Three generations episode 58

TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 58

Nwanneka wanted to resign and take over the business but uncle Onyedika told her it was a bad idea. Instead, he asked her to continue her job while she employed a Managing Director to run the affairs of the company. She had made tremendous growth in her career and she should also consider her gratuity and pension when she eventually leaves.

Nwanneka met with Titus and asked him to help her get a Managing Director to run the business while she worked. He felt she didn’t need one but a General Manager. He advised her to get one of the boys who had gotten their freedom from Chike but still hung around to run it. Pay him well and he can also operate his own business from the office. He assured her it will work well. She should continue to be the sole signatory of all the accounts and the business. Since she was still in Apapa, it will be easy to run.

She went back to work cutting short her study leave as she didn’t attend classes and with the events that happened afterwards, she couldn’t continue. She wrote and was accepted to return back to her post. She tried to run the business on her own but she had issues meeting up with the business demands. Some of the boys were being disrespectful because of the sluggish way things were run while they waited for doc-ments that she needed to sign or give them. Sometimes authorization from the bank was a problem. The General Manager idea became the best option.

Nwanneka told her mother her plans when she came to visit. They discussed in the sitting room where Nwadiuto was too. Nwadiuto was against the idea of employing one of Chike’s boys.

“You are a woman; men don’t respect women. He will deliberately ruin your business, blame the failures on you, steal your customers and the company will go extinct. Continue with your work but put someone very loyal to you to work with you. The person will handle sensitive doc-ments and materials. This is my opinion”

“That’s the person I am looking for. Who is loyal and is also competent to run the company?”

“You don’t know? I know someone you are not considering because of her age. See, if you pay her twice what she is earning and she is so committed, she will jump at it”

“She? A woman? But I thought you said women are not respected”

“She will be in charge of the day to day running. Not like what you are doing. And, I meant men don’t like women to be their boss”

“Who is this person?”

“Ada. She is an Accounting graduate. She has worked in the office before and knows the business. She just wanted to practice what she studied in school and now she is regretting it. But, even with the regret, she is committed. Imagine if you ask her to run the place. Those guys there already know her”

Nwakaego smiled as her granddaughter spoke. She never thought of Ada herself but for Nwadiuto to have the sense to recommend and outline her qualities, she was impressed. She waited for Nwanneka to decide.

“Why didn’t I think of her? Ada is loyal truly. She has been dedicated to that job even though they paid her stipend. She has never complained to me about the place. I think Nwadiuto is right. I will pay her handsomely if she can run this company very well and get the staff to respect her”

They all agreed.

Nwanneka called Ada into her room. She asked her to sit beside her on the bed. Ada had always been free with Nwanneka but there were boundaries. She never enters the room without permission which was rare as Nwanneka cleaned up her room herself. Asking her to sit beside her on the bed scared Ada. “Does she want to send me away?” she asked herself. But the look on Nwanneka’s face was calm. She sat down and waited for her fate.

“Ada, you have been with me for years now, I hope I have been good to you”

“Mummy, you have been very good to me. I and my family are eternally grateful to you”

“I need you to do me a big favour. My problem is, can I trust you?”

“Mummy, you can trust me with anything”

“Do you like your current job? Let me rephrase that; if given a better opportunity, would you take another job?”

“Yes, ma. If the pay is good. What do you want me to do for you?”

“Ada, I want you to help me run the company. I have been having issues with running it and the boys are becoming disrespectful”

“I worked there for more than a year. I know everything about the business. I can help you. The issues the boys have raised are getting signed doc-mentation from you seems to be a big problem and payments are not authorized in time. I told them it is because they are not org-nized. They refused to listen to me after that”

“Who have you been talking with?”

“All of them. I join Uche on the way back so I listen to their complaints”

“And you didn’t talk to me about it?”

