Lydia

I have prepped myself for this day since the day I signed my offer letter from this company. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. I was in the library finalising my Masters’ dissertation and an unknown number phoned me on my cell. I answered the call and it was K-Pable-C contacting me to let me know that my application for the business operations intern role was successful. I submitted the dissertation and sprinted to my res to start looking for places to stay because I would have to relocate to the Ekurhuleni area. The company’s head office is located in Benoni, Rynfield. 

Today is my first day and I have just arrived. My parents managed to buy me a cute townhouse in Rynfield that is about a 10 minute drive from work. It is a two bedroom townhouse and it is absolutely cute. It pays to have a mother who is a politician and a father who is a very influential businessman. Apart from living in a R1.6million apartment on a salary that is next to nothing, I drive a BMW M2 that my parents bought for me when I graduated with my Masters’ degree. Parents who are wealthy do everything for their kids and hope that the kids do not become utter flops in life. I have made my parents look good by completing this degree. My father wanted me to take up a management role in his company. But I am just another black woman in South Africa trying to be taken seriously in the business world. The least that I could do is start at the bottom and work my way up. 

“Lydia Khalo?” A woman says to me as I am still scanning through my Instagram while waiting for someone to show me where I will be working. 

“Yes, that’s me.” I say. 

“You wore stilettoes to work? What are you? A junior executive?” She says. 

I want to tell her that I am a girl who is going to take my work seriously and I am a girl who can actually afford the brand labelled on my shoes. But I am just an intern and for all I know, this could be my manager. So I will have to kiss ass until I master the politics around here.

“I just wanted to be professional and make a lasting impression”, I say. 

“By wearing stilettoes? I hope you can run in them because the unwritten job description of the intern is to ensure that we are all always fuelled up with some coffee. It gets hectic around here. The hours are long, the pressure is high and the CEO is married to the MD who is an utter cow. She hates anyone who looks better than her in this office space. If you want to stay in the head office and not find yourself at the regional offices, leave the expensive stilettos at home.” She says. 

Petty much? I thought we have come here to work. 

“My name is Thando. I am the PA to the MD. I sit on the fifth floor where the MD and the CEO sit. The fifth floor is referred to as the office of the CEO. It must be respected at all times. You sit on the second floor with the team that you will be working in. Your manager sits on the second floor too and she has asked that I bring you to her office so that she can take you through what you will be doing, what will be expected of you, all that jazz.” 

A young man, probably in his early thirties, approaches us as Thando is telling me all of this. 

“Lydia Khalo, right?” The man says. 

“Yeah.” I respond. 

“I am Jeff Williams. I am your HRBP. Simply put, I am your HR go-to person should you need any HR-related assistance. I will accompany you to meet your line manager then have a one-on-one with you to talk code of conduct and everything else that you need to know to not get fired around here. I will update you with how to legislatively stay employed. Thando will update you on how to politically stay employed. That’s the shit they don’t teach you in school. Sadly, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the politics of work, someone will find a way to find a rule that you have broken just to get you out. If you are on the right side of the politics, you could get away with murder around here.” Jeff lets me know. 

Now I am actually nervous. Thando and Jeff giggle. 

“Shame! We have an office virgin on our hands. Okay, let me tell you what I have learned in the six years that I have been here.” Thando says to me. I pay attention and she begins. 

“There is a common phrase that is often used in the workplace. This phrase is usually thrown at you every time you anticipate a promotion or just simply want to do your damn job. “Playing the politics” has a lot to do with reading rooms and reading situations. While you may be convinced that following the rules, doing things right and staying out trouble will do the trick for you, it could be the reason why you actually end up receiving what is called a mutual separation agreement. There are people in the workplace that are simply untouchable. There is this aura around them that they are always right and even when they are wrong, the company will back them up.”

“As an HR personnel, I do not agree with anything coming out her mouth.” Jeff says. 

