NEXT CEO

CHAPTER ONE *WHO IS IN CHARGE*

6 YEARS AGO. NAZAR/JAMES FREE MEDICAL OUTREACH*

Tents. Crowd. Noise.

A Nazar driver clutched his chest and collapsed beside the van.

*Brian Okoro, 24*, a volunteer resident, dropped his clipboard and ran.

CPR. IV. Oxygen. 7 minutes.

The driver breathed.

Dennis*Adey*, 42, Nazar VP, watched from the canopy.

Dennis: "What’s your name, kid?"

Brian, wiping sweat: "Dr. Okoro, sir. Volunteer."

Dennis smiled. "You’ve got good hands."

*1 WEEK LATER. JAMES HOSPITAL*

Dennis to Chief Raymond: "That volunteer from the outreach. Brian Okoro. He’s sharp. You need young blood in ER."

Raymond: "Send me his CV."

Hired.

*SAME DAY. * OUTSIDE JAMES HOSPITAL

Dennis’ black SUV pulled up in front of Brian, waiting to get a drop.

Dennis: "Come on, Dr. Okoro. Let me drop you. I’ve been mentoring you since that outreach, haven’t I?"

Brian, 24, with one duffel bag: "Thank you, sir. For the job."

Dennis: "Save people, son. That’s all that matters. I hope you don't mind,I will just drop a few items at my mom's house. It's just on your way.”

Brian: yeah (nodding in affirmation).

—--

Dennis drives into Nazar Holdings/ Entertainment.

Living lounge behind the company

—--

Sitting at the balcony, Madam Nazar played a Popular tune on her guitar.

Music surely has a way of rejuvenating its recipients. At 80, Madam Nazar looks 50 years old and always in a lighter mood.

Awesome is blessed to have someone like her as a companion, mother, father and family.

Born to a less responsible son of her grandma (Madam Nazar), she had learned to be content with life as she had it.

For years now, she stopped asking to see her mother after an attempt to look for her in nowhere and had been missing for days. It was a strong blow for grandma as she almost broke down.

Her mother, she learned from grandma, had absconded when she was only three months of age. Awesome never ceases to wonder how a mother's love vanishes.

“To know that she had not looked back to see what I have grown up to be,” she thought.

Hmmm, grandma had been great, taking utmost care of her as much as she could recollect. Grown into a beautiful lady, Awesome is awesome.

Awesome strolled towards grandma humming the tune and twisting her body with a broad smile which was also reciprocated ideally.

It was the sound of Dennis' Rover that jolted the duo from the mood.

Dennis has made himself a thin God since he attained the status of the head VP in the “Nazar Holdings."

His pompousness has blinded him that he could hardly fix himself for a joke in the house.

He marched in before Awesome could escape to her room.

“Hey, what are you up to?” he queried her and without waiting for an answer he started nagging again.

“Have you heard from that useless father of yours? I wonder how a decent trait like you could come out of him, he is a sycophant.”

Awesome stood there looking downwards wondering why he always did this.

“Don't worry, I will get you a decent man to get married to”, he concluded walking towards his mother.

Awesome, sighing a relief quickly dashed into the room.

No one seems to like my father. She sobbed silently in front of the mirror. The reason was not far-fetched, she guessed.

Father has been a lousy thinker, sometimes I really wonder how related we are” she thought to herself. “But I love him, he is kind and jovial. He does not take life too seriously.

A few years back, Sammy, my father had convinced grandma to release her car keys which she did after much persuasion.

However, no sooner had he collected the car keys that a friend of his pleaded to quickly use it to run a business.

Hmm, he had leased the car without proper documentation. The supposed friend vanished into thin air. He never returned.

How could he explain? No one believed his story, everyone believed he sold the car for selfish reason.”

Betty! Betty! Dennis called out to Awesome, he prefers calling her Betty. He feels Awesome as a name is too good to be for a worthless brother’s daughter.

“Go join the servants out there to bring out the wares from the vehicle”.

Grandma made an objection, looking for the right words to caution her son from treating his niece in a disrespectful manner.

“Den!”

“Mum!” Dennis replied, shutting her up politely.

“She needs to understand the value of labor.

You should not indulge her the way you did to my younger brother or are you enjoying the lousiness he is displaying all over the place.

He has no traceable job. He changes jobs like someone changing clothes.

He veered into the business world and I am yet to understand where he is at.

Truth should be told, Mother”.

Grandma, still Fusing, couldn't find words to reply as she had realized late that she in unism with her husband had actually indulged Sammy and she wishes she could turn back the hand of time and train him properly.

