3 years ago, I was a fresh University graduate in desperate search for a job. I was always going for evening prayer meetings trusting God to help me find a job. I would say that I will never compromise my values for anything. I would not let any boss sleep with me for a job. I didn’t know adulthood and life will hit me so badly that I will become a whole different person. I lost my dad when I was doing my NSS and all of a sudden I had to change all my plans for myself and focus on taking care of my three younger siblings. My mother was a trader and she wasn’t bringing much home. Dad was doing everything and now that he was gone, I really felt it. We went in for his SSNIT money and I suggested we put the money in an investment and try to live on the returns although it wasn’t enough.
My mother said no, she kept the money at home and we used it for our day to day activities. After paying the fees of my siblings and doing a few things, the money finished. I used to argue with my mum all the time and I knew the real enemy was poverty. It wasn’t even my mother. It was because we did not have money. When I was about to end my NSS, I went to my boss to beg him to retain me. I told him I was the first born. I had two brothers and a sister after me. My mother was not fetching much with her trade so I needed this job to help my family. I told him I will work very hard and he will be impressed. He asked me if I could bring up ghc15,000 for him to secure a job in another branch of the same company for me. I told him I couldn’t come up with that amount of money. He then went on to tell me I can do other things to pay him.
He said he liked me and if I give in, I will not even have to go to another branch. I could work as his PA right here with him. I gave in. I didn’t talk. I just recall shaking my head in a way which meant I had accepted. My boss is married, but he has been doing it with me since I got the job. I don’t want to go into the details of our relationship, but I was dating when I accepted him and I kept the truth away from my boyfriend. Also, he pays me more than I need and I am the sole breadwinner of my home. My mum’s BP is bad so I have told her to rest at home. I was also saving with a mutual fund, but after this government haircut problem, I have gone to withdraw and the money is now in a savings account. I don’t know what I will do with it yet, but I’m still thinking about it.
Early this year, my then boyfriend had an opportunity to travel outside to study. The plan was for us to keep dating, but it wasn’t working. The communication was not the same so I ended things. Around July, we went for a workshop for all Accra employees of the company and I met this guy. He was working in a different branch, but in the same Accra. We hit it off from there. He is a really good guy and I love him. I don’t know if it’s divine providence or not but my guy got a promotion and was transferred to where I am. We have become very close and the big boss has noticed it. He called me to his office one day to warn me to stay away from the guy because I belong to him and he has threatened to sack me and stop giving me any allowance if I continue indulging the guy. My boyfriend has also either suspected something or some other colleagues have told him because the last time, he asked me if there was something going on between the boss and I and I denied it.
I want to know what to do. Knowing the boss, his jealousy can cause him to sack me easily and I’ll lose all the benefits that come with him. He is a man who likes women and I know he can easily replace me with any desperate graduate looking for a job. I am also scared of losing my boyfriend. The relationship has been going on well and I am tempted to narrate everything to him to see if he can help me get another job elsewhere and then I can leave the big boss for good. My boyfriend is also my boss at the workplace and he has links. I’m sure he can secure another job for me but I am also scared he will leave me after finding out that the big boss has also been knacking me. I feel torn between these two bosses. Please tell me what to do.