Chapter 2 The start of an odyssey

The morning sun of early June lit every corner of the street ,turning it into a vast mixture of lush green plants with brightly coloured roofs reflecting the sun,and as Jenny stepped out of the house she drew a great breath of spring air,smelling a faint aroma of pastry that rose from the building opposite her house.

Along the length of the walkway she could see groups of women and children rushing to catch the bus forming a kind of platoon, dressed in a fitting and ordinary gown,with the silver shoes her mom gave her a year ago before her parents died,she looked around, seeing that no one walking along her way was smiling either,she tried to remind herself to put what's past behind her.

She moved through the crowds,fully aware of the whispers and smalltalk that often arises as she rarely passes by and when she does,she often witnesses others who have never seen her on the street make inquiries about her and once heard someone refer to her as "a witch who killed her parents". She cries anytime she remembers this but" not today Jenny".she said to herself as she walked briskly,allowing herself to enjoy the morning air.

Her heartbeat increased ten-fold as she neared the Arnold's mansion;her stomach churned as she approached the gold plated gate,with a lion's portrait inscribed in it,she paused briefly as she tried to get calm. She pushed the ring button.

Nothing;she tried again,still no reply from the other end,she waited,knowing that someone was probably at the other end watching,she was filled with outrage but kept her cool, I'm used to keeping she thought as she tried to hold the tears about to gush out as last night's scenario with Fred flooded her .

She was about to head home when she heard the voice or better put his voice,her sober state vanished as she heard the gobsmacked as she could not comp,she shivered as she watched the gates give way for her entrance.

*******

He watched the young frail lady at the gate,dressed in a green flay gown with her little bag around her neck,he checked his wristwatch,the time read 7:01 am, smiling at himself he spoke into the speaker,"You're one minute late". The girl said nothing, surprised he repeated himself ,still nothing. Obviously frustrated,he ordered the security attached to him furiously" Open the goddamn gates",he fumed.

He waited in the living room,listening to the creeks of her shoes as she stepped on the porch,she drew closer and he could feel it as his heartbeat increased, "come off it",he said to himself .

"Good morning sir". Jeny politely greeted

" Morning ",he grunted.

Deciding to let the lateness matter rest,he continued,"I'm leaving for the office now and I'll be back in 7 hours time, you're allowed to stay in my office and do all necessary things as a secretary,he paused; obviously to think of what to say next.

Jenny walked alongside him as he continued with the list of activities before he gets back from work,and let me warn you ahead,"don't stress yourself before I get back because I work till daybreak and I expect my secretary to be by my side throughout the night",he said bluntly smiling wickedly afterwards; as they were about to get to his car,made an abrupt turn and faced her, just a quick advice,he winked playfully;'stay out of their way',he said as the Porsche drove off leaving Jenny grounded there puzzled.

As she walked into the mansion,knowing he was referring to his mother and the other lady that lived in the mansion,whose name she could not remember presently,she paused momentarily as she got to the entrance to the lavishly furnished mansion,she saw some of the workers eyebrows arch up or rather imagined them doing so,saying some words of prayers she went in .

He chuckled to himself in the car as he tried to imagine what could cause a row between Jenny and his impatient mother and irrational Jessica, remembering the lady that showed up for secretary trial didn't last up to the next day. A smile appeared round his curved lips as the memories of the last secretary trial came flashing back.

The lady's name was Elizabeth,her first day was a complete mess,her confidence was over the moon,as she walked past Jessica without greeting her which sparked up the rife between both of them; she had confronted her and Elizabeth replied her point blank that she was not neither an Arnold nor her boss and so would not.

Jessica was too shocked to give Elizabeth a reply as she watched Elizabeth walk away;after getting her composure,she stormed right into Eddy's room sobbing,with the report that Elli had manhandled her and requested for her sack immediately. Eddy had admired her sharpness and her way of expressing herself,"that's the kind of secretary I want and not some mute,cold lady",he said out loud that his chauffeur could not help but glance back to check on him.

The first time Jenny met Mrs Arnold was at a function she was forced to attend by her aunt.She stood at a distance watching her aunt mix and roll perfectly with the rest of the crowd with an amused look on her face ; she had always felt odd right from her high school days due to the treatment she received from some of her classmates especially Henry Dwag,she winced as she remembered the name of her high school tormentor, Henry still loved in New York and as a matter of fact also has a tech company rivaling the Arnold's;she remembered her aunt telling her that the reason she wants to join Eddy's tech company is to get back at Henry which she rebuffed instantly citing her wish to help physically challenged people as her major reason for wishing to help it deep inside she knew that a more successful Arnold tech company would give her immense joy.

The whole table was a mess as almost everything was scattered all over,a plate of decaying pizza with glasses of wine on the floor,the supposedly secretary's table resembled a disorganized bar table rather than one meant for serious business,she set out cleaning and brushing,humming a poem her counselor had taught her to help her overcome her mid life Challenges, her counselor,Mrs Wheelbear told taught her to sing the song whenever she was depressed or angered,and heaven knows she is right now,she turned as she heard the sounds of rapid moving feets.

She froze in apprehension as the sound got closer and closer, she knew from the sounds of her stillouete shoes she was not going to take a liking to the woman.

As soon as she heard the door click open, she knew she was in for a fresh experience which means having a lot of people around trying hard to make her talk.

"You must be the new secretary Edward spoke about",she chirped brightly as a satisfying smile curled around her lips. Keeping mute she continued to stare at the flashy and exposing dress Jessica wore with perfectly trimmed nails and makeup.

Jessica kept smiling proudly,Edward made a better choice this time she said with a demeaning look. "This mute and dumb lady poses no threat to my Eddy",she thought as she left for her daily routine.

"Phew",she sighed knowing how troublesome Jessica could be according to how her Aunt described her,after spending over two hours cleaning her messed up office,fixing the half broken portrait on the wall and literally mopping the whole place,she was extremely tired and exhausted as she continued to glance at the arranged portraits of past presidents of Lumina corporation, obviously Eddy's parents,grandparents and great grandparents,she chuckled as she realized she was unconsciously looking for resemblances in each portrait she viewed;she continued down the walkway as she realized that this might soon be her makeshift office for the week;stumbling as her feet hit a wooden protrusion out of the wall;she paused,studying the object causing the deformity of the wall as she knelt down to study.

Jekky!,Jekky!,she jumped up as she heard someone scream from a distance,walking towards the door to her office, she waited with anxiety as the door creaked open slowly and watched the old Mrs Arnold walk in in an uncharacteristic manner inspecting the office and ignoring Jenny as she bypassed her ignoring her presence and greetings. After moving round the office obviously trying to suppress her joy that the office was clean for the first time in years.

"Good day ma",she repeated as Mrs Arnold turned back to face her.

"Didn't you hear me call out your name"?,she screamed at Jenny,

Jenny nodded slowly trying to compose herself as she was obviously gobsmacked by the demeanour of Eddy's mother.