Jason got to the office the next day earlier than usual because he wanted to see where he could place Nancy and where she would not have to stress herself overmuch but he was surprised to find that his most trusted and efficient secretary, Mrs Amos, who was always the first to arrive had still not arrived.

This was quite unlike her. He had decided as he drove to the office this morning that he was going to get Nancy to assist Mrs. Amos. She was very efficient it was true and she had never given him cause for complaints but it was also true that she was getting on in age and needed someone to assist her. He had thought about this before but had not really been serious about implementing it because he had been busy with other things which was quite unlike him because those he was a strict boss who likes his employees to be disciplined, he was also not one to take the welfare of his staff lightly.

Now, there was no reason for him not to get Mrs. Amos an assistant. Nancy had said that she had a knowledge of typing having gone for secretarial studies at one point in her life.

Mrs Amos could put her through and she could do some of the jobs till she was perfect.

Jason was happy. Now he was going to solve two problems with just one move.

Nancy would get the job she wanted and he would get an assistant for Mrs. Amos.

'Has Mrs. os still not reported for duty this morning?' Jason asked some of his staff.

'We have not seen her today'. they said.

'Has anyone been able to get her on the phone?'

'Still not available sir'.

This was not right. Something was terribly wrong. Even if Mrs. Amos was travelling or in trouble,she would at least have called to inform him definitely.

He had assumed that it was an emergency yesterday and that was why she hadn't come to work nor called to inform him but today again? It was just unlike her and he was determined to find out. When he finds out exactly what kind of problem, his secretary was in, then he could get Nancy to get started at work.

'But what if she was anxious to hear from him?' Jason thought.

He could not give her Mrs. Amos' job until he had found out what it was that had kept her away from work.

'But I could at least ask her to come to the office and wait for me definitely? It would keep her hope alive and she would also have people around she could chat with', he thought to himself. But that would mean going to pick her up and he wanted to go and visit his secretary to assure himself that she was okay.

'Why not do both at the same time? he thought. The way to Mrs. Amos's house was a different way from that of Nancy but he would see how he could manage it.

He drove first to Mrs. Amos' apartment but found it locked. He asked the neighbours if they had seen her or know anything about her but no one knew anything about her whereabouts.

'This is strange', Jason thought.

He tried the door and found that as opposed to what he had thought, the door was not locked from the outside but the inside.

The implication was that someone was still inside.

He knocked on the door loudly several times but got no answer.

He was getting anxious. What if the old lady was inside incapacitated in any way?

How was he going to force the door open or was there a back door to the house? He went behind and there was indeed a stairway because she lived on the first floor, he would have to climb the staircase.

He did but found that he could still not open the door to the apartment. It would seem that the door had not been used for a very long time. It was rusted and looked jammed.

What to do now?

He went back to the front door and was able to insert something through an opening in the door and pushed the bolt from the inside and the door gave way and opened. He heaved a sigh of relief. He had wanted to break open the door. He had decided that he would do that as the last resort and pay for damages layer because the life of his secretary was worth more than any charges that he may have to pay.

He cautiously went inside the house. Thankfully he had come with two of his employees, He had wanted them to take her back to the office if they found her in good condition while he went ahead to get Nancy.

They walked in after him stealthily.

The apartment seemed empty but it could not be. How could it have been locked from the inside if there was nobody home?

He walked further in and that was when he saw her.

Her body was twisted as though in pain. She was lying lifeless there between the settee and the table. She must have tried to get up but could not. Her hands were clenched as though in a kind of struggle. Her eyes were still open as though in shock and she was very dead.

Jason fell to his knees beside her and would have hugged her but his employees who had come with him stopped him before he could do any such thing.

'You should be careful sir. This could be police affair and taking fingerprints, may show yours. Don't tamper with the crime scene', Michael said.

'He is right sir. We should report the matter to the police immediately. Before taking any other action', Sean supported.

'But this is not a crime and it is not a crime scene'. An old woman happened to go to bed or some such thing but could not get up anymore, most probably because of a medical condition, she never let on'. Jason said.

'Still, we have to notify the police. Then we can get in touch with her relatives', Michael said again.

'Okay then, call the police and give them directions to this place'.

Michael did as he was instructed and soon the police were there with their forensic crew.

They took snapshots of the scene and catered away her body for a post mortem.

Jason was dazed but he did not want to give himself the chance to dwell on that yet. There were things that needed to be done. He still had to contact Mrs. Amos' relatives. Her husband had died about give years previously and she had lived there alone.

