Sara nibbled at her nails, fidgeting as she eyed the cellphone in her hand warily. This was a bad idea, she debated, glancing at Donald who was sprawled on her sofa eating chips.

"I don't think I have to call him," she began tentatively.

"You have to call him," was the icy retort.

She shrugged at his response. "I could send him an SMS. There's no need to hear his voice," she whispered and then wondered why she did, still eyeing the phone though.

Donald sat up on the sofa. "No can do. You'll not send him an SMS because you're not applying for a job, you'll call him because you need to talk to him and because you need to meet with your son."

Sara eyed him furiously. "But I've already met my son," she protested.

"I agree," he nodded, munching a chip noisily. "Albeit in thirty seconds when he unknowingly bumped into you and was fine. Sara, he's a five year old. It's their programmed body language. Bump into people always and never get hurt."

She pouted and fought the urge to throw something at his head. "I hate you right now."

He smiled at her, grinning like a fool. "It's a response I'm familiar with already, especially from women who know what they should do but need the extra push," he explained.

Then he looked serious and said, "Now, call him."

He had arrived three hours ago at her request immediately he left work, and after recounting her day in tears, he had offered his help. He gave her Lucas's business card that contained his private line urging her with a convincing tone that a formal meeting between them was best. According to him, continuing to see Freddie from afar would not satisfy her and probably enrage Lucas once he finds out. Taking the bulls by the horns so to speak was the way to go. And Lucas was one angry bull, she reflected.

Expelling a large breath, she dialed the number on the card and waited.

The phone rang three times and went off. He didn't answer. Sara turned to grin at Donald, somewhat happy he didn't pick. She took it as a sign from the gods that they didn't have to speak. But Donald's chilling glare forced her to redial the number. He answered on the second ring.

"Hello." His voice was gruff, sounding distracted.

Sara's heart skipped a beat, then ten more, as she struggled quite futilely to breathe.

Not hearing a sound, he repeated, "Hello, who is this?" Sounding impatient.

She swallowed against the lump in her throat as words forced their way into her mouth, threatening to spill. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Daddy, hurry up!" yelled Freddie, his singsong voice cutting through the silence. Sara froze in her spot, remembering the little boy who had spoken just two words to her this morning.

"I'm coming," was his response, then the line went dead.

For a few minutes, Sara remained motionless, picturing the little boy who smiled at her like she was the best thing ever to exist. He was the reason she had agreed to do this, but hearing his voice had weakened her resolve and that unnerved her.

"What happened?" came Donald's query, breaking into her thoughts. "Did he hung up on you?"

Not yet, she opted to say, but thought better of it. "No, I mistakenly cut the call," she mumbled, reaching out to dial his number again. Her son was her priority and she wouldn't let stupid emotions come in the way of that.

This time he answered immediately. And he was furious.

"Listen here, I do not have the time for your childish games. Who the hell am I speaking with?" He demanded.

That was her cue to speak up. "It's me, Lucas. Sara."

There was a long pause on the line, evidence that her call had surprised him. He spoke up after a while, sounding breathless. She jubilated a little at the fact that she still affected him in some ways as he did her. It was a knowledge that would come in useful later.

"Sara, I won't lie. I wasn't expecting your call, ever. So what is this courtesy call after five years? Did we not reach a consensus that night at the club?"

She scowled at her phone. At him. "Trust me, I'm not calling because I miss you. I wouldn't even bother if this wasn't important."

He chuckled quite mirthlessly. "The feeling is mutual, my dear. So, let's end this call already, shall we?" He asked and Sara felt like pulling at her hair or possibly smacking him at the blatant disregard of her call.

"I'll love to please you but we need to talk and it's important. It's urgent," she willed herself to use her words instead of violence.

"I believe we already said all we needed to say to each other five years ago," he recalled, bringing back memories of moments after the scandal when she had been too heartbroken to listen to any of his explanations about the issue. Truth was that she had yelled horrible words at him that day that ranged from hating him, to wishing he was dead, even as far as ruing the day they met. To say her words had killed him that day would be putting it mildly.

She nodded at his response and realized he couldn't see her. "Yes we did, but what I have to say to you is about Freddie. I need to talk to you about our son."

