“That’s what defines ‘Survivor’: It’s the ultimate test of who you are.” - John Morrison.

•••

Anjola glanced at the large digital clock, on the ceiling above her desk—just to ensure she was keeping correct track of time, as her wristwatch could be off course. It was the noon of Wednesday, and she was preparing herself mentally for the looming, novelty of a task she was to embark on with the rest of her team.

A school was visiting the company, for an intellectual edifying excursion and the students were to be taken on a tour through the company grounds, to the vital, fundamental departments of which the company’s operations mostly thrived on. The accounting department of course, belonged to said departments and her team was tasked by Delano, to be the one to host the interactive session because—according to him—they were the warmest, and most good-looking staffers in the department.

It was imperative to present a dashing, affable image as it would go a long way in seducing the students and even entice them, into aspiring to be employees of the establishment, if possible. While Anjola thought that was quite farfetched, she couldn’t exactly rule the instance out. Many decades back, while she was in elementary school also, her school had paid a visit to a premium bank and she had been nothing but awestruck with the breathtaking, exquisite interior of the bank and it’s prim, dapper looking employees.

Although as she grew older, and maturity set in—her impulsive, impetuous fantasies faded away and got replaced with more practical ones. But the experience hadn’t been toxic or unhealthy for her, and she guessed there were a handful of her mates, that actually went on that path.

“Can you stop making noise with your furious pacing?” Ehize’s growl jolted her out of her reverie, and she wheeled her chair round to assess the reason behind his complaint. It was Adaure, in the center of the room—sashaying back and forth, from one end of the room to another with her hands propped on her waist. Her friend’s Louboutins were making a clacking, noise as its sole kissed the marble tiles. It wasn’t exactly loud, but it sure did have the perchance to irritate.

“If you’re nervous and you want to pace so bad, remove your shoes and walk around the room. Or better still, work really hard and pray to God for an unusual promotion into an executive role that would give you your own office, where you can play loud music if you want. But until then, you’d keep in mind that you’re sharing an office with two other people. Thank you very much.” Ehize added.

Adaure heaved a sigh of exasperation, and tucked her hands into the outer pockets of her white, double breasted overcoat—that she wore over a floral midi dress—and faced Ehize, who now had his back turned to her. “A considerate friend would first of all, go on and ask if there was something wrong with me, before going on to scold me like a child. No empathy in this world again.”

“So because something is bothering you, you have the right to disturb everyone’s peace huh?” Ehize said over his back, without turning. He was working on a spreadsheet document on his computer, and computing certain figures. “By that standard, I should have called you every midnight I watched a Game Of Thrones episode, and express my dismay at certain heartbreaking deaths that happened, without minding if you’re deep in sleep or not. Doesn’t matter, as long as something is bothering me.”

“Ugh! Must you turn everything over on its head? And it’s not like you’re sleeping anyway.”

“Yes, more reason for you not to disturb, because I’m actually busy.” He wheeled his chair around, and threw his hands into the air. “If something is bothering, talk okay? If you bother us, then we’d all have something bothering us and that doesn’t exactly make the situation any better.”

Anjola loved watching the duo bicker. It was one of the many rewarding things about her job. Watching two young people, in love with one another, but yet to address their feelings and going round in circles, with the tension heightening upon every subsequent day, and the moment of reckoning drawing nearer.

She still felt they needed a push, as they were too blinded by their familiarity with each other, that they couldn’t see through the frontage, and apprehend their compatibility. She’d be there when such moment comes, to give their relationship the good jostling it needed, in their race of love. Although, she feared if she didn’t intervene in the gradually escalating squabble, it could turn into a full blown conflict.

“You guys should just chill out, abeg.” Anjola patronized them, in a loud voice. “Ada, what’s wrong with you? Why are you pacing up and down?”

Adaure huffed and strode over to her side, with her hands still dipped in her pockets. “I’m just really nervous, A.J. These kids coming over here today and all. I just, don’t have a good track record with handling kids. I always flop.”

