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“What do we toast to?” Lea asks.
“Since you have a new job and I have a new contract I’ll be working on from now, these are new beginnings for both of us.”
“Cheers to new beginnings.” She says with her glass raised in the air.
“To new beginnings.” I raise my glass and clink hers. We drink.
“Tell me about your time in Rwanda, Damien,” Lea says as she feasts on the meal before her.
“Rwanda is a beautiful country. It’s known as ‘The Land of a Thousand Hills’. I would advise anyone wishing to visit Africa to visit Rwanda first. The scenery is stunning, the people are hospitable, and they have great food, although extra spicy and hot.”
“Is that where you learned to spice up your meals like this?” Lea gulps water and smiles at me.
“Well, I did pick some of their dry spices, which I’ve been adding to my meals. The chef who prepared our meals for the entire conference recommended some to me.”
Lea nods, interested in my story.
“One of the days of the conference, he prepared a meal with rice cooked in tomato sauce and fried chicken wings with chili sauce. He must have overly spiced the food because I choked and gulped almost a full milk jug.”
Her laughter reverberated across the room, and I hoped she wouldn’t have to gulp down milk like I did.
Chapter Three
Lea
Painting. Damien. Pasta. New beginnings.
I try to recall last night’s events as I turn to face my window.
Greeted by the rays of sunlight as I reach for my alarm clock.
IT’S 9:00 AM!!!
I immediately scurry off the bed like a mouse chased by a cat.
This is not a good way for me to start my day. How could I be late to my first day at my new job?
There’s every likelihood that I will lose a job I haven’t even started. So much for the new beginnings Damien and I toasted to last night.
I take a shower, which is the quickest since I had a 7:00 am impromptu test in college. Thankfully, I had picked out my outfit earlier, so that was sorted and wouldn’t cause any extra delays.
I almost slipped as I hurried out of the house and jumped right into the car that Kelvin had given me.
For this gesture, I will forever be indebted to my brother for giving me this car, as he saved my life right this minute.
If I still have a job, I make sure my hair looks presentable for my first day at work. My curls from last night are still intact, despite some strands standing out like I had been electrocuted.
The struggle between the steering wheel and my hair is real, but eventually, I give up. This job is way more important than some loose strands of my hair. No one would care about my appearance if I didn’t get to keep my job, anyway.
The universe must have something against me today because this traffic seems to move in snail mode. I try to check other routes on Google Maps and their traffic level. My current location looks even better compared to the others.
On days like this, I wish flying cars were a reality.
Turning around to head home sounds like a more reasonable plan for me. Being two hours late on the first day is already a bad sign, and looking disheveled makes it even worse.
The saying on first impressions keeps ringing in my ear. None of these will matter if I’m not allowed to even walk into the door.
I would not even have the opportunity to show my skills and prove myself before I am kicked out of the office.
