The Scattered Boss

• Scattered Boss part 4
• The Scattered Boss Part 3
• The Scattered Boss: Part 2
• The Scattered Boss… Part 1

The Scattered Boss… Part 1

“I am so lost in the world Lord; I don’t know what to do! ” She cried out with deep anguish in her heart. She had been crying for a very long time. Year in and year out! There was silence as her plea seems to have fallen onto the corners of the earth. For a minute it seemed like heaven will never answer her prayers.

But then the unexpected happened, Tears washed her soul, more painful than all the others. It seemed like heaven had opened a floodgate of pain.  She cried even more. The sobbing in her soul was deep, penetrating the broken bones with sorrow so intense.

Theresa does not remember how long she had cried, neither was she minding anyway. Life had chosen to feed her with sorrow after sorrow.  She remembers how it had all begun.

After finishing school, Theresa was a vibrant young woman ready to face a world, full of dreams and dreams. She had performed excellently and she knew getting a job would not be a problem. She had graduated with a pomp party the envy of all her friends. Her boyfriend Fahim was available for her ready to walk with her on the journey. Life was sweet, wasn’t it? She thought to herself. Who could have imagined anything could go wrong.

Two years later, the job was nowhere, she had tried all things possible and impossible and nothing seemed to be working. Day in and day out she went out to look for a job and nothing happened. Every day as she walked the streets of Kampala, it dawned on her that the job will not come. She had called all her friends until she gave up and she waited. By then, Fahim was nowhere; he had gone on to find a new babe. This was devastating for Theresa but proudly she had swallowed the pain to move on.

Just as all hope was gone, a green light came through, even Theresa was surprised. She was invited to a job interview without competition by the topmost boss. Her driver friend had connected her to the boss of one of the leading manufacturing firms in the country.  She was excited, an opportunity from heaven.

On the day she dressed smartly and off she went to start her new life. Boom, she failed the interview, the boss was interested in someone with high skills in excel and Theresa was mediocre. Another miracle off the hook!  It dawned on her that all hope was lost now. She gave up, her dreams, her life, and hope.

Nevertheless, nature is interesting, it will never kill off its own without giving them another chance.

Three months later, Theresa met her first boss. As luck would have it, she had gone to a secretarial bureau to photocopy her academic papers when destiny knocked. Another gentleman had come by to pick his work in the same bureau; he was in a hurry to make a scene to everybody’s amusement. He looked at what she was photocopying and asked about the owner; Theresa not amused was shocked to hear the man say, do you need a job.

Come to my office tomorrow at 10:00 am and I will give you one as he handed her his business card. Theresa could not believe the man; he looked disorganised and rude to have anything good out of him. However, out of curiosity, Theresa was right at the door at 10:00 am knocking on the door of the man’s office. Knock, Knock, Knock, nobody answered, on turning the handle the door was firmly closed. Theresa was now angry with herself, how could she have allowed such a man to waste her meagre resources. On second thought, she thought maybe I could call him, maybe there is a chance. She indeed called him, and to the surprise of Theresa, he could not even remember her. However, he promised to come around 2:00 pm.

Now, anger and pain flooded Theresa’s soul, how could she have allowed such a hopeless man to play with her precious time, of course, she thought to herself, let me go home and sleep maybe in sleep sweet death would come. As quietly as she had come, she quietly took the lift to the first floor, pacing lifelessly with no thoughts. She kept looking at men and women as they went about doing their business. Nobody noticed her; she kept waking staring at nothing in particular just wondering how God could be cruel. How could I have played so vehemently last night and in the morning, this happens? She didn’t know either to be mad with herself or with God.

The sun was also very unfriendly; it had decided to come in full swing making the journey even rough. How could Theresa go back to her home and say again nothing? Theresa was so aware of how proud her family had been to see her finish school with meagre resources. Her single parent had toiled day and night to ensure that her children go to school and her being the first child, all hopes were in her and suddenly there she was on the streets with nothing to show for the sacrifice made. Rather she was loitering on the streets, gazing at nothing in particular, with just a blank mind.

It must have been a while, a phone was ringing non-stop. She checked only to find 2-missed calls; the man had been calling her. She called back, and it’s unbelievable how the man rudely shouted at her, how can I call you and you don’t pick up. I wanted to tell you to wait for me in the next thirty minutes I will be there, something urgent has cropped up and I need you to write a proposal immediately.

Now, Theresa was puzzled, did this man think that she was already hired or what. Does he think, he is talking to his personal secretary or what? Theresa was becoming angry at the way he was talking to her. He rattled on for minutes until he switched off, just like that. Silence!  Now Theresa did not know whether to walk backwards or forward, she was already angry and was not in the mood for nice talks and being polite. For a moment, she stood wondering about her next move. Someone shouted, get out of the way, and nearly sent her rolling in the road. That woke her up; she had no time to respond to the hackler, who was already 10 feet from where she nearly slipped.