“Oh please! We can forgive you if you believe that all is fair in the workplace in the first month of coming into the workplace. But if this is still your belief after six months of working, the corporate world is definitely not for you. Playing the politics will get you further than working hard would. That is how people get away with presenting your work as their own. If you gasped at this line, get out of corporate. The sharks will eat you alive. Playing the politics in the workplace will make you a top performer over a person who comes into the office at 6am and knocks off at midnight.” If Thando’s mission was to scare me on my first day, she has succeeded. Jeff can see the fear in my eyes. 

“T, come on – 

“Jeff, if HR was truly independent and really stood for what they say they stand for, I wouldn’t need to have this conversation with stiletto-girl over here. The sad thing about playing the politics is that the politics change every time a new sheriff is in town. Every manager comes with their own set of politics and it is important that when you discuss expectation, the political framework is on the agenda of that meeting. You could be a top performer for one manager then be a candidate for incapacity due to poor performance for another.”

Thando takes one more look at me and concludes her speech by saying, “Oh and those people – that team of employment legal practitioners that are supposed ensure transparency, fairness and objectivity – they are on the political payroll too. If you actually trust that they have your interests at heart, please get out of corporate before the big guns spit you out.”

…

“Palesa, Lydia Khalo is here. May she come in?” Jeff asks my line manager while peeping through the door of her office. I am just standing here and waiting to actually start my work. That does not look like something that will actually happen today though. 

“I am busy. Show her to her desk. I will be with her when I can.” Palesa says. 

Jeff shuts the door and looks at me. I smile. He leads the way, seemingly irritated. I take it Palesa is not the nice manager around here. She is the operations head of department. We get to what seems to be my desk. There is a person sitting there. 

“This is Lydia Khalo’s desk.” Jeff says. 

“Palesa put me here. I am a specialist. I take preference over some new intern.” The woman says. 

“Where is she supposed to sit?” Jeff asks. 

“I don’t know.” The woman says and attends to her laptop. 

Jeff takes a deep breath. He looks at me. I look at him. 

He walks off and I follow him. We end up at his desk on the third floor – HR sits here. He tells me that he and I can share his desk for now. I tell him we can have the one-on-one he requested. He says it is a good idea. 

“What did you study?” He asks me. 

“I did a commerce degree and majored in business management, business analytics and industrial sociology”. I respond. 

“Interesting. Ever think about coming into HR?” 

“No thanks. I am not professionally equipped to deal with people’s issues. I do not have the patience for your nature of work.” Me. 

Jeff bursts into laughter, then he asks me: “Is this your first job?”  

“Yes and no”, I reply. “It is my first formal permanent employment. But throughout university, I used to temp as a PA or secretary to business managers for the experience. I know a lot about making people’s coffee and preparing boardrooms for meetings. I am very seasoned at taking notes in meetings and sorting them into priority views. But I have never been given the opportunity to engage in the meetings and share my views.” 

“Sorting into priority views?” He enquires.

“Yeah. A lot is usually shared in meetings. I then sift through notes and type them up according to their priority. I outline all the facts and put them together. I underline all the issues that were raised. I highlight the arguments that different people made. Then I put down what each person recommended to be a way forward. It’s a system I use to make sure that the person that I am taking notes for is well-equipped to make a decision.” I explain.

He smiles at me. 

“You know, seeing that Palesa does not seem to have plans for you today, I am thinking of using you for the CEO meeting taking place in the next thirty minutes. We hired a new PA for the CEO, but she decided to be a no-show today. She called in with some excuse about a child being sick or whatever. I am thinking you can go and take some notes for the CEO, prep the boardroom and do whatever else PAs do.” He says. 

An opportunity to do actual work for the CEO? Hell yeah!

“Definitely. I am keen.” I say. 

“Okay. Let’s make our way to the fifth floor. We will chat all things Code of Conduct after the meeting.” Jeff says, already standing up and walking me to the fifth floor. We chat about this and that in the elevator. The door opens and there is a tense atmosphere instantly. Thando looks at us. 

“This is not a good time. The parents are fighting about a client that we could potentially lose. It is a government client.” Thando says. 

