CHAPTER TWO
HE WATCHED her out of the corner of his eye as she parked the car, her hands still shaking and her pupils slightly glassy as she gazed ahead into nothing. From looks, you'd think she was the victim of his ferocious needs. You only had to know the full story to understand it was the other way round.
He shook his head. He'd tried to think of what could have prompted her to open her mouth and offer such insult to someone she didn't know. Enough sense had been pounded into him by his mother not to be stupid. It clearly failed to keep him from entering this mess. If he had declined her offer, right now, he'd be home resting and planning his tomorrow.
“I'm listening, Lady.” Some edge had crept back into his voice despite schooling himself he needed to calm down to assess the situation.
She tried and failed to keep her hands steady and folded them on her lap.
One other thing his mother had taught him was to treat a lady right. Maybe this one fell short but a lady all the same.
Bringing his full attention on her, he ignored the way she squirmed in her seat. He might as well keep his gaze scorching to gain the upper hand.
Alright, He began “We'll do it this way; I'll ask you a question and you answer straight to the point. Agreed?”
She nodded jerkily.
“Let's start with your name; what is your name?”
Her voice croaked, and she cleared it, then supplied, 'Samantha. He didn't notice her pause before she added reluctantly, “Barigha.”
He nodded. Progress. “How old are you?”
She turned to him sharply and seeing his own gaze, simply fell back to the seat and with a resigned sigh, she told him simply, “32.”
He did a mental trek backwards. That could be a motivating reason, but he shook it off. He meant to be stern and kept his gaze burning. “What do you do?”
Relaxing a bit now, she waved her hand absentmindedly. “You have my business card.”
Irritated, he bared his teeth in a show of anger. “Answer the question.”
The tone of his voice set her on edge again. She cleared her throat before answering. “I'm a lawyer.”
Interesting, He thought. He's yet to look at the card shed given to him. “Who do you work for?”
She swallowed slowly, “I own a firm.”
“Living with the family?”
“No,” shaking her head. “I own a bungalow at Wuse II.”
Real money. Anyone who lived there either was a millionaire or a call girl. Her car was just a statement. He should have known. A young, attractive and wealthy woman always posed a challenge to the opposite sex. Not a wonder she was single.
An important question. “Are you a Christian?”
She smiled to herself. “Yes.”
He doubted that, “You obviously were not listening to Wisdom, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.”
She scoffed, “Don't I know that!” Sounding miffed.
He raised a brow. A backbone on. Definitely a fire cracker when you can find the right buttons to push.
Taking in a deep breath, she released it and turned to face him. “Look, I'm sorry for what I asked of you. I hope you will forgive and forget this scene ever happened.”
He began to laugh and he noticed she had stiffened. What she didn't know was that his laughter was not one of amusement but incredulity and unbelief. Forgive and forget. Just like that. Act as though it never happened. Very cushy.
“I'm serious, Mr. Grinder,” Frowning, “I apologize for putting you in a difficult position as we don't know each other, but I would appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anyone. Are we clear?”
He simply stared at her. She must really be dumb, but he didn't voice it out, rather, he gave her a hard look, which although she didn't flinch as he'd expected, he saw the uncertainty clearly etched in the depths of her eyes.
“You, pointing a finger at her, “… are obviously not very smart.”
∞ ∞ ∞
With the way Gracie stared at her, Samantha felt they were about to go into a long chat. This, she was not going to do. It was too early after that embarrassing scene to want to talk to her nosy friend. For Gracie was nosy indeed. Too much rode on her sanity to avoid a confrontation.
The sigh of relief was unconscious when her phone rang. She didn't even pause enough to find out who the caller was first.
“Good evening, ma'am. There's a Mark Grinder on the line to speak with you.” Stacy, her secretary said.
Surprise made her pause but catching the look of inquiry on Gracie's face, she forced herself to sound cheerful, “Okay,” Later, she'd berate herself for agreeing.
There was a short static noise and his voice came up, none too pleased, “Hello?”
Forcing a smile not to encourage Gracie's look, “Samantha Barigha here.”
There was a short pause. “I'd hoped never to speak to you again but I forgot my diesel in your car.” He sounded miserable.