Anjola frowned. “How do you always flop?”

There was a huge, oak towering shelf by her desk and Adaure placed a hand on it to brace herself. “I’m the first daughter, and I suck at kids. The ability of handling children should be naturally endowed on me, right? But no, it isn’t. Even when I was a teenager, my mom would never leave me alone with my younger ones. We always had a nanny, and the one time that we didn’t—Mom would call the entire neighborhood, and tell them to check up on me, every five minutes just to ensure I’ve not accidentally poisoned one of my siblings, or even raged the house down in fire.”

“Oh, wow.” Anjola swallowed. “Well, someone like me wouldn’t know how these things work, because I didn’t have a sibling but you really shouldn’t beat yourself up about that. It’s not the same thing. That time you were taking care of them, however these kids coming over—you’re only going to give them a talk on the company, make it fun and lively and answer any questions they might have. I don’t possibly see any harm you could do.”

“Oh, really? We have lived totally different lives.” Adaure laughed, as if Anjola had claimed there was a properly, functioning time machine now in commission. “One time, we had these new neighbors that came to live in the flat below ours. They hadn’t spent a week, before I shattered the heart of the little daughter, the couple had.

“On Christmas day, she came to me in all her innocence and enthusiasm, and asked me what I wanted Santa to get for me. I was like fifteen then, and taken aback that some people believed in Santa, in this country for that matter. Without thinking, I went on to tell her it is nonsense make believe—white people make up, and she cried nonstop for the rest of that day. Her parents didn’t come barging into our house to scold me, but they were always hostile after that and I knew it was because of me.”

Anjola was held spellbound by Adaure’s story and Ehize also, who had his mouth opened ajar—having turned to face them again. She had literally nothing to say to pacify or convince her otherwise, but fortunately Ehize came to the rescue.

“Fine, you might not be the best kid handler about or whatever you’re calling it, but people that have great chemistry with kids have done really terrible things.” Ehize said, as he stroked his feet backward in a strong force that propelled him to glide forward in his chair and he braked his speed, with his legs again after he had crossed the length of the room, to prevent ramming into the girls.

“Speaking about neighbors, I once had this neighbor too that was a natural with kids. She just had this way of making them flock around and like her, yet she broke the nose of her baby. While she was trying to slap her older kid who was a teen, she jerked her elbow back, real hard to…you know, charge up energy for the slap but mama forgot there was baby tied at her back. Baby too was doing aproko and wanted to see drama, and so stuck out his head under her hand to see the epic slap. That’s how elbow slammed into baby face o. Hmm, it wasn’t funny. They had to rush the poor boy to the hospital.”

In spite of her perplexed state, Adaure couldn’t help but laugh and Anjola also, whose laughter’s intensity was greater.

“You guys are laughing, and I’m not even done.” Ehize said, pulling their attention again. “Let me tell you the one about my uncle. My uncle is one of those calm, over-cautious guys that you’d think never has accidents but he also injured his own toddler kid badly. So this guy is always on skin cut and rubs Vaseline on his head, a lot, to make it greasy. The back of his head is also elongated and big.

“So on one faithful day, he’s playing with his kid in the living room. Kid is mounted on his back, and he’s crawling on the floor as if he’s a horse being ridden by his son. It was all laughs and fun, until the boy braced his hands on the man’s head and slipped off balance, and knocked his face on it. Like I said, dude’s head is always very oily and so there was no friction, and it had thrown the boy off balance when he placed his hands there, and he just went down with his face and…it wasn’t funny.”

Anjola’s laughter had veered out of control, and so did Adaure who already had tears streaming down her cheeks. Just as they recovered, the door jerked open and Delano peeked in with a wary look. Upon seeing them in their inebriated state, the words that were on their way out of his mouth, seemed to fall back into his belly as he stepped into the room, fully.

“Damn, I haven’t seen people in Sigma, laugh like this since some unfortunate employee got his trousers stuck in the elevator doors which eventually ripped it to shreds, exposing a Wonder Woman boxers that was severely tight.”

