Hey lovely readers?. I hope you are all doing well, so I have decided to bless your Wednesday with episode three. Happy reading guys…?
Episode 3-Thoughtfulness
Esaba called Jeremy when she got to her office and vented to him.
“Calm down Esaba. Sometimes people are like that, you just have to learn to tolerate them”
“ I can’t stand him. Goodness…If I could beat him, I really would”
Jeremy laughed
“Madam relax. Let’s focus on the good part. You have a new job now, congratulations. Madam accountant”
Esaba laughed
“Thanks, Jeremy. I have to go back to work now though. I am meeting my new boss soon” she said
“Okay, I would call you after work,” Jeremy said
Esaba ended the call and went to see the head of the accounting department. He was on the phone when she got there, so he signaled her to have a seat.
He smiled at her when he ended the call.
“Wow, you are pretty. Are you married?
Esaba was surprised by his question. She smiled and shook her head.
“ I see. There are a lot of eligible young bachelors here, I am sure pretty soon you would be off the market”
Esaba found his conversation a little inappropriate so she changed the subject.
“Sir so, what would you need my assistance with please?”
“ Right, so you would be handling all the bills; from the electricity through to accommodation, you would keep records of all the cheques before you make payment. You would also handle the petty cash. You would also be liaising with the procurement head every month to get all the items the cleaners would need to tidy the washroom and lastly every month you would make sure to provide bottled water for all the heads of departments by making payments on time to the company that supplies us with water. At the end of each month, you would give an account of money spent on washroom items and bottled water, we reconcile it and then reimburse the account and the cycle continues”
It sounded like a lot of work for Esaba, she had a confused look on her face. Her boss smiled.
“Don’t worry. I would take you through everything, you would get used to it soon. I didn’t catch your name?”
“Oh sorry. I am Esaba Hayford sir”
“ Okay. I am Mr. Essuman. Nice to meet you and I hope we are able to work along well”
“Likewise sir,” she said and left the office.
Esaba went back to her office and found someone leaning on her table with her arms folded.
“Hello? How may I help you? ” Esaba asked
The lady smiled.
“Okay, the nurses were right. You really are pretty” she said
Esaba was confused but she smiled and sat behind her desk.
The lady turned to look at her, her arms still folded.
“I am Mandy, assistant to the head of procurement. We would be working together sometimes so I wanted to get acquainted”
“Oh okay. Nice to meet you. I am Esaba”
“Okay Esaba, see you around. Have a good day” she said and left her office.
Esaba watched her leave, she shook her head.
“Mandy is weird,” she thought.
She shrugged and picked out an old file and went through some of the work her predecessor had done, trying to understand her new line of work.
She created an excel sheet and got to work, she liked listening to music with her earpiece most of the time while she worked.
The music was a little loud but she didn’t notice, she was engrossed in her work.
When it was lunchtime, Doctor Solomon instructed Yooku to go get Esaba. He wanted to treat her to lunch on her first day.
Yooku knocked on her door but she couldn’t hear him. He opened it to check and saw her busy on her laptop with her earpiece in her ears. He walked to her desk and called her but Esaba hadn’t noticed him.
He hit her table angrily to get her attention; her laptop fell and broke in the process.
Esaba’s jaw dropped, she looked down at the laptop then looked up at Yooku.
“ Why would you do that?! What is wrong with you?! ” Esaba asked angrily
She got up to check her laptop; it had gone off and the screen was cracked. She felt like crying, all the work she had done was gone.
Yooku felt very bad and apologized but Esaba ignored the apology and asked him what he wanted.
“My father asked me to get you, he wants to treat you to lunch,” Yooku said awkwardly.
Esaba sighed and checked the time.
“Tell him I would be there,” Esaba said without looking at him.
“He asked me to come with you since you don’t know your way around here,” he said.
Esaba sighed, she was stressed she kept looking at her laptop, she didn’t know what to do.
“ I can get you a new laptop,” Yooku said.
Esaba glared at him.
“ I don’t want anything from you, sir,” she said angrily.
She picked her bag and walked to the door.
Yooku followed her quietly, he was embarrassed. He had no idea why he went that far.
