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“Joshua Walters wants to set up a meeting with you. He’d like to buy oil from us. There was a call from Mike Sanders; he said the oil rig in Austin looks good, and he’ll send in a report. And your mother called,” said Mariam.
Basil sat down at his desk and looked up at Mariam. “My mother?” he asked.
“Yes,” Mariam replied. Basil leaned back in his chair and sighed. “She said that you need to call her as soon as you get in.”
Basil sighed. His mother had called his cell phone a few times. “I’ll call her later,” he said.
“How is it working out with Janet so far?”
“Who?”
“Sanaa’s new nanny.”
“Oh,” Basil almost chuckled. “She talks too much.”
“Normally, that’s a good thing when dealing with children, but Sanaa is different,” Mariam replied. Basil grunted in response. “We’ll just have to see how she does,” she continued.
“We’ll see.”
Mariam nodded before she headed out of Basil’s office. Mariam had been Basil’s secretary for over five years. She had proved herself to be very organized, resourceful, trustworthy and efficient.
Basil spent the rest of the day reviewing contracts and meeting with engineers and potential business partners. After finishing the work Basil left the office at 8 p.m. and headed home.
Janet was coming down the stairs when Basil walked through the front door. She was wearing a tracksuit and a T-shirt. Her shift was practically over since Sanaa would be in bed at that time. So, Basil couldn’t complain about her clothes.
“Good evening, sheikh,” she greeted him.
“Is Sanaa asleep?” he asked. Janet nodded.
“I just came back from checking on her.”
“I see.” Basil nodded. He headed to the dining room. Janet walked with him.
“Busy day?” she asked.
“As always.” He was normally good at reading people, but he couldn’t read Janet. He couldn’t tell what kind of a person she was, other than a talkative person.
Ruth was in the dining room, setting up the dinner table, when Basil and Janet walked in. “Good evening, sheikh,” she greeted him. “Dinner will be served in a few moments,” she said before she disappeared into the kitchen.
“You often have dinner at this time?” Janet asked.
“Yes.” He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. “What did you do before you started working here?” He knew she worked at a shipping company, of course, because he had Mariam carry out a background check on her, but he wanted to find out more.
“I worked as a secretary at a shipping company,” she replied.
“You went from that to being a nanny; it’s a big change.”
Janet laughed awkwardly. She was standing just a few feet away from Basil. “Yes, it is, but it’s a good change,” she replied. Basil raised an eyebrow.
“Why did you resign?” he asked.
“Um, my family and I had decided to leave town and start afresh somewhere. I also wanted a job in a different sector,” she said. She laced her fingers together. She had medium length nails that were neatly shaped and clean.
“You said your family consisted of just your mother, your sister and yourself?” He remembered her talking about it during the interview. Janet nodded.
“Just the three of us. My mother never remarried after my father passed away,” she replied. She had a soft voice. She cleared her throat. “I heard about your wife’s passing, my condolences,” she said.
“Don’t,” he said sternly.