Delano was wearing a blue sweatshirt, on blue khakis. “The stuff was so embarrassing, he had to apply for a transfer to another branch, and eventually resign at the end of the day, because the news had casted to all national offices. Anyway, the school kids are in the building and are currently in the reception. They’d be coming here to our department first, so we have to give a good first impression. So get ready, and don’t kill any dreams. Your colleagues in the other rooms would be joining you in a bit.”

And just like that, he was out of the room again. Anjola had to give it to Delano for being so professional and matured, in handling the resulting unease that her rejection stimulated between them. A person in their midst, ignorant of their history would have no reason to suspect anything chary about them. At least from his end, because she feared she was the unstable one in the pair. She was trying her best though, but her anxiety had merged and become one with her subconscious.

By the time, she snapped back to reality—the other accountants, from other offices were filing into the room. The men were sparsely distributed of course, as a result of being fewer in the populace, but both men and women alike were looking dashing in corporate, spruce outfits.

Pleasantries were exchanged, and small talk followed—as they were well acquainted and versed with one another, despite having distinct working spaces. Anjola remained alert, despite engaging in conversation also—just to ensure they weren’t caught off guard. Then the door jerked open, and Delano returned again, signaling that they had incoming. Conversation died so swiftly, one would think it was wired to a socket that was flicked off.

Delano remained stationed by the entrance in the hallway, and soon enough he was guiding a queue of middle-aged kids in blue and white plaid, sparkling clean uniforms into the room. The accountants formed a semicircle at the back of the room, with Anjola, Adaure and Ehize standing across, in the front of the room to welcome the kids.

They were about twenty in number, with equal proportion of both genders. They were also accompanied by teachers from their school, who kept them in order and organized them into three rows, so as to prevent rowdiness. The height of the kids were the sole determinants of their positions—the tallest kids at the back, the shortest in the front and the ones of average height in the middle. Anjola jumped straight into action when orderliness was finally attained.

“Hey, guys. Welcome to the accounting department, Sigma Corp Headquarters, Victoria Island, Lagos. My name is Anjola Adeite, and I’m an accountant here. So also is my friend here, Adaure Chetachi.” She paused, and gesticulated to Adaure, who flashed them a warm smile and a complimentary “Hi.” “And also, another friend of mine—Ehize Dunsin.” She paused, so Ehize could follow in the footsteps of Adaure. “And so is every other person in this room also. They’re all accountants and also my friends, but we wouldn’t be spending time in individual introductions, because today isn’t about us. Today is about you guys, and it’s you guys we’re interested in knowing. So from the first row, introduce yourselves.”

A minute or two passed, before every kid in the room carried out her request. It was nothing but an act, to seem interested in them and make them feel important. It wasn’t like, she was going to keep track of so many names at once and use it to address them in the meeting proceedings.

“Great, you all have beautiful names.” Anjola threw in a compliment, for charity sake. “You should count yourself very lucky, to be here today and also belonging to this generation. Not many schools in the country take their students out for career week to the offices of various reputable occupations. During my time, all I got was speeches from professionals that visited the school to come talk. And that was in secondary school, and you guys here are still in primary schools. Basic three, am I correct?”

“Yes ma.” They chorused in response in such harmonious sync, that one knew they had tons of experience saying the word in particular, collectively.

“Good, so it is a privilege that you should use to its full potential, by listening attentively to all what my friends and I would be saying.” Anjola continued. “I’ve said earlier, that this is the accounting department and that we are accountants. So what exactly does the accounting department do? And what roles do the accountants take on?

“Now to make this easy, I’d analyze the responsibilities of the department, without an overview but a detailed description of what different accountants take on, that is the different teams we’re split into. First of all, we prepare financial statements. A group is tasked with this responsibility, to create journal entries containing initial financial results, in respect of the current accounting principle and framework…”

The next thirty minutes passed by in a haze, and soon enough the students were taking their leaves and bidding the staff goodbye. Once the room had cleared out completely, leaving its original owners and Delano—he lauded their effort and promised that the collective cost of the upcoming lunch break was on him.

