His Nineteenth Secretary [✔]

Twenty-seven

"Not really, just never thought you could be gay."

"My parents hate me because I'm gay." Now putting on a serious face, his voice holding a tinge of sadness, "It started when I was little. I would wear my twin sister's clothes behind closed doors. I just happened to have a liking for girl's stuff and so there was a day I forgot to lock the door behind. My mum who wanted to get something from our room entered and caught me red-handed. She didn't take that day's seriously thinking I did it because of my young age. My twin sister knew about it but she hid it from my parents, because I pleaded with her not to tell them. The day my Mum knew for sure that I was gay was the day she caught me and one of my male friends from school who came to visit me, kissing in my room. I was twelve then, she cried like crazy so much I felt sorry for her. She couldn't keep it to herself and went ahead to tell my dad about it when he returned from work in the evening. He threw me out of the house that night in the freezing cold. The worst part was, I only had a light top and pajamas on that night, I almost froze to death. The following day, my mum took me to my aunt's place with all of my things to start living there. My dad disowned me because of that."

"Why would he do that?"

"He had a reputation to protect." He rolled his eyes.

"And your twin sister never begged them to get you back?" I probed.

"What! She hated me so much too then. She said the other kids in her class made jest of her at school because of me and because of me she didn't have any friend."

"She is still like that till now?"

"Not anymore but my parents still hate seeing me. Anyway that aside, do you have any idea of what next week Monday is going to be about?"

"No. Any event?"

"Not an event but 'a rose from me to you, my department head' day."

"Just hearing about it. What is it about?"

"We department members would present our department head with a rose which symbolizes how we feel about them. Roses come in different colors and each color has it own meaning, you know that right?"

"Yes I do." I answered.

"Hi guys." Mandy came in just then.

"Good Morning, Mandy." I and Jameson greeted together. She made her way over to my desk to join us after dropping her bag on her desk.

"What's going on here?"

"Just telling her about the 'a rose from me to you, my department head' day."

"Wait, that's April 14th. That should be next week Monday isn't it?"

"You are right." Jameson answered.

"Whoa, I can't wait for Monday to come. Did you tell her our former head of department didn't get a single rose from any of us last year?"

"Don't even remind me of that." Jameson laughed.

"Why didn't she get a single rose?" I asked.

"None of us liked her. She was definitely a witch, trust me. During the time she was here, she was hostile and snaps at everyone like a wounded dog." Mandy said.

"Hi. Good morning, everyone." Juliana squealed on entering the office just then with Michael and Catherine following behind her. They joined our little group as well and not long, the whole department was complete.

It didn't take long to round up our early morning gist to start the work for that day.

"Ruby, please can I ask you for a favor?" Catherine, who had just appeared before my desk whispered to me. It was afternoon already but everyone still seemed to be busy with work.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

"After work, I will need to go to the hospital to check on my son."

"What happened to him?"

"He returned home from school with a fever yesterday and had to be admitted for proper treatment at the hospital I took him to. I will need to stay with him at the hospital tonight and the thing is I can't take Ellie his little sister with me again today. My husband already traveled too since yesterday morning. Can you please let her stay with you till tomorrow morning please. I've asked others to allow her stay to with them but they are all giving me excuses, you're my last hope. I can't even ask any of my neighbors for help, they won't ever allow her to stay with them. What do you say? Please say yes."

"I..." Deep in thought, I scratched my cheek thinking of what Brian might say about bringing a little kid to his house.

"How old is she?"

"Just six."

"I might need to inform Brian about it. Before we close for the day I will let you know if she can stay with us for the night."

"Thank you so much." She hugged me so tight I heard a bone or two in my body crack.

-

"Have you called him? What did he say?" Catherine asked as it was already nearing 5pm.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry, I forgot all about it. Let me call him right now." With that, I picked up my phone to call Brian. The call was picked on the second ring.

"Hello."

"Hey!" Answered a feminine voice on the other side. I knew whose voice it was. It was Madison's, but I couldn't help but to wonder why she was the one who picked the call. To make sure I wasn't the one who dialed the wrong number, I checked my phone to confirm it was really Brian's number I dialed.

"Do you have something to say or not?" She rasped.

Looking up to find Catherine who was still standing before my desk, I could see the confusion on her face probably wondering why I wasn't saying anything.

"Please excuse me I will be right back," I said to her before making my way out of the office.

"Why are you the one picking up his call?" I was outside our office now and was pacing a little.

"Because he is with me, in my house." I felt a sudden surge of anger at her words.

"Can you give the phone to him, I need to speak with him." I said softly trying to remain calm.

"Just tell me whatever you want to tell him, I will relay your message to him." She remained defiant. I shouldn't be wasting my time speaking to her, hanging up was the best option and I didn't think twice before doing just that.

After I was finally able to calm my anger, I walked back inside the office. On seeing me, Catherine rose from her seat, eager to know if I had gotten his permission.

"He said there is no problem." I lied.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Thank you. I should go and pick her up from school before it's time for you to leave work. Thank you so much Ruby." She engulfed me in another bone crushing hug.

*

I was already at the parking lot in Brian's car which I brought to work, waiting for Catherine who went to pick up her daughter from preschool. I opened my closed eyes at the tap on the window. I went ahead to open the door and there was her daughter, Ellie.

She looked like a little angel with her calm countenance. The green studs on her ears and her green dress matched well with her green eyes, she was a little version of her mother.

"This is Ruby, say hi." She patted her daughter's head.

"Hi." Ellie obeyed with a short wave of her hand while her head was tilted adorably to the side.

"Aw... How was school today?"

"It was fine." She replied timidly.

"She's shy," Catherine laughed. "She is always like that whenever she is meeting someone for the first time. These are the things she'll be needing for the night." She opened the rear door to put her things inside.

"I don't want you to give Ruby any problem, be a good girl for mummy okay?" She advised her daughter who nodded in response.

"You can go, I will take it from here." I told her and she had helped her daughter to get inside the car.