Chapter 2 AT THE STORE

Miriam came home looking very tired. Sophia saw her from the window and rushed to her,

''What happened to you baby, why is your face like that?''

Miriam didn't say a word, she just walked into the house and sat down on a chair. Sophia got her a glass of water and sat beside her rubbing her back. After drinking the water, Miriam looked around and asked,

''Where is Edward?''

Sophia sighed and said,

''Nathan was arrested by the cops for getting into a fight, so Edward went to the police station to bail him out''

Miriam let out a soft sigh as she rested her head on Sophia's lap,

''So, tell me, baby, what happened to your dress?''

''Nothing serious, a car splashed water on me while I was waiting for a bus''

Sophia sighed as she patted her on the head and said,

'' I wish I was there, I would have snapped the driver's neck''

Miriam laughed and Sophia smiled and asked her,

''What about the interview, did you make it on time?''

Miriam sat up and took the letter from her bag and handed it to Sophia. Sophia widened her eyes as she glanced through the letter then she hugged Miriam,

''I can't believe it, you are the Secretary to the boss, I'm very proud of you, let me go make your favorite''

Sophia stood up and rushed to the kitchen. Miriam watched her leave then rested her back on the chair and shut her eyes. The threat from the boss flashed in her mind, and she started thinking. She needed the job, but she was certain she would face a lot of trouble from the boss. She couldn't tell her family because they would tell her to quit the job. She was brought back to reality by the sound from outside, she looked and saw Nathan and Edward coming in, and she quickly wore a smile,

''Hey little princess, how was your day?''

Edward said as he came closer and kissed her forehead.

''Wasn't bad''

She replied, then went and hugged Nathan and asked him,

''Heard you got into trouble''

Nathan sighed and said,

''Yeah, but I'm fine now, all thanks to Edward who came on time but I swear, it wasn't my fault''

''Guess who is the Secretary to the boss in her office''

Sophia said as she came out of the kitchen with a plate of chicken stew. Edward and Nathan were very excited and took turns hugging Miriam then they all went to the dining room to eat. Edward looked at Miriam and said,

''I'm so happy you did it, you are just like mum, a very strong young woman''

Miriam blushed and said,

''Thank you for believing in me''

Nathan stretched his hand to get some chicken and got slapped on his hand by Sophia, he frowned as he withdrew his hand quickly and said,

''What the hell was that for Sophia?!!''

''Let the little princess eat first, I made it, especially for her not for any of you''

Sophia said with a serious face and Miriam giggled. Nathan widened his eyes in shock then smiled and quickly grabbed some chicken and ran off while Sophia ran after him cursing him,

''Don't let me catch you, you son of a bitch''

Edward and Miriam laughed and continued eating,

''When are you starting?''

Edward asked,

''Tomorrow''

''You sure you can do this?''

Miriam nodded her head gently then they ate in silence. After a while Edward said,

''Don't worry, soon I will get a good job and you will stop working''

Miriam smiled and continued eating. After eating, Miriam went back to her room and lay on the bed to take some sleep.

When she woke up in the evening, she decided to go and get some new dresses for work. She dressed up and went to Sophia's room to inform her she was going out. She opened the door and met Sophia on her bed sobbing. She went close to her and sat beside her on the bed,

''What's wrong Sophia?''

Sophia quickly cleaned her eyes and faced Miriam, then faked a smile,

''When did you get inside honey?''

''Not long, why are you crying?''

Sophia blinked her eyes as tears gathered, she smiled faintly and answered,

''Nothing dear''

Miriam got angry and stood up then said,

''Sophia, you were crying when I came in, to the extent that you didn't even know I was in, tell me what's wrong''

Sophia broke down in tears. Miriam calmed down, went close, and hugged her, she patted Sophia on the back and said,

''It is ok, stop crying please, I am sorry for yelling''

After a while, Sophia stopped crying and cleaned her nose,

''I lost my job''

She broke down in tears again while Miriam consoled her,

''Stop crying Sophia, everything will be alright''

Sophia smiled and looked at Miriam,

''You don't get it, Miriam, Edward, and I have been the only ones supporting the family, Nathan is always getting into trouble, and now you are about to start working because we failed to feed everyone, we promised Mom and Dad that we would never allow you to suffer, we.............''

Miriam placed a finger on Sophia's lips,

''It's ok sis, you guys didn't fail our parents a bit, I am no longer a kid, I can take care of myself, we can do this together''

Sophia pulled her into a hug and said,

''Thank you so much for understanding. So, where are you heading to?''

''I want to go to the clothes store and buy some new clothes for work''

''Alright, that's good, be careful sweetie, I will go to the market now and perhaps look for a job too''

''Ok, I will go then, take care''

Miriam stood up and left the room, she met Nathan in the sitting room, she tickled him, and he started laughing.

''Hey Nathan''

''Where are you going to little lady''

''To the cloth store sir''

''Alright, take care''

''You too, don't get into trouble''

Nathan pointed at her with a red face as she laughed and ran off. Miriam went down the street and took a cab to the store. She went in and started taking a look at the clothes. The prices of clothes were too expensive for her to purchase so she dropped them and headed out when she bumped into someone,

''Hey, watch where you are going''

She heard a voice say, she bent down to pick up what the man dropped,

''I'm so sorry sir, it is a.............''

She looked up and saw it was her boss. Anthony stared at her with cold eyes, she quickly stood up and handed him his books,

''I'm so sorry sir''

Anthony looked her up and walked past her, she looked at the book in her hand and ran after him,

''Sir your book''

He turned to face her,

''If I'm not mistaken, you are my new secretary?''

''Yes, I am sir''

''Then carry the book and follow me''

Miriam was surprised, the boss was very rude, and she wasn't sure if she could stop herself from killing him one day. She had no choice but to follow him at his back. Anthony went and sat on a chair and the store manager came to attend to him,

''Mr. Parks, you are welcome, how can I be of service to you?''

''Get me a suit''

''What type of suit sir?''

Anthony sighed and Frank came forward and said to the manager,

''Let's go sir''

The store manager bowed and left. Anthony looked at Miriam and asked,

''I don't see you with any clothes, what were you doing here?''

Miriam smiled shyly as she said,

''Nothing sir, I just came to take a look, will get my clothes somewhere else''

Anthony signaled to a female worker in the store, and she came and bent over to him, he whispered something in her ears and she left. After a while, she came back with four shopping bags and handed them to Miriam. When the manager brought the suit, he handed it over to Miriam then Anthony stood up and walked away and Miriam followed. When they got to his car, Frank opened the car door and Anthony entered. Miriam asked him where she should drop the bags for him, and he told Frank to collect the bag that contained the suit and they drove off. Miriam was confused about what was wrong with her boss then she decided to take a look at the items in the bags, that was when she saw that it contained female clothes, bags, and shoes. She opened her mouth in surprise, she was very happy, her boss wasn't that bad. She hurriedly boarded a cab home.