Lords of Underworld

I will appeal

" Oh my God" Fahad exclaimed in a low tone as they walked towards the girls. " The one in red?"

" Yeah.” Jeff replied.

" Man! Get a job and marry this girl." Fahad  said.

Jeff giggled. " We aren't even dating."

" You mean for now. I get It. But now you are going with her as a guide or what? It does not make sense why she would ask you to be with her cause she is going to look for her lost uncle."

Jeff  felt guilty for not telling him the truth about his encounter  with Melly but it was a promise he made to her and her secret.

" Maybe bodyguard is a better word." Jeff said and laughed. There were three of them and he guessed the tall, blond was Kim and the brunette was Sophie....no, Samantha.

As they moved closer, Jeff noticed Kim staring directly at him, a stare that made him uncomfortable. What? Was she thinking of how low classed he looked and wondering why Melly was travelling with him?

" Hey." Jeff said as they got to them.

"Hey." Melly shook Jeff’s hands which reminded him and everyone who cared that they were not lovers and made the acquaintance palpable.

" This must be Fahad." Melly said as she shook Fahad’s hand. Jeff remembered in their first year, Fahad never shook hands with girls but after four years, he was absorbed by the system.

" And you must be Melly." Fahad said with a grin." Jeff said you were not human.....but an angel."

" Awwn, that's sweet." Said Samantha but Kim did not seem to appreciate the comment.

" These are my best friends," Melly went on, " this is Kim Abraham, and this is Samantha Graham."

As they shook hands, Melly went on, " This is Jeff Simon and this is Fahad, whom I'm honoured to meet for the first time."

" Fahad Yar'adua"

" What? Yar' what?" Kim asked.

" Yar'adua."

" Oh, but that doesn't sound American. You are African American, right?"

" No. I am African. Saberia is my home."

" I have heard that name." Samantha said. " Yeah ! The president who died years ago, before President Jonathan."

Fahad gave her a sharp glance. " Whoa! How did you know that?"

" I am a political scientist in the making. That's why I am in this institution."

" That's cool." Said Fahad.

" I am sorry about the death of your father." Kim said, still stealing a glance at Jeff.

" Thank you. He was a father to the nation but...he was not my biological father. Yar'adua is the name of our hometown. He was from Yar'adua too."

" So, why don't we have lunch?" Kim said. " Melly, tell them the food in Munches is exclusive."

" I am sorry," said Melly, " we need to get going. We have to be in Fort Lauderdale like now"

Disappointment splashed on Kim's face. They all got on their feet. Kim was slim but broad at the middle like decanter.

"Jeff, Licia tells me you are an architect."

" Sure. Up and coming" He  lied.

" That's pretty cool. I think you are going to work on my pet project which we can't talk about now because this best friend of mine needs to take you away . She will give you my digits, and we- I mean you and I have to unfriend one person each on f******k and be friends. It is good for business. When I post your works and my friends are like 'what’ and I am like ' I got the whiz close by’. Who knows, I could become your agent."

They laughed but it was not funny to Jeff and Fahad  pondered over the mix up.

" I don't get it. Why do we have to unfriend one person each?" Jeff asked.

She seemed surprised.

"We can't take more than five thousand friends, remember?"

So she thought because she had five thousand friends, he also had five thousand friends. This was the mentality the rich kids grew on. They felt because it was all well with them and all the people they associated with, it was all well with the world because the only world they knew was a world of affluence.

" I got space for four thousand friends. I am not a f******k celebrity." Jeff said. " I will send a friend request. I think Melly will help me out."

"Please do." Kim said.

Jeff moved his bag from the Buick Cascada to Melly’s Ferrari. He could see Kim talking to Melly in a low tone. There was something about Kim he could not quite comprehend. Fahad left while Jeff and Melly got into her car. Kim said she wished she could come along, remembering the time they had spent there since they were kids.

They left the campus some minutes to 1:00 pm.