“The parents are the CEO and the MD.” Jeff lets me know. 

“I have brought you a PA for Thomas for the day. Palesa does not seem to be utilising her today. I actually think she forgot that she had an intern arriving today.” Jeff tells Thando. 

“Hey wena Jeff, don’t make a mockery of my profession. Do you think my job is so easy that even a mere intern can do it?” Thando takes offence. 

“No not at all. She has experience. Proper experience. She’ll just take notes and set up the boardroom.” Jeff states. 

Thando looks at me. 

“She’s wearing stilettoes, Jeff”, Thando. 

Kanti what is this girl’s issue with my stilettoes? 

“It’s just for today.” Jeff. 

“Fine”, Thando. 

“Good luck. You got Thomas on a bad day.” Jeff says to me then leaves. 

Thando throws files on me and tells me to follow her. As we set up the boardroom, Thando informs me what the meeting is about. We need to seal a contract that the sales team has been struggling with for over three months now and there are rumours that another company – a competitor – might just get the contract. Thando expresses that Tom (short for Thomas who is the CEO) is not impressed. He has a temper problem and swears a lot when he is angry. Thando tells me to read him. When he starts swearing, it is my cue to not even look him in the eye. She tells me that his wife thinks that she is the CEO too. She is power hungry and demands respects even though she is awfully disrespectful. Her name is Pearl. Pearl is a Zulu woman from KZN and Tom is a Venda man from Venda. The Ramarus are not friendly people and the best way to get on their good side is to make the business makes a lot of money. 

“You have 20 minutes. Be here in 15”, she says to me. 

I call my domestic worker and ask her to prep coffee in an urn. I taught her how to make amazing coffee. I have a key interest in coffee and how it is made. I enjoy cooking and I have taken it as a hobby alongside with golf. I attend culinary classes after hours and I play golf on Saturdays. I believe I make the best coffee ever. 

Thembi, my domestic worker, calls me to tell me that she is downstairs with the urn of coffee. Two men offered to carry the urn from the car for her. How nice of them. I ask them to carry it to the fifth floor boardroom. Thando brings out the cups. My domestic worker drives. My dad bought her a Kia Picanto to get around. The PA to the sales director, Sandra, walks in with the Chief of sales, Liam. They help themselves to coffee and some finger foods that have been delivered. Two minutes later, Tom and Pearl walk in, another man following them in. Apparently he is one of the MDs. He is definitely more chilled out than everyone else around here, very handsome too. I understand that his name is Mthunzi Msomi. His PA walks in a few seconds after him with her iPad in hand. Thando signals that I serve Tom with coffee as she makes Pearl a cup. Lastly, the CFO and his PA walk in, followed in by the clients that we are trying to bag. 

…

I am back at the HR area, sitting next to Jeff and sorting the meeting notes accordingly. I brought a cup of coffee for Jeff just to say thank you for being so nice to me. His advice was to not be too nice. Some people have reserved number one spots in the eyes of the important people to impress. Whatever that means.  

I finish my notes and put them into a report format as well as a PowerPoint presentation. I am using my personal MacBook because I have not received a company laptop yet. I ask Jeff to send him these via email and he prints for me. He agrees. 

I make my way to the fifth floor. Thando is not at her desk so I walk to the CEO’s office. The door is slightly open. His name and position is on the door. 

“Thomas Ramaru: Chief Executive Officer.” 

I slightly knock and walk in after a brief “come in”. 

“Good afternoon, sir. I have brought these for you.” I say. 

“What are these?” He asks me. He is so intimidating.

“It is the notes that I took for you in our meeting.” I say. 

“I sit in multiple meetings a day. Care to tell me what meeting this was?” He says. He is not even looking at me. 

“Sir I –

I suddenly cannot speak. I pause. He looks at me and seems to be finding the words to tell me that I am wasting his time. I beat him to his speech. 

