The next morning Miranda woke up before sunrise and left for the Botanic Gardens for a morning stroll. As she arrived she was pleased to see the gardens in all their wonder. She breathed in the fresh air and then sought out her favourite chair. A chair amongst a circle of colourful flowers. But that’s not all; there was a plaque on the chair dedicated to someone’s love. It read, 'To my love, I love you in this life and my love for you will continue through to the next.'
Miranda could not help feel love surround her when she sat there. To even imagine someone could love her the same way, just made her want to shout out in glee. Butterflies gracefully spread their wings and fluttered around her. This was a special place.
Time passed and Miranda took the warm fuzzy feeling that was inside her and walked along the river. She found a soft patch of grass and waited for the sun to rise.
The sun was as glorious as ever, with pink and purple shades in harmony, drawing across the entire sky. Miranda let the peaceful atmosphere overwhelm her. She knew at that moment, that this was how life should be lived, to enjoy what God had provided; nature in all its brilliance.
Miranda looked over to a couple nearby and wished that one day she too could share this experience with a man she loved. Miranda headed home through the city. She felt amazed the gardens were right next to the bustling city. Yet whilst in the gardens, only the birds humming to a joyous tune could be heard.
Miranda felt really good that she was making time to enjoy her weekend. Normally she was busy working which was why she was a success. 'Surely successful people had a life outside of work too?' Miranda wondered.
Feeling tired from the late night and early morning, Miranda arrived home and tucked herself under the blankets in her comfy bed. She switched on the TV with her remote to listen to the news. An hour later Miranda woke up feeling refreshed. She yawned. Rephrase that, she felt content. Normally there was a rush to do everything but lately Miranda was enjoying the restful moments. Miranda had already determined her weekend was to relax and bum around the house. She had never spent a whole day just chilling before. Her mobile phone beeped and she answered, assuming the caller was Grace.
“Miranda, I need you urgently at the office. How soon can you get here?” Jim asked in a rushed voice.
Devastated, that her plans were ruined for the day, Miranda sighed and responded, “See you in half an hour.” This was the first time Miranda did not want to go to work. Perhaps she had finally found something worth doing; relaxing.
“Miranda, thanks for coming in at such short notice,” Jim said.
“Sure, what’s the problem?”
“We are hosting an event and I want you in charge. I know you will do a fantastic job. The event will be held this Friday for one thousand people.”
Panic started to take hold of Miranda. “This Friday, that is very soon to organise such a large event. Invitations are normally sent out a month in advance,” Miranda replied trying not to sound too apprehensive.
“I know and I am sorry for this. The Board of Directors are coming down soon and want to see how the budget is going. Besides all the business you bring in for this company, everyone else has gone stale. This event is in need to boost our client database and in turn increase our pay packets.”
“Thank you Jim for giving me this opportunity,” Miranda replied on autopilot.
“Miranda, thank you. You are a life saver. Sally will be reporting to you for the event, so get her working. If you need any more staff involved, let me know,” he said soundly.
Including today, Miranda had seven days to prepare for the event. She was feeling low. Jim said she was the only one still bringing in business. So why was she being punished for everyone else’s slackness? Miranda knew she should not feel angry or upset. Obviously Jim had chosen her, because he could rely on her.
Reality soon fronted Miranda of the reason why Jim had brought her to the office. Jim expected her to begin organising the event today, on her weekend. Miranda promised herself she would only work for an hour. Jim had already left. She did not know why he could not help. She took a deep breath and tried to push out the negative thoughts and focus on the task ahead.
She began by writing a task list. Task lists always helped Miranda when she felt too much had to be done at once. She was able to breathe after she could see all the tasks were achievable within the length of time provided. Once an item was completed she took great pleasure crossing it off the list.
First on the agenda, is to think of a theme. Entice Consultancy’s mission is to match perfect candidates to their ideal roles. Miranda always boasted to her clients of the candidate’s star talent. 'Maybe she could call it Star Night? Hmm, sounds like a pre-school awards night. What about Star bright? Now she rhymed. Come on Miranda think. Star Talent, yes Star Talent worked.'
Miranda made a few calls to an invitation shop and confirmed an order for 1200 star invitations to be created. She then ran a report from the company’s database detailing all of the current client contacts. They had approximately 500 current clients. She needed 500 more. Miranda looked in the yellow pages to find large companies who might utilise Entice Consultancy’s business and printed out their details. She would ask Sally to call each contact on Monday to find out the name to include on the invitation. Miranda called the caterers to view their menu and price list. Then she drafted up the program for the evening.
Miranda glanced at her watch, it was past midday. She had been in the office for over three hours now. True to her word to not work all day, she gathered her belongings and headed for home. On her way home, Miranda’s mobile beeped. “Hello Grant,” Miranda said with a huge smile forming across her face.
“Hello lovely lady. I just wanted to see how my pretty lady is going today?”
“I was having a relaxing morning until I got called into the office,” Miranda said irritated.
“Working on a weekend, when you work so hard during the week? That is very rude of your manager,” he replied angrily and then paused for a moment to remember why he was calling. “Have you finished work for today then?” he asked in a soft voice.
“I have decided I have finished for the day however I should probably go back; I have so much to do.” Miranda started to remember the mass amount of work still waiting to be completed and wondered if she should turn around and head back to the office.
“Feeling hungry?”
“Yes actually, now you mention it.”
“Good, walk over to the botanical gardens and meet me at the front gates. I have a surprise for you.”
Ending the call Miranda felt so excited. She wondered what the surprise could be. Miranda hurriedly walked to the gardens. Then a few meters away she slowed down her pace to catch her breath. As she crossed the road Miranda saw Grant standing there, tall and gorgeous holding a big basket in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.
“Welcome to paradise my dear.” Even while carrying his heavy items, he managed to kiss her on the cheek. “Do you mind holding the wine?” Miranda took it from him and he placed his now spare hand into her hand. They found a soft green area and Grant opened his basket to bring out the goodies. The food he brought included pastas, salads, strawberries and even proper wine glasses for the wine.
“I cannot believe how organised you are, you have everything in here,” Miranda said in admiration.
“Well I have to admit, I did have a little help from the girls at work.” Grant poured the wine and lifted his glass to make a toast. “To the most beautiful woman in my life, I hope you will never leave.”
“To the hottest man in my life, you better not leave.”
They giggled and talked and laughed some more. It was a fun day. Miranda did not even realise the time until something wonderful happened, they were lying down on the picnic rug to watch the sunset.
#
“There must be some way I can bring that cow down,” Sally looked at Isaac in disgust. “Isaac, are you listening to me?” she said in a high pitch voice. “Help me think of a way I can destroy her,” she demanded.
“By the sounds of things she does have a good life,” Isaac commented with no interest.
“What are you trying to say you idiot?”
“Why do you want to do ruin this for her?” Isaac shrugged.
“It’s none of your business. I could chuck out Miranda’s phone messages. No, then I would be to blame,” Sally trailed off. “I need Miranda to get fired.”
As Sally pondered, Isaac’s phone began ringing. “My Mum wants me to drop by her place to discuss something.” Sally flicked her hand to motion him to leave and plonked down on the sofa to massage her temples. 'What does Miranda really want? She doesn’t do much except work. People want a good career, good health and a good partner. That’s it,' Sally thought. 'Miranda needed a man to help aid her in distraction. He could take her on a late night out; she would arrive to work late and tired. Her career would come to a halt as she fell in love with this man. Jim wouldn’t know what hit him. Perfect.'
Sally left to go shopping to celebrate her success. In no time she would be replacing Miranda and when she does she would look her best.
***
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Copyright 2012 by Melanie Toye