" Fort Lauderdale is just forty five kilometres from Miami." She said as she climbed the main road,

" I have been there a couple of times." He said. " We have some customers who prefer home delivery."

" I am sorry for what I am taking you through."

" What?"

" The stress. I mean, like, all Tyler left us with was just a name. We saw thousands of John Terrys in Florida alone. I can't imagine how I could have done it without you. You literarily checked on eight hundred profiles before we found a match."

" I'm honoured."

" And your girlfriend must hate me right now."

" Why?"

" The way she looked at me when she came. It looked as if you turned her down because of me. She thinks I am your new girlfriend."

" We broke up before I met you."

" But you can make up."

" I am done with her."

" You find it hard to forgive, huh?"

" It's not about forgiveness. It is about not able to carry on. What she did was grubby. I can't tell you what she did, but it destroyed the trust I had for her. It's something I saw with my eyes and each time I see her, I see her doing it over and over again. Can't you see we are done?"

" Kim will not reconcile with her ex too. Why am I caught up in this? She is single again."

" I'm sorry about her."

" Same here. She is a sweet girl though. She is crazy, I mean crazily blunt and straight but deep inside, you can lean on her."

" That's cool."

" Yeah. She is a sucker for purple colour, loves jasmine fragrance, and ......"

"Why are you telling me these?"

"What?"

" I mean her being single, her likes and all that?"

" I - I don't know. It's nothing, maybe because you are going to see more of her."

" I don't think so. Check this out- you told her I am an architect and now she needs me to work on her pet project, what-ever-that-means. I am not an architect and the better we don't get any closer, the better."

" I can fix that..."

" Are you trying a match making ?"

She shot him a glance.

" No. But it's obvious she kind of likes you."

So that was it, he thought. She was the one I loved, the one I hoped would fulfil my dreams, the one who would open up the world of bliss for me. But I was nothing to her. I was just a tool, a sucker who was ready to read three thousand John Terry profiles for her while she lie and listen, ready to get involved in what seemed to be dangerous for her. Trying to hook me up with her friend was just a subliminal message that there was no future between us. I did not even believe she really wanted me to be with Kim. After all, I was just a sales boy and out of their league. It was high time I faced reality and stopped nursing the hope of having her. But could I? I was hopeless, wanted to be her slave, serve her and place her on her throne. I had always hated the guts of guys who worshipped girls, I felt it was condescending to manhood, but here I was, craving for a girl who had no scintilla of feeling for me and I was still hoping to be her fool.

The drive to Fort Lauderdale was not fun as they barely spoke to each other. He pretended to be absorbed by the music that blared. The 45 kilometre drive was  quicker than he expected. It was a few minutes to 2:00pm as she whipped the posh through the city also known as Venice of America. She drove pass the city and arrived a countryside. He could feel the change of weather as the urban hubbub receded into distance, and the beauty of nature and quietness emerged. He loved greens, shrubs, trees and gardens, and this countryside promised the beauty of nature.

The country home, which belonged to her father was a masterpiece. The main building was a large mansion, all white and bedecked with flowers, shrubs and trees. A place where one inhaled the by-products of photosynthesis. There were three armed guards, two chefs, two gardeners, and a factotum. Immediately they arrived, the workers came to pay homage with deference which also extended to Jeff. The living room was better described as a jumbo hall, sophisticated and luxurious. She led him upstairs and into a part with a living room and two bedrooms. She said they were going to share that part : one room for her, one for him.

The servant said lunch was ready. She declined to going downstairs so the food was brought upstairs. As he sat on a dinning chair, he knew the billionaires had a life and they lived it to the fullest.

There was citrus-chicken salad pita pockets, spring sandwiches, Ameriacan fried rice, Hawaiian haystack and lots more.

"I hope you like it." She said as they began to eat.

" Yeah. Delicious"

They were silent for another two minutes while eating then she said, "are you mad at me?"

" No,why?"

" You kind of got angry when I talked about Kim. I'm sorry if I goofed."

" It's okay. I am sorry if I overreacted."