She bit her lower lip as the insult stung, “I'm sorry, but I'm busy right now. Tomorrow, perhaps. Can I give it to you on my way to work?”
“No!” He said, not at all pleased with her answer.
Shock and despair cloaked her face and Gracie caught it well enough, jumping up from the couch. What had she gotten herself into? 'I can't come now... '
“...you'd better find a way because I'm not about to let my phone stay switched off until Her Majesty decides when it’s convenient for her.”
Now, she felt the full impact of what she'd done. How had she put herself in such a fix? How had it happened? She placed a hand on her forehead “Mr. Grinder, please. Listen, …”
“I did and I regret it now.” A pause, “Thirty minutes.” And the line went dead.
Samantha felt like crying. And she never cried, at least not so easily. She fell back unto the couch and Gracie placed a sympathetic hand on her arm. When did things get so irrational with her?
“Work issue?” Gracie asked concerned.
She shook her head. Only if it was! That was her turf. She knew how to handle her turf.
At Gracie's prompting, she told her of how they'd met, leaving out the embarrassing scene of her proposal completely.
Gracie frowned. 'If you gave him a lift, why is he so angry for forgetting his property in your car?'
Gracie was not stupid; many non-flattering things but certainly not stupid.
“You know what? Give me his address, I'll take it to him.”
But even as Samantha gladly did, she knew it was a huge mistake.
∞ ∞ ∞
She knew it was him when she spotted him. How, he could not tell, but she knew because she waved at him and packed the car. She was out of the car before he crossed the road to meet her. The trunk door opened, and he went first to retrieve his diesel before she came face to face with him.
This one was flashier. Taller by a few inches too. She looked like a model on a run way with her black slit skirt and pink designer chiffon top neatly tucked in. The hair she made could probably pay for his mother's medical bill. Her shoes screamed a thousand dollars. And dollar lately was expensive!
This was awkward. He felt strangely assessed and managed not to fall on his face. “Good evening. Gracie, right?”
She nodded and looked around, not at all surprised at the environment, like she'd expected it. She gave him a smile that clearly said, 'You'll do.'
Mark began to wonder why he'd accepted the ride. He'd asked for it and now, it was returning to him in good measure, pressed down and shaken together.
She inclined her head towards where he'd appeared from. Shall we?
Yep. And definitely running over it was coming back to his bosom. He'd asked for it all right.
Seeing no choice but to see to the end of what had started, he crossed the road, very conscious of her a step behind him.
She didn't comment or make any of those girly noises even when a rat nearly ran into her. Nope, she appeared quite intrigued and happy. Obviously, she did this kind of thing every other day. The environment did not perturb her one bit. He quite remembered the shock he'd seen on the other ones face at seeing the place, like it was impossible. Very few people knew Abuja had an inner city in the inner city, although compared to the others of its kind, it was like a haven.
He was trying not to think of what this visit meant. After turning one down, they'd sent reinforcement. She really didn't want to give up. And this one was more brazen. What lady followed someone shed never met before to his house and not care?
“I’ll get a chair.” He said when they arrived at his house. A public, single room apartment in an L-shaped building, his room, facing the narrow entrance they had come through.
He unlocked his burglary gate and returned with a plastic chair. Not very cozy but it was what worked for him. He excused himself and went to the room at the extreme end to the left and knocked. Morris, a middle aged man and also his caretaker poked his head out.
“Abeg, give me chair.”
“You get visitor?” Glancing over Mark to stare slack-jawed at the sight seated in front of Marks room. “I …” He stammered, then, disappeared back inside.
Mark grabbed a hold of the plastic chair as it appeared at the doorway, and handed him the phone.
“Thank you.”
He left Morris standing in apt awe at the picture of class and sophistication sitting in his compound. He didn't blame the man. The lady Gracie looked like a male fantasy.
He settled down across from her. She really made a dashing picturesque, sitting there and looking like a something out of a Forbes magazine.
“Mr. Grinder,” She began 'I'm going to be very straight with you.”
Very assertive personality too. Oh, boy!
“I look out for my own and you've obviously upset my own.”
Cried to her mother, did she? Well, he didn't care one bit.
She gave him a small smile, “Let’s do it this way. I'm going to ask you a few questions. You'll provide me with the right answers. Can you do that?”
