It was a busy day in New York City, as usual.
Mrs. Sylvia Davidson was just walking out of her bathroom, wearing a rope, after taking her shower. Sylvia had a lighter skin compared to her daughter, and she had a fairly tall height.

At a pretty young age, she had already acquired so much in the world of entrepreneurship. Owning her own fashion house at just twenty-one, she had climbed the ladder to fame and wealth over the past years.
What she started with just designing of regular dresses had grown into an empire, gaining a lot of popularity and accolades. She had a branch in twenty States of her country, Nigeria, and some other few branches in Ghana, Senegal and South Africa.

Her quest for being successful had been birthed in her by her dad when she was just a little child.

Growing up as a child, everything was about winning and nothing else but that. She was the only child of her parents and so she had the responsibility of making sure she gave her parents the best life after retirement.

Applying her body lotion on her skin, she took a walk down memory lane; all the times she cried because her dad was not happy with her when she had come back home with the second position or less in class. She wouldn't even dare to come back with any position below third. She got used to competing at a very young age and grew up with it.
After retirement, her parents had moved to London and lived there.

Done with applying skin lotion, she looked at the wall clock in her hotel room, it was a few minutes past eight. She was preparing to go for a very important meeting by ten.

New York City was holding the annual two-day fashion exhibition and the meeting would determine if her fashion house would be among the few that would be selected from Africa to participate in the exhibition.

She had worked so hard so she could get the opportunity of being among those that would be selected and was hoping things would go in her favour.

She stood up from her seat and walked towards her wardrobe to get her clothes which she had already kept set the night before, a black sleeveless top and a golden-brown skirt.

She slid into the top and skirt and started applying some makeup on her face. To her, appearance mattered a lot.

Satisfied with her reflection on the mirror in her room, she went ahead to wear her  wristwatch and pick up her handbag that contained everything she needed for the day.

She left her hotel room where she had been staying in for over a month and started walking down the stairs. She placed a call to her driver to confirm if he was around to pick her up, and got a positive response.

"Good morning ma'am," her driver, who was a balded white man said to her as she got outside of the hotel building.

"Good morning," she replied as she got into the car which was already opened for her.

"Let's go," she ordered and the driver got into the car and started driving. The meeting was being held in another hotel, just about thirty minutes drive from the one she lodged in.

It was a few minutes past nine when they got to the venue. Some reporters were already outside at the front of the hotel, waiting for the outcome of the meeting. Sylvia came out of the car and the driver drove off.

"You're here for the meeting I guess," a white man in his early forties said to her as he came out of his black expensive-looking Mercedes.

"Yes I am," Sylvia replied, walking closer to the entrance.

"Pardon me for my rude manners. My name is  Jason Campbell," the man said, extending his hand towards Sylvia for a handshake. It was then she noticed his brown hair that was perfectly laid and looking shiny. She appreciated his smart look. She felt like she had seen him on a magazine before, it was then the memory of seeing him finally struck her.

"Jason, I know you. Your company has been chosen five times consecutively for the New York fashion exhibition. Isn't it?" Sylvia asked with amazement.

"Yes, that is true," Jason confirmed.

"My name is Sylvia and I'm a Nigerian fashion entrepreneur."

"I'm pleased to meet you Sylvia," Jason said with a charming smile.

"Me too," Sylvia said, smiling back.

"Shall we?" Jason said to her, stretching his hands forward, towards the hallway.

They continued to talk about business as they walked towards the conference room, accompanied by some security guards.

Some of the other participants were already seated in the conference room when they got there. They took seats next to each other as they got to the round table in the conference room.

"Are you alright? You look a little bit nervous," Jason said to Sylvia as he noticed she was frequently rubbing her palms together and looked a little bit pale.

"Yes I am. I'm just a little bit anxious," she revealed, once again rubbing her palms together.

"I'm sure you've worked very hard for this and I'm positive you would get this. You don't have to be anxious," Jason said and gently squeezed her hand.

"Thank you," she said to him and quickly withdrew her hand from his hold.

"You're welcome," Jason said and turned his attention to a guy next to him who was calling out his name.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, the door was opened to usher in a group of five men and three women. They walked to the front of the room and faced the audience.

"We would begin immediately with the meeting," the lean man in the middle spoke authoritatively.

"I would like to go straight to the announcement of the names of those that were chosen by our  judges to be part of this year's fashion exhibition." He picked up an envelope which was handed over to him by a lady at his left.

