CHAPTER 8

CONVICTION

It is scary!

It is risky!

But is it worth it?

I know am capable

Will I survive?

My mind is made up

But there’s still doubt

I will get the truth

I will survive!

There’s something there

And i will find it!

That’s my conviction!

STESSY B. (Stessy Enni)

EMA

Am juggling my ringing phone, my bag and my keys, while rushing out of the office to meet up with Mr. Mark and am sure he’s the one calling right now; since I am running late because we had a late meeting at the office which extended to past office hours….ugh! It’s after 5pm already... “Hello” I answer while out of breath already, “Yeah. Sorry am on my way….yeah had a late meeting which extended to past office hours, I’ll be there in less that 10minutes” I get to my car and drive to the designated restaurant; couldn’t walk as planned since am late for the meeting already by 5minutes.

Once I arrive, I park by the side of the building and hurriedly get out. Inside the restaurant, I spot him in the corner at the back of the restaurant which smells of fried chicken and stew….Mmmm yum! But I don’t think I’ll be able to eat until I hear what he has to say. He waves me forward with a kind smile and I weave through the chairs and tables until I get to him and take a seat opposite from him. “Hello, I'm so sorry plans I'm late, didn’t mean to be, got tied up in a meeting and didn’t mean to keep you waiting, I had to drive here as fast as possible; hope you aren’t mad?” I sat down and immediately start babbling and spilling out my guts while Mr. Mark just sits there looking at me and smiling. “Its okay Ema, I haven’t been waiting here long. Just take a deep breath and settle down for a minute okay?” he chuckles lightly while a do what he says and take a deep breath and I find myself calming down. Okay that worked! Am calm and relaxed but hungry. Seriously hungry! Though anxious to hear what he has to say, I thought I won't feel like but my stomach has other plans which are made known immediately. Rubbing my hands together I ask “ So what are we talking about? And is the plan I proposed okay and feasible?” from the look he gives me….”Yeah yeah I know its risky but is there another option besides going undercover…” the work “undercover” sounds professional and makes me feel giddy. “....and finding out what really happened to my Dad and his company he worked so hard to build?”

“Ema I know this is your father’s company we’re talking about here but you don’t know these people he was working with or what they are capable of. And what is even more risky is the fact that you very little information on these men.”

“Yeah I know….it is worth a try. I can do some google search and if its not enough and I have to pay someone to get me some personal information and some names, then I will” I cut him off and say with such conviction that even I believe what am saying.

“You’re that confident huh?” he ask still not sure what to do with me

“Yeah I am” I answer now more confident than ever

“You know you’ve been like a daughter to me Ema and I won’t be happy if something bad happens to you.”

“Yeah I know Mark….” this is getting emotional which i don’t deal well with

“Before you father passed, he always told me to look after you in case something happens to him. From the look of things, he always knew something will happen to him once he got too deep or too involved in to the business of those men and he did the only thing he could to protect you by not letting them know about you. What they know is the child he had died a long time ago so they won’t get to use you against him to bend his decisions." Oh such new revelation!

"I know so many people don't know about me, but didn't know his reasons went that deep. Just thought he didn't want me to be a part of company." I say feeling really sad now, food forgotten.

"Oh Dear! It's not that he didn't want you as part of the company, he just didn't want them to take advantage of the fact you're not only a woman but will one day be at the hem and they'll have to take orders from you. And with what I know about those vicious board members, they won't think twice about putting you six feet if it means they can cut up the company in to pieces and sell it to the highest bidder without any objections from anyone."

"Oh!...." Is all I could say with such a long speech and so much to take in when I haven't even gotten to the heart of the matter yet or even harshed out the plan yet and how it's going to work. Ughhh….this is taking a toll on the emotional part of my brain!

"Yeah. So lay out your plan and we'll see how to go from there. Yes?"

"Yeah" it makes perfect sense in my head and I don't know how it is going to sound out of my head though….

"But first we'll have to fill up first, give our body and brains more energy to think better. How about that?"

"Oh! Okay great. What's on the menu then? Thought you had ordered for both of us already?" I say giving him a smile

"Didn't know what you felt like eating today with the heaviness of the discussion I think you might want to order" he says lifting his left brow with a smile…..ohhhkay time to order. I flag down the waiter and told him we’re ready to order, he gives us a menu and leaves us to decide. Perusing the menu, I don’t want something too heavy so I decide on Poulé Déjè but with fried ripe plantains. After deciding on my order, I lift up my to ask Mark what he wants, when he’s already flaging down the waiter to pass our order, and orders Fried Rice and chicken; so I pass my order as well.

While waiting for the food to arrive, I lay down my idea properly now, since the last time it was said in a rush and he didn’t get it properly. That’s what I assume anyway...I know now that the current CEO is gone, they’ll obviously need a new one so while they debate on getting a new one I’ll focus on my job and the launch and when there’s a new CEO in place, I’ll apply for a job there so I won’t get suspicious. I’ll need different credentials to apply but that won’t be a problem cause I know someone who can make me look like an outstanding candidate.The launch is coming up in two weeks, I’ll be really busy, I won’t have time to focus on that yet; so I’ll do all these after the launch. But I’ll need your help making sure every document looks legal….I say this part a little shyly and unsure. I don’t know if he’ll want to get involved and help me.

“What job position are you going to apply for?” he ask after I paused to take a deep breath.

“Executive Assistant, if allowed to the CEO.” he raises he’s eyebrows in surprise….”I need administrative access to important and secrete files, to be able to get more information, and of course that’s the best position I could think of” he starts to say something, and the food arrives. We wait for the server to leave before getting back to what he was trying to say before the interruption.

“So if you are accepted in to F.S FASHION’s new CEO decides to accept you and offer you the job, what are you going to do about your current job? Cause if they find out you’re working for their competition, it won’t take long for everything to come out in the open and you don’t want to imagine what they are going to do to you in case they findout you are a Standson…..” the suspension in his last sense brings chills to my skin causing gooze bumps. When he puts it like that, it makes me scared and determined at the same time to keep my identity hidden as much as possible. Then a light bulb goes off in my head and remember something.

“Uh uh…..when I see that look on your face, it tells me you’ve got something in mind…..spill”