" I guessed I rushed it. She- she likes you and she could not keep it. She wanted me to do all I could to get you fall in love with her. I have never seen her get so crazy over a man, so I was trying to satisfy her. I became an ass."

" She is not crazy over me, she is crazy over an architect which I am not."

" I guess it's not about that."

" We will see."

Another minute of silence.

" I lost it today ."

" What ?"

" I - I let my parents know that I found out. I was mad but they pacified me. Oh, Jeff. I love them. They are the best parents in the world."

She told him what happened in details.

" So, why are you still keen of tracing their background."

" Because I want to know me. Where the hell am I from, who were those criminals who brought me to world and left me abandoned? "

"I don't think they had an option. They were hunted for a serious crime"

" Why bring me to the world when they were not responsible enough to have me? It hurts."

" Thank God you have wonderful parents now. Do they know you are here to get answers."

She shook her head.

" No. They think I am here to spend the weekend with a boyfriend and I let it stick." She smiled. " My mum called the servants, making them expect us, so that explains why we had lunch ready for us."

He glanced at his wristwatch.

" It's three now. We have four hours free before we go looking for him. So, may I go to my room and chill?"

" You haven't seen the fun side of the home. Let me take you round. Do you have a sports wears? You look too serious in this."

Fifteen minutes later, they were on the fields behind. The garden was enigmatic and breath taking. They had a horse ride, fishing in a private pond, before she suggested they visit one of her favourite sites in the home and it sure became his too. He never knew the country home was close to the beach.

" Come on," she said excitedly, " I did not plan to swim but I can't help it. You coming?" She was already pulling off her T-shirt and shorts. Oh my God! She was tormenting him and she did not know it. She was doing it on the platonic side and felt it was like been with a brother or just a friend. He began to shiver. She paused, frowned.

"You are shivering at the sight of water. Are you scared?"

It was not the sight of water baby girl but you, he thought.

" I kind of get scared of water sometimes," he lied.

" Oh-oh. So you going to miss out. You can't swim, huh?"

" Let's see."

He pulled off his Mets jersey,  sports pants and said, "I think I will get there before you."

" Then you have to try hard."

She broke into a run. He pretended to be putting his best to get there before her while slowing for her to meet up. She ran past him, he made a fake attempt to grab her like he was trying to cheat but she jumped forward and dove inside the water. He followed. It turned out to be a real humdinger of a swim.

He enjoyed every bit of it and saw her youthfulness as they played in the water, caring less about the troubles of the world. After the swim, he held her hand as they walked slowly on the bank, deepening their legs in the sandy soil.

" Are you cold?" She asked him and he saw the care in her eyes.

" No. I was wondering if you were."

" Nothing feels better like what I feel."

They sat side by side, watching the crashing waves, with the sun setting with a querreling weather yet he felt relaxed. The foamy mist from the ocean sprayed on their faces as though it was a touch of feather.

Jeff was relaxed yet restless. He then began to build sand castles. She watched for a moment then joined him, dipping their hands into the sand and together, they built a castle with the excitement of a ten year old. They did it with less words, but their eyes caught each other sometimes and she would quickly take them off. Those eyes, so compassionate, innocent, bewitching, penetrating and sparkling. Each time she gave him that look, he melted, and flew over the moon, swam between stars, and became what he felt was perfect. Yes! She made him felt perfect.

" Now, who owns the castle?" He asked playfully.

" I built the main part so, I own it. I will pay you off for your labour."

" It is my land. I laid the foundation. You built the main part because you are a better architect but I dug most of the sand. I will pay you off."

" I am the judge of the highest order." He said, changing his voice and making it sound like a third party. " And this is my judgement or verdict. You two built this castle together. It is your lives. You have showed that together, you can build a world. So, you are both sentenced to.....sharing your world. Sharing your lives for ever. That is your fate."

She gave him a sharp glance. She did not laugh or smile. Did she find it abhorrent? She then smiled, looking straight into his eyes, and then said," I will appeal, my lord."