She knew the moment he flipped. If she had been in the same vicinity as him, he would have made a grab for her throat.

"How dare you?!" He choked bitterly. "How dare you refer to him as your son when you abandoned him five years ago? You have no shame," he accused.

It was Sara's turn now to flip. How dare he act like all this was her fault when he had been the major player?

"You forced me to leave him! You ruined our perfect marriage and broke me up with my son just because you couldn't keep your hands off of her!" They both knew who she was referring to. She sniffed, dashing away the traitorous tear that had escaped her eyelids.

Lucas, on the other hand, sighed deeply. "The past regrettably cannot be changed," he began tiredly.

"Yes, but I have every intention of grabbing the present like my life depends on it, cause it does," she finished, interrupting him.

"I see," came his reply. "How do you propose to go about this, if I may ask?"

She swallowed, holding the lid on the bubble of happiness pushing to escape, knowing that at least he was considering her demand. "This is not a matter to be discussed over the phone."

"Yes, you're right. Let's meet tomorrow by 1pm at my office," he suggested, sounding tired but she was quick to decline.

"I'll rather we meet at a restaurant in the V.I leeway. There are places there that have the perfect atmosphere for this kind of talk, and it's on the same ply route as CAPPEL, isn't it?"

He let out a resigned sigh and hummed. "Fine. Let's do that. But the time should be by 3pm. I have meeting till that time." Then the line went dead. For the second time that evening.

Sara removed the phone from her ear, to find Donald searching her face for answers.
"Well?"

She sniffed and nodded. "We have a lunch date tomorrow that will determine my fate."

+++++++++++++++

Turns out tomorrow by 3pm was a hot Thursday afternoon, too hot even, Sara reflected considering it was January, one of the few months of the harmattan season. The weather was not in her favor, as she sat inside the Forks and Knives restaurant on the Victoria Island leeway while waiting for her ex-husband, Lucas, to arrive. She supposed she was nervous about the meeting, considering their first encounter hadn't been so pleasant and the second one had been so weird. Strangely, however, her nerves seeped rapidly into her system when she remembered her conversation with him prior to this date.

He had readily agreed to meet, without questions or concerns and that worried her. What if he had been calling her bluff? It would not be far from him to attempt such. He was a ruthless businessman after all, rarely caring about the people he worked with and this was in essence a work lunch and nothing more. Her nerves gave way for anger when she realized he was late. Thirty minutes late. Did he think she had nothing better to do than to sit idly bye in a restaurant? That was true, though but still his action piqued her. He was acting this way with her cause she was desperate, but she was not going to be deterred with whatever stunt he pulled from his hat. She would be in her son's life, by hook or by crook.

She looked up instantly as her peripheral vision caught sight of him dressed in a dark grey suit, but it was the murmurs that arose at his entrance that gave him away. It was one of those things associated to a billionaire. Everyone knew who you were. He walked to her table and smiled warmly at her, taking his seat opposite her. He looked sinned against than sinning and Sara refrained herself from giving him her two piece about tardiness.

She had chosen the table near the window to provide privacy from the rest of the restaurant, the shade in front of the glass window giving the table a romantic feel.

"I'm impressed with your choice, and the place of course," he commented, signaling for a waiter.

She smirked. "It's the sort of thing that you're used to, isn't it?"

He frowned at that, angling his head to look at her. "Not really. I have lunch, and then female company as dessert in my family's hotel every day. That is the sort of thing I'm used to." He sneered when he saw her lips lift up in a scowl. Just then the waiter arrived.

They ordered separately. Lucas was starving and had added a bottle of wine to the menu, claiming he missed a sumptuous meal because of their meeting.

"So why am I here?" He quizzed, stretching his legs in front of him under the table in a relaxed manner, immediately the waiter walked away.

Sara sighed audibly and began. "To discuss parental rights concerning our son. It has been five years already and I believe it's time I became a part of his life."

He blinked at her with disinterest. "You do not have the right."

"And whose fault is that?" was the comeback.

"I accept it's mine." He was rueful as he ran his fingers through his low cut hair tiredly. "This matter is not as easy as it seems."

"Why, because your family forced me to let him go?" She questioned.