Clearly, these women were spoiled. He tampered down on the rising anger. It simply would do no good getting angry. And so, he sat there and nodded, just for the sake of it. He didn't think his no would mean anything to her anyway. She clearly had a mission here.
“Tell me about Mark Grinder.”
Feigning disinterest, he shrugged simply. No need getting angry and showing it.
“What’s the highest educational degree you have attained?”
She would not be dissuaded, it seemed. “BA.” Then at her inquisitive look, he reluctantly added, “Law.”
The smile she gave didn't reach her eyes but clearly, wheels were turning in her head.
“Gone to law school yet?”
Easier to answer now. “Working on it. I got the form.”
Her nod was an approval and the smile did reach her eyes this time. Wonderful. You clearly have a plan. “That's a bonus-point in your favor. What do you do presently?”
You'd think this was a job interview!
“I teach.” And decided against telling her the other jobs he did, which her colleague had seen him do. He wasn't sure what they'd discussed and what was said about him. Yet. But he would get to it. He hoped to get that piece of information out of her.
“Say you have an opportunity to do a better job, what's your plan for law school?”
He shrugged, “Work and school.”
She clapped like shed gotten her answer. “Smart mind you've got. Do you have a family?”
He didn't want to drag any of his siblings into whatever sick game they were playing. So he opted for omission of the entire truth. “Yes but they're not here.”
Let her think what she will!
“Good.” She said satisfied. “Because we wouldn't want our little secret being blabbed and gossiped about.”
She saw the anger he barely held back and gave him a senile smile. This was one dangerous woman that was used to getting her way. She knew how to use her tools of war well. A man stood no chance against that.
But he did. He didn't care for over-bloated ego in a woman. She seemed to register his thoughts and grinned.
“I'll cut you a deal, Mark Grinder. I'll not only drop your name with the Chief Judge of Nigeria. I'll get you the letter of employment. Special classes are arranged at the high court for personnel staff. That should provide you the platform to start a decent life.”
He was too happy to register how insulting the last part sounded. But when he spoke, he smothered the joy and kept his voice and expression flat and bare of emotions. “What's your game?” The anger succeeded in creeping into the tone of his voice.
That only seemed to please her. She obviously derived joy from doing this. It could well be a hobby for her.
“You date my friend, at a very discreet level, of course.”
It wasn't difficult to keep his expression blank. That was what he felt anyway.
“Of course you'd have to wait a few months, say three to four and you should have saved enough to move from this place to an apartment in town.” She saw his face and only smiled, unperturbed at his expressionless look.
“I drive a hard bargain, Mr. Grinder. You will have to show that you care for her. Don't forget, I hold your employment in my hand.”
He lifted his brows in mockery at the threat. Surprise wasn't what he felt. He'd expected no less from her, she definitely looked the type who fought tooth and nail to get what she wanted.
She got up, “Don't look so serious, Mark. It is a good deal. You wouldn't get a better one from me!” Then smiled.
He'd thought so.
Keeping his face bare of any flicker of emotion, the wheels started turning in his own head. The job was a good deal. Nobody said he had to add the dating part. He was going to get enough contact at the High Court to deflect her threat. An opportunity for him to finally get his dream of one day becoming a judge already in place. The deal couldn't get any better.
He'd play this game. Oh, he would. And enjoy every minute of it. Yep. Every single minute of it.
He got up and took her hand in a handshake Deal. And even managed to dredge up a smile.
“I'll see you in three months, then.”
He refused to tell her that the phone they'd been communicating with wasn't his. His battery was flat and that was why he'd insisted on getting his diesel back, so he could power his on.
She gave him a look. “Don't hurt her, Mark Grinder. You don't want to mess with her. Or me.”
A second warning. That was swell. He'd keep that in mind.
“Get your papers ready. You'll get a call this week.”
He nodded, resolving to call her when his phone was powered up. He certainly didn't plan to let a little slip jeopardize this opportunity.
∞ ∞ ∞
Samantha smiled into the file and picked up her phone on the third ring. The smile deepened when she saw the caller ID.
“Someone is very emotional right now.” Her younger sister, Rita's voice came loud and clear.
