AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Why won’t this man just let me be? What does he want from me? I was not even angry with him all this while. I was just really happy that at the end of it, I was able to maintain my moral standard. Now, he has one back begging. Even though I knew I would not accept his filthy proposal, I was proud he came back crawling on his knees. I summoned my courage and pasted a smile on my face before answering him.
“Oh, about that,” I said. “I don't think I was ever angry with you, Mr. Williams. My little advice for you is to stop all these evil things you are doing in this faculty just because you are influential. It won't pay you well in the end. It's time you explorethe many uses of your influence when it comes to things concerning this faculty. And concerning Professor Von, I was just heading to his office to see what he has for me and to hear the good news you claim he has for me.”
He was taken aback by my response, but he still had a smile on his face.
“Have a wonderful evening, sir.”
“You too, Ms. Cruz.”
I went up the stairs to my office and let out the breath I had been holding since I met Mr. Williams. I waited a bit to catch my breath and went to see Professor Van Hom.
I knocked on his door. “Good afternoon, professor.”
“Good afternoon Ms. Cruz. How are you doing? You are looking good today."
“I'm doing very well, sir; thank you for the compliment."
“I know you must have met Mr. Williams on your way, right? I already know what you came to ask.”
“Please have your seat,” he offered with a smile on his face. I sat down quietly on the chair, and I waited patiently to hear what he had to say. The words that were to come out of his mouth had better be good words like Mr. Williams had said. I looked a bit anxious as I tried to find the words. He was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke.
“Ms. Cruz, I am glad to announce to you that you have beenpromoted to being the new sub-dean of the faculty. Congratulations, Ms. Cruz." He shook hands with me as he said that. “You have been of great help to this faculty. I am sure you are aware of that.”
Yes, I was surely aware of that. I cannot count the number of times I have been of help in this faculty-in fact; it could be regarded as a countless number of times. I have won awards so many times as the best lecturer in the faculty. Each time it came to giving a speech or representing the faculty in important meetings, I was always the one that represented or performed the task. And I always do it perfectly, to the satisfaction of almosteveryone in the faculty. I was proud of myself for this achievement. But why the promotion suddenly, though? The tenure of the current sub-dean has not expired, so why will I just suddenly take that position? I thought to myself. But amidst these thoughts, I was happy and shocked at the same time.
"Thank you very much, sir, but how... I thought... How come..." I said, stammering in shock.
“Calm down, Ms. Cruz. Just relax and let me explain all that happened for you to get that position.”
The professor went ahead and told me some steps Mr. Williams has taken the position as the sub-dean of the faculty. He said he promised to donate money towards the renovation of the faculty lecture theaters if Professor Von Ham being the Dean of the faculty, could just move Mr. White, who is supposed to be the current sub-dean of the faculty, to being the Hod of the best department in the faculty. He was able to convince the board that I was the best candidate to fit into that position as Mr. White was not performing his duties. And because of the influence, Mr. Williams had on the faculty, he was able to make promises to the board members, and they all agreed to make me the new sub-dean of the department.
"Oh wow," I said. I didn't know what expression to show on my face. I didn't want to be too excited because I knew Mr. Williams did that because he wanted to get something in return. I pitied Mr. White, who was the initial owner of the position but had to make it just because of the selfish reasons of another man. But on the other hand, I was happy to be the new sub-dean of the faculty. That was a great achievement, and I knew it was going to open so many opportunities for me. I could not wait to tell Will the good news, but I promised myself not to tell him about Mr. Williams. I could not jeopardize my relationship for anything in this world.
“I have been anticipating he was going to make some moves after what he did to you during the last meeting when he planned to send you out of the faculty, but I didn’t expect him to go down this lane. He did make some good moves for you, Ms. Cruz, but I will advise you to be careful with Mr. Williams. I'm sure he has some plans. But in all, accept my hearty congratulations once again."
"Thank you, professor. How about Mr. White? Is he okay with the new development?" I asked because I was a little bothered about him.
"You do not need to be bothered about Mr. White. He has been settled already."
