Chapter 6. Mother's advice

Mrs. Tonia doesn't say anything after Flora exits the room, and she sighs and walks up to sit beside Anita on the bed while Favour and Esther exit the room next.

 

"You shouldn't be harsh with your sister. Fighting with her wasn't necessary," Mrs. Tonia says to Anita, as she sits beside Anita on the bed.

 

"I know, mom, but they disrespect me too much and are getting out of hand," Anita replies.

 

"It's okay. I can understand, but don't change yourself because of them. Keep being my sweet and calm daughter."

 

"Okay mom." Anita sighs as she stares at their mother, while Glory walks up to sit on the bed too.

 

"I've got to go now and join your father. Glory, you go now and pack your bags and come join Anita here."

 

"Okay, mom," Glory replies, and she stands up from the bed and walks out of the room, going to the room she shares with Lisa.

Flora is in the room, arranging her bag of clothes, and she doesn't utter a word to Glory, who steps in and carries her own box of clothes out.

 

Lisa sighs as she returns from the kitchen and finds Flora in the room she previously shared with Glory, and she doesn't ask any questions as she also doesn't like Anita and Glory either.

 

Glory exits the room and walks back to join Anita in her room. Anita is busy texting Temisa, while Temisa would rather give her a call instead.

 

"Hello, girlfriend, how's home?" Temisa ask Anita.

 

"All fine, and yours?" Anita inquiries.

 

"All good," Temisa responds.

 

"What's up? You don't sound too happy?" Anita asked Temisa first.

 

"I know, it is a long story. Remember, my father didn't show up at the ceremony, and now he's asking for my results and telling me to submit them to the Benson group? Like you know, I don't have any interest in working with them" Temisa complains.

 

"What!. That's good news. You should be happy. So quick. Like you just graduated and you already have a job at your feet, unlike us, who would've to start wandering about the whole streets and companies submitting applications," Anita squeals.

 

"Hmmm, you can say that, but that's not what I want. At least not for now, and besides my results, I doubt I will get the job," Temisa complains.

 

"Hmph, that's well, girlfriend, but be happy at least; you have your father's support, unlike mine," Anita rants again, and the phone call goes silent for a while.

 

"It's okay. But the truth is, I do not have too high hopes for working with Benson's groups. I know they're the most sought-after group of companies, but I am not interested," Temisa deadpan.

 

"Hmph, I know, but you can still apply. I will be submitting mine there too, but I didn't want to bothered you about it earlier nor asked you to help me talk to your father about it. Probably if I submit mine too now and they approve of me and accept me, we can be working there together and you won't be bored with office work again."

 

"Really, do you have plans to submit your CV with the Benson Group too?" Temisa ask, eagerly.

 

"Yes, but I don't know your father also has plans of you working there too; I didn't want to bother you about it," Anita responds.

 

"Oh!, there's no problem then; I will just submit my application and give you updates on when they approve of me. Although you know this is through my father, so no too much stress," Temisa beams.

 

"Yeah, lucky girl," Anita hypes her friend.

 

"Thank you, but I am only submitting because you said you would; if I don't get to see you there, then I will quit," Temisa informs Anita.

 

"Okay, I will, but let's hope they accept me too. Good-night, girlfriend." Anita ends the call after Temisa responds, "Yeah, goodnight too."

 

Anita keeps her phone down and finds Glory in the room, arranging her box to fit into the wardrobe she previously shared with Flora, and she sighs.

 

All her siblings have dark skin, except for Lisa, Glory, and herself, as Lisa is fair brown but not white like her, while Glory is brown with the rest dark.

 

"Did Flora ask you anything when you went there and carried your box?" Anita ask Glory.

 

"No," Glory responds, and she walks to sit beside Anita on the bed as she's done arranging her box into the wardrobe.

 

"I'm sorry for what happened initially," Glory apologizes faintly to Anita, and Anita smiles back.

 

"It's okay. None of it was your fault. Let's just hope Flora, Favor, and Esther stop annoying me in this house." Anita smiles at Glory as she places her right palm on Glory's hand.

