Love and Lies

“Fiona?” The redhead gritted her teeth at the mention of her name. She was convinced if she heard her name pronounced in the southern drawl, she wasn’t going to keep her act together anymore. It was the seventh time the lady stopped at her office that day and each time she stopped by, it was to remind her of how much work she had to do or how many more meetings she had to attend. “What?” She asked sharply “I ju..just came to remind you we have a meeting by 4pm on Friday” Her forehead creased with confusion.

There was a meeting on Friday? Who the hell fixed a meeting on Friday? She preferred her meetings on Mondays when she was all set for the tiring week ahead. “Thank you Miss Pearson” she replied, her tone a little softer, feeling the guilt of snapping at her earlier. Miss Pearson bobbed her head as she closed the door. Fiona sighed, it was just wednesday, halfway to the weekend. Not that she hated her job but it got tiring. Marketing and advertisement required a lot of planning and brainstorming, new products were launched into the market almost everyday and the need to keep her company’s products running as number one in the market got higher. Their rivals were relentless and they did all they could to throw their products out of the market. She had read an article, bashing her company's products and claiming it was fake. It took a lot of work and effort to debunk the rumors and prove that the products were genuine. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had had only a bagel and coffee all day. Who could she blame for that? Living forty five minutes away from her office required her getting up as early as possible to beat the traffic and make it to the office in record time. Not that she was obliged to do so but discipline was her second skin. She had won employee of month six times in a row and never failed to report work early. “Fiona?” Fiona closed her eyes for about three seconds and reminded herself to breathe. Miss Pearson was back again but this time, she had some files in her hand which meant more work for Fiona. “Miss Pearson, what is it this time?” She replied through gritted teeth Usually, she wasn’t out of patience but over the past months, she found herself working more hours. The former CEO of the company had handed the company over to his nephew. No one had heard of the new CEO although rumor had it that he was on an island, continents away having the time of his life. With the absence of the new CEO, some of the staff had slacked off and didn’t care too much about working but Fiona took it upon herself to ensure things were in order. Most people had said she loved the company too much but she didn’t care, she just loved doing her job and she owed it to the former CEO who had employed her when she was fresh out of college. Most companies had turned her down because she had no work experience but he was kind enough to employ her. “I brought these files for you to work on them. We are considering running more adverts for our products to boost sales” Fiona nodded and motioned for her to place them on a corner of her already packed table. “By the way, the new CEO would be coming in by three o’clock on friday so be prepared to welcome him” Mrs Pearson added “Huh?” Fiona ignored the incessant noises her stomach made. Why was he coming in all of a sudden? Why had no one told her he was coming? It looked like she was going to have a busy week and weekend ahead of her. “You would have gotten the information if you opened your mail” She rolled her eyes, she hadn’t opened her mail in almost a week, majorly because she was scared of the amount of work she had waiting for her. Also, she still had some debts she had to clear. Her landlord had blown her phone up with so many texts and emails, reminding her to pay her rent even though she still had two months left. “Thanks for the reminder” She made a mental note to read through her mails. She heaved a sigh of relief when Mrs Pearson left her office. She was consumed by nervousness. What if the new CEO didn’t like her? What if he wasn’t impressed by all the hard work she had put in? She had heard so many stories about him, no one had anything positive to say about him except the fact that he was successful and well established. She closed her eyes and relaxed a bit in her chair. There was so much work for her to do and she needed a break. Each time she remembered that she was the breadwinner of her family, she had to double the effort she put in her work. Miss Pearson popped her head in between the door again. This time, she wasn’t surprised and she didn’t bother to argue. “Alex said you should submit the files she gave you to work on last week and she wants you to work with some of our clients” “She has to be kidding” Fiona snapped. “Is she trying to rip me apart?” Miss Pearson shrugged, just like most of the workers, she was scared of Alex and she didn’t want to be fired the next day. “She said if you think she’s mean, you should wait till you meet the new CEO and complain to him” Fiona laughed sardonically, it was typical of Alex to say such a thing. She waved her hands in the air, dismissing Miss Pearson. She decided to deal with Alex later but first, she had to take care of her rumbling tummy.