“Sir, I was invited to take minutes for you in the meeting with the clients we are trying to get a contract with. The clients we have been trying to get into business with for the past three months. I have taken the liberty to sort the minutes according to the details you need to prioritise regarding the meeting. I also took it upon myself to make notes on what I think you should consider when you get back to them as you committed you would.” I say. 

“What authority are you coming from making suggestions? I have never seen you in any of my director meetings.” He shuts me down. 

“That’s because I am not a director, sir. I am an intern. Today was my first day and my manager was not expecting me so I was asked to stand in for your PA.” I say. 

“Where is my PA?” He enquires. 

“I don’t know, sir.” I say. 

“I see.” Him. 

“Sir, if you have a minute, I can take you through – 

“I don’t have a minute. Please close the door on your way out.” He says. 

I nod my head and leave the office. 

“You are very brave, aren’t you? Either that, or you are very stupid.” Thando says as I walk past her desk. 

“Why?” I ask. 

“You just walk into the CEO’s office unannounced?” 

“He is a person, isn’t he?” 

“Wow!” She says. 

I make my way back to the elevator. 

…

The rest of the afternoon is spent with Jeff taking me through policies, the code of conduct and the channels that are used to lodge complaints and grievances. 

4pm strikes and Jeff packs his bags. He tells me that I should make my way home too. It is late. 

We pack up and as we get to the elevator, Thando stops us and says, “Stilettoes girl, the boss wants to see you.” 

Jeff looks at me. I look at Thando. 

“Quickly”. 

I leave with Thando and Jeff follows us. 

I walk into the CEO’s office and I see him going through my notes. 

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Me. 

“Thando tells me that you were responsible for the coffee we had in our meeting. Our clients want to know where you bought it.” He says. Can’t he just say sorry for being a higher grade asshole? 

“I made it, sir.” I say. 

He pulls a face. I am not sure what that means. 

“I am going through your notes. They are very organised and thorough. I like the recommendations that you have made as well. Well done.” He says. 

“Thank you, sir.” Me. 

“How about you sit down and we go through your recommendations?” Him. I feel like saying I have no time, but hey, play the politics, right? 

“Okay.” I say as I take a seat. 

I take him through the document and explain why I made each of the recommendations. He seems impressed with me. He says I should stay and work with him and Liam to put a pitch that the company will present tomorrow to the clients. I agree. He orders dinner. MthunziMsomi walks in with the dinner and a lot of beer. He one of the MDs in this company as well. 

“I hope you drink beer”, Langa says to me. 

I look at him. 

“You don’t drink beer?” He asks me. 

“Water will be fine, thanks.” I say. 

He and Thomas giggle. Whatever that is about. 

Liam walks into his office at 6pm. We work and I actually do a lot more than just make them coffee. I type on my MacBook because again, I do not have a company laptop yet. Liam is such a creative. He is also very business savvy. I am learning a lot from working with these three men and yes, in my stilettoes. Mthunzi has made some comments already about them and the men laughed. Whatever! 

At 11pm, Mrs Ramaru walks into Mr Ramaru’s office. 

“How’s it going?” She asks.

“We should be ready in the morning, darling”, Tom says as he makes his way to kiss his beautiful wife. 

“Who’s the new girl?” Pearl asks. 

“I am Lydia”. I say. 

Liam, Mthunzi and Tom did not ask me for my name. They also just realised it now. 

“You are the new PA?” Pearl asks me. 

“No ma’am. I am an intern in the operations team.” I say. 

“So how did Liam find you?” Pearl. 

“Actually I found her. Palesa and Blake were not using her so I needed the extra hands.” Tom says. 

“Interesting.” Pearl says. 

The office gets awkward. 

“Mr Ramaru, Mr Msomi and Mr Ridge, I have emailed you everything else you will need for tomorrow. I have to go home now. Thank you for this opportunity.” I say. 

“Would you like me to call you an uber?” Tom. 

“No thanks. I have my car.” I say. 

“The BMW in the parking lot? We clearly pay our interns a lot of money.” Pearl says. 

This woman is a bitch. 