"You should not have been so easy to convince."

"Are you saying I should have accepted him only to have your family hightail my ass off to jail for financial crimes? You and I know you held me responsible for those fraud cases."

He glowered at her. "You weren't exactly innocent my dear. Rocky was your friend and partner in crime."

"He was my sister's friend!" She clarified.

"It doesn't matter what he was. He paid for his crimes. So did you." He was unrepentant.

She glared daggers at him. "I won't let you manipulate me into giving up like you did five years ago. I have every right to see him..."

"Please do," he interrupted her, obviously having fun at her expense.

She ignored him and continued. "And every right to be with him because I'm his mother. He needs his mother, Lucas."

He scoffed. "I'd say he's been doing exceedingly well with just me."

The waiter then arrived with their meals and Sara was forced to swallow her retort. This man was stubborn and infuriating. And she briefly wondered how she could have loved him at one point in her life. Eagerly, they dove into their meals, Lucas eating like a starved man and Sara refrained from laughing at the odd behavior. He loved food, and let his uncultured side show whenever he was hungry.

Halfway through the meal and Sara was satisfied. She stared at him before picking up the conversation from where they left off.

"I did not sign him away. I never signed those documents, Lucas and you know it. Just because I promised to stay away doesn't mean I want to anymore."

"You should learn to keep any promise you make."

"Your family was being unfair and cruel. Forcing me to choose between going to jail and leaving him behind..."

"You should have gone to jail if he was important to you," he retorted, scowling at her.

Sara choked on her sob, gripping her hands to prevent herself from slapping him. "You're insane! How can you say that?"

He merely shrugged, moving into his earlier position.

"If I had gone to jail, your family would still have taken him away. There was nothing I could have done. Your mother threatened me, and you let her take him away as though I didn't matter." She paused in between her ranting to find him furiously typing away at his tablet. He looked to have been at it for a while too and that knowledge irked how.

"Are you even listening to me?" She was incredulous.

He paused to look at her. "Did you actually expect me to sit here and listen to you rant about why you should be in his life? I have better things to do."

"And you think I don't?!" She cried indignantly.

He shrugged. "Obviously. Why else are we still going back and forth on this issue? You cannot see him or be in his life. Period."

Now that the battle line had been drawn, Sara was up to the challenge. "I'll fight you tooth and nail if I have to, Lucas."

He smirked at her response. "I'll be waiting. Although I know it's better to use what you have to get want you want. Take my word for it." He smirked at her and she frowned when she realized what he was implying.

"What?" She spluttered.

"I have a seminar tomorrow at Eko hotels and suites. I'm a guest speaker and it's obviously going to be a boring weekend. I would welcome the female company. For once, let's talk about us and all those romantic stuff we didn't get to do. Let's not discuss Freddie. He's too young to understand any of this and quite frankly, the topic is giving me a headache," he finished, signaling for the waiter.

She sat and watched in defeat as he pulled out his card and swiped it across the pos machine the waiter held. He had paid for their lunches, and had also asked them to package a bottle of wine for Sara, which she didn't have the energy to refuse.

He turned to smile at her as he made a grab for his car keys and his wallet, pocketing them.

"Will I see you this weekend at Eko hotels or should I take my offer and shove it down my throat?"

Sara almost snapped that he should do the latter, but thought better of it and replied instead. "I'll be there."

He nodded at her, before standing up and exiting the restaurant.

It wasn't until later that evening as Sara assessed her lunch date with Lucas did she realize she could use his offer for companionship to her advantage. Use what you have to get what you want, he had said. And that was exactly what she would do.

Dialing Donald's number, she waited till he answered to blurt out.

"I know how to get closer to my son."

"How?"

"I'm going to seduce Lucas."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yay! My girl slays. Operation seduce Lucas is underway. Swipe left, or is it right to see it? 👉 (Nah, I'm just messing with ya). But seriously, we are making a headway here.

Fact: I am no lawyer and I know even less about child custody cases. That's why I'm playing this by emotions and didn't allow her sign any documents so she can just waltz into her son's life anytime. Lame, I know but hey, it works.

Let's not forget to vote and comment as usual.

Thank you😍😘