Orlando

THREE

"Let off? But why? What did I wrong? Why are you firing me?" Diamond was confused as why was Gladys firing her while she was known as one of the best employees she had. She did her work diligently, was never late and she never quarrelled with anyone hence it made no sense.

"My clients don't feel safe with you working at Logan Towers and I have to take that into consideration. They are my highest paying clients. I'm sorry; I will pay you for the next two months out of gratuity for your honest work. I'm sorry Ms Barry." Gladys the old chocolate skinned lady without a wrinkle in sight spoke in a tender voice, patting her shoulder as she passed Diamond the already signed check.

With slumped shoulders Diamond left the boardroom in Logan Towers, willing herself not to cry and soldier on as usual. She was not going to let some lousy ass people dim her light. She would not let them, she wouldn't show them just how much they've hurt her and how much what they are doing to her has affected her. She knew it was those two ladies who poisoned Orlando who had her fired. She just didn't know how much power they had in the company, it was such a shame.

"Hey!" a male voice startled her as she was heading out. She turned to look at who has called her in such a manner. It was Orlando, he was back on his feet but you could tell he was fresh from hospital; his voice was a little groggy. "Hey, you are the woman who saved my life." He continued and she passed a weak smile, trying to dismiss him. She didn't feel like making conversation with the man, but he was trying to show gratuity, so she had to endure it.

"I am glad to see you doing okay... sir." She said the last part as she wasn't sure he'd like to be called by his first name; he was after-all the CEO of the company.

"Thank you. I want to thank you properly... I owe you, had not you come to my office when you did, we would be talking a different story right now." The man was fairly handsome, striking green guys against her blue ones, full lips, he was tall and had a boyish cut and his hair fell lazily into his eyes. He was wearing grey sweat pants and a long sleeved black t-shirt, he looked pretty relaxed.

"You can give me a job..." Diamond mumbled with a roll of the eye but was shocked when he heard her. "I thought you already had a job, you were wearing a cleaning uniform." Orlando trailed.

"I did, but see the little witches you have here working for you had my boss fire me because I know that they tried to drug you." She told him, if she were to be fired for not doing anything she may as well snitch on those skinny bitches with crooked noses. It wouldn't sit well with her knowing she was just fired for trying to save somebody's life.

"What? What are you talking about? Do you know who did this? Here my doctor was telling me it was just some allergic reaction to raisins." Orlando breathed, his eyes showing fury. Someone drugged him, he wanted to know who it was and have them pay for that.

Diamond sighed and replayed the whole Friday scene to him, it was now Monday and she was called in early in the morning just to be let off. This wasn't a good way to spend a Monday. The day was indeed blue and she just had no energy to get up and look for new work. She was drained; everything in her life looks up for a minute then it all collapses, without warning.

Orlando looked at her, the woman was telling the truth, and he could see in her eyes that the eyes were dimmed. She had no spark within her, as if the whole world was in her head screaming and causing chaos. "Come with me." He suggested and Diamond arched an eyebrow questioningly but Orlando turned his back and walked to the elevator, she trotted behind, hoisting her leather satchel up her shoulder. She was having a rough morning, now some rich white boy that almost got killed wants her to make a statement to the police, could life get any worse than at the moment? She wanted to crawl up in her bed and sleep her worries away.

They went up to his office and everybody was trying to faff over him as he walked through the corridors in his casual wear. It was the first time the Logan employees see him without his suits and ties. He was so laid back and looked hella handsome, so good enough to eat. Well to every other female except the married ones and Diamond. She just wanted to get this little meeting with sir almighty over with and then skedaddle.

"My name is Orlando York, the CEO of Logan Towers. This is my family's company and we deal with Gold." He explained offering her a seat at the couch as he sat next to her. "Tell me a little about yourself, beginning with your name." the man spoke with so much confidence somehow it irked Diamond, she was having a rough morning, she had no desire to be in that office, however comfortable the couches were or how good it smelled. There was a manly scent, his cologne and just some nice smell in the office, it was clean... she was part of the cleaning crew and knew just how much work they put into cleaning it.

"I am Diamond Barry. I was a cleaner here and I just got fired. I'm sorry Mr York, but why are we here? What do you want?" she asked.

Orlando liked her little spunk; she was the kind of woman who would never beat around the bush about anything. She was an open book, what you saw was what you got. Transparency was remarkable.

"You saved my life and got fired for it. I want to give you a job, by becoming my personal assistant." He said and her jaw dropped slightly. Was the man serious? She was only kidding when she mumbled that earlier on.

"I am sorry sir, but I wasn't hinting downstairs... I just. Don't you have a personal assistant already?" she asked, feeling a little hot than necessary. She didn't want to pressure the poor man into giving her a job, she was just merely saying.

"Relax, Diamond, that is a really nice name I must say. I want to give you the job, I don't even want to know of your qualifications but you saved my life and knew who was trying to drug me. You could be loyal to me and I'd like to have such person around me. What do you say?" he asked, hope in his eyes.

Diamond looked at him and wasn't sure of what to say about the offer. Orlando explained what he expected of her, almost every detail and also that he never had a personal assistant but just secretaries from other departments and sometimes he used the receptionist to take minutes and notes for him. He needed an assistant, he needed a person like Diamond who spoke her mind and never shied away from the truth.

"So what do you say?" he asked once again. He stood up and picked a stick note on his desk and wrote an amount on it. "Your salary per month." He passed the note to her, sceptically she took it and casted her eyes down on it.

"wha... wha.. Are you serious?" her big eyes almost popped out of their sockets and that caused Orlando to smirk. He knew to get her to agree he had to cough up way more than the market scales for personal assistants.

"Like I said, I need someone loyal and someone with such fire and yes I need you to actually do the work. How fast can you type?" he asked her and she grinned at him.

"I can type, take minutes, set up appointment, manage your diary, pick out your clothes if need be. I'll clean your office if I have to for this money." Diamond said. "But rest assured I can do this. Just put me on one month probation first and see if we can actually wing this, because for the money I'll do a split over the Mississippi river." Orlando chuckled at that, something about Diamond just made him feel a little better, working with her might just not be bad.

It was the first time he hired someone in his firm and not based on merit, but based on personality. He hoped he wasn't making any mistakes.

"One more thing, don't find me attractive."