The Black Sheep.

Ada was my boss. We worked at Diloft Consulting Ltd. on Allen Avenue Ikeja. She was head of Human Resources. A workaholic, yet, such an awesome beauty to behold!!!
And this is how I became The Black Sheep...




The very first day I was to start work, my day started at the HR. I was to go for some documentation and collect my employment letter. But my ID card was not to be ready that day. Well, I wasn't bothered. I was happy to be employed in this very lovely company. And the pay was decent, most importantly.

I arrived at 7:15 A.M and had to wait outside the gate until 8 A.M because the security guys did not know me. So I sat on a broken seat at the car park, waiting. I barely knew anyone so as people passed by and went their ways, I just greeted randomly. Some hurriedly answered without even looking up at who's greeting. Typical hustle and bustle of Lagos, everyone is constantly in a rush. I shrugged, took out my earphones and tuned my phone's frequency to Cool FM. Though the news was boring listening to the politics of the day, I kept busy with it. Something had to distract me else I'd become very tensed being the first day there. President Ya'adua had just passed on and a funny cabal wouldn't let his Vice ascend the seat.

As I scrolled through the radio stations, I noticed a car rolled quietly into a lot. A moment later, the driver came out. A lady. She was chubby and of average height. Fair in complexion and wore glasses. Her natural black hair flowed backwards, effortlessly. She wore black skirt suit and a flat shoe. She looked like the actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde.
She came down, opened the door to the back seat and pulled out a file. The file was heavy and seemed to contain many pieces of papers. As she made to close the door, some papers fell out of the file. She shut the door, picked the papers up and pressed a button on her keys. The car beeped and the lights shone bright for a brief instant. She turned and walked away, calmly.

She hadn't taken three steps past me when another piece of paper dropped from the file. It wasn't far from where I sat, so I picked it up and called out to her
"Excuse me, ma"
She turned. And now at a much closer range, I could see her face properly. Her eyes were clear white, and her eyeballs were big, she had thin lips, almost no make up. Her skin was flawless.
"This fell from you"
She must have said
"Oh!" But I didn't hear her because I had earphones tucked in my ears.
She began to walk back for it and went to her and handed it to her
Again, she must have said "Thanks" with a smile
But I still couldn't hear because I was still listening to the radio, all I saw was her smile. A lovely smile.
Her mannerisms told how really polite a woman she was.
I went back to where I sat.

Now many people had come. Not wanting to be late on my first day at work, I made sure I was at the entrance of the office at 7:45.
I went in and introduced myself to the first person I saw inside and told her I was to report to Head, Human Resources. He directed me.

After I introduced myself to the first lady I saw there, her first question was
"Have you entered the register?"
"I haven't written my name anywhere yet" I replied.
"What time did you get here"
"About 7:15"
"Good. Because lateness to work is frowned at here."
"Okay"
"Go and register your name and come back"

I left.

I went back to the first person I had met earlier, Williams. He showed me where the register was. I wrote my name and signed.

Getting back to the lady at HR, she said I had to wait that she was busy. I took a seat where she pointed to. Away from her desk. Like a waiting area.

30 minutes later, I was still waiting.
45 minutes had passed when suddenly something caught my attention. A door opened and a lady came out. Same lady whose piece of paper had fallen earlier that morning. She looked so elegant.
She called out to the lady I was waiting for
"Mercy, who is this person waiting for?"
"I'm to document him ma"
"So what are you doing? What is his staff ID number?"
She couldn't answer. Apparently, I had been waiting for this lady who wasn't even attending to me at all. She was doing something else all the while. For 45 minutes?!
Obviously her boss, the woman asked her to put away everything else she was doing and attend to me.
Then the lady started to walk towards me. For and instant, my heart froze. Oblivious of every other thing around, I was captivated by this woman. Absolutely charmed. I could have sworn I was looking at Omotola. When she got to me, in a soft spoken manner she said
"Thank you for this morning."
"It was nothing ma"
"What recruitment firm handled your application?"
"Jobsearch"
"What's your name?"
"Stag"
"Be punctual and work by the rules and you'd be good."
"Thank you ma."
She turned to go but I stopped her turning
"Sorry ma, may I know your name?"

For a brief moment, I thought I saw that look of surprise. Like saying 'did you just ask for my name?' Or she just wasn't used to being asked her name.
She looked at me for a second too long.
"Ada"
And without further ado, she swung around and left.

She left me confused. Did I do anything wrong? Although I had expected her to say 'MRS Ada blah blah' with emphasis on the 'Mrs'. You know, to buttress a point and drive it home properly if she felt insulted at the fact that I asked what her name was.

