She introduced herself as the housekeeper and Adah took to her at once. From close observation the housekeeper should be in her early thirties, She is beautiful and seems to know her job well.
" Sorry to bother you, madam, I came to inform you that dinner is served and you are requested to join the rest at the dining." She said looking at Adah with a smile. Adah gave her reply in the affirmative and the housekeeper left the room. without much waste of time, she came out and walked down the stairs to the dining. Reaching the dining room, she saw her father and mother already seated and five other people two of them elderly ladies. they were not part of those that welcomed her earlier. She greeted them all with a smile and took her seat close to her father as the tradition of the house demands and settled down. The food was quite tasty, she enjoyed the way the meat was spiced and every bite reminded her how she has missed a good homemade meal. At first, they all ate in silence until one of the ladies struck up a conversation with Adah.
" How is the weather now over there? "
"Terrible," Adah replied softly looking up to catch a smile on the face of her father.
" What an irony if you ask me. we dwell in the sunshine here while others seem to dwell in the cold". She said and wiped her mouth as Mr. Denson cleared his throat. Everyone looked up at him because that is his usual way of getting the attention of others.
" I called this dinner meeting because I have an important announcement to make. You all know that I have been hospitalized for quite some time now but thank God I feel better now. After discussions with my wife, a team of directors, and advisers; I came to this conclusion and that is why my daughter is here with us today. I do not want to delay this any further because this is what we have all agreed to as far as the Denson's empire is concerned." He stopped and looked at everyone. Receiving the needed attention, he continued.
" I will be retiring as the head and leader of the Denson empire on a partial basis and this will be immediate." He announced and waited for the information to sink in. Adah looked up and immediately glanced to look at her mother who chewed softly.
" I took this decision because of my health, wife, and family. I have not made it public nor has any press conference been called to this effect. I called this meeting to first tell the founding members of this empire and to announce my heir. Adah will be taking over as my successor in every capacity. she has been trained for this and that is why she is fully back." He further explained and took a sip of his water. putting the glass down, he continued. " I want to inform you that I will still be around to guide her and act in an advisory capacity. Henceforth, all sections, ¹companies, and subsidiaries' reports go to her table. please I will plead that all cooperation and assistance be given to her. Lastly, I want to reveal that I was a little upset when she wanted to work overseas. I finally gave in and allowed her when the mother advised that we should talk to some of our subsidiaries to quickly adopt her. However, this plan failed and she got an appointment with the metrical. With this involvement, I decided to carry out another plan which worked when we finally acquired the metrical as part of our subdivision. it was a big secret for we never laid off anyone and Adah was given the chance to grow administratively." hearing this from her father, Adah sank into her seat in wonder. No wonder her promotions were quick successions. No wonder her climb to the top at the metrical was fast and little did she know that Mr. Kindle was acting out a script. The script in which he acted looked so real that Adah never suspected anything.
" I owe her no apologies because I aim to protect my only treasure and since my wife is in full support, I can go the full mile. The real handover will be next week at our cooperate headquarters. I have sent out memoirs for all heads to be there." He concluded and drank again from his glass. After whispering into the ear of the lady that first spoke with Adah, he stood up to leave while his wife followed him immediately. Adah who was transfixed, watched as the others stood up to leave as well. Now, she can fully understand the reason for her coming back home. She stood up and was about to leave when she noticed the presence of the housekeeper. With a smile and a wave of the hand, she walked out of the dining with The words of her father ringing in her heart of hearts. As she moved to her wing, she could not but agree within her that her parents were selfish. They seem to have planned her life all the while, they indeed perfected everything and did not miss out on a thing. She opened her door and entered without locking it and went straight to her bedroom. As she sat on the huge bed in wonder, she felt an unknown sensation on her hair and unconsciously shook her hair allowing the black long hair to cascade fully down her back and on her shoulders. She stood up and went to the mirror, sitting down on the stool facing the mirror, she looked at herself in no little measure. Her life and dreams are nothing but stereotyped, for her mother to be at the head of it all was no surprise. without being told, she knew that her mother is the unseen hand that moves the Denson's empire. Is this how this will continue? having no will for herself and her life? One day, she will wake up to discover that her parents have forced their will on her regarding her better half! She shook off the thoughts and at that instant, she realized that even her love life was completely in shambles! There was nobody in her life she could boast of and at twenty- four, soon to be twenty-five, nothing interesting seem to be happening in her life. She has never been intimate with Bami who had at one time forced himself on her. Bami is spoilt, proud, and unforgiven. Thank God, she made her intentions known from the start when his true colors and characters started unfolding. Apart from him, there is no one in her life, to her, this is quite shameful. The only friend in her life is Lily who happened to be a lesbian and they have quite survived together despite their different sexual orientation and view. Her relationship with Lily even made her be spotted differently amongst friends and colleagues for Lily never hides her identity and never cared about her opinion about her. But despite that, they have been best of friends having respect for each other. Only Lily will understand her and now they seem to be in different worlds. Many folks did see them as lesbians and even some lesbians did approach her while some made passes at her. it was in an interview that Lily granted that she openly confessed that Adah is straight and that they are just friends with no strings attached. That interview almost ruined her life but it also helped to clarify issues concerning her sexual stand because there were so many issues surrounding her. One thing that Lily never did was lord it over her concerning their desires as friends. Lily had never wanted them to live together in as much as she desires it.
Now, her father seems to have made up his mind concerning her fully taking over the reins of the empire. The empire is a hundred percent owned by the Densons, the founding members of the empire are just a few of those that started with Mr. Denson during the teething period of the empire. They do not have a command in the daily affairs but they only act in an advisory capacity. They are well compensated as virtually all of them are senior directors and sit on the board during meetings. Putting her out there is the best for her but she thinks it is too early. She feels that the responsibility is coming too early and she needs time to think about the whole thing. Lady Denson will be furious if she accepts anything lesser because that is what she wants. She will want to learn and a lower office will not be bad at all. Her parents seem to have taken their stand and there is no questioning them. After all her father is not gone completely from the empire. He is there to guide her until she can properly learn the ropes of administration. One thing is fear and this stabs her heart a thousand times.