Chapter 6: Chapter 6

She opened the door gently and peered in.

“You must be Lola, I was expecting you, come on in.” the man behind the massive desk invited her.

She looked down at herself and silently prays all goes well before opening the door wider. Lola stepped in and plastered a smile on her face. “Good morning, Mr. Ryan”

“Good Morning, please do have your seat. He smiled warmly at her and then continued without further formalities. “I believe you have been intimated about what the job entails. You are going to be assisting one of our senior staff all you have to do is follow his instructions.”

Lola listened intently to what was being said and she must admit she likes this place already. She was determined to prove herself worthy of the job even if she hasn’t worked as a project manager before.

“I will have my secretary show you to your office. I believe you met Janice already and she will show you and introduce you to all the staff members. We really do not have as many admin staff as we do on-site staff, you know we are a construction company most of our engineers are busy on sites so don’t mind all the empty seats you might see in the process of showing you around.” He said with a nice smile.

Lola smiled her response “Thank you for this opportunity sir”

“You are welcome. I’m assured you will not disappoint me. I expect nothing short of excellence from anyone Ben introduces to me.

“I promise to do my very best, Mr. Ryan”

“Great, there is one other person I want you to meet but he went for an early morning meeting and should be back before COB I will introduce you to him myself.”

“Alright”

He picked up the phone on his desk and made a brief call and in a matter of minutes, Janice came into the room after a brief knock on the door.

“Hello, Janice, please show Miss. Dickson to her office and please show her where the needed files are kept so she can acquaint herself with the progress so far. You should take her around the office space and introduce her to the rest of the staff after she settled into her office”

Okay, Mr. Ryan” Janice looked and summoned me with a warm smile “Please come with me. Miss Dickson”

“Thank you,” I said before following after Janice.

You can call me Lola, please

Only if you promise to call me Janice

They both smiled at each other as Janice took her around the office where she met everyone that worked for Transco Construction.

Lola was re-introduced to Nicole and she couldn’t but notice the negative vibe from the young receptionist and wondered what she has done to warrant such dislike on sight. She was in no mood to make an enemy, especially with her experience in her formal place of work. She made up her mind to win Nicole over.

Lola sat once again at her desk and threw herself into studying the project she will be managing. Janice also told her that Anderson will come in briefly tomorrow to put her through some things then they can continue working together virtually after their first meeting. She wrote down all the questions to ask his direct boss tomorrow. She was so fascinated by the intricacies and details of the project that she didn’t go for lunch not even when Janice called on her she had told her she would eat later.

By the time she finally stood up from her desk, it was past 4:00 pm and her stomach kept growling so she went to the mini café on their floor to see if there was anything in the fridge to take the doughnuts tea boy bought for her earlier.

John, the tea boy tapped gently on her door to ask what she wanted him to get for her because he noticed she didn’t go out for lunch. Lola was appreciative of the boy's concern and she didn’t want him to feel bad so she asked him to get her doughnuts and tipped him when he got back. She wants to win as many people over because she was determined to enjoy her new place of work. The boy had been grateful and smiled his thanks. The doughnuts have remained forgotten on her desk till her stomach loudly protested.

She opened the fridge and saw a row of cans of soda drink she took one of them. Janice told her earlier that she can take anything from the fridge it is part of her entitlement as a staff. She warmed the doughnuts slightly in the microwave oven and settled down to eat while she read the book she brought along. She likes to keep a book in her bag for when she needed to occupy her time, maybe while on a bus or even during lunch hour like now.

“Can I have one of that, please?”

A male voice asked from behind her. Lola was lost in Brian Tracy’s words that she didn’t hear anyone come in behind her.

Since she was determined to be as friendly as possible she turned her head towards the door with a smile ready in place for whoever wanted a share of her doughnuts and her smile froze in place like she has seen a ghost. Lola quickly scrambled to her feet. She will never forget the face, those eyes that have haunted her dreams. Dreams that a good Christian girl shouldn’t be having. But this man right here looking at her with the same expression she was sure was reflected on her own face has evoked the kind of emotion in her no other man has.

