My Accompany My Enemy

Tracy Hall lay in the comforting hands of her enormous bed. Well, not her bed particularly but it was hers in the meantime. She was lodged in the hotel the previous evening by the anchors of the conference she was expected to speak in. It was already a few minutes past mid-afternoon but she was still soundly asleep. 

What would one expect? 

Through the night she had been busy surfing from one file to the other both the soft copies and the hard copies that her secretary had dropped for her. In addition to her official duties ,she spent quality time trying to scale through what she was supposed to talk on . The conference was actually hosted by a certain foundation that was built to encourage entrepreneurial advances in the minds of the younger people. And she had been called on specifically because in the eyes of the populace, she was a very good example to look upon. At the age of twenty-eight , she was already a successful person , though entirely successful as most of the success she enjoyed were from her father , James Hall . Tracy however has always maintained a firm ground against this pattern of thought. Yes,  her father might have been a major bedrock for the entrepreneurial success she had but that was not the reason she was where she was in the business circle. At the age of twenty-six, she took charge of their company’s position of the Chief Executive Officer. Though at first, it seemed to have been an impossible journey, here she was , after two years of sitting in that position, basking in the rays of admirable triumph. 

” Mmmh. ” She winced on the bed , dragging the duvet closer to her . 

The time for her to speak in the conference was less than an hour. But she was still.asleep with no worry about it. While still trying to trudge deeper in her sleep, the room’s bell system began to ring loudly , tearing into the air and taking away from it every possible form of peace. The bell rang so loudly that Tracy’s eyes flew open in a split second, her hands flying to her ears to keep them safe.  

” Who the hell is that?!!” She yelled out her hands pressing harder against her ears . 

Almost at the same time the question left her mouth, a voice spoke to her through the intercom system of the hotel room. 

” Ma’am Tracy , ” the voice of a lady said, ”  it is time to wake up. Your session is in less than an hour . ” 

The words flew through her ears and shit through her system like a bullet. She did not need a soothsayer to tell her who the voice that just spoke belonged to. It was her secretary trying to get her attention. 

” Damn it!!” She shouted , energy suddenly flying through her system. 

Without any sort of hesitation, her hands flew down from her ears and her feet began to find their way out of the bed. 

” Oh my goodness. ” She muttered. ” Damn you , Tracy. ” 

She scurried out of the bed and strode to the table a couple of feet away from the bed. Her phone was there. Taking hold of it , she stared at the time. In that instant, her whole body sank deeper inside her. 

12:05pm. 

What  the hell? How fast did the time now fly? Last she could recall, she was awake by fifteen minutes to eight in the morning. She had just concluded a few signings before finally trying to get a nap. At least , a nap would be more than helpful to keep her in her right frame of mind before the time for the conference which was scheduled by eleven in the morning. But a nap had turned to good sleep . And not only has she missed the starting time of the conference but that she was about to be late for her session too. On the screen of her phone were a series of calls that she had missed. She quickly checked. Most of them had come from her secretary. 

How could she have heard the calls? Her phone was in the vibration mode . Since she wasn’t with it, it would have been difficult to know. She dialed the secretary’s line. In a few seconds, it connected. 

” Hello, where are you? I need you in my room right now. ” 

” I am at your door, ma’am. ” The voice replied. 

” Perfect timing!” 

She walked straight to the door, her phone still on her ear till she opened the door. At the door was a pretty young lady who was dressed corporately with her hands clasped right in front of her. That’s her secretary , Fiona, who she had hired long ago. Fiona worked for her , even before she became the Chief Executive Officer of the business venture. After becoming the CEO, Tracy had decided to continue to keep her by her side. After all, she was competent enough. 

” Good afternoon, ma’am.” Fiona greeted her . 

”  Save the greeting for later.” Tracy replied , striding back into the room towards the table. ” You didn’t knock.” 

” The rooms are soundproof. The intercom system had to be the only way to get to you. ” 

” Damn it. How long do we have?”  She asked, pressing her palms against the table. 

” From what I can see right now, ” Fiona said, stealing a glance at her watch,” it is already ten minutes past twelve. ” 

” Which means I have just fifty minutes to go.” 

” Yes, ma’am. ” 

” Do you think I can be ready before then?” 

” Perhaps, if you were already getting ready, I would have agreed to that. ” 

” Give them a call. Tell them to delay the session by twenty minutes.” 

” Okay, ma’am. ” Fiona replied. ” I will do that. ” 

” Good. ” Tracy said and turned , leaning on the table. ” You will have to organize these papers into different files. ” 

Fiona eyed the table. It was very disorganized. There were different papers and books all over the place. 

” Will it be difficult to do now?” Tracy asked, taking notice of the secretary’s look. 

” No. No. ” Fiona replied .” Not at all. ” 

” Good enough. I will go and take a bath right now. Be quick with arranging everything. Get the one I might be needing for the conference ready, okay?” 

” Yes, ma’am. ” Fiona replied with a nod. 

Tracy took a few steps towards the bathroom before stopping . 

” And ,” she turned,” remember to give them the call. Don’t forget that. If you can do it now, do it. ”  She turned and walked to the bathroom. 

Many minutes later, Miss Tracy Hall was sitting before a rectangular mirror on the makeup table. Her hands moved from one item to the other. Soon, she was done. Grabbing the lip gloss, she applied it gently  and rolled the lips partly, making the gloss even on both lips . Fiona stood by the side while she got ready to leave. 

” What is the time now?” She asked, her hands fiddling with the brush. 

” Uhm. It is just three minutes before it is the appointed time. ”