While Ehize and Anjola rejoiced, Anjola’s electro-pop infused ringtone started to blare in her pocket. She excused herself from the cacophony of glee, and stepped into the hallway before glancing at the screen and reading the caller ID. It was Tiolu, and a cold chill ran coursed through her spine instantly. She missed her best friend so much now, that the thought of talking to her made her nervous. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was mutual, or her system was in override.

“Hey, Babe.” Anjola smiled, her free hand sliding into her pocket as she walked down to the other end of the hall, to board the elevator.

“Love of my life,” Tiolu chuckled in response. Just when she thought her friend couldn’t sound more ecstatic than she did in previous calls, she never failed to lampoon her expectations. Anjola was happy that Tiolu was happy, but sometimes it stung that her friend was currently at the highest threshold of bliss in her life, and she wasn’t contributing to her joy.

It reminded her of how any relationship would always play second fiddle to marriage, no matter how long it had lasted or how intimate it was.

“How you doing? I know I’m the worst. I don’t call much, and now I’m calling out of the blues and calling you the love of my life, as if everything is all cool and we talk frequently. But at the same time, I can’t not say it because it’s the truth.”

“Who are you trying to deceive?” Anjola feigned apathy, but she was coloring up. She never for once thought, a platonic relationship was capable of making her blush figuratively. She didn’t reply, until she had boarded the elevator and jammed the number of the floor she was heading to. “I’m not Dayo, guy. I have good resistance to your sorcery.”

“Oh yeah?” Tiolu snorted. Her best friend and Dayo were in Dubai, UAE at the moment. Their honeymoon was going to conclude in two weeks time, after another week in Switzerland. When Anjola tried to imagine the extent of fun they were having, it made her mostly depressed and put her in low spirits, so she tried her best not to think much about it. Although, there was this unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach that her and Tiolu were slowly drifting apart.

“Hell, yeah.” Anjola slurred, and rolled her eyes. Even though her friend couldn’t see her, she knew she’d sense she did that.

“You just rolled your eyes, didn’t you?” Tiolu confirmed their kindred connection for the umpteenth time, and she couldn’t help but blush again. “Once again, A.J. I’m sorry. I’m sure it looks like I deserted you and all, but it really isn’t that way. Sometimes, I’m just having such a great time here that I forget that I’m still alive on planet earth, and I haven’t died and gone to heaven yet. And those moments are when, I’m like ‘oh shoot, I have to call Anjola.’

“What’s up with you, though? I know we can’t exactly have a heart to heart talk over the phone, but you should definitely update me if something new and big has happened to you, so I’m not totally in the dark.”

“Oh,” Guilt pricked her skin, like a lose thorny stitch at the back of her clothe that made her itchy. The elevators door then parted, and she had to get off. She was at the base floor, heading to the restroom to use the toilet. And she so wished, she could dump the ache in her heart in the closet and flush it away. How was she going to explain to Tiolu, that she was in a relationship with the one person in the world, she didn’t approve of—for a logical reason? It simply wasn’t a thing to be discussed over the phone. Even the thought of discussing it face to face with Tiolu, made her tremble with fear.

“Nothing much really,” She let herself into the empty stall and walked over to the walls of mirrors, wedged into the walls over the sinks. “Just the usual. Work is killing me though. Last week, there was impromptu auditing work. Today, we had some kids over for some career visit. My team was the one chosen to orientate them on the duties of the department, blah blah. You’d wonder what could be so difficult in talking to a bunch of primary school kids. But you have to realize you have to dumb the English and technicalities down to a language they understand. It was a lot difficult than I thought.”

“Wow, but they’re gone now right?” Something dinged in the background, and it sounded like the clinking sound of glasses, during a toast. Anjola could sense Tiolu was drinking, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she was sharing said drink with her husband.