“It’s not your fault, it is theirs”

“Can you help org-nize the place? Another thing, I want to give you access to pre-signed doc-ments and any verification from you to the bank will be honoured. I am doing this because Nwadiuto trusts you so much and I believe in you. Even my mother supports this idea. I need your loyalty. You will take charge of the place in terms of doc-mentation and payments. Crosscheck all they do. Tell me what is needed. I will pay you N50,000.00 a month”

“Mummy, N50,000? That is too much ma. How can I earn that much? The boys there don’t earn that much”

“You are their boss. You will deal with them as their boss. All doc-ments will pass through you. If you need training before you start, I can send you to Titus…..”

“I don’t need training; I know all the doc-ments. Daddy treated me like one of the boys. He wanted me to work there but I wanted to practice what I studied in school. I made a mistake. The pay there is terrible. I couldn’t come back to complain to him. Now, I can help you and keep the company going. I am not going there as a boss but as your assistant and eye. If they know how much I am being paid, they will all resign”

“I will handle your salary myself. Whatever works for you to help keep Chike’s company alive please do.”

‘I will do it. I do not want mama Chike and uncle Okey to make a mockery of you if the business goes down. Also, tell uncle Onyedika to pop into the place once in a while when he is in Apapa. The boys fear him”

“That is a brilliant idea. Most importantly, Ada, do not betray me.”

“I swear on my father’s grave and my mother’s life, I will never betray you”

“I will give you time to resign and then you can begin”

“I will drop my letter tomorrow and resume with them. We have to get org-nized”

Nwanneka watched Ada leave the room. She couldn’t believe she trained such a strong-willed girl. She sounded so confident and was sure of her capabilities. Nwadiuto was a good judge of character. She prayed Ada doesn’t betray her.

When Ada resumed, the boys were initially not happy. They asked why she was brought there. She told them she came to org-nize the place so it will be easy for Nwanneka to run when she resigns from her job and faces the company squarely. They believed her.

Ada took over the office that was created for Okey when he worked there. She got a safe and filing cabinet. She also got a metal door for her office and the accounts department. She shared responsibilities to every staff through letters signed by Nwanneka. She divided the units into different offices. Employees with similar roles stayed in the same office. She made the staff work overtime to file doc-ments that had been piled up for months. She did a routine check on files to ensure they were complying with the filing. Doc-ments, stamps and other materials were safely kept away in a cupboard in the offices. Recharge cards were very expensive so she requested weekly recharge cards for every staff.

Titus went to check on the office at Nwanneka’s request and was amazed at the transformation. The scattered environment was completely org-nized. He met a lady at the front desk who attended to him. hærdly anyone was in the office at the time of his visit, it was mainly Ada. She was scrutinising a doc-ment brought in by staff. He watched her make calls to verify claims and then she called the bank telling them she was sending someone with a request. He stood there watching this young girl work like a professional. When she saw him, she smiled. This was the first time since he stood there he saw her smiling.

“Uncle, please come in”

“You have transformed this place already”

“Mummy said I should come and help out, what else was I to do?”

“You have done a good job. I also think you should repaint the office, repair some bad furniture and replace others. It will make this place wear a very new look and any prospects who walks in here will be impressed”

“I was going to suggest that but it is one at a time. Maybe when there is a long public holiday that has a weekend with it. The smell of the paint might affect the staff”

“You are very thoughtful. Are the boys cooperating with you?”

“Very much. The boys that have been here the longest, I made them unit leaders. They are happy about that. We hold meetings every Monday morning with the progress report. Some of our clients stopped using us when daddy died. I don’t know how to get them back”

“Nwanneka has to do the leg work for that. She will convince them they should come back and work with you. Or can’t you handle their jobs?”

