A few years back, I secured a job in a reputable firm, I was the Personal Assistant to my boss which means I was paid "handsomely".
My job was enjoyable until the devil decided to Possess my boss, you see, Mr. Man (name withheld) was a very cool guy but he started to throw advances at me.
Being a P. A had the privilege of scheduling his meetings and booking appointments, this fateful day, he was to travel out of the state for a meeting, however, the contract got canceled.
Would you believe he asked me to schedule a false meeting so we both can spend time together?
Yuck!!, a married man for that matter, if there's anything that irritated me am is having an affair with a married man, you know what they say about *"what goes around comes around?", I wouldn't want my (future husband) to ever cheat on me, so I wouldn't want to do that to another woman.
Well, I mustered the courage to decline that offer and from that day, my boss made my days at work Hellish, he would find fault in everything I do, yell at me, overload me with work, and even demand I run and overtime which wasn't part of my job description
I was tolerating all of that because I needed a job to keep up with my life. (Bills?) Woaaah. Talking about bills, I've got a lot of bills to pay and I know there's dignity in legal labor so I kept wearing a fake smile to work, even if the work became tiresome, I will dress up and show up at work.
One fateful Friday evening after the day's job, I got to work and was summoned by my boss to this office, he outrightly shamelessly I meant, asked me to choose between ending my job appointment or having an affair with him to secure my job appointment.
Head bowed on his table, the head was mine, it wasn't hard to make a choice but the outcome of my choice scared me. Having to stay without a job meant I would have to suffer, the country I live in is not so nice for jobless citizens, even if you're very intelligent it is pretty hard to secure a well-paying job as the whole system was corrupted.
I must confess, I was in a dilemma but having an affair with him was out of my options!!
I wished there were other dignified ways to secure this job in particular, I murmured.
As a lady with dignity, my mom raised me better, so I didn't even bother to plead because it was something I could never do. I boldly told him I will never have an affair with him no matter the pressure, but in my mind of minds, I was wishing it was a " Chasteness test", let's just say I was hoping for a miracle.
He just gave me a stern look and remained silent.
Well, I showed up at work the Monday, and on getting to my office I saw a beautiful gift on my table which was in an envelope, I am dead sure your guess is good as mine, it was a job termination letter!!!
Honestly, it was terrible for me because at that moment it felt like my world had crashed, where do I begin? How do I keep up with the bills? How do I spill the news to my mom that I was out of a job for being chaste?
I cried for a few minutes while seated on the seat I loved so much, that was probably gonna be the last time, I managed to pick myself up, and graciously left the company, my colleagues raised their eyebrows as few were sensitive to smell a rat, but I remained calm, I never wanted to tarnish his image.
I left for home and when I got home I was quite depressed, unable to do anything, at that moment I was tempted to pick up my phone to call the devil, I wanted to beg him to give me a few months to work with him until I could find my balance, but the hard girl in me didn't let me stoop so low.
I was out of a job for two good months, it was the toughest months in my life but somehow I learned to make do with the little I had in my bank account which means I had to cut down on most of my budget. While being jobless I also job-hunted, offline and online.
One Fateful evening, I was on my way back from my many job hunts, when I stumbled on Deborah, who was my high school mate whom I had lost contact with, to see how God works.
We had a chit-chat and caught up for the lost time, in our random conversation I jokingly mentioned I was out of a job and how I needed a job soon.
"My aunt asked me to refer a creative person to her, for the position of social media manager, I know you are a creative person Amie", She excitedly replied.
All smiles, I got the contact of her aunt and the address of the company.
I was invited over for an interview, being a passionate person about pictures and tech-savvy, I was just the spec they needed, yes I am saying this with my full chest, hehe.
I got the job! Firstly, the job affords me more time as I worked from home and visited the company just twice a week to take shots and do some other necessary things.
I was mostly behind my Laptop responding to questions from clients, advertising online by producing quality and beautiful content (pictures, and content and other responsibilities that came with being a social media manager. It was a soft-life job. Hehe
I was paid pretty well too and thirdly, the company was a big eatery, being a foodie, God gave me more than what I asked for, whenever I visited the company twice a week, I ate -for free and even go home with takeaways, those were the perks I enjoyed in that company plus I had amazing colleagues and a conducive working environment.
I worked with that company for many years until my boss asked I referred someone to take my place, so I referred my cousin to take over my space, as it was time to relocate.
At first, losing my first job was like the end of the road for me, I never thought something better was ahead of me.
Now I can boldly say;
When one door closes, another opens, a better one at that.
I wish I could meet the devil of a boss one day and yell at him with these words Good riddance to bad rubbish!
I was happier and at peace!!!