“Yeah, yeah. I just finished and I came down to the toilet to rinse my face and stuff.” Anjola already had a hand on the cork of the tap. “I have to go now, though. We’d speak later? When next can you call?”

“Actually Dayo and I are going out in a bit,” Anjola’s heart sank. Just like she guessed, Dayo was indeed in the room and was listening in on the conversation. “Maybe we’d video call in the night then. I don’t even feel motivated to call you back, because you sound extremely tired anyway but we’d figure something out. Stay safe, and don’t be too hard on yourself. By the way, how’s your dad? Is he doing okay?”

Another gloomy feeling piled on her already overwhelmed state, and she could feel the tears sting her eyes. “Yeah, he...he’s okay, he’d be fine. Bye, Tiolu. We’d talk later.” She hanged up abruptly, before her friend could get in a reply edgewise. For a while, she simply stood and stared at her reflection in the mirror and reminded herself of how strong she was, using her firm profile, as a point of reference.

***

Lekan shifted the sleeve of his shirt to peek at his watch for the umpteenth time, since they had arrived at the café. As scheduled, he and Naade had agreed to meet the owner of the building that got demolished accidentally, as a result of their laborers stint. They had been waiting for the past thirty minutes, despite arriving a lot earlier than the apportioned time and his patience had elapsed.

He couldn’t help but think that the man was being lethargic on purpose just to frustrate them, by not attending to them early since he had told them he was in the area and was yet to show up. Still, Lekan had no choice than to exercise patience since he wasn’t in the position to be irritable. They had indeed come all the way here to give due recompense, and placate him from taking drastic actions that could wreak havoc on the company.

“You think he’s being late on purpose?” He asked Naade, who sat beside him on his right—sipping from her cup of white chocolate mocha with extra whipped cream coffee. The same flavor, she had opted for on the very day they met. The expression on her face was precious, and even though there wasn’t a force field of love between them, he couldn’t help but admire how contented she looked—with her braids tousled over her face and falling on her shoulders—while taking her drink.

He on the other hand was too nervous, and so wasn’t in the mood for taking anything in. “He knows he has us on a leash, and that we came all the way here because he has power to taint our image. He knows he can cause damage, and that we’d only do his bidding. So definitely he’d misbehave, but coming this late? Maybe, he doesn’t even plan on showing up.”

Naade dropped her cup, picked a serviette from the center of the table and swabbed at a brown blot of coffee that had stained the sleeve of her pink camisole. Luckily for her, she managed to do away with most of it and reduced it to an inconspicuous state. “Yeah, while you’re right I don’t think he would decide not to show up. Whether he wants to mess with us or not, I’m sure he’s still interested in whatever compensation package we have for him. So he’d form boss, but he won’t push his luck too hard.”

Lekan nodded, looking out through the sliding glass window by his left once again. “You’ve indeed been doing this job well for a long time.”

Naade shrugged, and picked her cup of coffee again but with a new measure of carefulness. “Just make sure you calm down, when he comes. Don’t let him get under your skin. If you lose your cool, he’s going to go about and run his mouth, and our stock can’t afford a scandal at the moment. We’ve spent a truckload of money, keeping the news under wraps and preventing the press from carrying it. If a scandal erupts, we’d still have to compensate him still at the end of the day. So let’s make sure the ball remains in our court.”

“It’s funny that you’d think I’m someone, who can’t keep his cool.” He mused, turning to face her. She gave him a curious look, after she dropped her cup. “We’ve been working together for almost two weeks now, right? And you’ve known me for about a month. In all these times, have you seen me angry or even get close to anger?”

“Well,” Naade fiddled with her cup, as she considered her answer. “To be honest, not really. I haven’t seen you getting close to being angry or anything. But if there is anything I know about people that hardly get angry, is that when they do, an earthquake or a tsunami would erupt or something. So I know to be wary of people like you. Still, I’m just telling you to be calm, because this matter requires great care. I’d tell anyone in your shoes. It’s nothing personal. Right now as I’m talking, I’m also offering a silent prayer up to God that I don’t lose it also.”