“I will handle them personally if I need to. The boys know how to handle their clearing. They spoke only with daddy most times. I will discuss with mummy tonight to make plans to see them”

“Brilliant. Nwanneka made a very good choice. I am proud of you.” He turned to leave and she followed him. Then he stopped in his tracks and said, “nne, I hope you know these boys will make advances at you or get their friends or relatives to do so. Whatever happens, do not have anything to do with them or their friends or their relatives. They will use the medium to gain access to sensitive information and doc-ments. They could use you to defraud the company. Please don’t fall prey. It will be a disaster if Nwanneka fails at keeping the company afloat. She trusts you; don’t disappoint her”

“Uncle, Nwadiuto and I discussed this too. It wasn’t even two weeks; I saw the plot but I dodged it by being serious. After work, I can be your friend but during office hours, I don’t smile. I refused to fraternize with them apart from work. I want to get married but the man should come from somewhere else. I don’t want him to be in the same business otherwise there will be a conflict of interest”

“You are wiser than you look which is a good thing. Once you know what you are doing, I will give you my full support”

Titus had only praises for Ada. He still suggested the uplift in the office to Nwanneka. It was a storey building but looked old from the outside and the in,side. Chike hadn’t painted or done repairs since he fell ill. He spent most of his time travelling. A fresh look might just boost business.

Well, it did.

Nwanneka saw a huge difference in the boys whenever she strolled into the office during her lunch break. They talked to her with more respect and treated her special. She made sure such days she ‘declared’ for them. It was an incentive to get them to do more.

Three of the top clients of the company left after the demise of Chike. Ada insisted they came back as the clients on the ground couldn’t match up with the overhead cost of running the company and the company will have good profit as it posted in the past. She insisted Nwanneka talks to them on phone and visits them together with her so they could get their businesses back and also prospect more clients in the east.

Nwanneka called them and met with them during the weekend. When they realized she was running the company and they met Ada who they believed knew what she was doing, they agreed to give them another chance.

Nwakaego took them to three other prospects. Those three agreed to also give them business. Ada exchanged numbers with them and did some business with them.

One of them, Chief Nnamani took a liking to Ada. She gave feedback on the different stages of his transaction was until it was concluded. He told her he had a son who was doing his Masters degree abroad. He wanted to give her number to his son so they could open communication. He wanted his son to marry Ada.

Ada found it funny but obliged him. His son Nnaemeka called her a couple of times and they spoke. She advised him to only call her at certain times as she would be busy working and wouldn’t be able to attend to him.

They continued their daily conversations every morning and evening into the night. Ada liked Nnaemeka because he spoke intelligently and also had an accent. The only problem was he complained each time she doesn’t pick his call during office hours even when she had explained to him she couldn’t take personal calls while at work. He had insinuated she might have a lover but then she laughed it off believing he was being childish.

Ada went to the bank to get the company’s statement of account for auditing. While she waited, a young good looking guy wearing a light blue shirt, a royal blue tie and a navy blue suit walked up to her and said hello. She responded. He asked her if she would kindly join him in his office upstairs. She asked why.

“I don’t want anyone else staring at you. You have caused enough stares for one day”

She smiled and asked where his office was. She joined him in the office. He was the head of the marketing team of the branch. He was just newly deployed to the branch. He introduced himself as Moses. They both exchanged numbers. She liked his manner of approach.

When they talked, she explained she was in a relationsh¡p. He told her he was a widower, he lost his wife and unborn child two years prior. They agreed to be just friends. Moses respected her decision to date long-distance.

“He will be back fully in August. Then we will know where this is heading”

“And he doesn’t have a girlfriend now?”

“He might. I don’t know. I just want to believe what he tells me just like I expect him to believe what I tell him”

‘I hope you get your heartbroken and come back to me”

Ada laughed at his evil wish. She liked Moses but she was committed to Nnaemeka. She had mentioned Moses as a friend to Nneameka. She asked him if there were lady friends he had who she had to know about. He claimed there was known. At this time, their relationsh¡p was four months old.

Nwadiuto had come to visit her in the office when she was on break. She met with Moses and took a liking to him. Moses too liked Nwadiuto. They hit it off as friends. They went out on a few dates before Nwadiuto went back to school. Ada was happy. Two people she cherished were going to date.

The night before Nwadiuto’s trip back to Owerri, she discussed with Ada in the room they shared.