“Good afternoon to you too. This is Barrister Samantha Barigha from Samantha Consults. How can I help with the emotional?” She asked in the same playful tone as her sister.
More child-like giggles followed by the clearing of throat as Rita assumed a more serious tone, “I'd like to sue my mother, please.”
Samantha held herself from laughing and kept up the same tone. “On what charges, may I ask?”
Maintaining the same tone, Rita said, “For abandonment and the use of insulting words on a minor.”
She noted the laughter behind the words and asked more seriously. “What is it, Rita?”
Giving up the pretense, Rita replied in her normal tone. “My lesson teacher is sick, so she can't take me for the extra lessons today. I called Mom and she asked me to remain in school and would pick me up after work. But I am walking down towards...”
Alarmed, Samantha sat up. “You are walking on the road alone?”
She hesitated, “No, my friend Leila is with me and her brother. We were going to get to your office and …”
Samantha groaned. Her office was several blocks from the school. “What were you thinking, Rita?” She closed her eyes, as her heart rate slowed to normal. “Where are you now?”
Getting up, she began moving to the door as her sister looked around and told her.
“Okay, stay there. I'm coming to pick you up. All of you.”
Samantha didn't mutter. That's what she would have liked to do now.
About an hour later, she returned to her office, well exhausted from answering questions from three vibrant children.
∞ ∞ ∞
He found himself in front of her office building before the plan could take root. The past two months had him thinking on what to do to teach Samantha Barigha a lesson. Mark Grinder was nobody's plaything. If she thought she could throw money in his face to let him quiet, she obviously wasn't as smart as she looked.
The past two months have been very fulfilling. He'd just started the classes last week, having paid part of his tuition. Plus, the bonus of working in the office of the Chief Judge of Nigeria. How cool was that?
He showed the security his ID, and they let him through the gate. He wasn't sure what to do or say to her yet but it would come to him. All through his stay at the high court, he'd gathered enough information about her work and quite impressively, she was a terrific lawyer. Maybe with as many flaws as politics could taunt on anyone.
One thing he'd also learned about her, she despised politics in the courtroom. It was the reason she’d started her own law firm. To her credit, he did admire the wisdom in that.
He noticed the building first. It was a towering six storied building. She occupied the first floor. He'd done an estimate of how much the place cost; close to fifteen million per year. This lady obviously had the cash to afford it. Not a wonder shed listed all of those things for him.
The receptionist greeted him and asked him to sign in, “Please.”
The offices were neatly lined in two rows with the aisle in the middle. She had a strong workforce, he'd read in her file. He'd not guessed how strong. There were at least thirty he could count and each was busy with case files. Some were making calls. One of them picked up his jacket after a call and dashed past him towards the entrance. He'd picked up a scent, it seemed.
Mark shook his head. He'd underestimated the lady's wealth. One person was dozing off with clusters of paper everywhere, her head rested in deep sleep over some papers.
Maybe he should rethink his plan. He'd heard rumors at the High Court about Barrister Samantha Barigha being in her father’s shadows. She won every case she handled. The one case shed lost had been because her client had lied to her, and he'd heard that she was very careful and selective of the cases she took on since then.
He paused at her secretary's door, seeing the sign on the door to his left with her name on it. The secretary was so engrossed in her work she did not notice him. Just as well. He needed to think.
She raised her head up and saw him. And smiling, he went over.
∞ ∞ ∞
Samantha frowned and looked up from the case file shed been reviewing all day as her secretary rushed in looking shell-shocked. Her frown deepened. Stacy knew better than to rush in like that. It was also the first time she looked rattled. Stacy never did.
She cocked a brow, keeping the anger at the interruption at bay. It was easy. She’d never let anger make her react negatively, especially at her staff. It was one of the things she’d learned to be a lawyer. Anger makes you lack the right attitude to respond and react to a case.
“What is it, Stacy?” She asked when Stacy continued to stare at her in shock.
The question jolted her enough that she rushed on without thinking. “Your fiancé is here to see you.”
Quickly, Samantha lowered her lashes, avoiding eye contact with Stacy. She was not going to let her staff know how shocked she was as well. This couldn't be a joke. You don't pull pranks on Samantha.
Smiling up at Stacy, she forced herself to sound normal. Is that why you are shaking? Let him in.