Jason tried to remember if she ever mentioned any relative and rembered that she had said something about a daughter resident in London. How to get her contact? He remembered that he had bought her a cell phone so that he could get access to her whenever she was not at the office.

He went through her things but didn't have to look far because the phone was lying on the settee near the place she must have fallen.

When Jason had wanted a reliable secretary, and had advertised for it and alot of people had applied.

Yound and old alike but he had felt that Sandra would be just well. So he had chosen her and anyway, she had not disappointed him during the interview and all through the years, he had had no cause to regret his decision.

She had really served him. When her husband had died about five years ago, he had taken it upon himself to foot the bills for his burial. Jason had considered it the least that he could do for such a loyal and dedicated member of his staff.

Their relationship had become even closer since then. That was where he had come to know about her daughter and who had come with her husband and two sons.

Mrs. Amos had buried herself in her work, not wanting to dwell over much on the death of her husband. She had loved her husband so much that if not for the demands of her job, his loss would have taken a great toll on her.

Her job had become her solace and Jason's friendship and support had gone a long way to helping her recover or so Jason had thought be ause how could Mrs. Amos have a medical condition and not tell him about it, when he thought they were almost family and had assumed that she had taken him as her so ?

She was a strong woman and could not have died suddenly like that. Anyways, the post mortem results would soon be out and he would know for sure.

He found Suzanna's number for that was her daughter's name and called.

'Hello, mum?' she answered on the other end of the line.

Jason was never one to back down from a task but the death of Sandra his secretary had affected him in more ways than one and he could just imagine how it must affect her daughter when she came to know that her mother was no more.

'Hello? Mum are you alright? Why aren't you speaking? I am grateful, you eventually called because I tried to speak to you last night but you wouldn't pick your phone. I thought it was unusual but then I considered the fact that you must be tired and had gone off to bed exhausted. You do not take care of yourself at all. You over exert yourself. But thank goodness you have eventually called. I was so worried'.

'Suzanna, your mother is no more'. Jason said, trying to sound matter of fact.

'Mr. Campbell, is that you? How is mother?' Then what Jason had said sank and she said in a deceptively cool emotionless voice, 'Sorry, what did you say?'

Jason knew that she had heard him perfectly and kept quiet but said after a while.

'I'm sorry, Suzanne'.

'You mean, mum is no more, as in dead?'

'I'm afraid so. I didn't see her yesterday. We tried contacting her but couldn't reach her. I was busy yesterday, else I could have visited . So when I got yo the office this morning and she still didn't report for work, I knew I had to visit to find out what the problem was. I broke into the apartment and found her dead as though she had been struggling for breath. Did she have a health problem I do not know of?' he asked still perplexed.

'I do not know. She does not like us being too bothered about her. So most times she keeps her problems to herself but I cannot believe she is gone.She had looked so strong the last time we saw. I should have paid more attention to her,maybe then, I would have discerned that she was not really fine', Suzanne sobbed on the phone heartbroken.

Jason understood her feelings. He had been wondering why he had not gone yesterday to find out why Sandra had not come to work. Just maybe he would seen her in her condition and rushed her off to the hospital and hence saved her life.He had been too preoccupied with his own problems. Damn!

'Suzanne, you do not have to blame yourself you know. You could not have known and you did all you could to be a good daughter to your mother. We are all witnesses to that. Get a hold on yourself and get over here so that you can know what to do about her corpse'.

'Where is it at the moment?'

'It will be transferred to the morgue as soon as the post mortem has been conducted'.

Suzanne nodded but realising that he could not possibly see her, said simply, 'Okay. I will be down there soon'. And rang off before he could say any other thing. She was overcomed with grief and needed sometime to herself to

express her grief. The tears flowed uninhibited.

As Jason put the phone down, he was list in thought. He wondered if he had done the right thing to tell her the news on the phone. Maybe he could just have asked her to come over because her mother was ill and then tell her in person. He hoped she was not going to do anything stupid. Suzanne was a sensible girl and she knew that her husband and two sons needed her, so she was not going to harm herself in any way. Jason felt that both for her husband and sons, she was alone in the world. She was now an orphan and felt a pang of regret again because he felt that he would possibly have been able to save Sandra had he got to her earlier.

This led him to remember Nancy and his promise to give her a job. He was going to ignore that because of the guilt he was already having in his heart concerning Sandra Amos but he felt that since he could do something about Nancy, he had better fo it and not regret that later as well. He was sorry Sandra was no more but he could do nothing to bring her back bit to help see that she gets an honourable burial.

