For the first time in a very long while, the accident and emergency unit at the Queens appeared empty. It felt like an unusual day as the crowd thinned out, leaving the health workers with a few patients placed on observation. Paige watched the last outpatient leave, and she sighed. A normal day at the Queens was characterized by the loud crowd at the A&E, the voluminous number of patients at the Out-patient-department, which was unfortunately built beside the hospital's A&E. The noise from these two departments were enough to make one go nuts. Yet the likes of Paige found themselves already used to it, as it was now part of their daily life. She whispered to her colleague before standing up and making her way down the mini corridor that led directly to the OPD. Seeing how calm and scanty the waiting rooms were, she stared in shock, telling herself that something was definitely wrong. The OPD had always been the busiest department in the whole hospital. And in a bid to regulate the crowd, the management had to adjust consultations on appointment basis, except in the case of new patients. Yet they recorded little to no decrease in the crowd. So Paige was taken aback to see just a few people at the waiting rooms. She pondered on what could be the problem, but ended up as clueless as before. Carefully, she marched down to Dr. Nathan's office while hoping that the scanty number of people would mean less work for her childhood friend and he would have a few minutes to spare. She was already curious as to why he asked to see her and being told to wait was not something she hoped for. "Good morning Nat, Candice said you were asking for me." Paige asked as she stepped into Nathan's office. She took an empty seat opposite him. "Good morning Pai." Nathan greeted smiling. Paige has been a close friend of Nathan from their days in college and Interns. Fortunately, they ended up working at the Queens. "I've got news, a big one. It is more like a huge opportunity for a financial breakthrough." Nathan said, smiling broadly. "Really, what is it?" She asked, excitedly. Having grown up under the care of a not-so-kind step-mother, Paige rarely had people that genuinely cared for her, except her boyfriend of course. So, her friendship with Nathan was something she cherished so much. "One of my patients is back in the country. She's been struggling with mild hypertension for a while now which we've been managing adequately if I must say. Since she became my patient, her blood pressure has never gone above limits except for one time she was going through some personal stuff." He paused and flashed a cute smile. "Currently," he continued. "She stays outside the country. But we always keep in touch and I do speak with her consultant over there and so far, her blood pressure has been under control. You're following the gist right?" "Mhmm." Paige replied. "Okay. But you know these wealthy people, they don't like taking chances. So, it's safe to say that my client is just in need of someone to keep her company and also keep a watchful eye on her health." He concluded. Paige heaved a deep sigh, and threw Nathan a thoughtful stare. "How old is she?" "She'll be fifty six soon." Nat replied. "Is she officially relocating back to the country, I mean why is she back? And what about her husband and kids?" "Husband is late. He died a couple of years ago. She does have kids but I'm not sure of the numbers. What I do know is that one of her children recently established a Cardiac surgical center. And It's actually one of his charity schemes to help the less privileged who can't afford the dire cost of heart surgery he wan....." "Is he a cardiologist?" Paige cut in, obviously shocked. "From what I know, he's into the Diamond business. He is a real businessman. I doubt he knows much about the health sector, maybe a few things he read or picked up from medical practitioners." Nathan explained. "So how come he established a cardiac surgical center? That will cost him a real fortune. Does he or anyone close to him have heart related issues." She asked again, causing Nathan to smile. "Pai, you need to understand that these people are billionaires. They can do anything they want with their money. For all I know, he could be bored, then decides to carry out a philanthropic work. Moreover, money is not even a problem to them." He answered, shrugging. Paige nodded. "So are the whole family Diamond collectors. I mean your clients' children. Is it like a family business for them?" She continued her query. "I knew you'd kill me with questions." Natan chuckled. "I'm not sure of what they all do though but two of his sisters are well celebrated lawyers." He replied. "Oh! So that makes sense then. I mean, considering their brother is into such business. He is more like a mafia right? And having two powerful lawyers behind him is the best kind of security he needs. So, what's the deal?" she asked, putting on a serious face." "They want a live-in Nurse that would be with their mother all through her stay in the country, someone to care for her till she returns back to the states." "Why can't the Nurse pay their mother a visit at least once or twice weekly. I mean one of them is likely to be a member of the Mafia and I don't want to get killed or shot dead while living with them. She will be living in the same house with her Mafia son, right?" Paige asked. "Oh my god! Pai, where did you get that from?" Nathan asked, laughing uncontrollably. "Firstly, I never said her son was a member of any Mafia or