Kelvin

I stood behind the counter of the bar, rearranging everything and putting them back in their place. Eugene joined me at the back and helped me reorganize the setting. Eugene is my coworker and close friend. We both work in a restaurant called Gusto's situated in Accra.

We have shifts here and tonight, I'm working together with Eugene at one of the various bars in Gusto's. Yeah, Gusto's a luxurious restaurant and it's very grand. Plus, they pay well here. I earn ¢40 an hour and work for 14 hours a day...you can do the maths.

Once Eugene and I were done, I let out a huge sigh. Today has been kind of rough and I didn't want to feel stressed out. Eugene had an idea to cheer me up.

"Yoo, look at this." Eugene pointed out.

I turned to the direction he was pointing out and saw a fine brown skinned young lady talking to her fair friend. The lady was facing the opposite direction whiles her friend faced her and they seem to be really engrossed in their conversation.

What caught my attention was the rear of the lady. She was attractively endowed and I was distracted for some seconds. I shifted my focus from her and coincidentally, the lady turned around at that moment. I'm not sure she caught me staring but at least, she didn't catch me in the act.

"Enjoyed what you saw ?" Eugene smirked.

I gave him a nasty face. "What was that for ?"

Eugene motioned me to look ahead and when I did, I saw the lady approaching us with her friend. Fear gripped me. I hoped she didn't catch me red-handed. I felt like she caught me, cause she didn't have a smile on her face. When she got to the counter with her friend, she laid it out on us.

"What were you doing ?"

Confused, I tried to regain composure. "What do you mean ?"

"You were looking at me, right ? Looking at my b*tt. And you were so into it."

I didn't know how to defend myself, so I ended up denying. "No, I didn't. I merely glanced at it."

She raged on. "I clearly saw you looking at it and you were focused on it till I turned. Are you a pervert ?"

Something tells me it was her friend who saw me staring cause there's no way this lady saw me unless she had eyes behind her head.

I didn't answer, so she went on. "Are you a pervert ? Staring at ladies and harassing them with your eyes. What's wrong with you ? Are you..."

Her friend interrupted her and held her back. "Sonya it's okay. He said he didn't stare at you. Let's end it here."

The lady or Sonya pulled back. "No way. I won't let this pass. Where's your manager ?"

Now I knew I was in big trouble. If this goes to him, I could get penalized and that's the last thing I wanted on this stressful day.

"We don't know where he is currently." Eugene spoke up.

He had been quiet since and now decided to speak up. Right timing ! What a friend !

Unfortunately for me, my manager happened to be passing by and to make matters worse, Sonya saw him and walked towards him. Her friend followed after her.

The manager stopped and listened to what they had to say. I stood at the counter, nervous and thinking about what they might be saying cause I couldn't hear what they were saying.

Eugene tried to apologize and cheer me up. "I'm sorry bro. I didn't mean for this to happen. But don't worry, everything will be alright."

I ignored him and continued to focus on the trio some distance ahead of the counter. I saw Sonya's friend also speaking and since she kind of defended me at first, I was sure she would defend me again. I then felt some spirit of hope.

A minute later, the talking stopped. The ladies and my manager departed ways. The ladies exited the place and went downstairs. Sonya looked kind of angry. My manager, Mr. Boston walked towards us. He had a straight face and I couldn't tell what was going through his head.

"Kelvin," he began. "What was that all about ?"

"It was all a misunderstanding, sir."

He sighed. "The lady that just complained is the daughter of a business magnate. Do you know what that could do to us ?"

"No sir." I replied politely.

"It can bring a bad reputation on our restaurant." he stated. "We are one of the prominent eateries in the country. I don't want you dragging the restaurant in the mud. Is that clear ?"

"Yes sir."

He looked at his watch. "Get back to work. I'm giving you another chance. You should be grateful her friend explained everything well to me. And also, control yourself. I don't want this to happening again. Is that clear ?"

"Yes sir."

"Good evening then."

With that, Mr. Boston left us. I let out a huge breath of relief. I really thought I was going to get fired. Thanks to Sonya's friend, I had a second chance. But seriously, Sonya took this personal. It was like as if I had offended her in the past.

I angrily gazed at Eugene and he avoided my gaze by using his phone. Felicity, one of my co-workers came to our counter.

"Do you know who was that ?" she queried.

Eugene and I shooked our heads.

"She's the daughter of Mr. Hanson. As in Mr Fred Hanson." Felicity gisted.

"The multimillionaire ?" Eugene asked.

"Yes of course." she assured. "Who else ? His daughter was the one who just spoke to the manager. You are lucky she didn't report you to the police or something, Kelvin."

