Chapter 342 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Celsie raised her head in frustration when her office door opened once again, ready to snap at whoever was there to interrupt her work.

“Sorry, two ladies are here to meet with you. They say they’re from She Can Heal Foundation,” Amy rushed to explain when she saw the annoyance on Celsie’s face.

“What do they want?” Celsie asked as she glanced at her wristwatch impatiently. She still needed to meet with her team before the board meeting, and she didn’t have enough time to waste chatting with anyone “I think it has to do with the interview you did,” Amy explained, and Celsie sighed.

“I can tell them that you’re unavailable,” Amy offered, and Celsie forced a smile.

“That won’t be necessary. Just let them in. The sooner I’m done with them, the faster I can return to work,” Celsie said, and Amy gave her a nod before leaving.

Less than a minute later, the office door opened again, and the two ladies walked into the office, “Good morning,” they greeted in unison, and Celsie stood up.

“Good morning, you’re welcome. Please sit down,” Celsie said, pointing to the seats opposite her.

“Thank you,” they said in unison as they sat down.

“We are sorry to barge in on you this way. We tried to reach you through the lady that conducted your interview, but when we didn’t get a response from her, we decided to meet with you directly. I hope you don’t mind?” One of them asked.

“I don’t know who you are,” Celsie reminded them.

“Oh, sorry! How silly of us,” she laughed, and the other joined in the laughter while Celsie just continued to stare at them, waiting for them to stop laughing and tell her what they wanted from her.

“I’m Priscilla Peters, CEO of She Can Heal Foundation, and she is Maya Adams, my best friend, and assistant. Ever since I watched your interview two days ago, I’ve been dying to meet with you in person,” Priscilla said with a wide smile, and Celsie smiled back stiffly.

“I guess I don’t need to introduce myself. I wish I could offer you some refreshments, but I’m still settling in,” Celsie said apologetically, and they waved it off with a smile.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m sure you’re very busy, so I will go straight to the point so as not to waste your time and ours,” Priscilla said as she leaned forward in her seat.

“After watching you talk about your traumatic experience and seeing how you rose from it to where you are now, we believe that you are a beacon of hope to other young girls struggling to heal from such trauma. We would like to make you the face of SCHF for this year, and we would like you to work with us. We are not asking you to quit your job. Weekends would be fine,” Priscilla rushed to add when it seemed like Celsie was about to protest.

“These are some of the benefits attached to our offer,” Maya said as she dug into her handbag for an envelope and extended it to Celsie.

“Think about how many lives you could actually touch by doing this. I’m sure if you had met a survivor like yourself who was willing to guide you while you were struggling to rise from your trauma, things would have been a lot more easier for you. We want you to be that for our girls,” Maya added as Celsie opened the envelope to check what they were offering, and her mouth almost dropped open in surprise at their mouthwatering offer.

They were offering her a car, a house, a monthly salary of fifteen grand, and an all-expense-paid trip monthly. Their offer was just too good to be true, “Why am I being offered so much?” Celsie asked with a slight frown.

“That is to tell you how much we believe in what you can do for our girls and us. We would really like you to work with us,” Priscilla said with a hopeful smile.

“I’m not sure I can combine my job with this,” Celsie said with a shake of her head. Although she was very tempted by the offer, she loved her job.

“That is why we are not asking that you work with us during the weekdays. Your weekends are all we are asking for. We will arrange for every meeting and trip to not interfere with your job, that I can promise you,” Priscilla said, but that didn’t reassure Celsie.

If she were not dating Benne already, she probably wouldn’t have given an offer like this a second thought before jumping at it. It would have made her dance for joy. But things were different now.

Benne was in the picture now, and she couldn’t just think of accepting an offer like this without first talking to him. This was part of the things she hated about being in a relationship, but it was also something she would expect of Benne.

She would want him to factor her into his plans and decisions. And she knew for a fact that if the reverse were the case, she wouldn’t want Benne accepting a job that would take him away from her for the weekend.

“Can I think about it and get back to you?” She asked with a polite smile, not wanting to make a hasty decision.