“Makes sense,” Lekan replied, just as the door of the café, jerked open and a middle aged man, walked through it. Naade gave him a nod, confirming that their contact had indeed arrived and together they rose to their feet, and waved him over. The man easily caught whiff of them, and began to head their way. Lekan was extremely observant at the moment, and had taken the man’s appearance in before he arrived at the table.

Their contact was a forty something year old man, with a full afro, stained with white hair in its frontal region. He had to be an engineer or a craftsman of some sort due to his brawny physique and his fashion choice of a Nike puffer jacket, black slim jeans and black leather buckle straps knee-high boots—that emphasized his emasculating masculinity. Lekan didn’t think it was possible for someone, who wasn’t as tall or as rich as he was—to intimidate him but he was wrong. This man’s swagger was brewed to intimidate.

“Lekan Keye,” Lekan extended his arm for a handshake, and the man studied it a bit—as if to make sure it wasn’t a paper bomb—before shaking it. From up close, he could see the man’s slightly crooked nose and even a scar that ran from his lower lip, and disappeared into the stubble of hair on his jaw. Definitely, he partook in a manual labor of some sort and wasn’t the type anyone would be smart to engage in a physical confrontation. “This is Naade Adeleke, my partner.”

Their contact’s hardened expression still didn’t soften, despite shaking the hand of a gorgeous woman. After they had settled down, Lekan went on to ask for his name.

“Segun Nwachukwu.” His voice was of course, deep and hoarse and sounded like it could grate glass.

Lekan almost asked to confirm if he was a hybrid of the two major tribes in the south-west, but he kept his curiosity to himself and went on to business. “We’ve been waiting here for almost half an hour though. We almost thought you wouldn’t come again.”

Segun had his hands clasped on his laps, and had a stoic composure on. “We scheduled a particular time, and you arrive an hour earlier? It’s not my fault. Matter of fact, I should be picking a bone with you too for interrupting my schedule. I don’t just choose a time, because I like the particular number in question. I choose it, because I know I’m occupied before and after that. And because you showed up early, I had to hit a pause on the important work I was doing, so I could run down here. So tell me, Mr. Keye. Who in the both of us, should be complaining about punctuality now?”

Lekan was aghast, and speechless for a brief spell. And he had to sit up and clear his throat, to break free of the spell. “Pardon me, I wasn’t assuming blames or complaining either. I was simply saying that, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to see you again. But now that you’re here, it’s indeed splendid. We’re both very busy people, so let’s get down to business. Two days ago, a mishap occurred and a building you owned suffer for it. We’re the ones responsible for the mishap, and we’re here to know what way we can compensate you for your loss.”

Segun shook his head, and looked out of the window. “You people don’t get it, do you? That isn’t just some building that was chilling there for existence sake. That is a family house, okay? And it has been passed down for three generations now. So it’s not about coming here to sign a cheque, shoving it in my face and telling me to shut up, so I don’t tarnish your image. I’m not rich, but I don’t need your money to rebuild that place, because I can’t just rebuild it. It’s the structure, the old design that holds great sentiment. It’s a loss that can’t be recovered. It’s like paying me money, to bring someone back from the dead. Do you get it now?”

Lekan’s heart rate increased and began to palpitate, but he felt Naade’s warm, soothing hand on his knee, reminding him that he wasn’t alone and she was here for support. The situation was indeed not as amenable, as he had thought and he honestly didn’t know where to go from there. But he had to do something. His dad was relying on him, and he couldn’t falter.

“I’m really sorry about your loss, Mr. Nwachucku.” Lekan said, with remorse in his voice as if he were given condolences, to the family of a recently deceased. “But I’m sure we can come to an agreement. While we can’t bring back the old structure, we shouldn’t also undermine the power of money. With a good settlement of yours, you could go on to build an even better, beautiful home to honor your ancestors and leave a legacy for the generation that’s yet to arrive also. Think about it—”

“Mr. Keye, I mean no disrespect but I’m not interested in building a more beautiful house.” Segun cut him off, coolly as if he were scolding a small child. “That house wasn’t for living or habiting. That’s why no one is inside. It’s like a relic, a statue, an artifact. The point is to hold the history of the family, and be a point of reference for us in the present. So it’s not about building something more beautiful to honor anyone. There is no good your money can do in this dilemma, except build a time machine that’d enable you to go back in time to prevent that accident from happening.”

