Lekki, Lagos.
Present day.

Karen Thomas was having a girls' day out with her best friends, Simi and Lola. The three girls have been been friends since high school and were still together even now. Even more so, after the girls helped Karen in her devious plans five years ago.

Presently, they were among the most popular girls in Lekki running their own crowd, with occasional clashes with the 'Sparkling wines' girls consisting of Bella, Ivory and Shanelle. Karen and her friends were more conservative and classy and tried not to get into altercation with the other trio. They were considered slutty and beneath them.

Today, they were inside Hairs and Nails beauty salon to get a makeover. It was Lola's birthday tomorrow and they wanted to look their best. Lola, the birthday girl was getting the whole treat consisting of manicure, pedicure, spa and hair weaving. Simi was a nails girl and opted for the manicure and pedicure while Karen focused on getting her weaves done. Now, she and Lola sat next to each other on a gist about latest gossips after having their hair washed and were getting it dried in the hair dryer.

For some weird reason, she had been out of town last weekend on a date with an Abuja-based businessman who was interested in having a relationship with her. She wasn't sure she wanted to relocate because of love. She hadn't done it when Lucas relocated there despite how much she loved him, so she had turned him down but had accepted to remain friends. The poor man even seemed serious about being with her. Now she was telling Lola all about it.

"He's really handsome, even sexy when you think hard about it. He's rich too, drives a G-wagon and has his own business. I checked and he's the real deal. But I don't think I can move to Abuja because of a relationship. It's too much hassle."

Lola nodded sympathetically. "I understand but it doesn't mean he's a lost cause. If you don't want him, tell him I'm willing to move to Abuja for him," she said dreamily, and they burst out laughing.

"You sound desperate, girl. Hold your horses, we're still treading waters here," Karen cautioned, laughing at Lola's annoyed look.

Simi done with her nails bounded up to the girls, smacking her gum loudly. "What did I miss? I overheard you guys laughing." She asked, moving to sit on a chair opposite them barely holding their gaze as she was busy scrolling through her rose gold iPhone covered with shiny pink rabbit ears.

Lola and Karen stared at her and shook their head in dismay. Simi was addicted to her phone, actually she was addicted to social media. She loved the attention she got on all of them and probably couldn't live without them. She was a lost cause, really.

"Some hot sexy guy is tripping for Miss beauty queen and she's playing hard to get," Lola answered, rolling her eyes at Karen.

"No, that's not true, Lola. I only said I'm still undecided," Karen denied vehemently with a straight face.

"And we all know why, right?" Simi supplied, taking a break from her phone. She stared at Karen, daring her to deny it.

Karen blushed and averted her gaze. Lola's jaw dropped open. Simi burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"You've got to be kidding me. Karen, it's been five years. You should be over him already," Lola cried in disbelief with her sockets popping.

When Karen kept mute, Lola muttered 'unbelievable' eyeing her friend angrily. Five years ago, she had been onboard the ship of craziness that Karen had come up with. According to her, it was a ploy to help her get back the man she loved. It had worked, in fact, a lot better than they had hoped for, but when said love of her life disappeared a month later without leaving as much as a forwarding address, and had completely ignored her when she found out where he was staying, the girls had been forced to use their tongue to count their teeth. But by the latest admission, it was obvious Karen was yet to get over what she felt for that silly billionaire playboy. Lola was stupefied beyond words.

"Talking about our favorite billionaire playboy, did you guys know he's back in town and is residing right here in Lekki?" Simi said suddenly, looking up from her phone.

Say what? Lola's jaw dropped again and she could swear she would need to see her dentist later.

Karen's eyes looked like they would soon pop out of their sockets. "What did you say?"

Simi nodded, turning to read from her phone. "So my brother who is dating Ivory's sister, Vivy, told me that she couldn't stop talking last night. Apparently, Ivory's father had invited the girls to a house warming party at Victoria Garden city and the CAPPEL protocol had been present. Turns out it's for Lucas Caspian-Asiegbu who returned to Lekki last week Friday and has been tight-lipped on his return. The party was this Saturday."

