HER GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

That morning when her Boss invited her over in his office for a cup of tea, Ruth could tell he was so confound. It was the first time Mr. Johnson had extend that kind of courtesy to her. Everyone in the office was not surprised she worked hard than most of them. Some even hated her for it and related her success to her husband, Benjamin’s friendship with Johnson. Most of those relentless haters were her female colleagues. They were already spreading rumors of Ruth sleeping her way to the top. They believed no woman could get to that level of success without going under the sheets during weekends or late office hours. Being called in Mr. Johnson’s office to them only meant one thing; appraisal followed by a heavy promotion. She was dressed decently as usual. A white bodice with a black blazer, a matching black codet dress portraying her curvaceous body carried on black wedged shoes. Men's eyes followed her until she disappeared in the office. Men will always be men. "Morning Mrs. Chestnut", Johnson said arranging files on his big mahogany desk. "Morning sir you asked for me?" "Yes here have a cup of tea", Johnson offered. "Thank you sir can we kindly go straight to business I have some urgent files I was working on" There was a pin drop silence. Johnson was fidgeting on his seat. He exhaled sharply retrieved a brown envelope from a chest drawer. He took another sip from his cup avoiding eye contact. A layer of sweat was starting to form on his forehead. His mouth was dry and he kept on faking coughs. All signs of nervousness. Fear is a universal emotion and very strong. "Are you okay sir?" She asked. "Yeah... am good it's just that I have some bad news for you. Actually your whole department" The stench of fear in his voice could tell it all. On a scale of one to ten she was giving it a nine and a half tops. So untypical for the flamboyant CEO. "What’s wrong?" "You know the current Covid_19 pandemic has had some effects", Johnson said in an inviting tone. "Yeah economic recession, inflation you can name it", she said confidently. "The thing is we can't afford the costs of paying your salaries so the board had ordered us to downsize", Johnson said sadly. He looked more relaxed like a heavy burden on his shoulders had been lifted. "Does that include me?" Ruth asked with optimism. She loved her job. She kissed it and everyone knew she was an employee worth keeping under the desperate of situations. "No you get to keep your job..." "I just have to fire my colleagues I get it", she interrupted him. "Yeah that one I get it they will take it well coming from you" "Take it well? With all due respect sir who takes it well getting fired" Her voice was rising, "Am sorry I didn't mean to shout", She apologized looking and sounding embarrassed. "We are done here", Johnson said getting the door for her. She remembered how devastated they all looked when they walked out of the boardroom with their contract termination papers. The hate in some escalated even more when they realized she was getting to keep her job. Twenty of thirty hardworking employees of Tess international who she fired that day were women. The painful part of it she knew all of them and treated them like her own sisters. Ruth had learnt to consider them as family even though she knew some spoke behind her back. She had audacity to forgive them still. On her third week at work after firing them. The office did not feel the same like before. She could feel the eyes of her remaining colleagues poking holes on her back. It felt like they could see her cold black heart pumping her black blood. Ruth hated herself and even her bed was not comfy like usual. Her husband and two children had started to miss her yet she was living with them under the same roof. Her nights were running into mornings and she had started to see a therapist who promised her that everything was going to be okay. That she was being hard on herself when there was nothing she could do to save their jobs. Ruth found herself hating the therapist too. According to her, the short bald headed man was more educated than but he had poor analytical skills with no compassion; there were more women than men worldwide who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. He had used a phrase "You can't save everyone" and it kept troubling her like an itchy finger in closed shoes. It was the cause of her insomnia and loss of appetite even her performance in the bedroom was getting questionable and Benjamin, her husband was starting to speculate signs of infidelity. Just like her therapist he thought Ruth was going to get over the guilt of firing her department. One night she thought about it broadly. She took a deep dive of how she was brought up. The struggles she had gone through with education to get a well-paying job being a woman. Then she compared the same struggle with that of her colleagues who were now jobless. A true compassionate leader. Only two things were remaining on the list. First she had to meet and talk to them then what was she going to do? How was she going to help them get back on their feet? If things were better they could have applied somewhere else but the downsizing saga was affecting all companies. Ruth made a decision that she never though she could have. At first she even thought she was dreaming. "Is everything okay love? We’re in the middle of the night and you are still awake" Ben asked surprised. "Am not fine but we will talk about it tomorrow I promise", she said kissing him lightly on the lips. "Okay get some sleep" "I will", She promised. She pretended to be sleeping until her husband was consumed by sleep once again she snuck out of their bed to the study room. When she opened her laptop her head went blank. There was nothing she could think of writing. Who knew a quitting letter could be hard to write? Even harder than the application letter. She wrote the first draft read through it again and deleted the whole of it. Not catchy enough. Her arms were shaking as she typed quietly not to wake up her children. She finally settled on the fifth draft printed and signed it then kept it in an envelope. That night she slept like a baby. In fact it was the housekeeper who woke her up. She did not dress up like usual that day was different every one