The Widow and The CEO.

Chapter 5. First Day Nerves.

Chapter 5. First Day Nerves.

Ruth awoke before her alarm. Nervousness had been her best friend the night before, keeping her from sleeping more than an hour at a time. Finally, her 6 am alarm clock sounded, and she quietly got out of her bed. She fluffed her pillows, and straightened out the duvet cover, before heading to the shared bathroom and taking a shower. She had washed her hair the evening before, knowing the tight curls would never dry in time if she did it in the morning, so she kept her head out of the stream of hot water, ensuring every last inch of her body was clean. Grabbing her toweling robe, another generous gift from Charlotte, Ruth wrapped herself up, before heading down the small narrow staircase into the living area. The room was small, just a sofa and two chairs, beside the open stone fireplace. The kitchen was separated by a countertop, with hanging pine kitchen cupboards. The opposite side had an electric oven, with more cupboard space, a small window with the sink beneath, and a washer-dryer plumbed in alongside it. Grabbing the kettle, she filled it with enough water for two people, before switching it on. She grabbed a duster from under the sink with some polish. Whilst she waited for the kettle to boil, she quickly dusted all the surfaces, then happy with her work, she made two cups of coffee, knowing Naomi would be down, as soon as she had finished her morning prayers. Ruth blew out a puff of air from her lungs in an attempt to calm her nervous disposition, before sitting down and taking a sip of the hot coffee, allowing it to chase away the tiredness though lack of sleep.

“Good morning, did you sleep at all?” Naomi asked, knowing full well her beautiful daughter-in-law had probably been too nervous about her first day in the workplace to catch any real rest.

“A little bit, but not much. I dusted but didn’t want to put the vacuum around in case you were still sleeping,” Ruth smiled at Naomi.

“Oh, Bless you. But I was awake most of the night myself. I am nervous for you,” Naomi giggled slightly.

Ruth smiled in response and took another sip of her coffee.

“Have you had breakfast dear?” Naomi asked.

“No, my stomach is in knots, so I am not hungry. I have my couscous salad I made last night for lunch, and I will grab a banana if I get hungry before then,” Ruth shook her head.

“What time will you be setting off?” Naomi asked.

“Twenty past Seven. It takes half an hour to walk to the bus stop, and I am going to catch the eight o’clock bus. It will get me there at around half-eight, giving me half an hour to play with before I start work. I would rather be really early, than a minute late,” Ruth sighed, then looked at the clock, seeing that it was already 6:50 am, and finished off her coffee with a gulp.

“I am going to get ready,” She smiled, then made her way back up the stairs.

Ruth stood looking in the long mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door, the navy pantsuit she wore looked professional with her white cotton blouse tucked in. She grabbed the matching jacket and pulled it on, buttoning up the single button at the front. Her hair had been scraped up to the top of her head, in a bun, and a pair of navy flat dolly shoes adorned her feet. She said a quick prayer of thanks, for the blessing Charlotte Ferry had been to her and Naomi’s life, before picking up a bag and heading back down to the living room.

“Wow, you look amazing. Very much the professional and lady who does lunch,” Naomi smiled at her, as she handed her the old ice cream carton that served as a lunch box, with a banana, as Ruth stuffed them into her oversized white bag, another gift from Charlotte.

Glancing at the clock she saw she had five minutes before she needed to set off, but she decided that she would only pace the floor, so she would leave now.

“You are going to be brilliant,” Naomi said, gathering her into a warm loving embrace.

“Thank you. I know it is not ideal not getting real money for my work, but I feel if I do the best job possible, good things will come,” Ruth smiled.

“Yes, I agree, now, break a leg, as they say,” Naomi smiled, and walked to the door, with Ruth, giving her a small wave as she left.

Ruth sat on the bus, her nervousness increasing with every passing stop, as she approached her destination. Finally, she arrived at her stop, and pressed the bell, standing up and making her way to the front, holding on to the bright orange handles. The bus came to a halt, as the doors opened, a group of teenagers were gathered, all scrambling to get on, to take them to school. Ruth stepped off, as one of the boys turned towards her.

“PACKI” he shouted, in her direction, as some of the other boys he was with all laughed.

Ruth held her head high, ignoring the racist slur. She had heard it a million times before, and now it was like water off a duck’s back. Their ignorance was their problem, something Clay had taught her, the first time it happened, when she had come home in tears.

“Shurup man. Ya mar is orange, off her fake tan, trying to be the same colour. Like,” A girl in her thick northeast accent, shouted at the boy, who now was getting laughed at by his friends, as they all shouted “owned” at him.

Ruth offered the young girl a soft smile of thanks. She appreciated what she had tried to do on her behalf. Although her comments were disparaging towards the boy’s mother, she knew her heart was in the right place, and continued her journey towards the large factory that would be her place of work.

As she turned the corner into the industrial estate, she saw the imposing grey building with “Bowmans” in big letters, and ‘Posh Breads’ in a smaller sign underneath. She took another deep breath, as she paused by the double glass doors, before pulling them open and stepping inside.

The large foyer had a reception desk to the left, and four receiving chairs on the right against the wall. To the right was another glass door, which led to a staircase to the upper floor of the unit. Directly in front of her, were large double doors that led into the factory itself where the ‘posh bread’ was being made, packaged, and distributed to the shops.

A lady of around 26 years of age sat behind the crescent-shaped reception desk. Looking up, she greeted Ruth with a warm smile, her blonde hair in a high ponytail, and her perfectly contoured makeup flawless.

“Hi, how can I help you?” The receptionist asked.

“Hi, my name is Ruth Miller, I have been sent by Mrs. Hurst of HR and SS,” Ruth smiled, her heart beating out of her chest.

