Lekki, Lagos,
Lagos State, Nigeria.
Present day.

Sara Amadi stared at her wristwatch and noticed that it was 10 minutes past the hour of 9 in the morning. She was late, again, and tardiness was not a trait her manager, Mr. Benson Junior found appealing especially on monday mornings. More often than not, he had been vocal letting her know she was on the brink of getting the pink slip, and considering her bad luck with job offers, she didn't think she was ready to get fired. At least not yet.

Quickening her steps, she hurried into the elevator of the skyscraper housing the Valiant interior and decors owned by her boss, Mr. Benson senior or Old man Benson as he was popularly called. The office was on the fifth and sixth floor, as her boss wasn't yet ready to expand his business. He was a typical miser and didn't welcome ventures that caused him to spend more than he would like to, hence why he only had five employees: one secretary, two office workers who oversaw the clientele, a manager which was his son, Jeremy and Sara's job was assisting him. The pay wasn't that good considering that he was overtasking them but she was near drained in her accounts and hence welcomed the job.

The elevator dinged its stop at the fifth floor, and she stepped out. Luckily no one was loitering about, indicating a busy day. Letting out a deep breath, she walked briskly to the double glass doors and pushed it in, opening them. She was welcomed by an ominous scene whereby the whole employ who despite being in their respective office spaces focused their whole attention on the boss's office. You could lieterally hear a pin drop at the silence. Mr. Benson senior was having a heated argument with his manager, Jeremy Benson, inside his office. This was becoming a common thing in this company since Jeremy hinted months ago that he wanted to break off from under his father's wings to start his own company.

"You are incompetent!" Barked Mr. Benson, pointing at Jeremy. "You want to see me ruined, don't you?"

Jeremy shrugged, looking frustrated at the old man. "It is you who wants you ruined," he replied indignantly. "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"That is the problem, Jeremy, You did everything wrong!" He raged in frustration, raking his fingers through his low cut Afro hair that had started to grey at the edges. His son was being too difficult to handle and he almost regretted requesting his return to the country three years ago.

She stared at the pair too like her colleagues and briefly wondered what this particular problem was. On Saturday when they dismissed from work, Mr. Benson had been optimistic about an important client who was willing to work with Valiant decors for his new office complex. It was a huge demand and Mr. Benson was confident it was a closed deal. Something must had gone wrong over the weekend to put him like this, and Jeremy seemed to be the cause.

"Mr. Jeremy sold old man Benson out," whispered Katie, one of the office workers as though reading her mind. Katie Uchendu was the typical office gossip. A lithe, petite woman with sharp hawk-like eyes, ever listening meaty ears and a quick-witted tongue, no topic ever went past her ears.

Frowning, Sara turned to face her. "Why?"

"No idea," Katie replied with a shrug. "It seems that Mr. Jeremy went behind Old man Benson's back to liaise with the client and it backfired on him. Now, Old man Benson isn't hearing his reasons. He thinks Jeremy wants to liquidate him."

She was astonished by the news. "How is that even possible?" She queried, slightly bewildered. "Jeremy, even though he's careless sometimes, has always had this company's best interest at heart," she stated, her gaze drifting to the two persons arguing inside the office. It was pretty aggressive, judging by the hand remonstrations going on.

The petite woman shrugged again passively, "Old man Benson doesn't think so. As a matter of fact, no one in here really does, except you, Sara, of course. That's why Jeremy always chooses you to work with him." Her tone was malicious.

She shook her head in disagreement. It wasn't that Jeremy was without his faults, but he had been there for her in a way that no one else, not even her family had been, even if it was for selfish reasons, she admitted ruefully.

"You are just saying that because Jeremy always try to make a pass at me whenever he gets the opportunity. Nothing more."

The gossip wasn't convinced. "Now you admit that he makes passes at you. You used to deny it." Her brows were raised mockingly.

Sara realized the conversation was quickly veering into uncharted territory and decided to end it instantly.

"Whatever happened back then only helped to foster better working relations between him and I. I guess that's why I understand him better than anyone else in this place."

She glanced at the office again and saw Jeremy pointing his fists at Old man Benson. He was very angry and Sara shuddered at the thought of something going wrong suddenly. Benson senior was hypertensive.

Suddenly, the door opened and Jeremy marched out with a file in his hands, as though he had just walked out of a war zone unscathed, but it wasn't until he called her name to follow him did she agree that he was.

Quickly, she scrambled up from her seat after picking her joting materials to find Katie give her a knowing look as though to say 'he likes you' but she brushed it off and proceeded to walk in determined strides towards Jeremy's office in the sixth floor.

For reasons only the Bensons knew, Old man Benson bought the sixth floor so that Jeremy could run the company with modernized trends with the jet age generational clients, while he focused on satisfying the older generation with archaic trends, keeping Valiant one of the best in the city of Lagos. But also one of the poorest as Old man Benson was no longer a member of the elites of the city and hence lacked important patronage.

Sara, who couldn't wait for the ever busy elevator, decided to use the stairs. Besides, the fitness coach on television said it was healthy. Taking the steps slowly in order not to trip on her heeled shoes, she let her mind wander to when she moved from a mere employee to being Jeremy's right hand man, well, right-hand woman.

She was still learning the ropes of interior designing at Valiant, using it as her anchor to get a grip on reality when he came into her life. She was a hermit crab stuck in her shell, barely trusting herself and the decisions she made after her hasty divorce two years earlier. She still lived in her family house that was one of her divorce settlements and was growing awfully tired of watching her family spend so carelessly still hoping she would meet another billionaire to marry. Being put on the platform of providing for them since she got married forced her to go look for a job in order to support their finances.

