Chapter 124

Margaret could not believe the kind of wisdom exhibited by Mike when he took the center stage in the dinning hall. He gave answers to almost all the questions thrown at him. He made sure he never promised nor gave out date for marriage, while he also made them wait for it's possibility. It took over one hour of deliberation before he was allowed his peace. When they were to leave, for their various apartments, Grand pa asked that Mike excuse them so he could have on on one with Margaret. Mike took a bow and left them for a little fresh air outside the house. He walked to the back where they had a swing for the children. There he sat on one of the seat swinging slowly and thinking of what next. He was ready to leave so he could plan his trip back to Africa. He knew that give and take, the shipment would arrive it's destination in two weeks. It was even the reason he felt a little bit relaxed otherwise, he would have been long gone. 

When Margaret was asked to stay back for a little chat with Grandpa and other members of the household, all she had in mind was that they were going to mandate him to do all it would take to keep Mike. She had to think through what answers she would give to any question or explanations needed. Grand pa was the first to speak, he was more interested in seeing that Mike was taken care of and whatever thing that would make him stay close to the family so as to enjoy more business deals from him, should not be swept under the carpet. One of the male grand children who was almost same age as Margaret asked what should be done to solidify the relationship between Margaret and Mike, he strongly believed as he had put it, that it was easier that way than to go about it as if he was being bought over. 

Each and every member contributed immensely according to their perspective of it. At the end, it was agreed that Margaret should go all out for mike against all odds, she was assured of the entire family backings. While she left to her apartment, it was obvious to her that the battle for Mike which she had been running away from was just about to begin. She understood what her family wanted, but she wouldn't know if they would understood what her restrictions were. She wasn't ready to tell anyone that Mike was seriously in love with someone, and that she wasn't of low class. She had secretly searched for Olivia's information, and what she found out, made her calm herself down. Her discovery that without Olivia, Mike's trip for the business wouldn't have been possible from the onset. That the business was successful, was only because Olivia accented to it. 

She got to the room, opened the door, to her surprise, Mike wasn't in there. She wondered where he must have gone to, she looked out via the window, to see if he was anywhere around the garden, but to no avail. Margaret then took her phone and called Mike, when he picked, she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't ready to answer any questions as regards him, his safety was her priority being that she brought him to the country. Mike told her where he was, and she hurriedly joined him. Margaret stepped out of the house and walked to the back yard where she met Mike, while she was advancing, Mike focused his gaze on her to see if there was any sign to show whether thing were okay or not. Unknowing to Margaret, that Mike was expecting such, she was able to remain indifferent without giving away any sign. She took the next seat close to Mike on the swing, both of them moving simultaneously to and fro the swing. 

Hi, I have been searching all over for you, she said.

Yea, I decided to have a feel of the airy environment, Mike responded.

Margaret asked if he wouldn't mind some drink out there, which he accepted the offer. This made Margaret a little more relieved, she had thought that Mike might have felt hurt one way or the other. She called on the housekeeper to get a bottle of wine and two glasses. While he went to get them, Margaret asked Mike what he thought about her family. Although Mike had few reservations, he didn't explore them, rather he concentrated on the nice side of them which sounded pleasing to her ears. The rest of the time were spent sipping wine and watching the beautiful natural environment around the house. 

In the US, Cindy felt so lonely, she had missed Mike so much, although she had spoken with him few times, but she wasn't satisfied with that, she wondered what kind of reconnection that would have kept him for this long. Her thought from what  he made her believe was that it would be a day or two journey. Cindy had seen the news, she knew Mira, she also knew she had a twin sister, but she never met her. She was excited to see and hear that Mira's sister was winning the election. She called Mira's number but it wasn't picked, then she dropped a message, congratulating her and her family in advance. She had seen Olivia's picture on Mikes Facebook page, and suspected she might be the one that Mike talked about when they interacted on their different issue in their relationship. She knew how complicating it would be if her family and that of the Harts were to have issues based on their daughters conflicting choice of a man. She wouldn't have to waste much time finding out the true nature of things between Mike and Olivia so as to nip whatever might come in the future on the board.

Meanwhile, the result of the election released so far, had a strong indication that Olivia Hart was going to be the next senator representing her constituency. The shout they heard and came out, was an attestation to this. Out of the 25 wards that had more than a hundred pollen booths, she had won twelve (12) while her closet opponent had won ten (10). The three that were remaining could still go either way but there was such strong belief that the odds were on their side. Mira advised her sister to get back to where they were seated, she didn't want Kelly to know the reason for the advice, even as Olivia understood and obeyed immediately. 

Could you please continue that story till this result become complete? Olivia asked Kelly.

Kelly smiled, he told her not to worry about anything, that she was going to come out victorious. This he said, because the kind of support he was seeing on ground, was immense. The old and the young, the youths both males and females were all out for Olivia. Having said that, he continued the story from where he stopped.

When the guest in the CEO's office came out, every other visitor were placed on hold giving room for Pauline and Kelly to go in. Kelly noticed that the expression on the secretary's face was that of excitement as if she had good news either for herself or someone, he had wanted asking her, but he had to move in with Pauline who had already opened the door. It was his first time of being in the office of such a high ranking position in any company, not to talk of the number one person. It was such a large space that one might mistake it as a sitting room in a home. When they had greeted, Pauline's Dad ushered them to a seat, while he left his official table to sit with them. At that point, Kelly was getting himself ready for questioning or caution as the case might be. All he heard from the tall handsome man was that he had been reinstated. He handed him an envelope and asked him to be of good behaviour, putting the interest of the company and that of the owners first before any other. He didn't allow Kelly to speak, all he did was turn to the daughter and told her to finish the rest. All Kelly was able to say was "thank you Sir."

Mira couldn't help but laughed out loud, she could identify with such man, it was like they were being presented with a likely picture of what their Dad could do or act when met in the office, he was more of an entirely different person at work, while he remained the best of father's at home. When she mentioned that as a response to Kelly when he asked why the laughter, Olivia had no option than to confirm. Sometimes, they believe that that behaviour had a lot to do with people who had reached a certain level of success in career.