He was gradually becoming the man of her dreams literarily because he won’t stop showing up in her dreams.

“You?” They both said simultaneously.

“What are you doing here?” Lola recovered first

He walked further into the room to stand close enough for her to see the most beautiful eyes she has seen on a man.

He cleared his throat and a slow smile curved his full sensuous lips that has done many things to her in her world of fantasy.

“I work here. But what are you doing here?” He asked putting his hands in his pant pockets.

“I work here too.” Lola gave a nervous smile, then quickly went on to explain further when she saw his confused look, “I just joined. In fact, today is my first day at work”

“I see,” he nodded and raised one of his eyebrows in a way Lola found utterly appealing.

“Hmm…hmm, but I didn’t meet you earlier when Janice took me round to meet the other staff”

He cleared his throat again and that million-dollar smile again turned her insides to a mush

“I was at the sites”

“Okay, that explains it”

They keep looking at each other, smiling like love-struck puppies the doughnuts forgotten. Again Lola recovered first.

“See, I never got to thank you for your help the other night… with my bag and for taking me home. I really appreciate your help”

“It’s my pleasure and you are very welcome.” He smiled his response.

After a few awkward moments of both of them staring at each other with Collin rocking on his heel with his hands in his pockets, Lola quickly said “I don’t mind you having one of my doughnuts”

“What?”

“You said you wanted one” Lola pointed at the snacks on the table.

“Oh, yes I do.”

They both laughed awkwardly as he took his seat beside her. She handed her one of the delicious treats. “So what do you do for Transco?”

“I’m one of the senior engineers.”

“Cool, I’m a project manager... oh assistant project manager. So how do you find working here?”

“Not bad. It pays the bills”

“Just that? Well, I want to do more than get my bills paid. I already have my goals set.”

“Really, mind sharing them?”

Lola didn’t know why she kept blabbering uncharacteristically but she felt the need to keep talking and maybe a part of her was too happy she finally met him again. “Well, I like to leave a mark wherever I work so it can be said of me that I did my best. And as of that project, it will be the best in the history of Transco because I intend to give it my hundred percent. I’m already researching on getting the best result with the resources at hand”

“You do know you are not the one constructing right,” he said humorously

Lola gave a small laugh at his tone. “Of course, I know” she rolled her eyes in a don’t be silly fashion “but I’m excited I have never been a part of creating anything before and it’s a bit invigorating watching a plan that was only on paper take shape into something you can touch and feel.”

“Hmm, I see what you mean”

“I must say you are lucky to be a constant part of such”

“Well, looking at it from your perspective, I guess I should say that I’m lucky to be part of something that inspires. I have never seen my job that way before. You kind of give me a new perspective on things.” He smiled, contacting her enthusiasm.

They were both sharing, smiling, and enjoying each other’s company. Lola checked her time, standing up to clear the table. “My twenty minutes break is over. I should get back to work. It’s almost closing time and I still have a few things to check before I call it a day.”

“Okay then, I shouldn’t hold you. And thanks for sharing your lunch with me.”

You are welcome… hmm… I’m sorry I didn’t get your name”

“Ouch! That hurts. And here I am with your name still very much committed to my memory.” He said with an intent look, searching her face for every detail like he was trying to engrave every single one of her features and expressions into my memory like he did her name.

Lola felt his eyes on every part of her face that she had to lean on the doorknob for support because her legs were suddenly turning to jelly.

“Collin,” he said

Lola having lost all train of thought forgot what he was talking about, “What?”

“My name.”

“Oh… I get that”

She walked back towards the exit smiling like a love-sick teenager but bumped into someone.

Lola turned to face Nicole’s scornful expression. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking,” she apologized quickly to Nicole.

“I bet you weren’t and don’t you work so fast?” Looked between Lola and Collin that was now standing up from his seat too.

Lola felt her cheeks burn as she murmurs her excuse, hurrying to her office.