HER MOTHER'S DAUGHTER! Episode 10.

“Are you serious?” Olivia asked, stunned as she rose on her feet. She sauntered near him.

“Yes.” he gave a reply. “Samson Ejiofor mentioned he noticed she was under pressure and when he asked, she said it was the company but didn’t give any reason. He snooped and found some documents about the loans she and her brothers requested for.”

“That was why detective Akin said it was a rumor because he wasn’t sure.”

“Exactly, but it turned out to be true.”

“We can hire him again.” She said.

“For what?”

Olivia pointed to the sofa indicating him to sit. He reciprocated and she sat beside him.

“Remember the detective mentioned Naomi’s marriage was in crisis. I am sure that is why the detective was able to get some information from him. What if we use him against her?”

Sebastian thought for a quick moment. “Well, it’s not a bad idea. We have to thread carefully if we must embark on such plan. What about Nelson? He has an ex-wife and a babymama. We can use them against him but you have not made a final decision.”

She heaved a sigh and rested her back on the sofa. She crossed her arms as if she was catching cold.

 “You have to make a decision,” he added. “You know when they lose everything, it will affect him too.”

“I know. I can get him back on his feet. I am not against him, just Nelly and Naomi. If I have to hit them hard, it will hit him automatically. I don’t have a choice.”

“I am going to be frank with you. I know Nelson treated you better than his siblings but people grow and change. I have sat with them, interacted and watched their behavior. Nelson seems mischievous. I don’t trust him at all.”

“What about Naomi and Nelly?” She sounded a bit annoyed with the sound of her voice. Sebastian sensed it but that didn’t stop him from expressing himself.

“I am not defending them. They have their own baggages. Nelson is not different from them. They are all the same.”

“I believe he is better than them.”

Sebastian rose on his feet, already getting upset. “If he is better than them, why didn’t he look for you?”

“I am sure he did and he couldn’t find me. I left the country without turning back.”

“If he really looked for you, he would still be looking no matter what. He would still be thinking about you after all these years. The Nelson I have seen, does not look like someone that would be doing that.”

Olivia knew from his expression he was not happy with her. She stood up and spoke calmly to him. “I am not trying to defend Nelson but you need to have seen the way Naomi and Nelly dragged me out of my mother’s house. Nelson would never do that to me.” She was beginning to get emotional. “I would get close to him and find a way to know the truth about what happened to my mother.”

He moved very close to her face. “You are going to be in their midst every soon. You would probably see them five days in a week. Watch your back Olivia. Goodnight Olivia.” Sebastian turned away, and left Olivia in the living room.

Olivia kept on looking at the door, despite Sebastian had left. She couldn’t bear it anymore. She closed her eyes tightly and started to cry. She missed her dear mother.

********

At midnight, Nelly woke up again from the same dream. His scream erupted Nneka’s sleep. This time she didn’t question him or followed him to where he went. She was tired of his lies, and his reaction whenever she interfered. She planned to make an appointment with her pastor and hoped he would find a solution for her husband. 

Nelly left to check on his daughter. He met her sleeping as usual. He sat and watched her for a while before he went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

Samson couldn’t sleep. His wife didn’t come home and she gave him flimsy excuses when he called her. She said there was traffic and her tire was flat. She would spend the night at the hotel not far from the office. He knew she lied. He had started to believe she was cheating on him and catching her was part of his plan.

What if I catch her? He asked himself silently. Is it not an opportunity for her to divorce him? What am I going to do? I can’t be living like this after I have lost everything because of her greed and my foolishness. If I had known, I wouldn’t have listened to her.

He glanced at where he kept his phone. Not minding what the time was, he grabbed his phone to call Naomi. He called her three times but no response. He didn’t give up. He called again. She answered on the fifth ring.

“What is it?” Naomi asked. “Why are you calling at 3am?”

He felt she was whispering and he heard music playing in the background. “Where are you?”

“What kind of stupid question are you asking? I’m in my hotel room. You woke me from sleep.”

He kept silent and he swore he heard voices and a particular sound that sounded like the horn of a car.

“Naomi, are you in a club? Are you clubbing?”

She hissed. “Don’t start this time.” Naomi ended the call.

He called her number again, this time it was switched off. Samson knew he won’t be able to accuse her of cheat or lie whenever she intend to return home. Out of anger, he smashed his phone against the wall.

********

Breakfast served, only Olivia at the dining room waiting for Sebastian. She didn’t want to eat without him. She was about to stand up to go to his room when he emerged, dressed in an expensive suit. Sebastian looked dapper.

“Good morning Seb,” She said with a smile. It was the first time she shortened his name.

“Good morning Olive,” He returned the smile and sat down.

Calling her Olive for the second time made her feel good and close to him.

“I know we didn’t agree on some certain things last night,” Olivia said. “I am sorry for disagreeing with you. I know you mean well.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

She quickly placed her hand on him. “I should.” Olivia swiftly removed her hand when she noticed Sebastian’s eyes moved there.

He spoke. “Olive, we do not need to agree on everything. We are bound to argue. Both of us are humans. I shouldn’t have interfered. You still like Nelson as your brother and I should respect that. We are talking about family here. I guess he means a lot to you.”