Fiifi noticed Esaba was upset when they got to the car.
“ What’s wrong Esaba?”
Esaba smiled and shook her head.
“ I am fine sir”
Fiifi nodded and they got into the car, Yooku drove them. He kept looking at Esaba from the rare view mirror. She looked away anytime their eyes met, she was so angry with him.
After lunch when Fiifi wasn’t looking, Yooku apologized to Esaba again. Esaba didn’t pay him any mind.
Yooku felt really bad, it was never his intention to hurt her that way, he was generally having a bad day and projected it on Esaba.
When they got back to the hospital, Esaba thanked Fiifi and walked past Yooku.
That evening after work Yooku saw her walking to get a taxi and offered her a ride.
“I am fine sir. I would get a taxi. See you tomorrow” she said and walked off.
Yooku sighed and drove off.
Jeremy was sad when Esaba told him about her day that evening. He knew she was scared because it looked like the Yooku person also had some anger problem.
“Don’t worry about the laptop, I can send you some money to get a new one”
“I would be very grateful. I promise to pay you back when I make some money” Esaba said.
After the call, Jeremy transferred some money into her account. She sent him a message thanking him.
The next morning, Esaba got to work early. She wanted to ask permission from Mr. Essuman to go to town later in the morning to get a new laptop. Her boss was late to work so she waited in her office and read a novel.
Yooku knocked on her door and opened it, he had in his hand a white paper bag.
Esaba frowned when she saw him, she closed her book and stared at him.
“Hey, Esaba. Good morning”
“Good morning”
“I felt really bad about yesterday so I got you another laptop”
“What?! I thought I told you I didn’t want anything from you. I am sorry but I can’t accept it” Esaba said and continued reading.
Yooku stood in front of her desk just staring at her read.
Esaba sighed and looked up at him.
“Please Esaba. I am very sorry”
Esaba sighed, she stretched her hand and collected the bag.
“Thanks very much Esaba. Have a good day” he said and walked out.
Esaba placed the bag on her desk and stared at it for a while, she wasn’t sure it was a good idea to accept gifts from him but on the other hand, she felt since he was responsible for ruining her old laptop it was only right he paid for a new one.
She opened the paper bag and saw that Yooku had gotten her a MacBook. He also added a cute sorry card.
Esaba was surprised, a MacBook is way expensive than the laptop Yooku had ruined. She placed it back into the paper bag and went to his office. She knocked twice before Yooku asked her to enter, she didn’t know how to knock in the specific way Yooku always wanted. Yooku could tell immediately that it was her.
“Yes Esaba? ” he said
She dropped the laptop on his desk.
“ I am sorry but I can’t accept this sir”
“Why not? It’s a laptop isn’t it? ”
“I can’t accept it please” she said and left the office.
Yooku called out to her but she ignored him.
When she got back, her boss had arrived. She asked for permission to get a laptop but her boss offered to give her an old laptop he hardly uses. Esaba gladly accepted it and got to work, she had a lot of things to do that day.
Mandy went to get her for lunch but she was still busy. She left the office pretty late, she wanted to get everything set up for the next day.
The following morning, she got to her office and found the MacBook on her desk with a note.
“I know you said you didn’t want it but I got it for you. Returning a gift is a little rude miss. Please accept it and do with it whatever you want but please don’t return it. Have a good day Esaba ”
“Look who’s talking about rudeness” Esaba thought and threw his note into the bin.
She placed the MacBook in her drawer and locked it. She remembered to return Jeremy’s money and told him about the laptop her boss had given her. She wanted to tell Jeremy about Yooku’s gift but she thought it wasn’t of any importance.
Months went by, Esaba and Mandy got closer in the office. She knew almost everything that went on in the hospital and didn’t hesitate to tell Esaba all about it.
One afternoon they were having lunch in Esaba’s office and Yooku’s name came up. Esaba’s face suddenly changed. Mandy laughed hysterically.
“You don’t like him at all. Why? He is such a nice person once you get to know him” Mandy said.
“I don’t want to get to know him. He is so rude and he reminds me of someone in my past ”
Mandy raised her eyebrows and moved her chair closer.
“An ex boyfriend maybe?”