 

"Hmph, I hope they don't." Glory sigh.

 

"It's okay. So, what did you want to discuss with me before Flora interrupted us?" Anita asks Glory.

 

"I just wanted to ask you about your university: Is it difficult studying business administration?" Glory ask Anita.

 

"No, not too stressful. You just have to keep your focus high and not get distracted by guys and girls in your department that might be asking you out," Anita replies as she turns and turned off her laptop, as she's already tired.

 

"So, you don't have a boyfriend in school or any guy that likes you?" Glory asks Anita, surprising Anita, too.

 

"Glory!, What do you know about your boyfriend?" Anita asks with wide-eyes, and Glory only smiles.

 

"Okay, I don't have a boyfriend, because I don't want to lose focus, and you shouldn't either," Anita advises Glory, who continues to smile.

 

"It's okay. You will show me your results for this term since I'll be around. I can be your extra coaching teacher," Anita says to Glory once more, and Glory jumps up happily from the bed and hugs Anita tightly.

 

"Thank you, big sis!"

 

"You're welcome. Can I breathe now?" Anita asks as Glory, as Glory is chubby and hugging her tightly.

"Okay, let me go and ease myself before sleeping." Glory let go of Anita and quickly rushed to the washroom while Anita sighed and decided to play with her Android phone, as it was already late.

 

Anita decides to browse the information about the Benson Group online to know what the company is like, and she types in a search for the Benson Group of Companies and sees recent news updates about the company.

 

Anita reads through some of the recent news and sees the new handling of company ownership by Master Liam Jackson, and she sighs as she stares at the photos from the company's conference hall and down to the photos of the new CEO.

 

Lost in her thinking and search, Anita doesn't even know when Glory will return, climb on the bed, and drift to sleep.

 

However, Anita sighs as she hears Glory snoring and sleeping peacefully behind her on the bed, and she scrolls through the timeline post of the new CEO, checking his profile page. The CEO profile doesn't have many updates, Anita sighs and finally clicks on his profile picture, wanting to see the new boss she will be working with in the future if her CV finally gets accepted.

But as Anita stares at the CEO's display picture on his profile and looks at the date it was posted, it was posted six years ago, and he looks younger in the photo, making her sigh again and leave his profile page to browse on how to submit her letter of application and certificate to the company instead.

 

Anita finally gets to see an available form of application online, and she checks in for the available positions left.

 

She copies the company's email address and decides to write a letter of application to them, as that's the only way to submit an application to work with the company.

 

As she's tired, Anita decides to type a fresh letter of application to the Benson group the following day. After copying the email address, she keeps her phone on her shelf and drifts to sleep on her bed.

 

The following morning in her home, Anita wakes up, and hears her father scream, "No!." She immediately jumped down from her bed and rushed out of her room to find out what happened.

 

"What happened?" They all gather in the living room while their father sits on the couch and places his palms to support his head as he fights back the urge to cry.

 

"Mom, what's the problem?!" They ask their mom, but she shakes her head, not responding and pacing about in the living room too.

 

"Father, what's the problem?" Flora asks their father as she sits beside him on the couch, and he shakes his head in regret and wipes off the tears daring to fall off from his eyes.

 

"Mom?" Anita walks up to their mother and holds her hands.

 

"What is the matter, Mom?" Anita inquires, and Mrs. Tonia finally responds, "I do not really know."

"Your father received a call this morning, and the next moment I heard him scream while speaking with the caller. I am not sure what the problem is." Mrs. Tonia looks back at her husband, seeing how hard he is trying to keep his tears from falling, and he finally stands up from the living room couch, already dressed in his deep blue suit, ready to leave for office work as if it were a new Friday morning, but he sighs and walks back to his room, shaking his head regretfully.

 

"Father!" Anita, Flora, and Favor rush up to their father, but are quickly stopped by their mother.

 

"You girls should let your father be; I will talk to him and find out what the problem is," Mrs. Tonia tells them.

 

"Are you sure, Mom?" They inquire in confusion, wishing to see their father.

 

"Yes. Just give him some time; I am sure he will eventually tell us what the problem is."