Jason asked the men who had come with him to go back to the office but that he would soon join them there. He paid for the cab that drove them back to the office.And went to where he had left Nancy, the previous day.

Nancy had been impatiently waiting for the man. She had allowed herself to hope that she could get lucky when it seemed like her luck had turned against her. Nobody to help, her so-called love had deceived her and made her pregnant and she was stranded with no job in a hell hole not suitable for any human let alone a pregnant woman.

The walls were soaking wet and she had no bed just some think cartons, she had torn and spread on the floor and placed some of her wrappers on it as a makeshift bed, believing it would serve till she got a job and better her housing conditions.

But she had been impatiently waiting for the man. Maybe she could have shown him where she was residing, that would have made him realise just how urgent she needed the job.

No! That may have put him off or insisted on charity and she would not have that.

She was Wella le to cater for herself and not live on charity. She had her pride and dignity to protect.

If the man was not going to fulfill his promise, then she would just have to look for a place to be their housekeeper or cook or any such menial jobs since getting an office job was proving difficult but one thing she would not try again was to take her own life. She owed it to her baby to keep alive and stive to survive because she was a survivor.

She had already got herself ready since morning hoping that the man, what was his name again? Campbell! Yes, Campbell something or the other would come but maybe she had just got her hope up for nothing or maybe it was still too early.

'He has to speak to the friend of his and wait for his feedback. It could definitely not be as fast as all that and he had his own business to take care of too'. How did she expect him to forego his own commitments for her? He would definitely help her but after he was done with his engagements and it might take a week at the earliest and she didn't have that time. She could do something else in the meantime.

She put on the only good foot ware she had that was sensible given her delicate condition and stepped out of the house.She walked purposefully, she had glanced at some papers but found no one advertising for a house keeper but she was going to go to the big houses, she found and make enquires. She was sure that before she asked ten of them, one would definitely require her services.

The first apartment just banged the door on her face rudely asking her to look elsewhere.

The second and the third apartments she tried did not bring her better luck than the first except that they spoke a bit politely asking for her cell phone number so they could contact her when there was any need for her services.

Her cell phone was a thing that was long gone. She had had to sell it to feed herself when things got difficult.

What was the use of a cell phone when she could not recharge it and nobody called her anyway except her parents who she was trying her utmost to avoid until she sorted herself out. So, the phone had been sold for less than it was worth. It was one of the gifts Robert had given her and she didn't want to keep it in any case since it reminded her of his betrayal. It was still very fresh in her mind and extremely painful.

It was stupid of her to think that selling the cell phone would help. her get back at Robert and forget him when the perpetual remembrance of the most costly mistake she had ever made was implanted in her womb.

She was not going to blame an innocent child who never begged to be conceived for her stupidity and gullibility.

She had no contact number to give them and promised to check back in about a week.

Indeed how was she going to get employed now, if she did not have anyone to refer her nor a contact number to give and no postal address as well. It was hopeless. She was losing hope. She didn't know what to do. If any one of them offered her employment and it came with accommodation, the better for her.

Her only hope now was for the man to contact her. She hoped he would be successful in convincing and persuading his friend to give her a job. Any job. If she had rembered, she would have also asked him if he knew any family who needed a housekeeper

That might have been easier.

Then a thought occured to her. 'What if he had gone to the house to look for me? Or where he assumed that I am living? That would be a disaster'. She decided she would have to get a little phone. It did not have to be a sophisticated one. She wondered why the thought had not occured to her before then. With the phone, she would be contacted by prospective employer s and the Campbell man would contact her easily of he had any job information for her but how to get hold of him and give him her number when she bought the phone was another problem which she didn't know how to solve.

At the fourth house, they were really very friendly.

'Oh, what a pity dear, we just employed a housekeeper because the former one relocated. If you had been here yesterday, you would have started with us today but just give us your contact number and we shall get back to you if there are any developments or vacancies'.

The same issue again. Nancy decided she had had enough. She went to shops where used phones were sold. She felt she would get one auctioned at an affordable rate so that she would still have some money to care for herself.

She actually got one. It was small and had limited apps in it but that was not her problem. Provided it would help her call and answer calls, she was okay with it. She got a sim and fixed it. She stayed at the shop and charged the phone to it's full capacity.

Then she went back to the houses that had asked for her contact number and gave them especially the fourth apartment.

By then, it was getting quite late and she was hungry and getting really dizzy.

She bought some canned foods and took home, happy that she had accomplished something that day.