“I see,” Was all Lekan could manage, since he was at a loss of words.

“Matter of fact, I didn’t come out here today to come and deliberate money or what’s not.” Segun sat up, as if to announce that he was an undercover reporter and had gotten the jump on them. “I came to tell you, that I’d be doing what I need to do, to actually honor the memory of my family, and not the nonsensical suggestion you put up. I knew you went to great lengths to keep this out of news, but trust me—very soon it’d be smeared all over everywhere, like a sex scandal. I’m not a snitch bitch, but I’m going to take adequate procedures and take this matter to court and ensure you suffer for what you did—”

“With all due respect, sir. We didn’t exactly do it on purpose—” Naade said, for the first time since they had sat all day.

“It doesn’t take away the fact that you rich people think that you can do whatever you like, and get away with it.” Segun persisted. “You crashed a building, and you want to dodge the consequences that come with it, huh? Yet if someone below you in status, offends you—you’d go to great lengths to ensure that person gets punishment. That’s not happening today, Mr. Keye. If you have something else reasonable to say, go on and say it now and if not, do tell me so I’d be taking my leave. I really have other stuff to attend to—”

Segun was interrupted, when a tall skinny teenager with ruffled hair, dressed in a monster t-shirt, cargo pants and black Converse, barged into their midst and handed over a smart-phone to Segun. Their contact knew the kid in question, since he collected the phone without question and lifted it to his ear.

Lekan put two and two together, after studying the teenager closely and seeing the same hard features of Segun on his face. The boy was definitely his son, and had come over to deliver his phone as a result of an incoming emergency call. Segun signaled to be excused and slid out of the booth, while the boy stood with his head duck low.

Lekan grunted, and raked his hands through his hair. Studying the boy before him was a dim-witted thing to do, as it wouldn’t provide a solution to his predicament. He needed to think and think incredibly fast, to come up with the solution he had failed to since hearing the news, two days ago—in just a couple of seconds, before Segun returned from making his call. His fingers burrowed deep into his scalp, as if the answer was buried in his head and he had to pull it out.

Then it hit him, right over the head.

“Hey, Kid.” He called out to the boy, who was gazing out of the window. The boy seemed confused, as to why he’d be addressed but he gave Lekan his attention nonetheless. “What’s your name?”

“Tade,” He said with a small voice. The boy seemed a bit timid, and didn’t seem to have his dad’s intimidating aura.

“Tade, how old are you and what do you want to be in life?” Lekan pressed on, and earned himself a confounded look, not only from Tade but from Naade also.

“I’m fourteen, and I want to be an engineer.” Tade replied, and then did a visual sweep of his surroundings, as if scared of the prospect of his dad walking in on him, associating with the enemy.

Jackpot. A satisfactory smile seeped into Lekan’s face and right at that moment, Segun returned and slid into the booth, after dismissing Tade.

“Mr. Nwachukwu, I indeed have something else to say that I wish you’d consider.” Lekan started, with a devious smile. “Yes, we might not be able to bring back your old building back, but I still believe we can do something that would have as much impact. Your son, Tade is an aspiring engineer and I don’t know if you know this, but Sigma Corp—where my dad and I are big shareholders, is indeed the biggest oil corporation on the continent.”

“And?” Segun, like Naade and Tade, was equally astonished as to where he was going with his words.

“And so it’d be one of the best places for an engineer to work in,” Lekan said. “With your permission, I will put your son on a certain watch-list where his academic life would be followed, up until the moment he’s out of college and seeking out a job. I don’t need to tell you oil corporations like Sigma, don’t open up job vacancy to the general public.

