her walk in with a tray in her hands. She prepared bacon and egg grilled cheese sandwich. The aroma filled the entire room. I wanted to act angry and refuse the meal but I was hungry.

She dropped the tray on the table and walked away, back to the kitchen. I wrote a to-do list for the office and ate breakfast at once. Immediately I cleared my plate, Kharis came out of the kitchen and cleared the dining table. How did she even know I was done with my food? Maybe she was peeping from the door.

I stood up, went to the kitchen, and uttered a "thank you". I waited for a response from her but she didn't say anything. Had she forgotten I was her boss? I had mellowed down too much and she planned on taking me for granted.

I became angry and walked out of the kitchen. Lois was already standing at the entrance of the door.

"Good morning sir", he said.

I ignored him and stepped into my car. While in the car, I watched him peep into the house as if he was waiting for something to show up. I waited for him for almost two minutes. He ran into the car and apologized.

I sighed and began going through social media. I ensured that every staff of the company used a hashtag (#dfhbusinessgala) on every one of their posts for the past one week till today. If you may be wondering, dfh meant digifrehud (Digital Frederick Hudson).

I got to the office building and met some reporters standing outside. It wasn't time for the event yet, why all the press and commotion. Lois and I dropped from the car and walked inside the building, avoiding all the reporters that came with questions.

"Good morning sir", I heard Jane call out and began running to where I stood.

"Good morning sir", she greeted again.

I nodded in response and handed my to-do list to her.
"I want you to make a copy of this list for yourself and check each box when it's done. I plan on finishing before today.

I walked to my office to first of all 0repaee a speech for the gala dinner.

"Dear Excellencies, ministers, ambassadors, business associates, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

First, I would like to welcome you all to this venue here today to celebrate with us. We are not only celebrating the 4 years that have passed since this company's establishment but also honoring 4 years of hard work, productivity, and enlightening collaboration.

I would like to reaffirm that I don’t think there is a better place to focus on collaboration than the city of New York, which is more than a city, it is a spirit, and home to some of the world’s most meaningful organizations…"

After spending almost four hours in the office preparing the speech and checking the boxes on my to-do list. It was time to go home and prepare for the gala. I got home by 3: 00 pm and decided to take a rest. My alarm was close to me so I set it for the next 2 hours.

I had not seen or heard from Kharis since I got back. I shrugged and closed my eyes...then, I slept off.