“Have you done it yet with Moses?” Ada asked Nwadiuto out of the blues.

“Done what?” Nwadiuto enquired.

“It. Had s€×.”

“Why would I have s€× with him? We are just friends. He just needs a companion.”

“Both of you are close now. I just asked”

“Ada, have you ever had s€×?”

“Not yet; my mother will kill me. She keeps ringing it in my ears, ‘you must enter your husband’s house intact’. I promised her I would. Since I told her about Nnaemeka, she has been doing prayers. She begs me not to allow the young boys in Lagos to deceive me. I assured her I wouldn’t.”

“My mother never discussed that with me. It was my grandmother who told me not to make the same mistake my mother made by getting pregnant outside marriage. She also preached V-rginity but I am not keeping my body for anybody. I haven’t met the right guy I want to be with, when I do, I will explore. I am ready to go to the high heavens. I have watched enough movies to know what to expect. The right guy is the problem. All those boys in school feel they are doing us a favour. When I meet the guy, I will make sure I have a good time; a memorable time”

They both laughed.

“I have done everything except penetration. I’m not in a hurry but I am also concerned. What if Nnaemeka is more experienced than me? Will he teach me or be a he-goat like one man in my village. He was caught in a widow’s house. He claimed his newly wedded wife couldn’t satisfy him as she had no experience and he had run out of patience teaching her”

“He is a selfish man. A good man will teach his woman. A good woman would also learn fast.”

“It is easier said than done. I get you. When you do it, will you tell me?” Ada asked.

“Why not? You will also tell me”

“I will.”

Nnaemeka came back as promised in August. He wanted to surprise Ada so he didn’t tell her when he came back. She was in the office working when she perceived a strong fragrance. It wasn’t just perfume, it was a mixture of scents and natural body musk. She put her work down and looked up for a moment. She heard a voice that sounded familiar. Then the person appeared in front of her door. Her door was open. He stood tall, dark, built, an afro, muscle hugging T-shirt and jeans. He was beautiful. He was like a god.

“Hello Ada,” he said to her. She knew who he was immediately.

“Welcome Nnaemeka” she replied. Her voice sounded dry because he had dried it up by appearing unexpected.

Ada ushered him into her office and gave him a seat. She had work to do so she gave him the dailies and asked him to give her thirty minutes to finish what she was doing before they could talk. He agreed. She offered him tea.

When all the doc-ments had been cleared from her desk and she had confirmed all the transactions, she took a breather to calm down. She had been glancing at him and twice their eyes locked together. He was breathtaking. He had an effect on her physically.

When she was ready, she told her staff she had a visitor and if her attention was needed, they should call instead of coming into the office.

“You caught me at a bad time. I am usually busy during the day. I will be free to leave by 4pm. We still have two hours to go. Would you like some lunch?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s good to see you. You are not as tall as I imagined but not bad looking at all. Natural beauty, natural complexion, there is nothing fake about it. Now I understand why my dad likes you”

“Because I am natural?”

“Because you are smart. I heard you doling out orders to your staff. They respect you.”

Ada’s phone rang, her attention was needed. They couldn’t have a decent ten minutes conversation before her phone rang and her attention was needed. Nnaemeka got tired and told her he would come back to pick her up at 4pm.

Ada cleared her table. org-nised herself for the next day. Talked to her staff and waited for him to arrive to pick her. He didn’t have a number to call him. She waited. He arrived at 4:30pm. He said he was stuck in traffic somewhere. They left together to the hotel he was lodged in. Ada was uncomfortable going into his room with him. He sensed it and said to her, “I don’t bite”. She followed him.

When they entered the room, he hugged her. It was like she was hugging a teddy bear. “This was what I expected when I came to your office and saw me. You don’t miss me at all”

“I was surprised. That wasn’t how I envisaged our first meeting was going to happen. I was shocked and shy. You weren’t what I expected.”