including the neighbors noticed. She put on a casual dress and drove to Tess international offices with her name tag. The guards looked at each other confused as she marched from the parking lot like an angry bull. In the office no one seemed to notice her at first when they did there were murmurs everywhere. Ruth went to her office. Packed her belongings accolades and files in a box and walked right into Johnson’s office. He couldn't see her coming with the translucent glass. "Morning sir do you have a minute?" "Yeeeah you look different today", He said. "Because I quit", She said dropping the letter on his desk. No words could describe his reaction. Johnson’s face changed from confused to Perplexed. She was standing right in front of him with her big eyes. Confidently waiting for him to say something and he knew how unyielding she was. "You can't let emotions cloud your judgment I mean what will Benjamin say?" "You see that's what you don't get. This is about me not him why does it have to be about him?" "You'll regret this", He said to her disappearing figure in the door. The whole office was shocked. Those who hated her celebrated others loosened their grip on hate a little and comforted her. Benjamin was the first person to call and his tone closed the case. He was not in support of her move. Ruth had expected some obstacles on her chosen path but Benjamin was not one of them. It started getting real while she drove home that morning. Her first pillar was already showing signs of cracking. She knew what to expect in the evening little did she know she know he was already waiting at home. His car was parked right outside their house. She got out of her car with her box the confidence was still there but shaken from its foundations. "Take a seat, Maya give us a minute please", Benjamin said to the housekeeper. She carried her towels and water on a basin to the kitchen. There was pin drop silence until they heard the back door lock from outside. "You have some explaining to do", Benjamin fussed pacing up and down like a caged lion, "Do you know what it took to get you that job?" He asked rhetorically. Ruth knew better than to interrupt him. She was a submissive wife. Besides it was not the first time she was being reminded of how she earned her status as if it was not her hard work and competence. "I thought you would support me", She complained her face stiff from held back tears. "Support you? Are you nuts?" "I was going nuts Ben I couldn't sleep the guilt was killing me can't you see what's happening twenty women Ben that's twenty households whose future is in jeopardy" "That's not your call to make this conversation is over find Johnson and apologize before he submits your letter to the board", He said and banged the door behind him. Ben was furious. Arguing with him at that time was futile but still it couldn't change anything. He was Narcissistic impervious to new ideas. He made or influenced almost all the decisions in the family. She had gotten a job on her own but he had forced her to turn it down because he had found her a better one. Ruth took it gladly after all she deserved it but Ben never stopped reminding her why she got it. It was his punch line during every argument and she was hoping he could let it go just once when she needed him to stand by him but even that he sucked at. She spend the rest of the day doing research. Lunch was served then evening tea Ruth was still in the study. Anita at some point got worried and tried to talk to her but she send him away. Only Jake and Mary her children were able to get her out of the study. Of course Maya played a hand in that. She was relentless when it came to taking care of others especially those in need. One of the qualities that she loved from her. After helping them with their homework and send them out to play she went back behind the desktop in the filled to the brim study room. Only the sound of an engine outside captured her attention. Ben was back from work she was hoping he was feeling a little calmer now they could have a meaningful conversation and arrive at an amicable understanding. She was going to use her feminine charm to calm him down. Ruth met Ben in the drive way to help him carry his laptop bag. He smiled and kissed her on the lips. It was working the smile had not been there earlier on when they met. The two walked hand in hand to the house. She put on some coffee in the coffee maker. "What are you doing?" Ben was smelling a rat. "Is it working?" "No you're still apologizing to Johnson" "Would you hear me out for a second?" She lamented. "Nothing you say will change my mind on this Love" He said with finality and went to their bedroom. The rest of the week they didn't talk much. They acted nice where the children were. In their bedroom it was a war of silent treatment until Ben Gave an ultimatum of one week or he was moving out to blow some steam. Of all things the moving out card scared her it shook her belief from its foundation. She even picked her phone to call Johnson but something was stopping her. An irresistible and invisible force guiding her instincts. The therapist might have convinced her she couldn't save everyone but she was going to try her luck even if it meant losing everything she had worked for Ruth's dream and priceless ambition was her daughter Mary to live in a society that respects her achievements and treats her like a other people not just a black woman. And genetics justified her claim. A new generation is supposed to be better than the preceding one and how could Mary's generation be better if she was lying there waiting for things to change? That's what life is about. Doing something anyway. Whatever we do might not bring immediate change but the world could really use a few people willing to embrace change. To set it in motion. It was true she was following a faraway star in the vast sky. The journey was going to take long and if anything was going to mess it up she was prepared the only hope was at least she knew she was headed in the right direction. The first part of her plan was in action. True to his word Ben moved out and now the hardest phase came in. The lying phase. It hurt to lie to them, Mary and Jake. But it was for their own protection. Their issues were not to affect their children. That was the only thing the two ever agreed on.