Esaba chuckled and nodded.
“Whoa! Spill spill spill ” Mandy said excitedly
Esaba laughed.
“No Mandy I don’t want to talk about him”
“Oh come on Esaba. It’s lunchtime and we are bonding. Come on we are bonding” Mandy cried.
Esaba laughed and shook her head
“Nope.Nope. Another time. I promise ” she said.
Mandy shrugged and leaned back into her seat.
“Okay then, tell me what happened between you and Yooku. Why do you hate him so much?” she asked.
Mandy laughed when Esaba was done telling her everything.
“Esaba, don’t take Yooku seriously. He is very annoying I agree, but he is really nice too. Just get to know him better. Where is the laptop, let me see it”
Esaba opened her drawer and took it out.
“Wow! It’s very nice and cute. It would suit you. Just use it, he got it for you”
Esaba shook her head.
“I am not going to use it” she said.
“Well if you don’t want it, I do. Can I have it?” Mandy said and stretched out her hand.
“No. Don’t you have a laptop?” Esaba said and put it back into her drawer.
“But Esaba, I can’t believe you fell down in front of Yooku on your first day” Mandy said and laughed again.
“And he didn’t even help you up? ” she added and laughed some more.
Esaba laughed too.
“Mandy, get out of my office”
Mandy laughed and grabbed her bowl.
“Okay. I would see you in the evening,” Mandy said and left the office.
Yooku Solomon is the first son of Doctor Solomon. He has an older sister Kukua, who is a doctor like their father. He also has a little sister Ewurafua, who is in primary school, she is the miracle baby his parents had in their old age.
Ewurafua witnessed the tragic death of her best friend Kelly when they were ten. They were playing outside one afternoon, when a woman learning to drive lost control and knocked Kelly and another kid down. It happened so fast.
Ewurafua upon seeing all the blood and Kelly fighting for her life caused her to collapse. Kelly couldn’t make it but the other kid survived. Ewurafua regained consciousness only to be told that her best friend had died.
She kept having a lot of nightmares, she was traumatized. She stopped speaking after a year.
When it started the family thought it would last for a couple of days but it’s been two years and she hadn’t said a word.
Doctor Solomon contacted the best psychologists to assist her but none could help her. So they have all learned to live with her, even though it disturbs them a lot, especially Yooku. He says a prayer for her every single night before he goes to bed.
As the first and only son, he had a lot of responsibilities. He has to go to every meeting his father can’t make, handle all his father’s legal issues, and finish a law professional course on the side. He was so busy sometimes he wished he could just take a break to travel.
The constant stress at work and school was getting to him and it affected his social life, he wasn’t surprised when he ruined Esaba’s first day at work. He wished he could make it up to her but Esaba didn’t want to have anything do to him.
For months, he had tried approaching her with a conversation but the look on Esaba’s face anytime he got closer to her made him walk in a different direction.
Christmas was soon approaching, Doctor Solomon had this secret Santa tradition where all the employees picked the names of random employees and surprised the person they chose with a gift.
Mandy and her boss Mrs. Mensah were the ones who cut the names out every year into a bowl and go round office to office for the employees to pick.
But that year, Mandy decided to be mischievous and made Yooku and Esaba pick each other’s names without them knowing.
Yooku stared at the small paper for minutes in his office, he couldn’t believe he had picked Esaba’s name. He knew absolutely nothing about her, he had no clue what he was going to get her.
“No! God please, not Yooku! ” Esaba said when she opened her paper.
“You got Yooku?” Mandy asked pretending not to know.
‘Yes! Who did you get? Can I swap with you?” she asked.
“Nope!” Mandy said and left her office.
That evening when Yooku got back from work, he went to his big sister’s room
“Kukua, what gift does one get an uptight girl?”
Kukua laughed.
“Ah, Yooku are you okay? What a thing to ask?”
Yooku groaned and sat on his sister’s bed
“I don’t know why daddy still allows this secret Santa thing. This year I picked the name of a certain girl, she’s new and we got off on the wrong foot. She totally hates me”
“Which girl is that?” Kukua asked
“Her name is Esaba Hayford”
“Oh Esaba? I know her. She is a very nice girl and I don’t think she’s uptight at all”
“How do you know her?”