She decided there and then she had to go back. She also needed to recompose herself, so that her mind and body reflect a woman ready for work. Moments later, she was standing at the same door hesitantly she knocked and a now-familiar voice asked her to come in. She now was standing face to face with her tormentor; he rudely asked “why are you late? Don’t you know we have to make a submission today? Hurry up and type this, as he handed her a document.” He gave very brief instructions and left.

Just like that. Theresa was just shocked, standing like a monument before wonderers.  What on earth I am supposed to do with this document, Theresa wondered? She looked around the small office, three tables and a computer on each with a file cabin and nothing more. The room stared at her, intimidating, her. On the wall hung the certificate of incorporation, giving her a brief clue of the name of the company.

The place looked unkempt and untidy and here she was with a document to type. She was not sure what to start with, tidying up the place or starting on the document that looked very technical and complex. She decided to start with the former. The good thing she had moved with her wipers and a hair wrap. She used the wipers to clean up the room and the headscarf to blow off the dust. She thought to herself, if I am to spend a day in this lifeless place then I need to make it habitable. She opened the windows to allow fresh air; she cleaned up and tidied the place. When she was done, she sat on one of the desks to start typing!

That is when he came in with 2 extra people, he called them consultants. She introduced me as the administrator of the company and asked me how far I had gone with the document. How could I respond when the computer password was still a puzzle? He must have noted my unease and how the place looked neat. He wrote the password and passed it on to me, otherwise, he knew if he shouted he would shock his consultants having introduced me as an administrator.

They discussed it in a language I could never understand and they expected me to insert that language into the document. After two hours of talking they left. Now, what I am supposed to do? She knew she had to ask this man. Excuse me, sir; what do you want me to do? He turned around baffled as if wondering how one could be dumb and have the audacity to even think of such a stupid question. I guess wisdom returned to him, he came to my desk and started explaining for around 30 minutes.

Theresa was now more puzzled, whatever he said was more baffling than the document itself. After his lengthy, illogical explanation he left again just like that! An hour later, Theresa was staring at her computer, what can I write. She decided to check on the previous documents, where she realised there were some clues she could rely on. She started picking clues from them and inserting them into the document.

Time flies sometimes, she didn’t realise it was already past 4:00 pm when she heard him talking loudly on the phone. I think this guy is ever shouting, she concluded. He opened the door like a ghost is chasing him! Have you finished he asked Theresa? This time Theresa was amused, she could no longer be angry, if this was going to be her boss, then she had to learn how to deal with him, firmly but also respectfully. “No sir, I have not finished. I am still not sure of what to do, Sir I came in today? I have not received any orientation from you about the company, my obligations and how to write a proposal. Nevertheless, I have written out this maybe you can use it to guide me.”

He must have been awakened from his slumber as he laughed aloud and said okay “what is your name? ! Theresa laughed loud and described herself. He managed only to smile sheepishly; maybe ashamed of himself for all the fuss he made since morning or that was his smile. Unfortunately, this was short-lived. He looked at the work and said “this is very bad, is this you learnt from University? You don’t know what you are doing?” He then started rapping information. Theresa was now dumbstruck, her hands could not type. He must have realised, she was not typing and for a moment he looked disappointed and flabbergasted but maybe he realised this Theresa was a better devil than none. Why aren’t you typing, don’t you know every word I say is important? This awoke Theresa from slumber! Yes, she said.

He rapped for nearly two hours while Theresa typed with unbelievable speed, she could not believe she had done so much within a short time. By the time she looked up through the window, the world had already darkened. Looking at the watch, it was already past 8:00 pm and the way the rapping was going on, it seemed there was no chance of changing or ending soon.

Everything didn’t make sense when he realised she was looking at the watch, he asked if it late. Come by 7:00 am in the morning and we submit. Just like that and he left. He left with the keys. Theresa was still absorbing what had happened since morning that she didn’t realise she had no key and the boss was gone. She didn’t know either to cry or laugh. Theresa decided that she would not cry anymore. The day was too rough to add on sorrow, she decided to laugh, she laughed uncontrollably until tears came through her eyes.

At that moment, she knew she could handle her tormentor- the boss. Cling, cling the phone rang. He picked, Sir you didn’t leave the key. How could you make me forget? You are a clumsy young woman; you should have picked it from me. Now you are disturbing me! Come and get it! I am here in Banda.

Now, this was around 5 kilometres away. I realised this gentleman is just a bully. It’s time to show how what I am made of, Theresa thought. No sir, I will not come to that side. What I am going to do I will leave the door firmly closed; when you come back you can lock it. Theresa switched off her phone.

I don’t know what happened but in the morning the door was closed and the boss had not come. He came later after 10:00 am having stood for hours. The unfortunate part was he neither apologised nor recognised my presence. The moment I entered he asked my name. I was now furious. My name…

Stay tuned for part 11 of “The scattered Boss”

©Allen.K.Baguma

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