The Curse of the Black Diamond

First Day at Work

“Finally, the day has come where I can show these people what I’m made of,” said Reece Blay.

At 23, he was recruited into the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of Ghana. He was the youngest of his kind, charming with his impressive looks and admired by all for his hard work. His parents were killed in a car accident while returning home from an international conference.

This led to him growing up in an orphanage, where they took good care of him. 

Since then, he has been committed to fighting for the truth and justice for others.

He started off as an assistant to a private investigator, as he was able to cr*ck one of the toughest cases that not even his head investigator could cr*ck. This incident made him famous and got him noticed by Mr. Norman, the head of the NIA, who watched him closely as he enquired about him his head and finally made his decision to recruit him. Thus, began the journey of a lifetime.

“I can’t be late on the first day. I’ve got to get there early to make a good impression.”

Reece set out for the bus station on 4th Avenue, about ten miles from his home, at 4:00 AM. Fortunately, he gets to the bus station early, thereby avoiding the morning crowd. He got on the first bus to Spintex and arrived quite early at the NIA office, thinking he was the first agent to arrive at the office. To his surprise, everyone was already hard at work.

“Mr. Blay! You’re late,” said Mr. Norman, the head of operations at the NIA.

Mr. Norman had been waiting for several minutes to welcome Reece to the NIA. Eventually, he ran out of patience during the wait and got furious at Reece for making him wait which wasted his time.

“Being in the NIA means no rest or sleep until the truth has been uncovered and justice has been served to our country. You read that in your letter, right?” Mr. Norman asked.

“Yes sir, I did, but...” 

He was interrupted by Mr. Norman’s strict voice, who said to him, 

“No excuses. Get to HR on the third floor so that they can allocate you an office. Then get to work.”

Reece hurried into the elevator and headed straight for HR. He was directed to his office, which happened to be on the 5th floor, which was well arranged with a window behind his desk to let in the fresh air since the fan in his office was broken but he was told that it would be fixed in due time.

At the entrance of his office, he ran into Miss Elizabeth Amoako, a childhood friend he lost contact with after he was taken to the orphanage.

He had a crush on her back then. Brushing off the thought, Reece stayed professional and moved to his office without a word to her.

He feared getting hurt like he had been in the past anytime he saw her with other guys.

His first assignment at the NIA, upon reaching his office, was to sort piles of criminal cases into the order of importance and submit them to Mr. Norman. Not wanting to upset his HO again, Reece quickly started work.