Chapter 4

Present.

Grace reflected on her life. "Yeah, that’s the story of my life, crazy right?” She knew that in order to take over her father's business, she needed all the knowledge and experience she could get. That's why she applied to a big publishing firm in New York City, only to end up in her current undesirable position.

Focused on becoming someone worthy of her father’s establishment, she didn’t have time for joy, parties, or dating. At twenty-six, she was still a virgin, a fact she attributed to her lack of time and strength for love. Despite her fears about family and loss, she wondered if there was a man out there for her, someone who could provide perfect love, and a perfect home, just like her parents.

“Oh! There you are,” Edna said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere.

“Jesus! Edna,” Grace said, shocked. “Do you have to sneak up on me like that? I almost had a heart attack.”

"Really, that’s new.” Edna replied nonchalantly.

“What? What did you say?”

"Nothing; what could I say?”

"Seriously, Edna, what do you want?”

“Not me! The boss is calling for the new intakes, which include you,” Edna said, turning on her heels.

That’s strange; Mr. Bark never calls a meeting with recruits. “Did he say why?” Grace asked, following her.

“It’s not my job to ask questions, Grace.” Edna turned and gave her a sideways look before going into the office.

As annoying as she sounded, she was right. "Damn, I thought I told her to stop addressing me by my first name? That bitch,” Grace muttered to herself as he walked into Mr Bert's office.

Just as Edna had said, when she got there, all the new intake had gathered around Mr. Bert. There were five of them, and from him, they found out that there would be a new boss at the headquarters.

Just when Grace started to wonder how the information would affect her, Mr. Bert added, “The new intakes in all the branches, not just here, are required to sign in at the headquarters starting next week Monday, which is three days from now and….”

“Wait, sir!” Grace interrupted him, confused, since she hadn't been listening to the announcement. “What does that mean? I don’t understand; are we being fired or something?” She pondered the choice between being fired and working in this shabby place. Well, I prefer the latter. Of course, no one needs to know about this thought, but now Mr. Bert was staring at her confusedly. “What! Did I say something wrong?” she asked in confusion as she glanced at the others.

Mr. Bert sighed in frustration. No doubt, he was going to lecture her. “What are you talking about, Miss Bush? I said sign in, which obviously means to 'resume' and not be fired. Were you even listening to me, Grace?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, sir.” Nope, she wasn’t, but he said 'resume'. Wait, does that mean starting next week on Monday, she will be working at the headquarters?

Lost in thoughts again, 'OMG, no way.' she mutters, and then...

“GRACE!” Mr. Bert Yelled,

“Fuck WHAT? I mean, sir.”

“Did you hear what I just said?” He questioned.

“What you said?” Grace looked at the other staff, who were now laughing at her. “Nope, sir, I didn’t,” she admitted.

“Seriously Grace!" Mr. Bert sighed, "Is this going to be an issue? Because it is, then your name doesn’t need to be on this list.” He said, waving a sheet of paper at her.

Son of a... “What! Issue?” Grace said calmly. “Of course not, sir. I was just thinking.” She said smiling at him; Hell, there’s gonna be no issues, not when her prayers are being answered at last.

“You don’t think when I talk, Grace; you listen. You are going to a new environment; I just hope none of your self-proclaims will be an issue.” He said, glaring at her.

Son of a bitch. “Of course not! Sir.” Grace said calmly, smiling at him. Bastard.

Mr. Bert continued, “As I was saying before, I was rudely interrupted.” He said this, glaring at her one last time before proceeding. “For some reason, the new boss is looking for new talents and instead of re-employing, he wants to try out the new intake at other branches. So if you are lucky, you will be retained; if not, you will be fired for real. You only have four days; go put your things in order and inform who you need to inform before Saturday; we will be leaving as early as 7:30 am on Sunday. SO, don’t worry. If you are retained, accommodations will not be a problem. but for now, go home and prepare yourselves; we meet here on Saturday evening or Sunday morning if you can make it on time. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir.” They chorused in excitement.

“Now off you go.” Mr. Bert said and went into his office.

“YES, FINALLY.” Grace shrieked in excitement while others murmured among themselves. The first person she told the good news to was not her so-called relatives that she was staying with but Mrs. Hail. She was the only one Grace could say truly cared for her.

The phone rang. “Hello! Grace?”

“Hello, Mrs. Hail, you won’t believe what just happened.”

“Well, with the excitement in your voice, I can tell it’s something good.”

“Hell yeah, fuck It is.” Grace spat out.

“Grace! Language, please,” Mrs. Hail said with a heavy sigh. “You are not a child anymore, and I can’t keep correcting you. Seriously, I can't believe how much you changed; what happened to that sweet, humble girl I used to no?” Mrs. Hail asked in disbelief.

“Yeah! I wonder.” Grace replied to her.

“Yeah, Whatever.” She said dryly. “So the good news?”

“Oh yes!” Grace went ahead and told Mrs. Hail about the new transfer, and Mrs. Hail was happy for her.

Honestly, that’s what Grace liked about her. Mrs. Hail asked if Grace planned to tell her uncle about the news, but no, Grace decided not to tell them. For some time now, they had been pressuring her to take over the family business, but she refused.

So, if she told them about her leaving the country, she didn’t think they would take it well. Mrs. Hail agreed to go with whatever decision Grace made, and for that, Grace was grateful.

But then, because she had no intention of coming back so quickly if she wasn’t retained, she planned on spreading her wings a little bit before returning.

With this in mind, Grace told Mrs. Hail to help her secure space and some documents just in case she wasn’t among the retained intakes. She could stay without encountering any problems, and thankfully, Mrs. Hail agreed.