"I can't believe it! How come we didn't know about this?" Lola voiced, getting angry.

"From what my brother heard, Lucas had requested such from CAPPEL protocol. He had invited only business partners and top CAPPEL executives. The girl's invitation had been squeezed in at the last minute because their father is a high ranking executive," Simi supplied, looking at her two friends.

"He came back and I knew nothing about it. He hosts a house warming party and I'm not aware. How is this even possible?!" Karen cried out angrily. How could Lucas do this to her?

Lola reached out to stroke her gently, trying to calm her down. Whenever Lucas did anything that made Karen very angry, she turned insane, coming up with crazy ideas on how to punish him. And most of them worked out perfectly.

"Where is he right now? I need to see him. Ask your brother if he was with any particular woman Saturday night. I need to know why he's back and I didn't know about it," Karen stated, focusing her anger on knowing the reason why.

Simi hurriedly scrolled through her chats. "He says he doesn't know about that since he wasn't present but Vivy had mentioned to his hearing that there had been a commotion at the party. Apparently, a woman had shown up uninvited to the party and Lucas had found out. A woman she heard was named Sara Amadi," Simi finished, frowning at the name.

Something odd was going on here. Sara was his ex-wife, and she knew he was back in town and hence had snuck into the party to see him. But why? Karen wondered. Why would she need to do that since she should be swimming in wealth? This is very suspicious, she decided.

"Sara Amadi? Isn't that the name of his ex-wife? What is going on here?" Lola asked, getting her third surprise for the day. At this late, she wouldn't be bothered if she got no birthday surprise tomorrow, she thought.

Karen nodded, deep in thought. "Yes, that's her. Which is why this whole matter is fishy. But I'm going to get to the bottom of it by first getting Lucas to myself. I'll have to ask my uncle for help. He's very influential."

Her uncle, Mr. Priye Archibong, would find a way to set her up with Lucas since it was obvious her father, Jude Thomas, a CAPPEL business partner had purposely kept the news about this party from her.

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

Lucas was still in a sour mood barely a week later as he strolled into the prestigious Rovers club and business resort, owned by Mr. Archibong, his business partner. Since he had let it slip during lunch that he may be interested in other business aspects apart from petroleum, Mr. Archibong had been working painstakingly to get him to honor an invitation to the club to meet with interested businessmen. If he could, Lucas would gladly avoid the hassle of this arrangement but he knew the benefit attached to it if CAPPEL ventured more into other areas of the sector. Diversification was key, his father always said.

Placing the perfect smile on his face, he strolled into the club in his business suit. The bouncers at the gate let him pass without so much as a lift of their brows. He passed through the double sliding doors to come face to face with a spectacular view.

The club was grand, with various settings. A bar was attached to the left area, a chandelier hung from the ceiling illuminating the whole floor. There were two spiral staircase on each side of the club leading to the first floor that housed the private rooms. A heavy metal door was located somewhere to his right, right under the staircase and was being guarded by two huge men. It was obviously the infamous private bar and strip club, a front for those in the drug business.

The party was already in full swing by the time he arrived, and Lucas cringed at the fact that his record of perpetual punctuality was being squashed mercilessly since he got back into town. Being conspicuously late was avenue to attract attention to oneself. And he'd much rather not. He sidestepped various groups of people in different circles, making his way to the lounge area. Conversations paused in between whenever he walked by as people recognized him, some even reaching out to personally welcome him back to Lagos. By the time he reached the lounge area, he was one meets-and-greet away from exiting the club.

Mr. Archibong saw him and beamed proudly like the father of the prodigal son, sauntering to come stand in front of him.

"The famous Caspian-Asiegbu! I'm honored you accepted my invitation at long last." He greeted, clasping Lucas' palm in greetings, squeezing it as though the action would make money drop out of him.

Lucas extracted his hand and smiled. "You have been quite persistent for an old man. I could hardly refuse," he replied.

Mr. Archibong frowned at the fact that he called him old. "Younger generations have no respect for me. How can you say I'm old? I'll have you know I can still ride ten horses and not get tired!" He boomed in laughter and Lucas cringed at the hoarse sound, and also at the meaning his words carried.

