34 The Maze

When she saw him, she stood up and walked back to the table.

Nicklaus handed one photocopy to Tiana and kept the original and others to himself.

''Fredrick, you'll take over the office of the Chief Financial Officer, I have already sent him a transfer letter to another branch earlier today but he'll work until the end of the week, so until then, you must coach her and teach her the basics of the job, understood? ''

Fredrick's lips could not stop smiling. He had thought Nicklaus was about to sack him, not knowing he was just promoting him! And to the office of the Chief Financial Officer, that was a dream come true.

''Yes, boss! I'll do just that! Thank You, boss ''

Another thing that made Fredrick so joyous was the fact that he was finally liberated from his tyrant boss, who was never pleased with anything.

He was a hard man to work with and he just pitied the lady who was taking his position. In fact, he would wholeheartedly teach her everything she needed to know and more.

Nicklaus knew he could trust Fredrick with that position; he had worked with him since he took over the company from his Uncle and he had never had a single complain about him.

''Go get the reports for today. ''

Nicklaus ordered;

''Right away! ''

Fredrick replied, and Tiana followed him out.

…

Nicklaus left the company earlier than usual; although he barely said anything to Tiana, when he was about to leave he uttered curtly;

''Let's go. ''

As they walked out of the company together, the workers still gave them the same stare as they had given them earlier that day.

Immediately they were out of the company; the female employees, who couldn't endure their hunger for gossip instantly raced to the elevator and to the last floor to go inquire from Fredrick who the woman was.

…

They arrived home by a few minutes past twelve in the afternoon. Tiana retired to her room and flung her shoes across the room. She massaged her legs after which she fell back on the bed and in a few minutes she had drifted to sleep.

She woke up a few minutes past two in the afternoon; rubbing her eyes, she pulled herself from the bed and changed into something comfortable. She left the room to go have lunch.

After taking her food from the kitchen, she walked to the dining room and saw Bella eating her meal slowly;

Her lips curved with a smile;

'' Bella? ''

After that day, she had not seen Bella and Veronica again; well that was because she had spent a good amount of time locked away in the basement.

Bella raised her eyes from her food, and when she saw her, she smiled brightly.

''Yeah; '' Tiana replied, placing her plate opposite Bella and pulled out a chair to sit down.

''The boss locked me up, you must have heard. ''

She said with a faint smile; Bella sighed sadly;

''I'm really sorry, that is the boss for you, he's a very hard man to please. You're even lucky that you're alive. ''

Bella said as she dug into her food;

Tiana chuckled; ''Well that's over now, I'll try as much as possible not to get on his bad side again as long as I am here.''

Bella nodded; ''That's good; I hear you went to the company with him today, what happened? ''

Tiana chuckled; Bella was really a blabbermouth, but she had this feel around her, like someone with a good heart.

''Well, he offered me a job to be his pa for now. ''

''Oh, that's scary! You'll get to put up with him every minute, I wish you luck. ''

Bella said with a gentle smile. Tiana laughed it off.

She didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to think about the money and that was all.

They resumed eating and after a minute, Bella looked up at her;

''So, what do you do for fun? ''

Tiana raised her eyes at her suddenly;

''What? ''

''Yea, you're always in your room, it'll be nice to make friends and have some fun since you'll be staying here for a while. ''

Bella opted; Tiana thought for a moment and a giggle escaped her lips;

''Okay, what do you guys do for fun? ''

She asked;

''mmm, telling funny stories when we're bored, swimming, celebrating birthdays and partying but not in the main building, we do this in the other building by the east. ''

''Wow, that's interesting, didn't know there was so much fun here, everyone looks so moody. ''

Bella laughed;

''Yeah, that's because of the boss, his presence brings an unusual darkness that makes everyone look solemn.''

They both burst out laughing;

''Say, do you know there is a maze in the estate? ''

Bella asked and Tiana shook her head;

''No, really? Where is it? ''

She only saw a maze in the movies; she had never seen one in real life.

''Wow! That means you haven't even checked out the estate, there is a maze constructed with huge flowers in the south end of the estate after the little pond. They say it's very complicated, that once you're in, it takes up-to 8 hours or more to find your way out. And sometimes you might never find your way.

They say it's only the boss that knows the way round it. ''

Tiana was thrilled by the revelation. A real life maze! She really wanted to see it.

''Come on, what are we waiting for, let's check it out. ''

''What? '' Bella laughed;

''Not going anywhere, what if we get lost, who will find us? And it's' already past two, even if we make it out, it'll be in the middle of the night! ''

Tiana giggled; ''Who says we will get into it, I just want to see, that's all.''