Aisha's POV. Lagos, Nigeria.
I've been running for a while now but I can't seem to find him, I know I have to hurry but the odds aren't in my favour as I can't outrun a military woman but I must try, my boring life depends on it.
I finally see the alley way I've been looking for, I stand in front of the entrance and decide to catch my breath when I hear a clicking sound I know all too well. Someone just placed a fucking gun at the back of my head.
How did I get here?
It all started like any boring day this week. I woke up late, moved around my room unhurriedly much to Julie's annoyance as she wouldn't stop nagging, I ended up having to eat breakfast at work as Julie was so worried that we would be late. I know right, my life is so boring, I was and still am tired of doing the same thing over and over again but, I don't have much of a choice, nothing major was coming my way for some reason, no major cases, no new movie role, nothing, everywhere was absolutely quiet and it was starting to take a toll on me. The only thing that has actually happened so far is that "My Father" decided to get me a fiance but luckily for me, people don't know it's me or that would be troublesome as I'd have to get my hands dirty.
Julie entered and brought me back to earth like Sali always says, I really miss her.
"You have a case and no, before you ask it isn't anything major,
"Julie, why are you so cruel to me, I'm your sweet mother, ain't I"
"Yes of course and it's because of that you'll do your job diligently so I don't have constantly apologize to Fredrick and our clients when you start yelling at them like a rabid dog". This is Julie, one of my best friends, her full name is Juliana Winterson and also she probably doesn't mean that insult I mean I didn't do anything wrong, it's not my fault that some people decide to sign a document without their lawyer being present, then when shit goes south and it backfires on them, they suddenly remember the lawyer that they have, arrogant and foolish bastards, anyways let's go back to Julie.
She has being through a lot, she's white but surprisingly she grew up in an orphanage in West Africa and she has nothing to proof which continent she's really from, not merely talking of country but we are searching and we wouldn't stop until we find out the truth, I know ok let's go back.
Also if you haven't guessed it yet, I'm a lawyer and she's my amicably serious assistant, I'm also her mother and she's my third born, I have other children too but you'll meet them later, let's continue.
I was already dragging my feet to the meeting room where I had to help my client get back his money from his business partner, according to this document he'd loaned out exactly 15 million Naira but the interest rate on the loan was way too much, my client was going to get 36% of the profit made from the business and 25% of the loan must be paid every month, what a crook, but it looks like the poor guy couldn't make it, and now I'm supposed to help get his money back. How boring, why do I keep coming to work, I yawn and stretch to my heart's content before entering the meeting room. I spot an anxious man sweeting profusely in a room that has air conditioning, really. On the other side is who I think is my client calmly typing away at his phone with no worries whatsoever.
"Good day Everyone, sorry I'm late, shall we begin" . I settled down with one of my best fake smiles.
"First off, let's begin with the terms, my client would be adding an extra 5% to the interest rate as a consequential standard of deferred payment".
"Miss Green, this contract is obviously not fair, and even asking for more is even much more unfair, my client's business has collapsed, he's merely surviving off scraps, so please let's meet in the middle, ok".
He'd said these words while winking at me so I'd probably take pity on him but what he didn't know is that the one in front of him is extremely heartless and cruel, so of course I wasn't the slightest bit affected by his weird eye movement that couldn't even count as winking but I smiled nonetheless and gave him an amazing answer that was satisfaction itself to my client.
"Mr Bael, the only thing unfair here is that your client saw this contract before signing it, he also received the loan, did he not? He spent the money, went to lavish parties, got laid and wasted the money, and also who enters into a multi-million naira business without insurance, Mr Noble, is your business insured. He looked as if he'd wet his pants in minutes, and i was already tired of this meeting, it was taking too long,so I decided to finally end it .