whatever you called it." Nat stated, wondering where she got such an idea from. "In fact, he is the calmest and most gentle human you would ever come across. He is not a bad person at all. Again, they do not want you visiting. Moreso, they live at Yardstin which is about a six to seven hour journey from here. If you ask me, I'll say this is a very good deal and it's just for a period of three months. The icing on the cake is, they pay pretty well." Nat added, the last line was said in a whisper in order to convey how exciting the news sounded. "Nat," she called, shaking her head to the sides. "I don't think this will work for me. I've got my gift store running on the side, I've got to work, I also have my whole life here. I can't just pack up and move to another state." Paige complained bitterly. "Not even when you are going to be paid two thousand dollars each week? " asked Nat with a mischievous smile. "They are paying what, how? That's a whole lot of money!" Paige exclaimed, sitting up. "Who pays their employee such an amount of money in a week?" "The Kentleys." Nathan replied. "Unbelievable!!" "You should probably read about them before making a decision. You can give me feedback by Thursday. That should give you enough time to decide, right?" He asked. "Nat, two thousand dollars each week." She said in a distant voice while staring at nothing in particular. Turning to him again, she spoke. "That will be eight thousand in a month and approximately twenty-two to twenty-four thousand in three months. How is that even possible? It sounds too good to be true." "I know, I've done the math before now and the pay is quite encouraging honestly. You could buy a property you know." Nathan said, smiling broadly. "I'll give it a thought this evening." She finally said thinking about the money and how far it would go in solving most of her personal problems at the moment. Then a distant reminder shook her, Nathan would obviously need a percentage cut from the money. He got the offer for her, he could have given it to anyone in the hospital but he brought it to her. So, he deserved a reasonable percentage from the pay. "How much is your cut?" She asked him, smiling knowingly. "I'll get paid five thousand dollars for helping them find a reliable hand and that's the cut I'm taking. Besides, you need the money more than I do." He winked. "Mrs. Kentley was a former patient of my dad's before he passed on." "God bless his soul." Paige uttered audible enough. "She's been my patient since dad's demise. So, I've been close to the eldest son for a while now in case you are in doubt." "Thank you so much, for bringing such an amazing offer to me on a platter. I am very grateful and indebted to you. And best believe my husband-to-be will pay you in full before he gets married to me." She teased, and roared in sweet happy laughter. "And I can't wait to get my wages." He smiled. "Just let me know of your decision on time." He added, in a more serious tone. "I sure will. Now, let's leave you to continue with work. See you later." She said and received a nod from Nathan before stepping out of his office.
Paige had spent the next couple of days thinking about Nathan's proposal. It did sound too good to be true, but he already told her that it was real.She made a mental calculation of all the things she could do with some of that money and at the end of the day, she realized that she desperately needed the money more than anything she could think of.So, that was the only thing required for her to arrive at a decision. She had to take the job, since it was just for three months, she was going to be done in no time.With the decision made, two days later, she drove down to her family home to see her step-mother and sister, the only family she had left, and possibly let them know of her intending absence with no plan of telling them the exact purpose of her absence."We heard about the new job offer." Veronica told Paige, dashing the poor girl's hope of keeping the reason for her upcoming absence a secret. She had sent for Paige on hearing about the temporary job offer from Paige's boyfri
"Did you go through the contract carefully? I had an extra copy explained and written out in plain sentences for you by the Lawyer. The rewritten pages were attached to the original contract. Did you see them?" Nathan asked Paige on phone "Yeah, I saw them and he did a great job. I almost had a migraine reading the original contract. Thanks for the thoughtfulness." Paige replied to the receiver on the other end of the line. "I'm glad you like what she did. So, when are you sending over the signed contract?" "I'm actually done with it, I'll send it down in a bit. It will be delivered to you at the hospital soon." She replied."That was fast. Are you sure you went through it properly? I mean there was this clause that stated that you must work with them for a month before getting your first pay and payments are made every two weeks. Did you read that?" Nathan asked, not a bit convinced that she had gone through the piece carefully. The Paige he knew would have spoken about these thing