“ I see her around. She is a very nice unless you are talking about another Esaba Hayford”
Yooku rolled his eyes.
“Do you know another Esaba Hayford?” he asked
Kukua chuckled.
“Whatever. How can I help you?” she asked
“I need gift ideas for her”
“I don’t know Yooku, get creative. Leave my room I am busy”
Yooku sighed and left his big sister’s room. He asked his mother but she wasn’t any help either.
It made him worry for days so he decided to ask Mandy a little about Esaba since they were friends now.
He went to Mandy’s office one morning and asked her a couple of questions about Esaba. Mandy knew why Yooku was suddenly very curious about Esaba but she still asked him anyway.
“Why are you suddenly curious about Esaba?”
“I got her for secret Santa”
“Wow….I know I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Esaba picked your name too and she has no idea what to get you”
“Really? What a coincidence. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you had a hand in this Mandy”
“Me?” Mandy said and giggled
“Don’t get any bright ideas Yooku”
Yooku looked at her suspiciously and left her office, Mandy laughed when Yooku left.
After thinking long and hard, Yooku decided to get Esaba a Kindle since she loved reading so much, he thought it’s a device that might come in handy to her.
He wasn’t sure that she would like it, he only hoped and prayed that she would. He contacted a friend in the states and ordered one for her.
Esaba on the other hand was still struggling to get Yooku something, he looked liked he had everything. So he asked Jeremy about it one evening and he suggested a perfume but Esaba wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
“What if he doesn’t like it?” she asked
“He would. Most men I know love the Zara man Gold perfume” Jeremy said
“Are you sure?”
“Esaba don’t worry your head if he doesn’t like your gift. It’s the thought that counts” Jeremy said.
“Why are you getting him a gift anyway? I thought you didn’t like him?” he added
“ I don’t like him, there is this thing at the office they call secret Santa. You pick a random name from a bowl and you get the person you pick a gift for Christmas. I ended up picking his name”
“Interesting but whatever you decide to get him, I am sure he would like it”
“Thanks, Jeremy. Goodnight”
“Goodnight”
When the call ended, Jeremy thought through the night about Esaba, he was jealous, he liked Esaba and even though she said she didn’t like Yooku, her actions said differently.
“Why would she be so stressed about getting him a Christmas gift? Anything should do” he thought to himself.
Esaba took Jeremy’s advice and got Yooku the perfume, she added a nice necktie with cufflinks, Yooku normally dresses formally to the office so she knew he would like them, she then added a very cute Christmas card.
Judging from the sorry card he got for her when he broke her laptop, she assumed he was someone that liked cards.
She wrapped it nicely and wrote his name on it then added it to the other gifts that were under the Christmas tree at the reception.
Yooku’s order got to Ghana on the 23rd, he pleaded with his favorite cousin to pick it up on his behalf from Accra since she had plans of being in Capecoast for Christmas.
He had to plead for hours with her before she agreed to help him out because it was very short notice.
Esaba for the first time in her adult life enjoyed Christmas. She never understood why people made a fuss about it but the time she had with her new family made all the fuss make sense.
Mandy paid her a visit on the 26th with a gift, it was a Chanel bag. Esaba was so shocked Mandy took the trouble in getting her something.
“I didn’t know we were exchanging gifts Mandy. I didn’t get you anything”
“It’s fine Esaba. I wasn’t expecting anything anyway”
“But I promise to get you something”
“You don’t have to. It’s really fine. But if you insist, I would gladly wait” Mandy said and they both laughed.
Christmas celebration at the Solomon resident has always been exceptional. Doctor Solomon loved Christmas a lot. It is the only time he gets to spend with his family so he made sure to make every minute count. They cook together, eat together and play board games.
On the 26th he goes around campus and gives his fellow lecturers and doctors gifts. Something he has done for close to twenty years.
Yooku has always been his chauffeur when he went round sharing gifts, when they got to Uncle Fynn’s bungalow Esaba was the one that opened the gate.
“Doctor Solomon!” Esaba said excitedly.
