I've only seen it on TV, I've always thought it was something known only to be fiction. I never knew I'd get to experience it right under my nose.
This story isn't mine but of a close colleague who I've come to know in my few years of working at my place of work.
Temi has been working for Mrs Akinwale as a personal assistant for over five years now. Five years of being an errand girl for her boss, doing everything she wants, sometimes even house chores. But to us who worked with Temi, we knew she did more work in the office for Mrs Akinwale than Mrs Akinwale did for herself. She was the brain behind most of Mrs Akinwale's ideas, more like the invisible hand nobody saw but never got the praise she deserved.
According to colleagues who knew her more before my employment, sometimes she did more than was stated in her employment letter but couldn't complain.
Of course, who would she complain to? Mrs Akinwale was the boss, and everyone answered her. The only person Mrs Akinwale answers to is the board of trustees.
Mrs Akinwale was the kind of boss that when she entered everywhere and everyone went quiet. There was no fun time with her; the only time I saw her smile was whenever her husband came around or the board of trustees had a meeting in the office with her. Other than that, it was work all through and no break. And even when you make mistakes with what she assigned you to do, it always comes with her calling you all manner of swear words.
Sometimes, I try to understand that she was trying to keep the workplace strictly professional, but all work and no play, they say, makes Jack a dull boy.
All this kept on happening until the tables turned for Temi and she was finally recognized for her hard work and Mrs Akinwale didn't enjoy that moment.
One day, Mrs Akinwale called in sick, and for weeks, she didn't show up at work. Rumours had it that it was so serious that she was hospitalised. To worsen it all, she had a client she needed to close a deal with. So, with her absence, Temi had no option but to fill in for her boss, toiling day and night to seal the deal, and as a sign of respect and superiority, she would still report any progress to Mrs Akinwale.
Then, one day, the board of trustees called for an urgent impromptu meeting to understand how far they had gone with the client.
One crazy thing I understand about the rich and how they run their business by working for them is that they don't care about you even if you're dying. They only care about their business and money. What needed to be done had to be done with or without you.
So, with Mrs Akinwale sick, they didn't care about her absence. They believed she must have delegated someone else to handle the deal. And that was where Temi got to shine.
Representing her boss, she got into the meeting with them, explaining to them the efforts and progress she had made with the deal. They were impressed and had to fully assign the client to her.
A few days later, Mrs Akinwale returned to work but was told by the board of trustees that they felt better with Temi working on the deal. In their words
"Temi has done a great job in your absence. It will be wise we let her finish off the deal since the client is already getting acquainted with her," They said.
Mrs Akinwale couldn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe that the board of trustees would choose 'ordinary' Temi over her. But as I said earlier, the rich only cared about their money. So they didn't change their mind even as Mrs Akinwale tried to give reasons why it should be her.
Luckily for Temi, she was able to seal the deal two months later. And for a job well done she was rewarded handsomely and even given her own office. Something she had worked for years hoping to achieve under Mrs Akinwale.
"I still attribute all this success to Mrs Akinwale, you know, " Temi said to me one day over lunch in the office cafeteria.
"Really?" I replied, stuffing my mouth with food.
"Yes, if I hadn't been under her, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to handle that deal in her absence." She smiled, "Last night I took a bottle of wine and a pair of nice shoes to thank her. The joy on her face was satisfying"
I looked up from my plate of food, amazed at such a great young girl Temi was. She didn't hold grudges for all she experienced being under Mrs Akinwale. Somehow she still found Mrs Akinwale to be the ladder to her success.
I smiled.
"Yeah," I replied.