IS THIS LOVE – Episode 43

IS THIS LOVE – Episode 43

A story by Kennedy C Katongo

 

AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE

“I understand what you mean. And I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t regret your decision. So, the transfer almost went through until Lydia came in and threatened to stop work if you got transferred.” I didn’t understand his facial expression. He had just said something serious and behaved like he hadn’t said anything at all.

“I don’t understand Sir.” I told him.

“Lydia threatened to stop work if you got transferred. You know Lydia is on top of her game. She’s rising through ranks in M&B and I can’t risk losing her. So for that reason your transfer has been denied.” He told me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Am sorry Sir. You said you had two things to tell me, if that was the first then what is the second thing you wanted to talk to be about?” I asked him.

“I know what happened between you and are. People have been talking here and I won’t lie that the extent at which you two have gone is very toxic. It’s for that reason why am going to give you this weekend to think about what you want and then we will make final decisions then. Is that okay?” He asked me. The man wasn’t even showing some emotion. Ruthless to the core.

“Okay Sir. Thank you very much. I will be on my way then.” I told him.

On my way out I made sure I didn’t see anyone else. The good part was I still had a job to fall back on if things didn’t work out at the School. All I had to do now was wait for a phone call to alert me on where I was supposed to go.

@@ @@ MATIMBA @@ @@

6 HOURS LATER

CHILESHE: ‘Am so nervous right now.’

MATIMBA: ‘It’s a normal thing. Don’t panic, you will do just great.’

CHILESHE: ‘What makes you so sure that am going to do great? What if I mess up?’

MATIMBA: ‘You seriously need to believe in yourself more dude.’

CHILESHE: ‘When did you start using such words…’

MATIMBA: ‘Am not some girl from the 90s you know! Where have you even reached?’

CHILESHE: ‘At the roundabout. Almost there. The man who called me said I should call him when I drop at Inters.’

MATIMBA: ‘Okay. Break a leg.’

I had kept Chileshe company from the time he started off from home. That was after he received a phone call that Mr KC Katongo was going to be at Intercontinental hotel. Knowing how busy he was, It meant that Chileshe had to make sure he was on time, Zambian time in this regard wouldn’t save him.

My friend had told me that there was even going to be a Vacancy in the field Chileshe had studied as one of the teachers was leaving for China under a mentorship program the school offered.

Basically the timing was right and all that was left was for him to convince the man that he was worth the position.

CHILESHE: ‘I’ve reached. Just waiting for him to come through. Will call you if the feedback is positive and I will text if it’s negative.’

@@ @@ CHILESHE @@ @@

I dropped my last text and put my phone on silent mode. I had spoken to the one who was picking me up and it so happened he had already seen me.

“How are you?” A young man, almost my age… Maybe older with a slender body – greeted me.

“Am fine thank you. I responded immediately.” He didn’t extent his hand but kept them right in place – one in his pocket and the other one holding a phone. I immediately recognized the phone, it was a Pixel 4.

I wasn’t a judgemental person but I could tell when someone was loaded.

“How was your journey getting here?” He asked me.

“It was alright, made me feel lazy but that’s all.” I told him.

“I understand you. Bus rides are never friendly. At least the bigger ones are comfortable…” He said warmly.

He had a very weird way of boasting, he did it in a way that left one to think twice about what he said.

After reaching Intercontinental, we went through a couple of doors till finally we were outside again. The place was will decorated with nice cloths, the area just felt warm and different. Maybe it was the wooden texture, the lighting… But eish! This was definitely a life worth living. Me and the same guy sat there waiting for the big man to arrive, he had already told me that he was in a meeting.

As we sat there, a man, who seemed to be in his late mid 40s walked up to us.

With a few words being spoken underneath his breath, the young gentleman left and I was just there not knowing what to do. Instead I gazed at the pool.

“Hope you haven’t been waiting for a long time.” The same man said as he took a seat. It was then that I recognized him, I mean I hadn’t seen him physically before and I wasn’t a big follower of his words – in short, I knew the name but not the face behind the name.

“No No! Not at all sir.” I responded nervously, the chair made funny noises like I was about to run for my life. In my head, i felt like I had met a god.

“I like your outfit.” He said passively as he looked out to see where the other guy was.

“So tell me about yourself…” He asked me.

Now, that question was one of the most common ones asked at interviews. The only problem was I really didn’t know which part of my life to tell him about. The fact that he was casually dressed is what bothered me even more.

He didn’t look like anything I thought. Yet, the way he handled himself was enough to confirm that indeed he was the owner of that prestigious school.

I decided to answer his question by telling him about the things that I was into; Poetry, books, movies.

As the conversation went on I noticed or rather observed how he was more interested in my opinion on things that didn’t have to do with my job compared to those that had to do with my job. After a heavy meal and a lot of questions he finally landed on the ending question, “Why do you think you are the best person for this job?”

.

.

.

I got home with mixed feelings. I wasn’t sure if I had gotten the job or not. Everything went well from my point of view, to be honest, I think I did good when it came to selling myself and what I could offer to there school…. After all, that was Mr KC Katongo’s main interest in our chat.

Since I had promised Matimba that I would give her a call or text depending on the outcome of the interview, I didn’t know what to do next since I myself was not given a solid answer other than, “We’ll stay in touch.”

While I thought about what to do next, my phone rang and it was her – I guess she was waiting to hear how the meeting went.

“Hey! I was about to contact you…” I told her once I answered.

“My friend just called me some minutes ago. He says you really did well according to what the father told him.” She said.

“What you mean the father? You mean that was the son of …” I asked her.

“I thought he told you.” She said sounding a bit surprised as she spoke.

 

To be continued…