Neuer gripped the steering and brought the car to a halt in no time. Their car almost ran into another car! Neuer got out of the car and frowned when he saw the occupant of the other car. Amon.
“Why did you drive recklessly?”
Nelly looked at the car and only got down when she saw it was Amon’s. Moreover, there was a woman with him and there was something about her. But when she got closer to the car, there was no one but Amon in it!
Was she seeing things? She saw a very familiar face. The person she saw had a striking resemblance with someone or something but she couldn’t figure it out. She wanted to ask but she had to stop the arguement between her two friends.
“Guys! Can you both just stop? It was an accident.”
“But he was at the wrong lane. He needs to apologize,” Neuer insisted. Nelly looked over his shoulders and saw some road officials approaching. She didn’t want to escalate the issue. There wasn’t any use making a storm in the teacup.
“I apologize on his behalf. Amon, I apologize too. Let’s get out of here before these officials get us,” Nelly said and pulled Neuer away. She had completely forgotten about the woman in the car.
Ivan was reading a book in his office when a soft knock came at the door.
“Come in,” he invited.
The door opened and a handsome young man walked in. His sandal wood perfume and the latest model of a Rolex wristwatch which sat perfectly on his wrist spoke volumes of his financial status. Ivan dropped his book and his eyes widened in shock.
“Lucien? My Gosh…”
Before he could finish, Lucien hugged him tightly and nearly pushed him to the floor.
“My God. Where have you been?” Ivan asked.
“Where you sent me, my boss,” Lucien responded jokingly.
“I can’t believe my eyes. Is this really you, Lucien?”
“Yeah. That’s me. Check me out, I’m no ghost,” Lucien laughed and turned around slowly for inspection.
“Won’t you admit that you’ve missed me?” Lucien asked with a grin on his face.
“Miss indeed. Get your flat ass seated. Let me get you coffee, or, is there any other thing you want?”
Lucien and Ivan were best friends although they seldom met each other. Lucien lived in Canada while Ivan stayed in the USA. They were born in the same hospital, the same day and around the same time. Not only that, they were almost swapped at birth. They grew up loving each other and having eachother’s back.
“Well, coffee isn’t a bad idea. Mehn…it’s been years since we saw each other. You’ve added weight and damn! Look at his perfect physique,” Lucien exclaimed, throwing Ivan a friendly punch.
“You won’t win if we start throwing punches. It’s best you quit on time. You are my guest, so, don’t make people think I only bully my guests in here,” Ivan replied.
Ivan sent a message to his secretary and in no time, she was in his office with two cups of coffee.
Lucien’s eyes followed her all the way to the door as she turned to go.
“My Gosh. Lucien, you haven’t stopped this habit of yours,” Ivan chided.
“She’s gorgeous. I want her.”
“Hey! Keep that act outside my office. You didn’t return to USA to have flings with my employees, did you? I thought you had changed!”
Lucien laughed.
“A leopard never shades it’s spots. And I didn’t return to have flings. Don’t be dramatic. You know how I like them, she’s curvy…” he trailed off and laughed loudly. Ivan was giving him a look that said it all.
“But, how come you haven’t noticed it? She’s…”
“My employee. I can never hit off on any of my employees. That’s dishonourable. Now, let’s focus on more interesting topics before the coffee gets cold. Why did you return to the country?” Ivan asked, successfully changing the topic.
“Ohh. There’s a business meeting coming up soon. I returned to prepare for it, you know there are somethings we don’t keep in our branch offices.”
Ivan nodded.
“The business meeting coming up in two weeks, right?”
“Yes, it’s tiring and exhausting. You will be in attendance, right?”
“Of course, I will not miss that important meeting for anything.”
“The coffee tastes good,” Lucien complemented.
“You should know before hand that I don’t settle for less. The taste is superb.”
“Yh. I guess the person who served it will be sweet too,” he smiled.
“Lucien…” Ivan called, bringing him to order.
When Stacy got home that evening, her younger sister opened the door with swollen eyes. Stacy was startled. The first thing that occurred to her was her mother.
“Nazy…wh…what’s going on?”
“It’s mum again…” Stacy flew into the house before her sister could finish. To her greatest dismay, her mother was in a bad condition. Stacy looked at her mother and sniffed. She needed to be strong for her but her body failed her and the tears poured in torrents.
“Stacy, you don’t have to do all this for me, I know it’s hard on you. Just quit and let me go. You have passed through a lot to pay my bills.”
“No mummy. I can’t do that. You have to get well mummy. Get well for me, get well for us. Let’s take you to the hospital.”
Stacy then remembered that she had no savings again. Earlier that morning, she had used her last cash to purchase a drug for her mother and used the rest to make breakfast for the family. She bowed her head on deep thought, wondering where the money for the treatment would come from. Her alarm went off and she sighed in exasperation. She had an appointment with her boss in twenty minutes. She wanted to cry but she put on a brave face for her mother. Only one solution came to her mind. She thought of asking Ivan for help. Maybe he would pay her advance salary, or maybe he could send her mum to a better hospital, or maybe he would pay for her treatment or …the list was endless. She made up her mind to ask for his help after the meeting that day.