"Mr Noble, you have managed to raise 7.5milion naira from the loan, as for the remaining alongside the interest, you'll liquidate your properties, use your pension and use the insurance indemnity to make up the remaining money, by then the money wouldn't be soo much anymore and my client will be pleased enough to give you a period of six months to come up with the remaining amount of money, before you interrupt me, these are the best clauses you can get, if we were to take this to court, it'd be worse than this, I'll have someone send you the documents, sign them all and have a copy of it sent to my client and I, goodbye"
I'm already rushing out the door for fresh air when my client finally decided to talk and worse of all, he asked for a moment, what the heck, I've done exactly what he discussed with Julie, my client (Mr Abdul) is a very shady man by the way, he had given his friend money in hopes of this happening, no, it's more like he was so sure of it, he had a meeting with Julie where he'd stated his terms exactly a week after he'd loaned out the money, meaning he had something to do with the ship collapsing, again he's a crook, a huge thief, that I was already planning to teach a lesson but it's going to have to wait because I'm not feeling very inspired. I nod and we exit the meeting room to head to a resting area not too far away and sit opposite each other.
"How can I help you Mr Abdul, I know I did better than you probably expected so what else do I need to do"
"Ms Green or should I say Raheem, how are you doing, I must say I'm very satisfied with what you.."
" What do you want" I couldn't pretend anymore, who is he and how does he know me,I gave him my best smile and casually took out my phone.
"I just asked for a drink, what would you like"
"I'll have whatever you'll be having"
"Wine, it is then" I place down my phone and really look at him, lots of people always tell me my eyes could be very intimidating and this man before was nothing but small fry so my eyes un-nerved him and he kept shifting around in his sit.
"Miss, I want you to go back home so you can marry my son, he's a very good boy, he's very handsome and his physique is quite good, he's also one of the millionaires in this country, he...
Julie opened the door just in time to stop his rambling and I was this close to snapping at him, like honestly, why would I need a guy to take care of me and who did he think he is to tell me to go home, I'm not going to that house, also I already have my own home with my babies.
Julie dropped the file I asked for and two glasses, she poured juice into both of them and sent me a warning glare, she was telling me not to talk or better yet not to complain about it not being my favorite wine, I just decided to listen.
"Mr Abdul, this is a file with pictures of you and your mistress, it defines different angles of your relationship with a woman other than your wife who owns 75% of your properties, so Mr Abdul, do you understand my answer"
He looked pale with shock, he kept glancing at the pictures and at me in utter shock.
"How did you, I've always been very careful, how could you, no, no, no please no, this can't happen, Mira would never forgive me, pls no"
He was stuck in denial, he was obviously confused on which expression to settle for and it seems he settled with anger, is he seriously angry with me when he's the one who cheated on his wife, what a pig.
"What do you want" He adjusted himself to sit upright so he'd look intimidating but he wasn't and I was still perfectly maintaining my poker face.
"I want you to call of the engagement, losing a few millions or your entire empire is a choice you'll have to make,(I picked up my bag and stand up), you have two days to do it and don't try to do anything funny because if you do you'll lose in two ways, if you don't believe me, ask your colleagues about Greeness and what she does to her enemies, two days" and I finally exit the room with Julie following me closely from behind.
"Hey, Aisha, since you behaved nicely Fredrick has a surprise for you"
I roll my eyes and we head to his office.
"old man, what do you, SALI, IS THAT, AM I SEEING CORRECTLY, IS MY BABY REALLY HERE, SALI"
"Yes, so stop yelling, she's right there", I scowl at Julie then jump on my bestie.
"SALIYA AFEGBUA MOHAMMED, DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN, YOU WENT ON A MISSION FOR TWO YEARS, HOW DARE YOU, YOU SMALL BRAT, JULIE HAS BEEN SUCH A BIG BULLY AND EVEN THE OLD MAN"
I hit her chest continuously while crying, yes guys, I'm crying, imagine not seeing your bestie for two freaking years, and also not being able to reach her for two freaking years, she sighs then hugs me tight or I'm probably squeezing her.
"Ais(cough), could you ease up a bit it's touching that you missed me but we have important news to discuss, our hard work is about to pay off"
"What's going on, are you finally going to be a general" she frowned then answer
"Unfortunately, no, and I obviously said our hard work not my, geez, honestly and you claim to be the smartest lawyer, aren't you supposed to be good with words"
"Fuck You"
I huffed because I was obviously offended, she sighed, pulled me up to leave the old man's office with me following after her, we head to the Firm's park and she tells me the best news ever.