“I’m back. I came back because of you; I wanted to meet you. You are not what I expected but I am still happy. You will spend the night with me and I will take you to work tomorrow then we spend the weekend together”

“I am not sleeping here tonight; where will I tell my mother I am? With a guy? I can’t do that. I will stay with you a while and go back home.”

“When will we spend time together to get to know each other?”

“The weekend is fine”

“Will you spend the weekend with me?”

“Days and not nights”

Nnaemeka looked at her. What was his father thinking? She was not his type at all. She was shorter than he expected. She had a nice body quite alright but she looked unsophisticated. What the hell was she wearing? She didn’t look like a girl he would hang out with. But, because he had intEr×¢ted with her for more than six months, he knew there was more to her than what he saw. He observed she was shy too. He wouldn’t push but he was sure to make moves tonight or over the weekend.

He attempted to k-ss her that night but she shied away and he let it pass. Her mother had called to find out where she was. As she picked the call, she quickly gathered up her things to leave. He got her a taxi to take her home.

Over the weekend, she looked better. She wore jeans, a top and a pair of flat shoes. She smelt better too. They went sightseeing. She enjoyed herself and loosened up a bit. He took her in his arms many times when they were out and she didn’t resist.

When they got back to the hotel, he made the attempt to k-ss her again. This time, she gave in. He k-ssed her passionately. When they separated, she picked her bag to leave, she couldn’t look him in the eyes. “What was wrong with her? Why was she acting so naïve?” Nnaemeka wondered.

Ada didn’t expect the k-ss to happen but it did. She enjoyed it. She knew she was physically attracted to Nnaemeka but there was something about him she didn’t feel secure about. It bothered her. She shared her experience and reservations with Nwadiuto. Nwadiuto just laughed at her and asked her to follow her heart.

The following weekend, Nnaemeka told Ada he was travelling to see his father in Asaba. She came to the hotel to surprise him too. She wanted to follow him to the airport. She found his room door slightly ajar which was strange. She pushed it gently in to tiptoe into the room to surprise him. She overheard his conversation.

“She is too local. She wasn’t what I expected. She looks like a village girl my father wants to force me to marry. I can’t deal. She dresses like an old hag. I don’t have an idea the century her clothes are from. Yeah, I love light-skinned girls but her complexion is dull. She’s short too. She’s just ordinary. Does Mekus do ordinary? Did you see Brittany? She has been blowing up my phone. The bitch is ready to move to Nigeria with me. But the old man wants this girl for me. He’s kidding me”

Ada couldn’t believe all she heard. She tiptoed back out of the door. She shut it after she left and fled to the stairs. Nnaemeka heard the door shut. He went outside to see who could have closed it but didn’t see anyone. He went back in,side, still on the call, he dragged his luggage out.

Ada went home heartbroken. Nnaemeka wasn’t the first person to mock her about her looks and dressing. She chose to look this way because of the job she was doing so as not to attract attention to herself. She was a simple girl who didn’t believe in wearing artificial hair, nails, makeup and so on. She had always used Vaseline Intensive care lotion on her skin. She wore her natural permed hair. What more did he want? Who is Brittany he was comparing her with?

Nnaemeka called her severally on his way to the airport but she didn’t pick up. She was still very upset. If he wasn’t into her, he could have just said so instead of making advances at her. She k-ssed him. That was wrong. He had made moves to have s€× with her but she rebuffed them.

When Ada spoke with Nwadiuto later that night, she told her what had happened and all she heard. She cried while narrating it to her.

“He is a jerk. But then, I am surprised you haven’t put him in his place. Is it because his father has money he feels he can treat you anyhow? See, tell him you are not interested. He should go back to Brittany. Ada, you are a fine girl. His father saw something in you that is making him insist Nnaemeka marries you. Make Nnaemeka see it, that is if you like him enough. If you don’t, tell his father you can’t be with him”

“I like him. It is just that I feel less around him now I know all this”

“Stop feeling less and tell him what you will take and what you wouldn’t take. Are you sure the k-ss isn’t confusing you?”

