Tayo was man who has always been known by to be a smart man, he wasn't just smart in his job alone, it was the kind of smart that people would have to look at him twice and would wonder what he was even thinking in the first place, he had risen to a higher position in his company which made him head over many staff in the organisation, Bimpe was one of his subordinates, at first everything went smoothly and fine in the organisation , Tayo was well respected by everyone he was admired by almost everyone, he always dressed well, he spoke well too, and him Tayo always carried himself like someone who knew what he was doing, but behind all that his confidence a different persona existed, Tayo had an habit of always cutting corners and bending the truth just so it would favour him.
One hot Friday afternoon, when the office was quieter than usual , of course it was salary week, the salary was being processed and people were checking their accounts for their pay, including Bimpe, she quietly walked to Tayo's office and knocked..
Sir , Good afternoon
Yes come in , Tayo said without looking up from his laptop , come in Bimpe,
She stepped in holding her phone,then she said, Sir I just check my account and I noticed that my salary wasnt complete.
It wass then Tayo looked up from his laptop, he said , That's not possible, all the salaries were made correctly , please give and check again Tayo said.
Bimpe didn't sound convinced then she said , sir I'm very sure I was short sir.
Tayo adjusted his tie , then looked at his screen again and said " Alright Yiu go and and just check well because I'm certain it was disbursed correctly" he said.
Bimpe reluctantly left Tayo's office that afternoon, she knew she wasn't seeing double and neither was she faulty if anything that could have made them deduct her salary, she left the office quietly.
As Bimpe left the office , Tayo exhaled quietly because he knew what has happened to Bimpe Salary ,he had intentionally adjusted some payments and was going to fix them "later" but his later hadn't come yet.
Days later, Bimpe returned with her complaint of her reduced salary, " sir it is still the same , nothing has changed" she said
Tayo frowned at her, "Bimpe , your salary was processed completely , I think you might need to check with your bank if at all there's anything wrong, but then at this point other workers had noticed similar missing amounts from their pay, it wasnt anything too big but then it was enough to raise questions.
In the staff room rumors started, " something is going on " one of the workers said
"It's not just you"and , someone else spoke up, " I have gone to Tayo's office and he said everything was processed, so what could be wrong?"
The tension in the office started building and after a week someone unknown reported the matter to the higher ups and an internal meeting was launched, Tayo was called in for a meeting.
"Mr Tayo , what's going on in your department? We have received different complaints from staffs about reductions in their pay, what's this about?" One of the directors asked.
"Sir, I am very sure if must be a system error because I actually processed those payments myself" Tayo said.
" Are you sure" the director asked.
"Yes sir, I am" Tayo said.
But investigation didn't stop there,it continued, records were checked, payment logs were reviewed, and slowly, the truth began to surface.
One afternoon, Tayo was called in again, this time, the atmosphere was different, “We have gone through the records,” the director said, "there were deliberate adjustments made to staff salaries.”
Tayo’s face tightened a bit, “That’s not true.”
“Then how do you explain this?” the director turned the laptop toward him,
Tayo looked at the screen, his own login details, the edits, the timestamps, and silence immediately filled the room.
Out side the office , rumours had already started going around, Bimpe one of them waited patiently, there were questions here and there, "do you think that have found out anything?" Bimpe crossed her arms , ' sincerely I just want the truth at this point" she said.
Some minutes later , security guards walked past them towards Tayo's office and it was then everyone knew something was terribly wrong, and after a few moments, Tayo was escorted out.
" I can explain sir, it's not what you think " Tayo said , but it as already too late for him , the lie he told had catch up with him, what started as small manipulations turned into something much bigger, trust was broken, reputation destroyed, later that day, Bimpe stood outside the building with a few colleagues.
“So it was true,” one of them said quietly.
Bimpe nodded, “He looked me in the eye and told me I was wrong,"
another shook his head, “That is the thing about lies, they don’t last forever.”
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