I say goodbye to everyone and leave the office. 

“The boss has an eye for fine calves in stilettoes, but Pearl will throw you out of this office for sneezing in her husband’s direction.” Thando says.

“I did nothing wrong.” I defend myself. 

“Pearl is Tom’s wife. Pearl is number one employee, not some intern who makes great coffee and takes perfect notes for the CEO. Read the room. Read the situation. Or you will not make it past six months around here.” She says. 

“What am I supposed to do when the CEO calls me to task? Should I just say no because his wife is insecure?” I ask. 

“Yes. Or it will be the last thing you do in this company.” Thando. 

…

I arrive at work at 7am. My aim was to get to my desk early and have the stuck-up specialist cause a scene so that my line manager can finally notice me. My line manager is already here and she notices me. But Pearl Ramaru is in her office and they are yelling at each other. I just hear noise, not what the argument is actually about. I settle at my desk and pull out my MacBook. IT walks in with my laptop – the work laptop. After a few pleasantries, they start setting up my laptop. At 7:30, Pearl storms out of Palesa’s office and slams the door behind her. She looks in my direction and we stare at each other. After a staring competition that even made the IT people uncomfortable, she says to me, “[d]id you get home safely yesterday?” I respond and say, “I did. Thank you for asking.” 

“That’s good.” She says. “And thank you for all your help yesterday. Your help will no longer be needed though because Mr Ramaru’s PA finally showed up today. Let’s hope her coffee is as amazing as yours.”  

I just nod my head. 

“Miss Khalo”, Palesa walks out of her office and says. 

I look at her.

“My office please”, she says. 

I tell the IT guys that when they are done, they can just keep my laptop on and write down my login credentials on a piece of paper. They agree. I make my way to my manager’s office and close the door behind me as I enter into the office. 

“Please take a seat”, she says. 

I sit opposite her. 

“I hear you were quite the hit with the CEO yesterday: great coffee, amazing notes and extra hard work after hours.” She begins. I am not sure where she is going with this. 

“Well, there wasn’t anything for me to do here so HR kept me busy for the day”, I explain. 

“There’s always a lot to do here, that’s why you were hired.” She says. 

“Well, nobody communicated that with me yesterday”, I say. 

“Miss Khalo, it will work to your benefit to not be so forward around here. You are very new in the workplace and I can see that you are quite wet around the ears. I would hate to see your career blow up in flames just because you didn’t know your place”. She says. 

I am quiet. Honestly, what am I supposed to say? She chuckles to herself then throws two files at me. She then says, “[t]he blue file has your job description, your KPIs and the goals that you are expected to achieve at year-end. Please go through those in your time and if you have any questions, my door is NEVER open, but we will see what we can work out. The red file is what the team is currently struggling with and what you have been brought forward to assist with. Make time to go sit with the big data team to take you through the numbers, the stats and the data presented. I want you to the put together a project plan as well as an implementation strategy to act upon what those numbers are showing us. You will present it to myself and Blake on Friday. Make sure it is good because the CEO and MDs are looking forward to a turnaround strategy to make the numbers make sense around this place.” 

I nod my head. The file is very thick and Friday is three days away. The goal is very unrealistic with this one, but apparently I have made myself a lot of enemies already so I have very little room to complain. I take my files and leave Palesa’s office when she focuses attention on her laptop without indicating that our meeting is done. 

…

It is now 7pm and I’m still locked into the small boardroom I have utilized as an office so that I will not be disturbed as I work through this file that I have been given. I have read up and made all the appropriate notes that I needed to make. 

I take my bags and head out, intending to get in a meal then continue to work at home after a good shower. 

I bump into Mr Ramaru in the elevator. 

“I didn’t think anyone was still around, especially junior employees”, he says. 

“Well I’ve been given an impossible task and have to put in the hours”, I say.

“Is it done?” He asks. 

“Partly. I’m going to grab something to eat then continue working at home”, I say. 

He nods his head. 

“I asked my PA for coffee and it didn’t taste as good as yours”, he says. 