“He said I dress like a hag. Is my dressing that bad?”

“To work, honestly, it is. But you can make it get better with time. Do not change because of Nnnaemeka. Change because you want to”

“I am not changing. I have had many suitors who I have turned down because of Nnaemeka. Didn’t they see me looking like a hag? If I dress well to the office, they will believe I have started stealing money or my salary is much”

“Or, your fiancé just came back and shopped for you. By the way, what did he give you when he came back?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all”

“That’s not husband material. He didn’t shop for his fiancé he has been blocking other people’s chances with her? He is not serious. Bring it up too”

Chief Nnamani called Ada the next morning. He asked if she had met his son and she confirmed it. She told him she had met him. Physically, he was ok but she still had her reservations character-wise. He asked her if Nnaemeka had done something to her. She said no, it was more of what he didn’t do than what he did. Chief appealed to her to consider him. He said Nnaemeka was interested in her and he had stated so.

Nnaemeka called severally for almost two weeks, she didn’t pick up his calls. He used his father’s phone to call her. She picked up. He was angry at her. She told him it was business hours and couldn’t discuss anything personal during business hours and ended the call.

Nnaemeka was angry. How dare Ada respond to him in that manner. He was so mad that his father asked him what happened.

‘She disrespected me”

‘How? Ada is not like that”

“She has refused to pick my calls in weeks. I came back because of her and she disrespects me like this? I am through with her. I was even trying to manage her; she is not the girl I desire. Since you chose her, I was willing to go along with you. You have never led me astray. But this girl isn’t it”

“If you are not into her then it is best we end this. You sound as though you are doing her a favour by marrying her. She isn’t desperate to get married neither is she helplessly in need of a man to take care of her needs. She is a hærd-working girl who is dedicated to her job. She is loyal to her boss. She hasn’t bitten the fingers that fed her. Has she told you her story? Have gotten to know her well? She was twelve when her real father died and she went to stay with her boss at the age of fifteen. She trained her and now she is managing the family business. She has boys working with her but she is comported. Even when dealing with clients, she is very professional. She agreed to this relationsh¡p because of me. She’s having doubts about it. Since you also don’t like her, then free her to find her happiness with someone else”

Nnnaemeka came back to Lagos. He called Ada but she didn’t pick up. He came to her office. She greeted him and informed him she couldn’t attend to personal matter during office hours. He should return by 4pm for them to discuss. Nnaemeka left and didn’t return.

The next day, he was in the office at 4pm. Ada wasn’t ready to close for the day as she had to get to the bank to submit some doc-ments for the next morning. Nnaemeka agreed to take her to the bank. She met Moses outside the bank and stopped to talk for a minute. When Moses asked who the guy in the car was, she told him Nnaemeka. He was surprised. He felt intimidated. He went with Ada in,side. He asked questions about the relationsh¡p but she didn’t sound excited.

“What is wrong? You have been waiting for this guy to come back since”

“Do I dress like a hag? Do I look ordinary?”

“I think you are beautiful. You don’t dress like a hag. You are a simple girl; that’s the main attraction for me”

Moses always said the right things. Unfortunately, she was stuck with Nnaemeka.

When they got to the hotel, he asked her why she hadn’t been picking his calls and she told him she didn’t feel like talking to him.

“You know that’s disrespectful”

‘What is disrespectful is leading one on when you don’t really want the person”

‘What do you mean?”

“I am not sophisticated enough for you, right?”

“Did I say that?”

“She dresses like a hag, I wonder what century her clothes are from?”

“Where did you hear that from?”

“I can’t stand deceitful people. I am not good enough for you. I would rather we end this conversation now. I am leaving”

“You haven’t told me where you heard that from. Have you been spying on me?”

“Ask Brittany, she might know. Bye Nnaemeka. It was nice knowing you” and she walked out of the room leaving Nnaemeka completely dazed at her utterances.

Tbc