“Sure, you can. We really hope that we get a positive response. I personally look forward to working with you,” Priscilla said as they both rose to leave, and Celsie smiled at them as she stood up too.

“I hope to hear from you soon,” Priscilla said as she took out her complimentary card from her handbag and placed it in front of Celsie, “Thank you for your time.”

“You’re welcome,” Celsie said with a polite nod as she watched them leave.

The moment they shut the door behind them, she sat down and picked up the paper again. Apart from the benefits attached to the job, the thought of actually being able to help other young girls who were struggling to heal from trauma was also on her mind.

If she could really be a beacon of hope to other girls, then maybe what happened to her wouldn’t just have happened for nothing. It would give her life a new sense of purpose.

**********

“Celsie is cool,” Jade said from the backseat as Bryan drove them to Benne’s apartment, where all three of them could sit and plan for the birthday.

“I know, right?” Sonia said with a grin as she turned in the front seat to look at Jade, “Do you have a best friend?” Sonia asked curiously.

Jade shook her head, “Nah. I guess I’m the only one without a best friend. You and Celsie have each other, Benne has Harry, and Bryan has Matt. Speaking of Matt, how is he?” Jade asked Bryan curiously, and he shrugged.

“Heartbroken.”

“That’s sad. I guess he really likes her,” Jade said sadly.

“I’m sure they will work things out. She likes him too but seems to be holding back. Do you mind telling me what’s up with her?” Bryan asked while Sonia listened to the discussion with keen interest.

“You should ask your bestie,” Jade said, and Bryan raised a brow as he looked at her through the rearview mirror.

“How am I supposed to be able to help Matt if I don’t understand what is going on? You can tell Harry and Benne, but you can’t tell me?” Bryan asked, and Jade rolled her eyes.

“Candace’s baby daddy was a part of a dangerous drug cartel before his arrest. They tried to kill him, and he escaped from jail. Now the cartel is trying to use Jade to get to him; hence she is hiding at Benne’s house,” Jade summarized.

“She is likely avoiding him because she doesn’t want to get him involved in her mess,” Sonia said thoughtfully, and Bryan nodded.

“Yeah. That’s one annoying thing you females have in common,” Bryan muttered, and Sonia glared at him.

“Didn’t I apologize already?” Sonia hissed in annoyance.

“Doesn’t make it any less annoying,” Bryan said with a scoff.

“Last I checked, I’m not Candy, and you’re not Matt, so why are you making their issue about us?” Sonia asked, wanting to play the same card Bryan had played when she confronted him about Benne’s deception.

“I never made it about us. You did,” Bryan reminded her.

“How? When?” Sonia asked angrily before turning to look at Jade, who was grinning as she listened to their argument.

“Jade, you were here. Who made this about us?” Sonia asked, and Bryan met Jade’s gaze in the mirror, daring her to take a side.

Jade raised a hand defensively, “I didn’t hear anything. I don’t know anything. You both should leave me out of this,” Jade said, giving Sonia an apologetic smile.

“Bryan, you started it!” Sonia yelled angrily, and Bryan chuckled.

“You are the one quarreling right now,” Bryan reminded her, and she huffed angrily as she turned away from him to look out of the window.

Bryan grinned as he turned to spare her a glance, and then he reached out his hand to touch her chin, “My beautiful ex fake fiancee become girlfriend,” Bryan teased, and although Sonia’s lips twitched with a smile, she refused to turn around as she waited for him to apologize.

“So tell me. What did I say to upset you?” Bryan asked, and Sonia turned to glare at him.

“How could you say that is one…” Sonia stopped halfway as she struggled between her annoyance and amusement when Bryan started to mimic her as she spoke.

“I’m not playing with you, Bryan,” Sonia said as she turned away so he wouldn’t see her struggling with a smile.

“This is the second time you’ve called me Bryan now, yet I remember you saying I’m not permitted to call you Sonia in the middle of an argument. Should I be angry?” Bryan asked.

Jade, who was listening to them in amusement, looked at Bryan, “What are you supposed to call her in the middle of an argument?” Jade asked curiously. She had almost forgotten what being in a relationship felt like, and seeing them having a lover’s spat right now, she missed being in a relationship.

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