I thanked the Professor and left his office. I was shown to my new office as the new sub-dean of the faculty by Professor Von Ham's secretary. "Congratulations, Ms. Cruz," the secretary said after showing me the office and handing the key over to me. I opened the door quietly like I was scared to go in. My new office looked like heaven on Earth, except for the black Kathy Ireland computer armor, which houses stacks of paper and office supplies and a bunch of student files piled up at the corner.
I'm sure Mr. White was not able to sort out these files before leaving. It must have been too sudden for him. I am now left to do all the sorting out myself. The office had a brown-black corner desk with metal legs, a high-back leather chair, and a laser and inkjet printer on the tables on the opposite wall. It also had brown-black corner bookshelves – one shelf had literature, andthe other side had some textbooks related to the faculty. Immediately I entered my office; there was a dark walnutbookcase lining the entire left-hand wall. There was a leather sofa with a fur rug over the back, and an Indian blanket draped over the arm. The far wall had a large fireplace and mantle dominating the center, with bookshelves lining it on either side. On the mantle, I had two antique clocks and a painting of three past sub deans that had served the faculty. There was also a television on the shelf to the right. There is a double door just opposite my desk, which leads out to the outside of the office. My chair is Captain style on wheels with a leather seat and back. To the left behind me isanother bookshelf atop a matching file cabinet. The air conditioner keeps the air moving in an otherwise enclosed space.
If you leaned way back in the chair and cranked your neck hard over, you could see the sky from my office window, delft-blue and cloudless and so bright it looked solid. The floor looked so shiny that I could see myself through it. My office was just the perfect definition of beautiful. How come I did not notice how beautiful this office was the few times I visited it? This is paradise. It is nothing compared to my former office. I sat down so proudly on the executive office chair. I did not mind if it was out of selfish reasons that I was able to this point right now. I just really loved the environment. I sat down for a while, appreciating the good things I have been receiving for the past few days. My vacation was awesome, the news of the pregnancy was good,even though that was like a joy-sorrow situation, I still appreciated the fact that I might have a child soon and then now the news of my promotion. Everything has just been going well with me recently, and I was thankful for that. The knock on my door brought me back from "wonderland."
"Come in, the door is open,'' I said from inside. "Oh, Mr. Gordon's it's you. Good afternoon. How has your day been? And hope you are enjoying your new office?”
"Good afternoon, Kathy. My day has been awesome. Andyes, I am enjoying my new office. I came personally tocongratulate you once again on your promotion. I do not think I am even supposed to ask you if you are enjoying your new office because you are. Your face has been beaming with a smile since I got here. Congratulations Kathy. I am proud of you.” I was very pleased to hear those words from Mr. Gordons. It gladdened my heart.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Gordons. And yes, you are right about me enjoying my new office because I am. Congratulations to you, too. It is a great achievement for both of us. I hope we get to enjoy more of it."
"I hope so too." Mr. Gordons stayed in my office for over 30 minutes before leaving. We discussed the recent happenings in the faculty, then we digressed a bit to politics and then back to the faculty. All along, I thought about Will and how I was going to break the good news concerning my promotion to him.
There is another show tonight, and I enjoyed the last one I attended. Do I plan on going to this one? The show tonight is performed by the arts and history students at the school, and it was about the deep history of our land. The show was going to last for two hours, and I believe it was going to be worth my time. I still sat comfortably in my office. After all, I was not going to lecture any class for now because, according to the constitution, I was given about two weeks to get used to my new position. I was happy that at this age of mine, with determination, a high level of dedication to work, and discipline, I have been able to get to this level.
Anyway, I give almost full credit to my parents and the family I grew up with – Will's family. I had grown up in an average family with dedicated parents who not only taught me to work hard but lived their lives working hard. I grew up in a loving, secure bubble, so much so that I struggled to stay upright once it burst. I was determined even more to rebuild my life from the ground up after Will left in France, which had included a period of being engaged. It was not easy for me as, at that time, the engagement got canceled. I felt so lonely, but in all, I pushed through, and here I am today, Will is back to me, and I am very close to the zenith of my career.
Her phone rang with an incoming call. Mr. Williams. Thename alone made her cringe. He’d already left her two voicemails. She answered, knowing she couldn’t avoid him forever. He was as stubborn as they come. “Good day, sir.”
