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A bird screeched loudly, jolting Sebina out of sleep. She bolted upright, her dyed red hair all over the place because her hair cover had slipped from her head in the night. Groaning slightly as she wiped drool from the side of her mouth, she slowly got out of bed in the dark and blindly made her way to the bathroom.
By the time she was done getting herself ready for this blue monday, the sun was shining brightly and after a hearty breakfast of oats and fruits, she brushed her teeth then headed to the garage to drive to work.
As she waited in the early morning traffic on the highway, she quickly glanced in her rearview and used her middle finger to remove the slight shine on her ombre lips. Traffic was moving like a snail and this was part of travelling that she hated the most because she lived more than an hour from the city, where her offices were based.
Countless times, her father asked her why she didn't move to the city when she could clearly afford it but she always brushed him off, telling him she liked living with him, in the peace of their small town. Yes, she had her own place but she still lived at home, being the only person her father had so far from home. All the other relatives were scattered all over the country, the closest being a whole district away.
As some Kenny G played in the background, a call suddenly interrupted her music. She answered on realising who it was-her PA.
"Talk to me, sensei," she said as a smile graced her face.
A deep laugh filled the car as the PA laughed. "Good morning, madam."
"Morning to you too, Ntai," she replied.
Ntai had been her PA since a year ago and he was a young man, just trying to find his way in the industry, like she had been about ten years ago when she quit her job as a bank teller to start her mechanical shop-fixing and revamping cars with the help of a few employees. The company had failed twice, aided by the fact that people wouldn't trust a female mechanic with their cars but about three years ago, she had managed to land a big client in the form of a small trucking company which refered some of its clients to her. And not just any clients-wealthy clients. Business started taking off from there and now she was raking in the money considering how many clients she could land in a week. She was either fixing cars or revamping them every week and she worked hard for her money because everyday, one would find her in the workshop with her dirty overalls and toolkit, working hard on a car with her employees. She had her father to thank for this.
"Madam," her PA said. "You've got three meetings today with 2 referrals and the owner of a new trucking company who wants to enlist your maintenance services on his fleet."
"Im wearing a suit and heels today. Who's manning the workshop?"
Ntai laughed. "You're for real, madam? You? Are wearing heels? I have to see this to believe it."
"Quit teasing," Sebina chuckled. She didn't blame her PA for being a little humorous about the fact that she was wearing heels. She always wore flats if she had to be dressed up but most of the time, since she was in overalls, she always had on training shoes.
"Well, your first meeting is in thirty minutes so be here by 8. You'll find your coffee-"
"I hate coffee," she laughed, knowing that they did this everyday with Ntai.
"I meant your tea, in a flask on your desk. I'm going to make sure that everything is fine in the workshop, madam. You'll say when you get here."
"Mm-hhm." Sebina cut the call and drove on.
It was 7:50 by the time she got to work. She quickly greeted the workers in the workshop as they milled around a Lexus that they owner had ordered to be plated a matte black.
"Guys," she said loudly over the clatter of machines. Everyone turned to her. "Lunch is on me today...count the number of those who are in today and we'll take the minibus."
A loud cheering erupted in the room as one worker yelled, "THIS IS WHY WE LOVE YOU, MADAM!!"
Sebina laughed. "Get back to work then."
She walked to the offices in the back of the workshop and with Ntai's help, prepared the 'board room' as best as they could. The board room was a simple sun room that had been part of the building when she bought it but when she started getting more clients, she realised that she would need a space bigger than her office to host them. She had the sun room furnished with an oak table that could sit around ten people and had a few pictures of cars and mechanical art added here and there. A projector hung in the far corner of the room and for a screen, Sebina would pull down the pitch black blotting screen on one side of the sun room.
Everything was just as perfect as she wanted it to be.
The first two meetings didn't take too long as the clients simply wanted a panel beating and one wanted to change the interior of his car. After everything had been finalised and payment cleared, Sebina gave instructions to her five employees, two on one car and three on the one that needed most work.
Her last appointment arrived in the form of a young coloured (mixed race) driver in a blue golf shirt printed 'Sonar Fleet' and a pair of blue whitewashed jeans. He quickly took off the blue cap on his head. His hair had been cropped and lined close to his scalp, connecting neatly into his stubble as his lean body slightly towered over her. He greeted her with a small smile.
"Ms Sebina. A pleasure to meet you," he said. "I'm here on behalf of Sonar Fleet, our new trucking company."
Sebina nodded. So she had dressed up for nothing? She had been hoping to be meeting the owner of the company and maybe score herself a few clients through him then eventually score a man that wasn't intimidated by her. Her high hopes were dashed.
"Nice to meet you...um..."
"Faizal," the young man said.
She forced a smile to hide her disappointment. "Faizal. What can we do for you today?" She led him to the boardroom.
He sat down and she sat before him, still wearing her faux smile as if it was his fault that the owner of the company wasn't able to make it.
"Would you like anything to drink?" she asked.
"Water would be fine," he said. "Thank you."
Sebina stood up and poured him a glass of water, catching his reflection in the silver plate of the water dispenser. He was looking around the room with a smile on his face, nodding his face in approval. Then he turned to her and she noticed the way his eyes lingered on her for a couple of seconds before he quickly turned away, clearing his throat as if he had just done something bad. She knew that she didn't have a big butt or hips but she had a nice figure, one that could make even young men like Faizal feel like they were sinning just for staring.
She smirked and turned back to him, placing the water before him. He quickly gulped it then thanked her, still wearing his small smile.
"Should we get to business Mr. Faizal?" she asked, sitting back down.
"Yes, please. We, as Sonar Fleet, are a new trucking company, branching out from Mart & Sons-they were your clients a few years back?"
Sebina smiled widely. Her very first big clients! The ones that had gotten her where she was today. "Yeah. Great clients that company was. What can we do for you today?"
"Well, we were wondering if you could sign a six month contract with us for that-" he pushed a folded piece of paper towards her and she opened it, a smirk gracing her face. "-amount of money. What we need is just basic maintenance for our cars on a weekly basis, to make sure that everything is running smoothly and fix what needs to be fixed."
"That can be done, Mr. Faizal. Anything else?"
"Well... we'll be needing you to travel with some of the staff because we rent out private cars and usually before they are returned, we do a check up at the renter's home to make sure everything is ok before taking the car back. That will be part of your job."
"Im usually in the workshop because I am the only one that handles our clients personally so we can send a staff member to do the check ups. That will be no problem."
Faizal nodded, his light green eyes on her face. He grinned, a boyish grin that made Sebina want to laugh. "I'll inform my boss then." He stood up and shook her hand. "Thank you for your time. We'll contact you about arranging the contract in 2-3 business days. It was a pleasure to meet you."
Sebina drew her hand from his because he was still holding on. "The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Faizal."
The man left.
Sebina sighed and rolled her eyes before going to her office to grab her wallet in order to take the guys out for lunch.