“It’s done within the ranks and circle of the higher ups at the company, and someone like your son can never work in such establishment no matter how good his grades are. But of course, as a higher up and an influential person in the company itself, I can easily bring him in. Mr. Nwachukwu, I don’t think I need to explain the full impact of your son snagging a job at a firm like Sigma.

“Don’t go to court, and let this remain a secret between us. And I promise that in the next ten years, your son would be living the best of the life, being an engineer in this country can give him. Yes we can’t wrong the doing of our past. But we can do something about the future. We have dishonored your ancestors, but we can help your future. What do you say to that?”

Mr. Nwachukwu seemed to hesitate a bit, but he eventually caved in and agreed to his suggestion. Lekan yelped in delight within, but maintained a professional composure and scheduled for another meeting with the man, where he’d be obliged to sign a document endorsing his agreement, and preventing him from going back on his word in the future. After the man left, Naade commended him on a job well done and he was about to hug her, just because he was that relieved and overjoyed—when he saw a familiar figure, in a grey safari suit stepping through the doors of the café and approaching their table.

Dad?

“Congratulations, you passed the test.” For the first time in a long time, Kunle gave him a genuine, unadulterated smile that was nothing but pure. But he was still trying to comprehend the mystery at hand? What test? And how come Kunle knew of the location, that they had scheduled for the meeting when he hadn’t been told? Perhaps, Naade had informed him, since she didn’t seem taken aback by his sudden appearance.

“What test?” He asked, looking from Kunle to Naade.

“You don’t really think that I’d let you handle a case of this magnitude, that’s capable of destroying us—on your second week of work?” Kunle smirked, and it all clicked into place. It was nothing but a ruse, a staged play to see just how he’d handle the situation. He wasn’t shell shocked, because he knew his father was capable of it but still…he was dazed a bit. The man had really gone above and beyond in making the stakes real. “It’s all an act, Lekan. I guess you’ve realized it already. I needed to see how you’d handle this.”

“And did I handle it well?”

“Beyond my expectations, I must say.” Kunle replied. “This test was to push you and test your limits. To see if you’d be willing to get dirty just to preserve the clean image of your company. I was going to teach you a fundamental lesson, that in business—we get dirty a lot, and a lot of politics is involved.

“If you had failed to provide a solution, I’d have told you not to hesitate to compromise anyone, if such happens in the future. I’d have gone and told you, that it’s okay to threaten the safety of his child, as long as the company is unharmed and as long as you don’t plan on doing anything about it anyway. But you turned the entire situation around, and managed to see a light in it that even myself, wouldn’t have seen. And I must say that after today, you have put my mind at rest and confirmed you’re truly ready for this job.”

Lekan was still reeling in the gravity of the moment, when Kunle bid them goodbye after announcing that he had an important business meeting to attend to. The words the old man said, echoed in his head continuously, like a death threat. Kunle thought he had just proven himself right for the man’s sake, but the man didn’t realize he also helped him in coming to grips with the fact that he was capable for the job also, and could handle its tenuous, rigorous terrain and come out on top at the end of the day.

“I’m truly awed by the way you handled that, Lekan. Never in a million years, would I have thought of that.” Naade said, from beside him—a couple of minutes later, on the ride back to Sigma HQ in his SUV. “It’s been a really long day, and it’s not even evening yet. I’m going to be extremely tired when the day ends, though.” She paused, and then turned to face him—a certain longing in her eyes, that he hadn’t seen since they started working together. “Do you want to come over to my place, later today after work? You know, catch up on old times. I really miss you.”

His blood boiled with lust, and the thoughts of their past adventures began streaming in his head and he found himself at her mercy once again. But he couldn’t indulge in such pleasures anymore. Especially, now that he had someone in his life.

He signed up for the full relationship package after all, and he had pledged to be committed. Not only that, he was compelled and motivated by the gem of a person Anjola was, to at least strive to be the type of man she deserved. And that type of man would look Naade in the eye and decline her request.

Just like he did, a couple of seconds later.

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