"Oh no," I said sarcastically. "Did I really commit a serious offense ? Give me a break. She just wanted to put her anger on me."

"Be careful with who you meet, Kelvin." Felicity warned as she left.

I've heard of Mr. Hanson but I didn't know I would actually meet him or his children. I just hope I don't get tangled up with them again. I've had enough nonsense for a lifetime.

.

Sonya

"You are going to takeover my businesses whether you like it or not," Dad declared boldly. "That's my final decision."

"For the last time," I coldly implored. "It's still too early. I'm not ready for such responsibility. Just let me continue working for you. 2 years. That's all I ask for."

I was seated before my dad in his deluxe office. He had called for me earlier and I quickly attended to him. Only to find out that this was the reason he had called. This was the 3rd time he had brought this issue up.

Dad gave me an irritated look. "You don't tell me what to do. I make the rules around here, young lady." He paused and took a sip of alcohol he had on his desk. "I'll be handing over in a month's time."

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up angrily and stormed out of his office. My dad didn't react. He just sat there and slumped down his alcohol. I got out of the factory, got into the car and the driver drove off. That was a week ago and since then, my dad and I haven't spoken since.

I'm the second child of my parents and I feel like I am the most burdened. People think that being the daughter of a wealthy man is always a blessing but in reality, it's not. There are unforseen things going on that they don't see. And it's not that easy at all.

I didn't want to involve my best friend in this but it was driving me crazy. Presently, one week after the last dialogue with my father, I called her over to my family's house. Maybe she could help me with this one.

Olivia has been my best friend since we were 12 and her father is the owner of a luxurious hotel. Our dads are great friends and that's how we met. Olivia is a cool person and she's been there for me when I needed her. She currently works in a bank as a human resources manager.

Olivia arrived later. We met at one of the parlours in the house and exchanged greetings and pleasantries. We sat down later to talk.

"What's the problem, Sonny ?"

I checked around to see if there were any house workers around. The coast was clear.

"My dad," I began. "He wants me to take over his businesses."

Olivia started to clap and cheer excitingly. "Sonny, this is good news. Should I get some champagne so we could have a toast ?"

"No!" I yelled frantically. Olivia was confused. "That's not what I want. That's the last thing I even want from my father."

"Why not ? I thought you would be happy to carry on his businesses, right ?"

My dad owns 4 different businesses. One is a mall, another is a textile company, the third is a popular brewery factory and the last is a real estate agency. I work in three of his companies as his manager and that alone is stress for me.

I shook my head. "It's all stress and headache in disguise. I'm 24. I'm not ready to own 4 companies. I'm still young and want to live my life to the fullest. Have you seen my dad having any fun around ? He's always busy and he's 63. He should hold on to his businesses for a while. I'm not ready."

Olivia remained silent for a moment. "So you saying you don't want to takeover from your father ?". I nodded affirmatively. "But how are you going to do that ? Run away and disappear ?"

"I was contemplating on that."

"That's a bad idea, Sonnie." she pointed out.

"I know, I know, it's still my last option though." Olivia displayed a sarcastic face and I groaned. "This wouldn't have happened if Gabriel didn't leave the country two years ago."

"How is he doing in Italy by the way ? Do you still contact him ?" she asked.

"Yeah, once in a while and he's doing great. His business in Italy too is going well for him." I answered.

Olivia was puzzled. "Remind me again why your father didn't hand over to Gabriel..."

"Gabriel also didn't want to takeover as well," I explained. "So he left the country and started a classy fashion shop in Italy. For some reason, my dad didn't bother him again. And now, my dad is bringing the same pressure on me."

Olivia had a glow up and faced me with a weird face. "Sonya! How couldn't you figure this out ?"

She got up and was practically shaking me at this point and my confusion got worse.

I pulled away from her and she sat back down. "What did I just miss ? I'm so lost."

"Your brother got his own business!"

"So ?"

"That was a reasonable excuse to refuse the takeover."

"My brother is outside of the country. My dad couldn't reach him, that's why."

Olivia got frustrated. "Listen, if you have your own business, you have your own problems to take care of. Your dad's business won't be a priority anymore. It can work and delay the handover you know."

Olivia opened my eyes and I began to see things in a different light. "You have a point. It might work but my dad is just unpredictable."

"Don't worry," Olivia assured. "It will surely work."

That was a relief big time. I felt a weight had been lifted off me. "So all I need is to start a new business ?"

"Of course."

"Right," I said. "Do you have any business ideas ?"

Our conversation got interrupted when we could hear voices outside. I immediately recognised one of the voices as Raymond's and I felt an unexplainable amount of rage.

"Let's get out of here." I instructed as I stood up from the sofa quickly.