"Two  participants were chosen from the United States of America and they are the Jason Campbell's cooperation and the Sunflower fashion house," the man announced and it was followed by a round of applause.

Jason stood up along with another woman and walked forward to have a handshake with the announcer, after which they received a letter of appointment from him.

"Now, moving on to Africa..."

Sylvia was breathing really fast at this point.

"After a careful evaluation of all the fashion enterprises that applied, we came to a conclusion and picked the Cozy Fashion House and House of Jemima," the man announced and his eyes glanced through the seated participants.

Sylvia was overwhelmed with joy when she heard her name being called out, it almost seemed unreal to her. Standing up with a beautiful smile, she walked forward to shake the judges and receive her letter.

She was greeted with congratulations from all sides as she went back take her seat.
"I told you," Jason said to her with a smile immediately she sat next to him.

"Yes you did," Sylvia said, smiling back.

"This calls for celebration, why don't you let me take you out for a drink. Coffee probably," Jason chipped in.

"That would be okay with me," Sylvia said, still trying to contain her excitement.

Other fashion houses and businesses were announced before the meeting finally came to an end at 11:30 am.

"We are not going anywhere too far right?" Sylvia asked Jason as they started walking out of the conference room and towards the entrance to the hotel. She just met him and was not so sure if she could trust him, although he does seem to be a good guy to her.

"It's close by, you would love the place," Jason said as they walked towards his car. He opened the door for her to get in before turning around to get into the driver's seat.

True to Jason's words, the place was just a three minutes drive from the hotel. The coffee shop looked fancy and shiny from the outside. The area was also calm and peaceful. They ordered for their coffee and sat down to talk.

"You're married?" Jason spoke, looking down on the finger where Sylvia had her wedding ring on.

"Yes I am. How about you?" she replied.

"I'm divorced," Jason revealed, looking straight at Sylvia as he spoke.

Sylvia suddenly felt bad for him at hearing that. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay dear, you know what they say; one door closes and another opens for you," he said as he took a short sip of his coffee.

"Definitely, I hope you find someone that would be perfect for you one day," Sylvia said before taking a brief look around her, taking in the serenity surrounding them.

"Yeah, I hope so too," Jason said with a smirk which made Sylvia a little bit uncomfortable.

"Thank you for the coffee, it was really nice of you," Sylvia told him with a smile.

"You're welcome dear. It's nothing."

"I would love to be going back to my hotel now, I have some things to work on," Sylvia said, trying her best not to sound rude or ungrateful.

"I'm happy that you could make out time for this." Jason flashed a smile at her.

"I'm happy too," Sylvia returned the smile.

"I could drop you off at your hotel if you want," Jason offered.

"Thanks but my driver is picking me up."

"Please, let me," Jason insisted.

"Alright then," Sylvia agreed to his offer, not wanting to argue anymore. They went back to his car and started driving to her hotel.

Stopping his car right in front of the hotel, Jason turned off the ignition and faced Sylvia.

"Can I please get your number, I would really like to keep in touch with you. We could share business ideas too," Jason said to her.

"Alright," Sylvia agreed and called out her number to him.

"Thank you so much." Jason smiled.

"You're welcome," Sylvia said and stepped out of the car.

"Bye." Jason waved at her before he drove off.

"Bye."

Sylvia walked  towards her room, still filled with much excitement. She made a happy jump in her room before she dialled her husband's number.

"Hello love," Davidson said from the other end immediately he picked his wife's call.

"Baby you wouldn't believe this!" Sylvia screamed in excitement.

"What is it dear?" Davidson asked, curiously.

"I just got the offer. I was chosen along with another lady to represent Africa," she told her husband the good news.

"I'm so happy for you love. I can't wait to have you back here. Rachael and I have missed you so much," Davidson said in a low tone.

"I would be coming to Nigeria in a week's time, I've missed you both too and please don't tell Rachael yet, I want it to be a surprise for her."

"It's alright. Happy that I can finally be with my wife. I've missed our nights together you know."

"Me too. I would talk to you later baby, I need to go now," Sylvia said.

"I love you, bye."

"I love you too, bye," Sylvia replied and hung up.

After the call, she sent an email to the managers at the various branches of her business, informing them about the success of the company and promising to raise their salaries after their success with the Fashion Exhibition.

                               ~•~