“ Hi Esaba”
“Please come in,” she said and showed them in.
She went inside to get her Uncle, Yooku dropped the hamper on the floor and looked around the living room. Esaba came back with two bottles of water.
“He would be with you shortly,” she said and went back inside, completely ignoring Yooku.
Doctor Solomon didn’t stay long, he had other hampers to distribute. Yooku liked the cute dress Esaba had on, seeing her in something either than her office clothes intrigued him. He thought about her a little after they left her home.
All the presents at the office were opened on the 27th after the Christmas celebrations, just to make the employees have something exciting to look forward to. They gather around the tree and look through the gift boxes for their names.
It was always messy each year, everyone rushed to find their names but it added to the fun. Esaba waited till some other employees had left to look for her name. She saw the gift she had gotten for Yooku still under the tree, she looked around hoping to see him but he wasn’t there.
“Where could he be?” she thought.
She continued looking through and saw her name on a box wrapped up in a colorful paper. She smiled and picked it up, she met Yooku as she walked back to her office and they exchanged a greeting.
He was a little surprised Esaba acknowledged him, she normally walked past him. He noticed she had found the present he got her. He smiled to himself and turned back to look at her enter into her office.
“I hope she likes it,” he thought. Yooku picked up his present and also rushed to his office.
Esaba was so happy about her gift, it was something she had secretly wanted even though she had no idea how to operate it. She never thought she would ever own a Kindle, it was something she admired from a distance.
It made her very curious who her secret Santa was; she needed to say thank you.
She told Mandy excitedly about her gift that afternoon while they had lunch. Mandy realized it was a good opportunity to tell Esaba who it was from just to let her know Yooku really was a nice person.
“Would you believe it if I told you, Yooku was your secret Santa?”
Esaba almost choked on her food.
“What?!”
“Yes. He picked your name”
Esaba sat in silence.
“Why what’s wrong? Are you thinking about returning it now that you know it’s from him?”
” No. I am only wondering. This Yooku guy gives thoughtful gifts and quite expensive ones too. I think I have to thank him”
Mandy smiled.
“But is it okay to thank him, since it’s supposed to be a secret and all?”
“Oh..you can. It’s not that of a big deal. I think its high time you two started getting along”
Esaba sighed.
“Do you think, he is around now?” Esaba asked
Mandy checked the time
“Yes he is around now, he normally leaves office at 3pm”
“Everyday?”
“Yeah. Everyday. He goes to pick up his little sister from school and have lunch at home. But he comes back to work and leaves by 6pm”
“How do you know all this Mandy?”
Mandy chuckled.
“I keep telling you, I make it my business to find out everything about people here. I am a gossip”
Esaba laughed hysterically.
“I really need to be careful around you then,” Esaba said and stood up
“I want to go and see him now. What’s up with that knock though? I never seem to get it”
Mandy laughed and demonstrated it on Esaba’s desk
“I don’t know the deal with that knock really, I had to learn it too when I got here,” Mandy said
“Gosh! That guy is something else. Show it to me again?” Esaba said.
Mandy knocked on her desk again, this time Esaba watched attentively. She practiced it a couple of times before she left to see Yooku. She stood nervously behind his door before she knocked.
“Enter! ” he said
Yooku smiled when he saw her.
“I see you are starting to get accustomed to my knock ” he teased.
Esaba smiled and nodded. The first time she had smiled at him.
“May I?” she asked pointing to the chair across from him.
“Oh yes sorry. Of course”
“I just found out you were my secret Santa, I love the present you got me a lot. It was very thoughtful and I appreciate it. Thank you”
Yooku was very relieved.
“I am glad you like it Esaba. You are welcome”
“Okay then, I will see you around,sir,” she said and got up
“I also love what you got for me Esaba. I found out you picked my name from Mandy. Thank you too, they are very thoughtful gifts” Yooku said
“You are welcome sir,” she said and walked to the door
“And Esaba, could you please stop addressing me as sir?” he said.
Esaba’s back was facing him, she smiled to herself and walked out pretending not to have heard him.
I hope you enjoyed reading this episode ?. See you all soon with the next episode ?❤️
Thank God they are getting used to each other. That is soo nice