Distractions

Defining herself in her more-bossy feminist attire, one that portrayed her as the superior and more so the woman who held the whip to keep the raging bulls in line, one who upheld her dignity next to her love for God and family. Tuesday 4th, her assigned meeting with Rabrics enterprise on their contract renewal was on going and timely as well, started on schedule that was 11.45a.m and each agenda allocated its own time gap to be adhered to. Purpose being, their company just like any other similar superior and inferior alike it needed maintenance and seemingly their work of line includes the 95% interaction of man and micro-processors cleanliness was key, actually its cleanliness was prime and very crucial. If by chance dust happens to be swept in unnoticed into the system unit surfaces from the motherboard to the hard drives and network cables the Kang Enterprise was crippled. In turn it was understandable that Mary valued the Rabrics Cleaning Enterprise more than her shareholders and high valued investors, cause without these middle-class cleaning professionals in beige overalls and black gumboots back carrying their advanced cleaning gadgets dusting their tiled corridors and aerating their offices dust free there would be no billion-dollar investors in the first place. Who would have thought, a man whose salary was under the mercy of his superiors being axed day after day by unpredictable tax rates which elapses in a week’s time would be valued of his services and role and surpassed being covered by the gold tavern than those of fat bellied obese CEOs who earn millions hourly evade tax and bank accounts fat enough to retire for a decade without begging and signing lump sum loans to survive. Amidst her encouraging speech recognizing the works of her younger partners and the tremendous impact they had on their company, retelling and re-narrating in different contexts her gratitude from the cow and the pasture to the body and spirit, she had purposely set aside one hour for appreciation and recognition when ring!... a phone was not set on silent and its interruption set the room on hold. Eyes scanned, ears on alert to pin point just who was stupid and immature to forget putting their phones on silent, it took a minute for the shocking answer to dawn. They took it back inside them, the cussing, the insults, the clicks, why you wonder… well turns out it was madam’s phone ringing…The owner of the Kangs enterprise and with enough power to render them unemployed in a flick, as they swallowed back their acidic ego burning as it went down fear and tension cooked within raising the temperatures watering the armpits.

“As I was saying we value and appreciate your service and that’s why…” Ring! again for the second time her phone rang, initially she had declined the incoming call pressing the volume buttons at the left side prompting the system to send a text message alerting the caller of her unavailability to pick up her call and to wait later, but for the second time the same caller called yet again. Just like before coating a fake smile moving a little to the side, she blindly conjured her frowned face as she long pressed the volume buttons but for a longer period ending the call. Deep breaths she smiled and returned to her talk apologizing for the minor distraction a rule she had set yet she broke it twice.

“…Madam Mary we are honored to renew our contract for eight years and may I say…” Ring! What in the f*****g hell, the same caller had called and for the third time. This was the third stroke now she wouldn’t spare him, not hiding her disappointment and sparked anger she excused herself walked aside and far from ear shot she uncovered her phone underneath her Fendi black coat. “Listen here I am in a meeting and if your call is so urgent then don’t call at all!” she shot at the caller not giving a chance for the caller to breath and angrily she hung up and blocked the number clicking in anger as she did so. Finally rid of the caller she cooked her convincing fake smile plastered on her lips as she headed for the desk covering her embarrassment with a mere fake chuckle and cooking up a hysterical joke like “calls like this make me curse why I was a CEO.” The audience chuckled though they hadn’t gotten it but to secure their jobs and not to be rendered unemployed they did the necessary. Moments later after the inconvenience The Rabrics CEO Mr. Walter had signed his part of the contract and it came for Mary to sign her part and seal the beginning of the next eight years of coalition and frequent interaction on the tiled corridors and well-furnished waiting rooms under the ever cool adjusted AC conditions.

Distractions, minor and major come in various forms and in the worst of places from interviews, press conferences, a child walking in running to her mother to simply hear, “I love you”, all these inevitable occurrences protrude the uncertainty of seriousness to the approached but for a second, after she plants her kiss on her child or yells harshly at her persistent caller it all calms down. But like the air around us you can stop breathing and after max of two minutes lungs will swell, face turn blue and eventually the mouth will open and in goes a jug full of oxygen, same as distractions no matter how hard you try to hold and avoid it there’s always a way it comes around. “Excuse me madam you have a caller on the line…” the secretary uttered with a pinch of fear aware of the mistake barging in on an ongoing meeting not mentioning vomiting her words without excusing herself. Snake eyes glances sliced her confidence to shreds as she struggled to contain her sanity avoiding her imaginary solution of running out as if stripped naked, insulative clicks launched at her as she cut all eye contact gazing down measuring the dimensions of the beige floors. Mary’s stare was the deadliest of all, the gaze was intense not even detectives could match half of it, they were those deadly enough to stoop an attacking predator in mid air and make witnesses confess their sins. So, to spare her remaining dignity, her job and sanity the secretary let her defense weapon, “Its Elizabeth calling.” Rushing out when the last letter did indirectly pardon herself meanwhile.

“Mother!” Mary cursed under her breath as her tongue rolled down her gums shaking her head in disappointment while her left hand signed the contract and she took her leave shaking Mr. Walter’s hand with her plastered fake smile. “How many times have I told you don’t call while I am in a meeting!!!” she texted with an added angry emoji clicking the send text as the receiver’s name saved “mum” blinked indicating her availability on the online network.