Shiro goes missing as baby is rushed to the emergency room

I had been somewhat unsettled by the rumour of the restructure. I kept listening to the CEO to hear if he would drop any hints or indications that the structure was going to change but he did not say anything.

I had come to understand that part of the CEO’s job is to have an unreadable face so that your employees can never tell what you are thinking. Take last Monday, for example.

I walked excitedly into the CEO’s office. I had just received the good news that a certain business prospect I had been reviewing would be closing. The deal would bring about Sh100 million and help us meet our end-of-year targets.

I spent about 10 minutes explaining to the CEO about all the elements of the deal, sure he would share in my enthusiasm. At the end of the presentation he told me, “Good job. But we do not get ahead of ourselves until the money is in the bank.”

I wanted to scream out loud but kept quiet and let him talk. For the next half hour he lectured me on how one must “never count the chickens before they are hatched.” He then gave me examples about all the times he has learnt first-hand the danger of thinking the deal is done when the money is not in the bank. He summarised by saying, “Let us talk when we get the down payment.”

I had to leave his office and go lick my wounds though I pledged I would close the deal just to show the CEO that I have what it takes.

When I got to my desk, I noticed I had four missed calls on my cell phone from one number. I usually do not take my phone into meetings; I read somewhere that this is a career-limiting move.

I did not recognise the numbers but given the persistence, I decided to call back. A woman came on the line and said, “This is Jackie.”

I asked, “Who is Jackie?”

She said, “I am Jackie who takes care of the children.”

This is when it hit me that I had no clue what the name of the nanny was. I was of course not going to let her know this so I said, “Is everything okay? Are the children okay?”

She was near hysterical as she said, “Baby was throwing up and so I had to dash her to hospital.”
“Why haven’t you called Shiro?” I asked her.

She said, “I have been calling her many times but she has not been answering.

“You need to come to hospital soonest,” she added.

Things sounded dire so I decided to leave immediately and head to the hospital.

Thankfully, there was no traffic and I was at the hospital in 20 minutes. I found that the doctor had undressed the baby because she had an acute fever.

They started asking me questions like, “Is she allergic to anything?”

I was puzzled by all of this and the doctors asked, “Where is the mother?” I said, “She is at work.”

What followed was a flurry of activity, with doctors conducting all manner of tests. After two hours the doctor told me, “Your daughter seems to be allergic to peanuts and her fever was a reaction to some nuts she ate.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and we soon left the hospital.

I was stunned that despite all the my calls Shiro had not returned my calls. Imagine my shock when she called me nearly four hours later and said, “What’s the matter?”

This is strange indeed.