Chapter3
687 Words
Nona
To think I sat there and watched that child wiggle his way out of yet another meeting unscathed; I honestly can’t believe they all sat there and watched him just go on about his plans about the company as though he’s been confirmed.I should have been on that chair.Julian just had to go ahead and die before I made him change the interim CEO clause; things were already shaping up nicely; the wedding clause was merely supposed to be a slight bump on the road.Now the entire plan is contingent on Duke not finding a woman.A dumb plan if you ask me; as sour as Duke is with all his dark moods, he takes after his dad with that Julian charm. It wouldn’t take long before he finds someone to settle down with; he manages that alright.“Lara! Lara! Lara!”Where the hell is she? As far as maids go, she’s the most incompetent.Duke didn’t just humiliate me at the board meeting; he had to announce he was coming over for dinner to signal us being a united front to unassuming board members, smart boy.Even though it’s something I can’t stomach, I can’t give him the satisfaction of thinking I wasn’t prepared for him.Just then Lara walked in, interrupting my train of thought.“Sorry, Ma, I didn’t come sooner; I was putting back the last of the boxes from the party, Ma.”I don’t even have the strength in me to yell at her right now; I just want this damned day to be over.“Duke is coming for dinner; we need to prepare. Get everything in order. You know what to do.”“Yes, Ma.”She looked up as if expecting more but decided to go without a word.I stared at her as she walked away.I had a body like hers when I was younger. I’d die before I cleaned up after others; what a waste.I walked over to my dresser and looked at my face.Oh, how kind the years have been to me.At 50 years, I still turn heads anywhere I go; I still recall the first time I crossed paths with Julian.He thought our meeting was random; till his dying breath, he didn’t know I had planned everything right in time with the timing of it.I knew his weakness for smooth jazz, so I planned our meeting at his favorite jazz lounge.Those were good times.I stripped, poured myself wine, and got into the bath.As the water and wine soaked through my skin and mind, it became clear to me that I have to be more aggressive in my approach.Duke is clearly smarter than I gave him credit for.I picked up my phone and called Ned.“Ned, why am I am finding our about Africa at the boarding meeting?”I could hear the panic in his voice even before he answered.“I’m sorry, Mam, no one knew they were working on it. They clearly were working on it under the books.”“How can that be? Julian have been working on that for months; we even travelled to Lagos, to meet with the minister.“Mam, I don’t know how they got it done in such little time. They clearly they must have gotten financing from somewhere, because there haven’t been any major withdrawals recently. I know, Mam, because I check those books daily.”“Alright, Ned. Make sure you’re around for dinner later and get me all you can on that deal and how he is financing it; it’s 7, don’t be late.”“Yes, ma’am.”Anger rises in me as I end the call; over the years, Ned has been of help, always feeding me information when I need it, but of late he’s as useless as taking ice to the North Pole.It wasn’t easy at first getting him to open up, but he did; perhaps there is still hope for him, especially if he is able to find me any on Duke.I get up, dry, and walk into the closet, trying to figure out what to wear.
- Writer
