Chapter 12: Chapter 12
The enemy wouldn't be attacking you if something isn't inside of you. Thieves don't break into an empty house.
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Tehzeeb and Khady arrived shortly at Mrs Kaltumi's shop and saw the security man at the door step
"Assalamualaikum. Good morning sir" they both greeted
"Walaikum Salam. Good morning my daughters. How can I be of help to you both" the aged security man said
"We're here to see Hajiya"
"Oh you're welcome. You can go inside please" the man said to them and opened the door for them
"Thank you" they both entered inside the shop and walked straight to the receptionist. The young lady at the desk was busy reading a novel titled "Zaheera" a novel written by Zainab Abdulkadir. She was so engrossed in the novel that she didn't see them until Khady finally spoke
"Good morning" Khady greeted
"Oh! I'm sorry" the lady said before greeting them " Good Morning to you. Welcome to Ashafa's shopping mall. How may I help you?" the lady said in a professional way
"Thank you. Please we are here to see Hajiya"
"Alright. But please do you have an appointment?" She asked
"Yes we do"
"Good then. Let me ask someone to show you to her office" the lady beamed and called one of her co workers. "Please show them to Hajiya office" she requested
"Okay. This way please" the person she asked said to Tehzeeb and Khady which they followed. They arrived at a door, but before they could enter the escort pressed the intercom, which permission was given to them from behind the doors for them to enter. They walked in and saw an elegant woman sitting behind the table her laptop in front of her. With no doubt you could guess she's using the laptop to receive a call, which you already know she's on a video call with whosoever from the other side. Hajiya spoke but not to them
"Sweetheart don't you miss me. It's high time you visit home. It's been like forever since I set my eyes on you" Hajiya said to the person she was video calling
"Babe don't worry, I will soon be back. I promise you In Sha Allah" the person from the other side replied
"I hope so, because that's what you have been saying. Do and come back please. Atleast even for a week"
"I promised to come back, don't stress yourself too much and do take care of yourself for me babe. Bye talk to you soon" with that the video call ended and Hajiya shifted the laptop aside to see who the people standing in front of her were. "Oh I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I was on a call. How are you Khadija" Hajiya asked Khady
"I'm fine thank you ma. Good morning"
"Morning dear" she replied and turned her face to the person that came with khady "you can go and continue with your work. Thank you" Hajiya said to the person
"Good morning ma'am" Tehzeeb greeted
"Morning dear. Guess you're the person Khadija was talking about"
"Yes ma'am" Tehzeeb answered in a professional way
"Good. Khadija I've seen her. You can take your leave and I will see to it she starts her work right away" Hajiya spoke with a smile
"Thank you Hajiya"
"It's nothing Khadija. And haven't I warned you to stop calling me Hajiya or you want me and you to wear the same trouser" Hajiya said looking at Khady with frown on her face
"I'm sorry, Such won't happen again" Khady pleaded
"Good. My regards to Mama"
"She will hear thank you" and thus she left the office leaving Tehzeeb with Hajiya Kaltumi
"So tell me about yourself and the reason why you're befitting for the job"
"My name is Tehzeeb. I don't think I can say this is the reason why I'm befitting for the job, but one thing I know is that I will not disappoint you and I promise you won't regret giving me the job" Tehzeeb reply calmly
"Good. I will put my trust in you and in Khadija that brought you here, because I know her. So I hope and wish you will not disappoint me as you said. If you don't disappoint me, then I think we will get along but if you do disappoint me then I have nothing to do than to let you go"
"Thank you ma'am. I will try my possible best not to disappoint you"
"Then the job is yours. Let me call someone to show you around and give you your uniform"
"Okay ma'am" Hajiya pressed the intercome and within a minute someone was there.
"Show her around and give her the uniform. Also don't forget to give her a copy of the rules and regulations"
"Okay ma'am"
"You can take your leave" and with that they both walk out of the officeTehzeeb following behind the lady that would show her around
Tehzeeb heard the lady showing her around speak for the first time after leaving Hajiya's office
"My name is Hadiza. Guess you're the new worker Hajiya was talking about"
"Yes, My name is Tehzeeb"
"Nice name. And welcome to Ashafa's shopping mall. Feel free and enjoy your stay here" Hadiza said
"Thank you"
"Don't worry, you will get use to the place quiet soon. And don't worry about Hajiya she's a nice woman with a golden heart. Trust me you will get use to her in no time"
"I pray so"
"Yeah" Hadiza showed Tehzeeb around the mall because it's was a three storey building and each floor had a cashier's table on it, but the final payment will be done with the cashier on the first floor. Hadiza made sure she showed Tehzeeb around every corner in the mall and even introduced her to the cashiers on all the three floors. The last floor's cashier's name was Umar, the second floor was Abdul while the first floor was Maryam. Which they were all nice and kind towards Tehzeeb, which made her feel a little bit at ease. Hadiza handed over her uniform to her before she asked her to enter the changing room to change her cloth.
Tehzeeb found out that her work was carrier i.e to help people that come shopping with their shopping baskets if needed. She would always close by six pm and resume work by nine o'clock am. Her work is not full term but per term since she still had to go to school. But she can come over whenever there's no lecture. She has not been told how much she would be paid but she's happy to even get the job
She changed her clothes and walked out of the changing room to start her work. She didn't have a specific floor to work on since she was a carrier and not a cashier. She walked to the place where she saw others sitting and joined them
"Good day to you all" she greeted them all
"Good day and welcome to Ashafa's shopping mall" they replied her in unison
"Thank you"
"Come and have a seat here. You don't have much work to do, but just to lazy around unless we have customers that are too lazy to carry the basket" one of the workers said. Which Tehzeeb just gave her a tight lipped smile because she knew that's what they are paid for but for her to complain was not something she expected, so she kept her mouth shot since it was not her place to tell her what her work was.
Tehzeeb didn't follow the advice given to her by her co workers. They told her to pretend not to see customers struggling with basket which she couldn't because she knew what she was paid for and what she's doing so she forgot about them and carried out her duty delightly because she couldn't just be sitting around doing nothing rather than gossiping. When it was time to pray she left and performed wudu in the female toilet before performing her prayer. She continued with her work till it was time to close. But before she left she bid everyone farewell. On her way back home went toKhady's house first to say good bye to mama before she left for home.