“Sorry”, I say. What else can I say?

“May I ask for a cup tomorrow morning?” He says. 

I giggle. 

“I would say yes, but I’ve been warned to stay far away from you or I could lose my job. I’m trying my best to stay in my lane and play the politics”, I say. 

“We can work around it. If you come into the office earlier than 7am, just drop it off on my desk. I arrive at 7am. My wife arrives at 9am. Thando arrives at 8am. My PA seems to get here at 7am. The fifth floor is clear before 7am”, he says. 

The elevator gets to the ground floor. I shake my head and exit the elevator. 

…

I worked until midnight. Now it is 05H30 and I need to get to the office to put in some hours and send meeting requests. Thank God I stay so close to the office. 

I bath, do my make-up and clean up very nicely. 

I wear beige high waist formal pants that have a thick belt. They sit very well around my ass and my hips. I wear a white corset blouse that looks sexy but professional. I seal my look with very cute black block heels. 

I prepare two flasks of my special coffee. I make it out the house 06H45. I arrive at the office at 06H55. I drop my bags off in the small boardroom that I worked in yesterday with my flask of coffee. I make my way to the fifth floor and indeed, there is no one. I place his flask of coffee on his desk then leave his office. The flask will trap the heat, so he will find the coffee till hot and tasty. I use the stairs to make sure that I bump into no one on my way down. 

I set up meetings for the day with big data, projects and marketing. I’ll be in meetings until 16H00. 

I didn’t see Palesa all day today. I like that she doesn’t micromanage me. This project that I’m on is a big deal and I know it will set the bar for the rest of my time here. I bumped into Pearl twice on the second floor. We did not greet each other but hey, we are not friends. 

People were nice. The data team hand-held me through the data. They are a very nice bunch of people. The marketing team was just loud, friendly and very helpful too. The only uptight team around here is projects and I think it has everything to do with the fact that their work is generally stressful and high-pressured. They compete with finance for the uptight team of the office award. 

I make it back to my little boardroom and start putting together the project plan and implementation strategy. I get a message on my Microsoft Teams app. 

It is from Thomas Ramaru. 

   Thanks for the coffee. 

I reply. 

    👍

Thomas Ramaru

   What do you put in this thing?

Me

   It’s a secret. But don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal.

Thomas Ramaru

   Keeping such good recipes a secret should be illegal. 

Me

     It’s a good thing it isn’t. Some of us need to get paid for our talents and intellectual property. 

The door flies open then Palesa and Pearl walk in. I suddenly feel nervous – as if they can sense that I busy chatting to Thomas. 

“Excuse you! Who gave you permission to work in here?” Palesa barks. 

“I didn’t know I needed permission to work in here. It was vacant and I needed space to focus on the project you put me on.” Me. 

“Yaz uyaphapha wena. You are very forward.” Pearl says. 

I want to tell her that her husband doesn’t think so, but I still need my job. I just start packing up and put my stuff in my bags. 

I walk up to them and say, “I don’t have a desk”. 

“Had you been working out there with the rest of the team, you would have one by now.” Palesa. 

“I need a desk Palesa. All this drama you are causing is unnecessary, but rather a creation of evidence against you before witnesses should I decide to report you to HR for bullying and humiliating me in front of my peers”, I say. 

Pearl chuckles in disbelief. Palesa looks out into the open to find an empty desk for me. She doesn’t find anything. 

She looks at me and says, “Go sit with my PA. She has three empty desks next to her”. 

I walk out and do as instructed. 

I find Thando chatting to the PA when I arrive. They both look at me as I settle into two desks away from the PA. 

“Excuse me, you can’t just sit there”, the PA.

“You people and your entitlement to fucken desks. Palesa said I must sit here”, I say. 

They are both shocked. What? These are special desks?

I take out my laptop and files. I put headsets on and listen to music while I work. The PAs disappear. 

I have an unread message from Thomas Ramaru. 

 Any chance of another flask tomorrow? 

I don’t respond. I just work.