THE GHOST OF MY PAST(GP)

Chapter Seven

When Ms. Manoban said I would get an unforgettable experience working on the executive floor, she meant it.

The real shit began the next day. Meeting after meeting, never-ending phone calls and email correspondence, problems with the departments that didnt follow through with the deadlines, issues with vendors who provided meals and beverages for the meetings, and the list kept adding up. It was like a Deja Vu. Only, it was worse.

After our last encounter, Ms. Manoban and I havent had a chance to have another social chat. She was either burying her face in her computer screen, grunting and growling at someone on the phone, or stuck in back-to-back appointments. When I wasnt in the meeting room to take minutes, we communicated through phone or emails. And that was good because her presence was still too intimidating for me; hell, its still menacing now.

On top of that, something inside my head keeps reminding me that Im not yet off the hook. She knows about the ghost chili incident, but she hasnt used it against me. The suspense is killing me. I should have apologized in the first place.

Confirming my earlier suspicion, Ive been doing the executive assistant job for almost two weeks. Did Max mention the temporary position was only for a week? A week my ass.

Ms. Manoban has interviewed five candidates who had been through Human Resource screening, but none of them got hired. Only heaven knows the reason. She simply doesnt want to pull down the bar a little bit and give the best candidate a shot. Maybe he forgets that there is a support system called training, where employees can upgrade their skills. Also, I still dont get why she doesnt want to have a female assistant. It would have made the Human Resource job ten times easier to find Alexs replacement.

The waiting makes me anxious because I dont know how much longer I can keep up with this temporary task. This isnt the job for me. I should have been on the fourth floor by now.

You know, Im surprised that Ms. Manoban chose a female temporary assistant, chirps Tanya who is now having breakfast with me in the pantry. We rarely do this because of the workload that sometimes leaves us no choice but to eat at our table.

I raise my eyebrow while scooping my almost empty blueberry yogurt with a spoon. How so? Is she a gynophobia?

What phobia?

Fear of women.

Oh! Tanya laughs at my reply. No! hell, no.

I chug down the rest of my yogurt by tipping the cup over my mouth. Then why doesnt she want to have a female assistant?

Um, not sure. Tanya bites her lower lip while her eyes twinkle; the look a girl has when shes so close to spilling juicy gossip.

Too bad. Ive been so curious about it. I purse my lips while counting inwardly.

One...two...three.

Rumor has it that she got involved with a female secretary who happened to be an assistant of the previous CEO, Mr. D. Manoban. Things got messy because apparently, this girl was also seeing her CEO secretly. At. The. Same. Time! Then the war began. There was even an office fight between the two because of the girl. But —Tanya shrugs, contrasting her enthusiasm in cooking up the story— we never know what actually happened. No one witnessed the fight.

Wait, Mr. D. Manoban is Ms. Lalisa Manobans father?

No. Tanya shakes her head. He is the big brother, Dickson Manoban. As you see, Manoban Corporation used to be a family business until they went public seven years ago. So, when this company joined the Manoban group, Mr. D. Manoban was the CEO, replacing their sick father. But it didnt go well. He wasnt capable of leading a company with a different level of demands and pressure. One day he messed up, big time, and he was forced to step down.