In the early hours of the morning, just before the sun rose and cast its golden ray across the sky, Paige drove her Kia Rondo down to Yardstin. The past few days had been very hectic for her, from checking and balancing stock at PB, to packing her bags and making sure that she didn't forget anything, then reporting to work to pick up her leave permit which was stress free and successful.She knew her journey to Yardstin was definitely going to be a long one but she didn't care. Having spent lots of money trying to get decent hand-me-down clothes and shoes, she was almost penniless. There was no way she could afford a flight to Yardstin hence her reason for being on the road battling with minimal traffic and struggling with a road map The engine of her Kia Rondo which she named Charlotte roared softly as she drove through the streets of Acubana. Gentle and cool air seeped through the not so closed windows of Charlotte. Paige turned on the music player to beat the quietness. 'You're j
'You ought to mind your business.' The voice screamed in her head again. But, that didn't make her walk away. She stood right there, prying on other people's privacy. Although at a point, she refused to agree that what those two were doing was private since they left the door open. Yet she knew that was a lame mental argument she was trying to put up in her head, just to feel less guilty of what she was presently doing.Suddenly, Simon moaned quite loudly and clenched his muscles. Watching him from behind was a big torture for Paige already. But seeing those muscles of his move to rigidity drove her mad with want. He finally fell on the bed gasping for air.And the weirdest thing happened. Simon's partner caught a glimpse of Paige at the door. She smiled lazily before giving her sultry wink.Quickly, Paige bolted off from the door and found her way downstairs. After the scene she just witnessed, she knew she needed to create a reasonable amount of distance between herself and Simon
"Nonsense! Just call me Emily. I feel so old when you refer to me as Mrs. Kentley. And it sounds too formal too." Emily complained as she exercised the next morning alongside Paige.Emily was one great woman full of life and vibe. They ran the treadmill as they talked about everything and nothing. The Kentley's mansion houses a gym, a music studio, a mini cinema that could contain at least twenty people, a swimming pool, a Garden, a tennis court, a football pitch and a mini playground. It was indeed an all in one kind of home. Once again, Paige reminded herself that money was good."I'd love to call you mother if you don't mind." She told Emily. Since she would feel so odd calling the woman Emily. "That sounds far better." Emily agreed. In no time, they finished at the gym and went to their various rooms for a quick shower. Paige spent the previous night unpacking and getting used to her space, and she planned on spending the whole day with Emily. She made a draft of the best type of
It's been eight days in The Kentley's Mansion and Paige has been nothing but happy and at peace. She made sure to avoid any further encounter with Simon by avoiding the garden totally and timing herself to know the best time to either go up to her room or leave her room for downstairs. She also ensured to always be in an open space, surrounded by at least help whenever he was around. As she promised herself to be on her best behavior and not allow any source of distraction to deter her from carrying out the job she was paid for. Paige sat on one of the chairs in the sitting room as she dialed her boyfriend's number for the thirtieth time that morning. He hasn't been picking her calls and this has been going on for three days. She'd thought it was nothing serious until it lingered till the third day. After the last ring, she placed a call to her secretary at Pai-boxes. "I haven't spoken to Stefan for days now, is everything okay over there?" She asked immediately Aurora picked up.
That night, dinner commenced with just Paige and Emily. Midway into dinner, Simon joined them. Emily had noticed the change in Paige's demeanor earlier in the day, so she didn't bother her with unnecessary discussions. Dinner continued in silence even with Simon's presence. Emily was the first to finish eating and excused herself. With Emily gone, Paige's discomfort grew. Since the incident at the garden, she had always avoided being alone with Simon. But the night felt different even with the presence of Sherman and some of the maids that were all standing in the room." Paige prayed internally for them to continue eating in silence. She kept her eyes glued on her plate as she pushed a slice of vegetable into her mouth. "Leave us." Simon finally spoke for the first time that evening. He spoke to no one in particular but the maids, the few guards and Sherman started leaving the room. Paige shifted uncomfortably in her seat while waiting for whatever it is he was going to say. Once
By evening, Anna and Paige got back home completely exhausted. They had ended up buying both items Paige believed she wouldn't be wearing anything soon. This wasn't because they didn't look good. It was because they were too good to be worn just anywhere."Has my brother been downstairs since he got back?" Anna asked the maids that helped with their bags."No Miss Ann, he only requested a cup of ginger tea a couple of hours ago" One of the maids replied.Anna heaved a deep sigh looking at Paige with pleading eyes. "What's wrong?" "Could you please check on him when you get upstairs since the both of you stay on the same floor." Anna pleaded in reply."Sure." Came the innocent reply from Paige.Once they got inside the mansion, Paige and Anna took the stairs and drifted to their various floors when they got to the floor Anna shares with her sister and Emily. The maid helped Paige with her bags and had them packed carefully into her wardrobe before leaving the room. Alone in her room,