Then from his peripheral vision, Lucas watched as two men who were well into their Thirties walked up to them, smiling. "Is Mr. Archibong boring you with tales of how he can still kick it?" asked the taller of the two men, raising a brow in mockery.

"They are not fairytale, young man. I still got it in me!" He claimed, causing a chuckle to erupt between the groups.

"Olumide Bamboye, CEO of Lakeview hotels in Lekki, and this is Ebuka Obi. He's the owner of the Lakeview golf course Resort, also here in Lekki," said the first man, reaching out a hand in greeting.

Lucas accepted, smiling pleasantly as he shook hands with each man. "Lucas Caspian-Asiegbu. It's an honor to be here," he replied, hoping he sounded as sincere as his words.

Ebuka, the dark, average height medium built man with a fully trimmed beard beamed at him. "No, the pleasure is ours. I mean it's not every day the famous billionaire himself graces your event. Please feel free and enjoy our hospitality."

Lucas nodded, realizing the trend of this invite. Mr. Archibong's other business ideas was mainly concentrated in the hospitality business. "Thank you and I will," he replied, excusing himself from the group.

He and Mr. Archibong walked side by side, with the older man explaining to him fully what his presence meant. Half of his invites were in one way or the other in the tourism and hospitality business. The new Banana Island was the verified visitors' destination and the elite businessmen were scrambling for a share of the investment. Mr. Archibong had already beforehand let his associates know of Lucas's interests and had invited him today to talk personally and hopefully finalize things with the investors.

After a few more meets-and-greet, and hours talking shop, Lucas was practically searching for the nearest exit. Their business ideas didn't appeal to him that much, seeing that most of them were in the 'seize the moment' phase without thought and credible research to back up its relevance in the next five decades or more. He told the demanding investors he would review the proposal and get back to them later.

Then Mr. Archibong bundled quickly to his side, grinning from ear to ear.

"The minister for tourism is here. And I've put in a good word for you concerning your interest in the polo resort in Victoria Island. He's over there if you want to meet him now," he said, pointing to the spiral staircase where security men dressed in all black were standing guard.

Lucas nodded, heading towards the stairs. His plan of venturing into other business aspects was concentrated on creating a polo resort. Polo was a popular sport back in Abuja, bringing in tourists and business investors annually, boosting the tourism sector. He wanted to present the idea to the minister and other stakeholders in the government in order to hasten the proposal and its approval.

Quickly he marched up the steps, with Mr. Archibong at his heels. Once again, the security guards let him pass without the hassle of a stop and search. He was then escorted to a private room towards the end of the hallway. The door was opened by a security man in suit, who nodded at him. Then he walked in, with Mr. Archibong still at his heels.

The room was beautifully decorated and with enough lighting for Lucas to cast a cursory glance around. It was a suite, the left side had a king size bed, and there was a sofa and stools on the end of the right side. A door was located at the middle which should be the bathroom, and further down from the sofa was a mini bar.

The minister was a middle aged man with protruding belly and a prominent double chin. He was wearing the traditional Agbada in gray colors and his arms were stretched out on both sides of the sofa away from his head, as if he was guarding his most prized possessions, which he was, albeit the company of two beautiful women.

"Minister Darkle, I present to you..." Mr. Archibong ran ahead to go sit opposite the man on the sofa, smiling proudly.

"The billionaire Caspian-Asiegbu! Who doesn't know him?" Heralded the man, interrupting Mr. Archibong.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir," Lucas replied, moving to go exchange pleasantries. Mr. Darkle beamed eagerly, inviting him to sit beside Mr. Archibong on the sofa.

Then Mr. Darkle touched the lady on his right to go pour drinks for the men and Lucas's gaze followed the action as the girl stood up. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he realized who it was.

What was she doing here?!

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

The mischievous person in me couldn't resist (cackles softly). Lucas saw someone he knew acting as an escort for the Minister. Who do you think it was?

And... Karen is here, ladies and gentlemen. She's pretty mad about not being invited to that party. What do you think is her plan?

Drop your answers and suggestions in the comment section. And don't forget to vote.

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