Well, unknown to me, Mercy had taken it personal that her boss was a little hard on her because of me and from then on, Mercy blacklisted me.
And so, from my first day at work, I had been unwilling dragged into office politics. Even without knowing it.

I got the letter and by the end of the day, I got my ID card and shown to my desk at Customer Service. Next day, I was to begin a 5-day training that will end on saturday. I wasn't the only one that was newly employed. Eleven of us. Employed into various positions and departments.

When I got home, the events of the day kept running through my mind. Especially that moment when I had asked Ada for her name. The magical moment when you look into the face of someone so beautiful that you become enchanted. That very magical moment when the enchantment swept you off your feet like Juju.
I took up my phone and googled Omotola Ekeinde's recent pictures. That was how much alike they looked. If you see Omotola, you have seen Ada. Except that Ada was more beautiful!

And so, it turns out that on my first day at work I had fallen for a colleague. Not just a colleague, a senior colleague at HR. She could easily get me sacked if I tried any rubbish. Well, I must find ways to mask it till I'm able to completely subdue and deaden the feelings.

Only if Ada's Juju would let me be. Little did I know that Love has its funny ways. True love never resides in one heart, True Love lives in two hearts in equal proportions. And as it clung to my heart, it had also clung elsewhere...

Well, the next day I got to the office early. The training was for 9A.M. I was at my desk till 8:50, then I took my notepad and pen and headed for the training. I was shown the training rooms.
The building is 3-story. And Diloft Consulting was on the 1st and 2nd floors. A different company on the ground floor and another company on the 3rd floor. But the Managing Director of Diloft Consulting, John Arowolo, had his office on the 3rd floor. Another company occupied the remainder of the floor.
So, while the bulk of the company is situated on the lower floors, the Big Boss himself was on the topmost floor.
The basement housed locker rooms for the security guys and the cleaning company.

As I entered, I was shocked to see that it had started. People were seated already and to my shock, Ada was on the podium.
"You! Why are you just coming?" She barked at me. The whole class turned to look. All eyes on me.
"I'm sorry ma, I'm not just coming. I was at my desk."
"Don't give excuses. When you are late, you are late. Excuses make you less a professional"
I just looked on as I was the guinea pig she would use as an example.
"Take responsibilities for your shortcomings and apologise. If there are consequences for an offence you commit, accept it. That's how you become better and strong" she continued. Saying it more or less to the entire class.
And as eyes turned back to her, I quickly took as seat at the back.
"You, the late comer. Come to the front seat here" she pointed directly at me
Chei! I wan die
"And for the remainder of the training days, you would sit there" she concluded.
Mwhn, I was sweating. Damn, my crush was standing on the podium looking all radiant. And attacking me so mercilessly.
As I moved to the front, I saw Mercy seated among some faces I had seen yesterday. Apparently, they were facilitators.
"People like him shy away from responsibilities. Come late, blame traffic, sit at the back, be the first to run out once we're done here even though he was the last to come"
Mehn, see finishing!
This lady just stand there dey deal me blows, and by the end of that statement had succeeded in giving me the image of a bad boy. The black sheep of the class.

"Good morning everyone. My name is Ada. I head the HR. I hope you have all been properly documented..."
It just dawned on me that I entered at the wrong time. She must have just climbed the podium and hadn't even said a word when I entered. Offering myself as a lamb on her alter.
Well, on and on the training went. One facilitator after another. We were served lunch and continued till 3 in the afternoon.

Diloft Consulting Ltd provides training services to various companies. Accounting trainings, audit trainings, trainings on statistical software and techniques like SPSS etc, IT trainings, and does procurement too. The client companies include major banks, micro-finance banks,  IT companies, schools and oil companies etc.
There are two branches. Apart from this one in Lagos, the other is at Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
I was happy to be employed here. The professional spirit here was enviable and the pay was good. It could afford me a good life. Take a better accommodation and live a creamy life. I had opened a salary account with Guarantee Trust Bank and was looking forward to my first pay.
Lovely company, I must say. The furnishings were of quality taste. The IT infrastructure was superb. Every system was on the internet. The people I met were living signs of how standard a company Diloft Consulting is. Smart looking, enthusiastic and very friendly ever-smiling people. Well, except the bitchy Mercy.
And I silently prayed nothing goes wrong with my job as I was determined to groom myself better here. Up my game and build a solid CV. Mingling with top class naturally rubs off on you.

Unknown to me, the rollercoaster ride of events that would follow over the course of time would wow me, thrill me, get me carried away, get me in trouble and ultimately teach me lessons.
Lessons hidden in plain sight...