"Tell me the truth, Kate. It's been weeks and this lady keeps popping up in my office claiming to wait for you. But then she leaves without ever seeing you or your staff. What's going on?"
Ben was done pussy-footing with Kate. Rita Ukara was slowly driving him bunkers and he wanted her out of his office. He was glad he'd decided to seek Kate out when he did, because it looked as though she was on her way out of the empty, open space of Ritaz Imaginations; a few minutes later, he would have missed her.
Kate cleared her throat. She looked everywhere but at him. She was the perfect picture of someone hiding something. The uncomfortable silence dragged for few more seconds and Ben refused to budge or say anything, therefore making Kate more likely to tell the truth. It was a little truth seeking skill he'd learnt online.
With a heavy sigh she graced him with her gaze. "The company is in her debt."
Ben narrowed his eyes. It was unbelievable that Ritaz Imaginations, successful as they seem, would owe a single woman. It could be possible though; Ben had seen her with two expensive vehicles, so she could be wealthy enough to, perhaps, give the company a loan.
But she looked so young, with her perpetual baggy shorts or jean trousers, t-shirts and... Ben reined his thoughts; he was getting ahead of himself instead of asking Kate for details.
"So, you and your staff desert the place because of her?" he couldn't wrap his mind around that one.
"No, we've been having on-site jobs..."
"But a secretary could remain in the office. I mean half of the time these past weeks, it appears like your company has run down; you're never here."
Kate had the grace to look contrite, "I'm sorry, I should have told you."
"How much?" Ben wanted to know the amount that would make a company run from Rita Ukara. But then his phone rang. Ben thought Kate looked relieved but he couldn't be sure because James sucked his attention the moment he answered the call.
"He rejected it again and he's giving us 24hours to deliver a fresh one."
James sounded panicked and he had a right to be. Zach Inyang, his uncle and Global Press owner, had collected a huge deal from an oil magnate to print on all the relief materials he needed for his charity foundation; that wasn't the problem.
Usually, clients came with their graphics already designed for printing, but the oil magnate had demanded Global Press create a design that would make an outstanding brand, an unforgettable stamp for his first outing as a charity foundation, never used and never seen. It was a huge project for the branch and they'd gone all out in hiring brand makers to create the unforgettable stamp that Mr. Uwa, the oil magnate, needed.
All five designs had been rejected and James was telling him the sixth one had gone the same way.
"I'm coming to the office," Ben was already out of Ritaz Imaginations and jumping down the stairs to his company. "We'll talk later, Kate," he called out and didn't wait for her reply.
"This dude is crazy." James exploded the moment Ben rushed into his own office.
"Any reasons this time?"
"That is was bland," James spat, looking frustrated. "What are we going to do? We've run out of top shot brand makers to hire and we can't keep dipping into company funds to...to hire more people without any deposit for the project."
"Obviously, we aren't the only ones vying for this project, which is why we have the deadline."
James groaned, "So, we might lose it, after spending so much? I wish we'd hired local brand makers. These Lagos people be acting like their designs are gold, yet the man keeps rejecting them. Jesus, what are we going to do?"
Ben ignored his hysterical question and stared at the previous designs, all six of them that the man had rejected. "What can we do in 24hours?" he muttered to himself but James heard him and scoffed.
"It took those people a week to deliver each of those designs, and we paid extra for urgency. Having 24hours to do that job is unreasonable. Maybe you should call Boss to get time extension." James was suggesting his uncle. Could he? He didn't want to seem incompetent in his uncle's eyes. He didn't want to seem like he was overwhelmed in this new, higher position he'd been given.
He wanted to succeed, prove himself with the aim of possibly erasing the bad name he'd gotten from Lagos. Though, nobody in this branch knew of why he'd been sent here, but one could never be sure of who knew who in the branches and bad news had been known to fly across time zones. Ben wanted to be so successful he'd make the company's newsletter for skyrocketing profits at the Akwa Ibom Global Press branch, maybe, even beating the Lagos branch which had always maintained highest gross profit among the branches.
This project could do that for him... His thoughts ceased as he shifted his head and instinctively inhaled the bold yet, feminine scent that wafted through the air. Ben was yet to master the art of not appreciating Rita's now familiar scent. He looked up and caught her approach to his open office, he'd not shut the door.
He forced his surprised eyes away from her tailored shirt, over body-fitting skinny jeans and shiny, low heeled leather shoes. After weeks of seeing her in baggy jeans and t-shirts, the brief glance of her in different clothes had transformed her from looking like a chubby teenager to a full blown woman. Rita Ukara was a vision of someone to be taken seriously.
"Hey, guys," but her attitude was the same; only the clothes had changed.
"Wow, Rita, you look amazing. I love your weave," James enthused and Ben couldn't understand how his assistant branch manager could have moved from frustrated to excited in one second.