Chapter five
940 Words
James’s loft was quiet in the way only expensive places could be.
The city stretched beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, glowing beneath the night sky. Cars moved along the roads below like streams of light, while somewhere in the distance, Lagos continued refusing to sleep.
James sat barefoot on the sofa, a glass of whiskey untouched on the table in front of him.
Across from him, Emeka was scrolling through his phone.
“So,” Emeka said casually, “you finally have a secretary who doesn’t worship you.”
James looked up.
“What?”
“Beatrice.”
James laughed.
“Why is everyone suddenly interested in my secretary?”
“Because you are.”
“I’m not.”
“You’ve mentioned her three times.”
“I work with her.”
“Exactly.”
James shook his head.
“She’s insufferable.”
“That’s what you’re calling her?”
“She’s obsessed with schedules.”
“Most secretaries are.”
“She lectures me.”
Emeka laughed.
“Someone has to.”
James threw a cushion at him.
Emeka caught it.
“So what does she look like?”
James gave him a look.
“Don’t.”
“I’m asking a question.”
“She’s my secretary.”
“And?”
“And nothing.”
Emeka grinned.
“You noticed.”
James leaned back.
“She’s attractive.”
“Aha.”
“But that’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“She doesn’t seem impressed by anything.”
“Not even you?”
“Especially not me.”
Emeka laughed.
“That’s probably why you noticed her.”
James ignored him.
He reached for the tablet on the coffee table and opened a presentation.
“Forget Beatrice.”
“You’re the one who brought her up.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
James sighed.
“Look at this.”
Emeka leaned forward.
The presentation displayed plans for a new commercial development.
“The Lekki project?”
“Yes.”
“Your father approved it?”
“Not yet.”
“And you want him to?”
“I want him to see the numbers before he dismisses it.”
Emeka studied the projections.
“This is ambitious.”
“That’s the point.”
“Expensive.”
“Also the point.”
James smiled.
“If we do it properly, it changes the company’s position in the market.”
Emeka nodded slowly.
“The problem isn’t the project.”
“What is it?”
“Your father.”
James’s expression hardened.
“Kenneth doesn’t like risks he didn’t choose.”
“Exactly.”
“He’ll listen.”
“Will he?”
James didn’t answer.
His phone vibrated.
Jessica.
He looked at the screen.
Emeka noticed.
“Your future wife.”
James answered.
“Hello.”
“Where are you?”
James glanced at Emeka.
“At home.”
“Alone?”
He frowned.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Your mother said you were supposed to come for dinner.”
“I had work.”
“You always have work.”
“I’ll come tomorrow.”
“James.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Jessica, I’m tired.”
“I’m trying to plan our wedding.”
“We have months.”
“Exactly. Months.”
“Then why are you stressing?”
“I’m not stressing.”
“You sound like you’re stressing.”
She exhaled.
“Your father wants the guest list finalized.”
“My father isn’t planning the wedding.”
“Your family is paying for it.”
“That doesn’t mean they control it.”
“Someone has to.”
James sat up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you need to start taking this seriously.”
“I am.”
“Then stop disappearing.”
“I’m not disappearing.”
“You didn’t answer my calls yesterday.”
“I was working.”
“With your secretary?”
James paused.
Emeka looked at him.
Jessica continued.
“I met her once.”
“And?”
“She seems very comfortable around you.”
James frowned.
“Beatrice?”
“Yes.”
“She’s my secretary.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we discussing her?”
“I’m just saying.”
“No, you’re not.”
Silence.
Jessica finally spoke.
“I don’t like her.”
James leaned back.
“You barely know her.”
“I know enough.”
“Jessica.”
“Goodnight, James.”
The call ended.
Emeka raised an eyebrow.
“That went well.”
James dropped his phone onto the table.
“She’s becoming controlling.”
“She’s your fiancée.”
“That doesn’t give her the right to manage my life.”
“Does she know you think that?”
James gave him a look.
“Do you want to survive tonight?”
Emeka laughed.
James reopened the business proposal.
“This project matters.”
“Then pitch it to your father.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“And if he says no?”
James’s eyes narrowed.
“Then I’ll find another way.”
Emeka studied him.
“That’s the problem with you.”
“What?”
“You’ve always believed there’s another way.”
James smiled.
“There usually is.”
Emeka shook his head.
“One day, that confidence is going to get you into trouble.”
James looked out at the city.
“Maybe.”
Then he smiled.
“But it hasn’t happened yet.”
Neither man noticed the phone lighting up again on the table.
Jessica.
Calling.
Again.
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