“No, don’t get me wrong. You mean…” She paused. “I mean, whatever you say concerning my life is important. I value what you say to me. I will watch my back.”

He nodded. “Okay. let’s eat. Our food will get cold.”

“Okay.”

As they ate, he glimpsed at her. On a normal day, Sebastian would have told her to do whatever she liked and that the decisions about her personal life were none of his business. Olivia was beginning to make him soft.

********

It turned out to be a success on the day of the tasting/sampling of the energy drink. Sebastian, Olivia, Nelson, Nelly, Naomi and other employees of Empire Company attended.

During interaction with some of the staff, Olivia came across with one of them, a female who looked like a nerd with her large glasses. She noticed how passionately she spoke about her job despite the Company owned a few of the staff their salary and she was one of them. Angela was hyperactive and spoke enthusiastically.

“I didn’t know about that.” Olivia said and took sip from her drink. She noticed the lady talked too much and getting information from her was easy. Despite that, if she turned out to be useful, she would retain her after the Company becomes her own.

“The Company owes but we are still ready to work.” Angela said. “Well, I have to speak for myself. As the assistant head of the marketing department, I enjoy my job.”

“You are passionate about your craft, I like that.”

“Thank you ma,” Angela said. “You and Mr. Sebastian have done well. Thank you for bringing this change to the Company and I believe we are going to benefit from it.”

“Definitely. I want the Company to grow beyond this and that is why I am here.”

“I can’t wait to see you in the office. I heard you will be resuming me on Monday.”

“Yes, I will. I received a mail, that my office is ready.”

With a bright smile on her face, she said, “If you need anything in the office, do not hesitate to let me know.”

“I will.”

Sebastian who had been discussing with a male guest brought by Nelson left the conversation to speak with Olivia.

“I will to leave you now Miss King.” Angela said.

“Call me Miss Olivia.”

Okay Miss Olivia.” Angela said and moved quite close to them. “Both of you look adorable. Are you a couple?”

“No,” Sebastian answered quickly with a 
low laugh. “We are just business partners.”

Olivia stated. “And we are friends too.”

Sebastian and Olivia glanced at each other and back at her.

“But both of you would make beautiful babies. It was nice to meet you.”

The business partners told her it was her nice to meet her too. Angela waived at them with joy and left to chat with a colleague. Olivia took a deep breath and exhaled. Sebastian laughed mildly.

“You sound relief.”

“That lady is something else.” Olivia said.

“You can say that again. Before she came to meet you, she spoke with me. She even asked why I wasn’t married.”

“She was unprofessional to ask such a question.”

“True but she is funny and that is why she got away with it without me bashing her. She was lucky.”

“I am sure someone like Naomi would have loved to sack her, but with the way she spoke about her job, the Company wouldn’t want to lose someone like her.”

“I think so.” Sebastian said.

“Hey!” Naomi said behind them.

They turned to her.

Naomi gazed directly at Olivia. “I saw you talking to Angela for long. That girl is a parrot!”

Olivia only smiled and sipped from her drink. Naomi wanted to speak again when Nelson alerted her to meet him.

Later in the day, Sebastian released the money for the production of the energy drink, also for marketing and advertising. Olivia transferred one hundred million into the Company’s account. Everyone went home with a smile on their faces.

********

Sebastian wished Olivia good luck as she prepared to leave for the office on Monday morning. Naomi, Nelson and Nelly welcomed her and introduced her to all the staff before she went to her office. 

She was appointed a personal assistant but she declined and explained her driver, Andy was her PA too. Olivia liked her office.

In the afternoon, Nelly called his siblings for a discussion in his office. They came to discuss how far they have planned on how to spend the money.

Nelson spoke. “Naomi and I have concluded to invest fifty million naira each on two products. We are to invest more in our noodles and start producing pasta, popularly known as spaghetti.”

“They are almost the same product.” Nelly said.

“But they are not the same.” Naomi said.

“Apart from the seasoning for the noodles, we are going to add something else which is dry meat and vegetables like diced carrot and green peas inside. As for the spaghetti, we will make ours cheaper and offer retailers promo.”

“But is the money not too much for these products?” Nelson said in a worried tone.

“No." Nelson replied. "Don’t forget we will invest part of the money into advertisement. We are going to pay models to advertise it to all over the continent.”

“How do we even gain from this?”

“People will buy. They will rush it.”

Nelly looked at Naomi. “Are you really in support of this?”

“Yes. We will make it.”

Nelly thought briefly and sighed loudly. “Get the paperwork ready to sign and let’s have another meeting with the team to start producing the products.” He gazed at Nelson. “I will inform you when to release the money.”

“No problem.” Nelson and Naomi smiled at each other.

Nelly said to Naomi. “Being the head of Admin and general manager, I have given you the order to monitor the production and you are to present reports on how the money is used weekly.”

“Okay."

When they stepped out of the office, Naomi spoke as quietly as she can as they walked to her office. “What is the way forward? How am I going to do it concerning the reports?”

He answered her when they entered her office. “You are going to present a false report signed by me. With that, Nelly would confirm it to be authentic. Everything will go smoothly as we planned. Let’s have lunch together.”

“I can’t. I have to see someone now.”

“And who is that?” Nelson asked.

Naomi replied brightly. “Sebastian Akande.”

*********

To be continued on Thursday.