“Ah, yes, we are expecting you. My name is Diana. I believe you will be relieving me during break times here. However, you are to report upstairs to Mr Coats directly. If you just go through that door on the right and head straight to the top floor, his PA Sonia will assist you,” Diana smiled warmly, indicating with her hand the door Ruth was to use.

“Thank you,” Ruth smiled, then with another nervous sigh, she made her way through the doors, and up the three flights of stairs to the top floor.

Signor Coats sat behind his desk, pondering on the offer Devon Boaz had given him last night. It was lower than he had hoped, but with creditors banging on his doors, he was in no position to refuse it. Three more weeks and the group of companies that had been in his family for generations would be sold to The Threshing Corporation. He had tried his best to run the business, but he was a man of older years and did things a certain way, which had caused all of the companies in his group to fail in this new age. He had no sons or daughters to take over from him. After years of trying for a child, his wife and he gave up on the notion. The company was now a noose around his neck, and he needed rid of it, and pay off its debts, leaving a small amount to enjoy his retirement with his wife. There was no sugarcoating the fact that he was in a financial pickle, and he had made some risqué business decisions to attempt to save the company, and all had failed. The world cruise his wife had wanted would not now take place, but such was life, and he knew she would get over the disappointment eventually. She would have to because they were lucky they had managed to keep their house.

His intercom buzzed, and with a sigh, he answered it.

“Yes, Sonia,”

“Mr. Coats, I have a Ruth Miller here to see you,” Sonia, who had served him for years, informed him. She would retire when he did and would be glad to do so. They had once held fancy offices in the city, but with money tight, Signor had moved the head office out of the building and converted the offices above the bread factory, to save on extra expenses.

“Send her in,” Signor sighed. The girl was early, but it was better than being late, and he sat up straight in his chair that he would soon vacate, ready to receive her.

Ruth entered the large corner office and nervously stood before Mr Coats’ desk.

“Ah Ruth, good to see you,” Mr Coats stood up and stretched out a wrinkled hand to her.

Ruth took it, for all she had lived in England for years, she still found it a little strange to shake her hand with a man, but she gave him a firm grip, as Clay had practiced with her years ago. She looked up at the tall, very thin man, with grey hair, and wrinkles that showed the passing of time. She would guess he was around 80 maybe a little older, but she was not certain.

“Please take a seat. I don’t normally personally greet our temporary workers. However, given you are doing us a massive favour, by working for expenses only, and some of the products not used for sale, I thought it prevalent that I thank you for your help,” Mr. Coats smiled, his blue eyes shining down at her.

“It is a pleasure to be here sir,” Ruth kindly replied.

“Well, the job is only for the next three weeks. After that, the sale of the company should go through, and the new owner will take over. To be honest, he may well sell this part of the company, or close it down and sell the factory itself. However, we will give you a reference when you leave. You will be working in the mail room in the morning. Then cover the lunch break for Diana at reception, and in the afternoon, you will be filing and shredding old documents. At five pm, you can take your pick of the breads which were slightly overcooked, or proofed not in the correct shape, as much as you would like,” Mr Coats smiled.

“Also, on Friday, we will give you your expenses for the week,” he added as an afterthought.

“Thank you,” Ruth nodded her head in understanding.

“Well, welcome, and Sonia will take you down to the Mailroom, to begin your day,” Mr Coats nodded his head, as his PA walked into the office and ushered Ruth out of the door.

The day passed quickly, and Ruth was kept busy. She had made friends with Diana, although the girl was a lot more ‘out there’ than Ruth was. She had chatted happily about her date for the evening and had gasped sadly when Ruth explained she was a widow. Ruth noted that Diana had seemed more than a little enamored by the man who the workers believed was taking over the company. She had shoved a magazine in her face, showing the image of a tall, dark, handsome man on the cover. Ruth had to admit, he was gorgeous, but she didn't give the glossy magazine more than a customary glance to be polite.

“He has kind eyes,” Ruth noted, as Diana looked at her as if she was weird.

“Never mind his eyes, have you seen the muscles girl?” Diana grinned, then continued to drool over the picture.

Ruth decided she was not there to ogle the new owner, so she politely smiled but did not really take any more notice.

After all, she would not be working for the man when he took over, and she thought Diana a little silly, for believing the CEO who was supposedly the most sought-after Batchelor in the USA and UK would come here, and sweep the dreamy-eyed receptionist off her feet, like a knight in white armour. However, the conversation was pleasant, and Ruth could not help but like the chatty receptionist. The afternoon had been spent going through some old accounting files and sorting them into date order. Some of the files had been marked for shredding, and Ruth found it a little odd that Mr. Coats seemed to want all the paperwork and spreadsheets for the staff pensions shredded, given a new company would probably need the information. However, she determined that everything was probably held on a computer, and these paper copies were just taking up space, so she never gave it much thought. When five o’clock arrived, Diana walked into the little room that was no larger than a cupboard, with arms full of different varieties of bread.

“It is after five. You will miss the good stuff. You have to get down there quickly because everyone gets to take the seconds home on a night. So, I got you one of everything worth having,” Diana grinned at her.

“However, I have commandeered the olive flat loaf for my lunch tomorrow,” she added.

Ruth laughed and nodded her head.

“Thank you,” She said, taking the large white plastic bag filled with the ‘Posh Bread’.

“See you tomorrow, Ruthie,” Diana grinned. Ruth was not sure how she felt about her new nickname but didn’t correct the happy girl. Then, leaving the factory, she headed home, her first day done. She longed for a long soak in a bath and was excited to tell Naomi all about her day.