STARLIGHT NURSERY CITADEL
“What’s this picture?” Caitlyn asked her students with a smile and they all chorused a response that the image she pointed to was that of a whale.
“Clap for yourselves, you got it right!” she said to them and they clapped happily all together. She continued quizzing them one after the other and gave credit to those who got her questions right while she corrected those who got them wrong.
Indeed, she has the quality of a teacher and amazingly, all her pupils became fond of her.
“Miss Fernadez?” a feminine voice called her attention. at the entrance of the class.
“Yes,” she raised her head to look at the person. It was the security lady guarding the lower section of the school building.
“Your attention is needed by the authorities.” said the lady.
“Sorry to ask, hope no problem?” she asked trying to figure out the reason for the sudden call.
“I can’t say much about that, you’ll know the reason you’re being called when you get there.” the lady turned around and left.
Caitlyn finished her present teaching and engaged the kids in something fun before leaving the class. Firstly, she headed to the toilet and cleaned herself up. She checked herself out and made sure that she was decently dressed and corporate.
In a minute, she arrived at the headmaster’s office. She was a bit nervous but knocked at the door not too loudly.
“Come in,” came the reply.
Pressing the open button on the door, she stepped inside the office carefully. In there, the headmaster Sir Carson as he was usually addressed and a few old teaching staff whom she had to respect greatly.
“Good day sir,” she showed her first sign of politeness with her hands placed on each other in front of her.
“Hunnn, good day,” replied Sir Carson.
“Have a seat” he offered but she was reluctant to sit so she responded that she was okay standing.
“If you say so, I’ll go straight to the point.” he began.
“Ok sir, I’m all ears.”
“It’s nothing much. We just want to inform you that you’re fired.”
For a moment, Caitlyn didn’t know what hit her. She couldn’t believe her ears and her knees buckled as a result of shock.
“What?” she managed to ask with a shaky voice.
“You heard him right, you’re fired.” one of the old teachers repeated.
“But why?. I didn’t do anything wrong right?. If I did, let me know and I’ll correct myself please.” Caitlyn pleaded almost on the verge of tears. She can’t afford to lose her job at that moment as she really needed the income to keep body and soul together.
Moreso, she has a grandmother to look after as her grandmother was too old for anything strenuous. At that time, only strenuous jobs were considered well paying.
Sir Carson shakes his head sideways and sighed.
“Let me explain things to you. We received a complaint from a parent that you’re too nosy. We were told you took a child to his house without the consent of the parent which angered the person a lot.”
Immediately, Caitlyn remembered that it was Drake she took home and explained herself.
“About that sir, it was getting too late yesterday and Drake was the only kid left in the whole school. I couldn’t wait for his parents to come pick him up anymore, so I put a call through to the contact numbers put down in the register. Several calls, it didn’t go through at first and when it finally got connected, there was no response. So I had no choice.”
“We understand your plight miss, but we have no choice here.” Sir Carson uttered with all honesty and sincerity.
“Let me ask you a question.” One of the teachers on seat interrupted.
“Alright ma’am, I’m listening.”
“Let’s say you got to the kid’s house and didn’t find anyone around. What would you do?”
“I would take him to my house and drop a note at their house indicating my address so they’ll be able to pick him up when they eventually return.”
“Your idea is a good one.” Sir Carson commented.
“Thanks, sir.” Suzanne smiled inwardly hoping that her response would retain her job for her.
“However, in as much as we appreciate your kindness towards the pupil, we can’t let you continue teaching here.” Sir Carson added.
“But sir, I haven’t done anything wrong. Have mercy please.” she pleaded with a sober face.
The headmaster sighed and removed his pair of glasses. He looked at Caitlyn and told her to sit but she refused still.
“Sincerely, we appreciate your teaching effort in our school. Though stopping you from teaching here, doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or you’re not good at your work but I want you to understand that we’re only following orders.”
“Whose orders?” Caitlyn interrupted thinking of the possibility of going to apologize to the person and still retain her job.
“We can’t tell you whose orders it was. All I can say is that the order came from someone of importance. Someone of higher authority. Not following the order will put us in a tight corner and our school will be at stake. Try to be understanding please, we wish you the best.” then she was directed to leave.
Caitlyn was dumbstruck and couldn’t find the energy to cry. She stood for a while calming herself down by breathing in and out in a fast sequence.
Before leaving, she asked if she could teach her pupils for the rest of that day and she was granted grace to do so.
Dejectedly, she headed back to her class. Trying to settle the fact that she’s once again jobless hit her mind badly.
Throughout the day, she kept asking herself what went wrong in her life and who could have so much authority to make her jobless.
“Aunty Caitlyn,” Jasmine walked up to her and tapped her hand which was placed on the table. She was so lost in thought.
“What do you want Jasmine?” Caitlyn asked her with her beautiful smile again despite not being truly happy.
“I want to ask if you can get me some ice cream.”
“Why do you need one?. I can’t possibly go out there just for your ice cream, okay?.”
“Don’t you know my dad?. I need just one and my daddy will pay you. He has the money.”
“Jasper?!” Caitlyn gasped.
“What’s wrong, Aunty?” little Jasmine asked.
She ignored Jasmine and ran out of the class to the toilet. Memories of how Jasper asked her severally after they met to come work in his company flooded her mind.
She had turned him down politely and the last time he offered her a job, she refused He had told her that she shouldn’t worry she’ll come to work for him whether she likes it or not.
“I have my ways of making you succumb Caitlyn. Just wait for it” he had said to her while she brushed it off.
“Could it be Jasper who asked for me to be sacked?. Why would he do that?. Just why on earth would he do that?”
In a fit of rage, she dialled his number on her phone but he didn’t pick up. A second and third trials, he still didn’t pick up.
“Jasper!!!!” she stomped her left foot on the ground with confused emotions. One part of her trying to think he made her jobless and the other part making her believe he wasn’t the one who got her sacked. But thinking back to some things that happened while they were in school, Jasper was capable of such a feat.