Sammy, Awesome's father, comes in once out of the blue not to see Awesome in particular but to ask for more money from Grandma. However, nobody had heard of him for six months now.

Grandma had been able to build an empire in the Entertainment industry bagging the sole supplier status for necessities to neighboring states.

She wishes each of the boys were responsible enough to move the business forward after her demise.

“I am only training her to be responsible” Dennis, cut into grandma's thoughts.

“It can be done in a polite manner, I trained you both to have respect for humanity. Sammy might not show responsibility as we define it but he has the heart of gold, I tell you,” grandma finally found the courage to voice out.

Awesome without hesitation walked towards the stairs making her way briskly towards the vehicle.

Responsibilities she had learned are opportunities to become better. She took them with joy and strived to do her best at every call.

It was at this point of duty that she was noticed by one of the medical staff at the hospital that had accompanied Dennis to the house.

Hi, he greeted her first.

Hi! Awesome replied quickly, taking her face away from him.

Brian could not take his eyes off her. He imagined the radiant beauty of her personality.

Awesome, checked to see if the job had been done perfectly.

She made to return back into the main building when her eyes caught those of Brain as he piercingly observed her from the distance.

Almost immediately, Dennis seems to catch the sight also, looking from the balcony.

On a second thought, she made her way towards the ranch, her favourite spot whenever she felt worried about the surprises of life.

THE RANCH AND THE QUESTION

The ranch smelled of dry grass and evening rain. Awesome sat on the old wooden bench under the mango tree, the same spot she ran to whenever the house got too loud.

She pulled her knees to her chest and let the silence wash over her. The sound of Dennis’ voice had faded, but the sting of his words hadn’t. _“Decent man... worthless brother’s daughter...”_

Her handkerchief was damp. She pressed it to her eyes, then forced herself to breathe. _Responsibilities are opportunities_, she reminded herself. That’s what grandma always said when life felt heavy.

Footsteps crunched on gravel behind her.

She didn’t turn.

“You left before the last crate came down.”

It was Brian. The medical staff from the hospital. His voice was calm, not like Dennis’ bark.

Awesome wiped her face quickly and stood. “It’s done. I just... needed air.”

Brian nodded like he understood. For a while, neither of them spoke. Crickets started their night song.

“You play guitar too?” he asked finally, nodding toward the house where Madam Nazar’s tune still drifted faintly.

“My grandma does. Music keeps her young.” Awesome managed a small smile. “At 80 and looking 50. People don’t believe it.”

“She has that kind of peace,” Brian said. “You do too. Even when...” He trailed off.

“Even when my uncle calls me Betty and sends me to offload things like a servant?” Awesome finished, with more edge than she meant.

Brian looked down. “Dennis is my boss. But he’s wrong about you. I’ve seen how you work. No complaints. No attitude. That’s rare.”

Awesome didn’t know what to say to that. Compliments felt foreign.

Before she could answer, her phone buzzed. Unknown number.

She almost ignored it. Then it buzzed again. A text:

_“Baby girl, I am in town. Can we see? I have something important to tell you. – Dad”_

Her heart jumped and sank at the same time. Sammy. After 6 months.

“I have to go,” she whispered.

Brian saw the message over her shoulder, but said nothing. “Be careful, Awesome.”

She hurried back to the house. Grandma was in the kitchen, rolling dough. Dennis was on a call in his office, voice raised about “budget cuts and incompetent staff.”

“Grandma,” Awesome said softly. “Dad wants to see me.”

Grandma’s hands stilled. Her eyes, wise and tired, met Awesome’s. “Ah. Sammy.” A long pause. “Do you want to go?”

Awesome thought of the car that disappeared. Of the way he always smiled even when he’d messed up. I might not understand decency, but my father is my father._

“Yes,” she said. “But not alone.”

Grandma nodded, relief flickering across her face. “Then we’ll go together. Tomorrow.” Still very concerned about Sammy’s lousiness and indiscipline, she wondered who would be the right person to hand over the company.

Dennis, proud and unaccommodating, had been at the helm of affairs for about 20 years during Madam Nazar’s active touring years. Sammy is brainless, Awesome is young.

That night, Awesome couldn’t sleep. She kept thinking about Brian’s words, about her father’s text, about Dennis watching her from the balcony. And about one more thing — tucked in her drawer was an old photo she found last month. A young woman holding a 3-month-old baby. On the back, in faded ink: _“For Awesome. From Mama.”_

Her mother. The one who never looked back.

Or did she?