Chapter 4: Something Seems Fishy Here

On the way back home, Celia wasn’t sure which emotions to give prevalence to. She was excited about her new job, but very worried after the incident with Carter.

“Children, please do not speak to strangers like that,” she admonished while they were still in the taxi.

“But you said you’re going to work there. How can they be strangers?” Lillian asked.

“They are strangers because I didn’t introduce them to you,” Celia responded in an uncompromising tone.

Carter had asked her permission before saving Lennie’s number, and she had granted it, but she still felt uneasy. She wondered if the man was actually going to contact her son. Was he trying to gain some kind of hold over him?

***

After dropping the twins at day-care the next morning, Celia reported to work at the reception desk.

“Your office is on the first floor, the second door on the right side of the passage,” the receptionist explained in a friendly tone.

Celia headed there with firm, bold steps.

When she entered the office, Georgina was standing next to the desk, apparently waiting for her.

“Good morning,” Georgina greeted her with a bright smile on her lips. She looked very confident in a tight-fitting red mini dress. “I hope that you will enjoy your time here for as long as it lasts.”

“Oh, I most certainly will. But don’t bother to count down the time to my departure,” Celia responded.

“Oh, believe me, you’ll want to leave soon enough,” Georgina responded, still smirking. “I am not going to make it easy for you to work in an environment which you are not qualified for.”

“I was not expecting anything else from you,” Celia remarked as she placed her handbag on the desk and looked around to see whether there was a safe locker for her.

Before Georgina could respond, a short lady wearing glasses entered the office. She looked very strict, and Celia immediately knew that she should not be taking chances with her.

“There you are—I’m glad we won’t be wasting any time this morning,” the lady announced without greeting.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Celia greeted her nervously.

“My name is Winnie Cole, and I will be in charge of your work schedule,” the woman said in a stiff tone.

Celia barely registered how Georgina slipped out of the office noiselessly; all her attention was focused on the cold-faced woman in front of her.

“Pleased to meet you,” Celia responded, but Winnie was already speaking again.

“I will be frank with you,” she began curtly. “I have rather high standards when it comes to who I employ, and if I were on the selection panel yesterday, I would not have accepted someone who was not a hundred percent qualified for the job. That is to say, someone who is not well-known enough to maintain the level of prestige which the company is known for.

“You, Miss Sanchez, are not even popular as a designer at the moment.”

Celia did her best not to flinch under Winnie’s steely gaze, keeping her expression neutral and courteous.

Winnie sighed quietly. “Nevertheless, what’s done is done. I will perform my duties and give you your workload as is necessary. Come with me because there are a couple of things I want to show you in the warehouse.”

Celia suddenly felt a knot in the middle of her abdomen. It seemed as if her test was not going to come from Georgina alone.

They walked down another passage and turned into a long corridor. At the end of the corridor, they found a flight of stairs leading downwards. Winnie led the way down these stairs, until they finally found their way to a big, wooden door.

Winnie unlocked the door and stepped inside. Celia followed her dutifully.

Beyond it was a vast warehouse, with a dizzying array of shelves and signs pointing this and that way through a complex floor plan. Winnie led Celia down the line to a table holding what appeared to be a new shipment.

“These are raw materials which need sorting and then grading according to quality,” she announced in a stiff manner. “You should document everything properly because I insist on my people paying attention to detail.”

Celia looked at the huge pile of uncleaned, uncut stones laid out on the big table. She wondered why the suppliers had not completed their work.

“Oh, so did the suppliers not find time to clean up and process the stones?” she asked.

Winnie looked as if she was holding back a sharp retort.

“We have changed suppliers, and this is the last batch left by the previous ones,” she replied in a sarcastic tone of voice. “You know how people are at the end of a project. They don’t care about delivering a high standard of work when they finish off,” she added with a tight smile as she tossed a notebook onto the table.

“Alright, I will do my best here,” Celia responded.

She wondered whether Winnie was just critical of her resume, or if the woman had some other prejudice against her. Her behaviour seemed a little harsh even for the strictest of bosses.

Her mind flashed back to Georgina’s smug expression when she greeted her this morning. Could Georgina have made up some story and told Winnie?

“I would like to see good progress by tomorrow morning,” Winnie said before she marched out of the warehouse with a straight, stiff back.

Celia took off her jacket and took stock of the extensive work in front of her.

“It’s going to take all day and I will probably have to work late as well in order to complete this task,” she said to herself with a sigh as she rolled up her sleeves and began to group the gems according to type.

“I will not give anyone the pleasure of seeing me give up or underperform,” she added, her jaw tight.

***

Carter happened to be headed to the lower floors, passing by the warehouse, when he saw Celia go by. Her missing jacket, rolled-up sleeves, and pulled-back hair painted a completely different portrait from the polished fashion-industry woman he had met the prior day. But the look of determination on her face was the same.

When he reached his office, he looked through the window and again wondered how her voice had sounded so familiar. And why did that little boy resemble him so closely?

“Something is fishy here,” he said to himself softly.

He walked over to the phone to call his loyal friend, Blake.

“Hello Blake,” he began. “I need a small favour which requires some discretion….”

After ending the call, Carter pulled out a desk drawer and retrieved the small plastic bag which contained a few strands of Lennie’s hair.

He had made a point of stroking the boy’s hair when he hugged him in parting yesterday. Then, when he arrived at home, he had immediately searched for photos of his early childhood.

He was struck silent by the fact that the new employee’s child looked just as he did at around that age.

Carter had no brothers, so it was not likely that the child was his nephew.

“So, if I somehow fathered twins in the past… then what does it mean for the future?” he asked himself.

He got up and strode over to the window, looking out over the city skyline.

“Why did the mother come to work here specifically?” he continued to muse. “Is it a coincidence? Or does she…”

He sighed, shaking his head.

It would drastically change his life if he had children. His routine, social circle, and assets would be affected. Could he handle that?

Even so…

It might just be the change he needed.

“If the mother allows me to indulge myself in fatherhood,” he added cynically.