Old man Benson had been like a father figure to her, teaching and training her on the systematics of interior design and customer management. She had a slight idea prior but she had been so wealthy while married she hadn't bothered to put it into practice.

It was perhaps after six months of her starting work that Old man Benson told her of Jeremy returning from America to help out in the business. At first, their relationship had been cordial, with Jeremy barely noticing she even existed. Then suddenly he started letting her work directly for him and then the attraction on his part became evident. It was after a year of working together did he realize how unhappy she was living in her family house. It had been the company's end of year party and she had been too drunk to realize she spilled her situation to him. He was very understanding, even became like a big brother, encouraging her to disentangle herself from the toxic atmosphere that was her family. Finally, four months later, she found a two bedroom apartment in the outskirts of Lekki that was quite moderate in cost. Her family had opposed the idea, stating it was unnecessary and a waste of money but Jeremy had pushed her until she held her ground and moved out.

But letting Jeremy into her life hadn't been all rosy. Once she moved into her apartment, Jeremy had latched onto the fact that he was always there to start up a relationship with her, and fearing another situation like that of her divorce, she had turned him down instantly. He didn't take her rejection well, using every slight opportunity to humiliate her at work. It had gotten to the point where she thought she would quit but was pulled back at the last minute.

A married woman had shown up at Valiant claiming Jeremy was her lover and the father of the child she was expecting. With her was her angry husband who looked ready to murder just about anyone. Although Jeremy had flirted with the woman, Sara could sense she was trying to pin the baby on him. Old man Benson wasn't around that day and despite their differences, doted on his only son and child very much. Seeing Jeremy cowering under his desk, she had stepped up and refuted the woman's claims as false. She insisted Jeremy was her fiancé and was never in a relationship with the woman, managing quite successfully to extricate Jeremy from the sticky situation. The poor woman and her husband had walked out the office dejected.

After that incident, she and Jeremy had reached a non-verbal agreement to remain very good friends even till today, such that she is now his confidant even if their friendliness was the topic for everyday office gossip.

She reached his door minutes later and knocked once. Not hearing a sound, she pushed it open and walked in. Jeremy was staring out of his glass wall, hands in his navy blue suit pocket, deep in thought.

She went to sit in one of the leather upholstery chairs facing his desk. Pulling out the writing pad she held, she waited for his instructions.

He turned to look at her and smiled sadly. He was tall, dark-skinned and muscular with high cheekbones, a deep set jaw and sharp piercing gaze that helped him critically evaluate potentials before they became evident to others. The be and end of it all defined an ambitious man who shunned scruples if need be.

"My father is just being a stubborn mule. Can you believe it?" He asked rhetorically with a snort. "Because I decided to use a more holistic approach to the project, he now believes I have ruined the company. Tell me why I would do that? This company also belongs to me!" He cried indignantly.

She eyed him critically. "Why would he think like that? Perhaps you should have had a detailed discussion with him about your plans before you actually carried them out."

He glared at her for even thinking he was too rash in his decision. "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He's too old-fashioned. He would not have agreed and time was not on my side."

She nodded, bracing herself to hear the reason for the fight this morning. "Did it work?"

He shook his head slowly, chuckling to himself. "How would it when my father had already sabotaged the contract? He had paid off the Furniture Company and Thermocool electronics Lekki branch to be the major suppliers. I called the client last night to renegotiate and he thought I was trying to swindle him! Then he got angry and cancelled the whole contract. And father had to blame it all on me!" he stated, moving to come perch on his desk, facing her. He was fuming, almost boiling with rage, she appraised.

After some minutes, he spoke up, his anger dissipating. "I need your help, Sara. I have plans, contacts and contracts necessary to steer this company back to its former glory. I just need one loyal person, and unfortunately I don't have so many options."

Sara looked everywhere but at him, wishing at that moment that she wasn't his right-hand man. It was like betraying Old man Benson who had always been her pillar for the past three years. But Jeremy said it was for the greater good of the company and she chose to believe she was doing her part to help.

"What can I do?" She heard herself ask despite her misgivings.

He let out a breath of relief. Then sat up immediately and walked back to go sit in his swivel chair.

Grabbing a green file on top of his desk, he threw it on the desk in front of her, saying, "Look at that."

Accepting the file, she opened it to glance through. Looking up with a bulge of her eyes, she quizzed. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am."

"A friend of mine, Donald, helped me get this contract. It's a huge deal and we are going to be in charge of decorating it. Just the two of us. Imagine the money and the contacts a very good job will fetch us, Sara." He was grinning now, the scowl long gone.

She flipped through the file again to pause at the first picture showing the front view of the house. "The house is huge! How did we get this lucky?" She questioned, smiling too.

"Technically, it's a mansion and we did get lucky. If Donald had not remembered me being in this business, any one of those sharks in the interior decorations industry would have this contract right now. Donald really gave us our big break. And it's greater heights from here on out."

She read through the pages in detail, noting the characteristics of the mansion. She calculated how much material it will need, crosschecking it with the square foot of the various rooms it contained and multiplying it with how much it would cost. She gave a low whistle when she was done, looking at him in incredulity. "That's a lot of money!" She cried.

He laughed at her reaction, nodding his head. "Trust me, I know. Now, enough of the talking. Let's get to work." Then he was standing up from his swivel chair while making a grab for his jacket.

She was confused. "Wait, what?"

He was already striding out of the door as he explained. "The client will be moving in on Friday. We need to go assess the place so we can start putting up ideas immediately. Technically, we only have three days to get everything ready seeing that we have already wasted half of today."

He turned to notice the horror etched on her face and grinned, before turning away. "Move it, Miss Amadi. You're about to get really rich!"

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the first chapter. I was trying to ease in on the story a little bit so I apologise if you got confused along the way.

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