EPISODE SIX
Retro
Nike looked at the notice again. Toju had brought it
in. She had since moved out of the home she had shared with Lanre and was now
living with Toju, her bestfriend, pending when she was able to settle into her
life again. Her mother had asked her to come stay over but she didn’t want to be reminded of the loss of her son with their constant weeping and continuous
expressions of how disappointed they were in Lanre. Toju lived alone. She had
moved out of her husband’s house when she had caught him cheating some years
ago.
“Who’s it from? No one really knows I’m staying with
you except my family.” Nike said.
Toju handed the white envelope over to Nike. It was
an official envelope from Mybridge Properties Limited.
“What does he want now?” Nike sighed.
“Who?” Toju asked.
“This is from the company. Our company.”
“Oh I see. Open it then…”
“Yeah…” Nike pulled open the overlap of the envelope
which was sealed. She took out the letter and unfolded it.
Special Notice of Extraordinary
General Meeting for removal of Mrs. Olanike Akingbile from the Board of
Directors of Mybridge Properties Limited.
Notice
is hereby given that the company shall hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on
the 5th day of November 2014 by 10a.m at its registered address to discuss
the following businesses:
1.
Commencement
2.
Matters
Arising from the Minutes of the Last meeting
3.
Removal
of Mrs. Olanike Akingbile from the Board of Directors
4.
Any
other Business
5.
Closing
Signed
Joseph Jidenna
Company Secretary.
Nike read out the content of the letter.
“Removal ke? Why?” Toju asked, looking puzzled.
“Your ex is a real idiot, babe. How can he do this? After everything? Can he
even do this? You set up that company with him didn’t you?”
Nike stared into space. She was shocked beyond words.
Toju took the envelope from her and read through it herself. There was another
sheet of letter head inside the envelope. She opened it and read through.
“What’s that?” Nike asked.
“Reasons why they are removing you from the board.”
“And what reason would that be?” She laughed.
“Incompetence. You have been absent from three
consecutive board meetings and by the provisions of the articles of the company
you can be removed bla bla…” Toju shook her head.
“Isn’t this supposed to be by vote or something? And
why are they still referring to you as Mrs. Akingbile?” Toju asked.
Nike shrugged.
“I haven’t changed my name.”
“And you are a majority shareholder right?”
“I think so…I held 30% and he had 60 leaving 10
unallotted. We were going to allot them to the boys but then he said we
shouldn’t. Then his friend and business partner wanted 48% in exchange for
services he was rendering to the company. I gave up 27 of mine because Lanre
had to still have controlling shares and he is….i mean was…my husband and head
of the family.”
Toju looked puzzled.
“Em…so you have 3% now?”
Nike nodded.
“Let me call my lawyer friend to advise us on what
we can do.”
Nike stopped her as she reached for her phone.
“What?” Toju eyeballed her. Nike was crying already.
“I am tired. I am tired of fighting. I am tired of
everything. I am just exhausted. I don’t think I have the strength to fight
him. The only thing I want is for my child to come back to Nigeria. He is
refusing to sign the consent forms.” Nike cried.
“Why are you acting like a mumu? This man is
cheating you on every side! He cheated in the marriage, practically frustrated
you out of your own home…now taking your company from you gradually and he
caused Lekan’s death as far as I am concerned….”
Nike raised her hand midway in the air, meaning for
Toju to stop.
“I’m sorry.” Toju said. She knew Nike never wanted
to mention Lekan’s name or talk about his death. The other evening, she had seen
Nike holding an old photo that she had taken with Lekan. Toju remembered that
photo. She had taken the shot at Nike’s brother’s wedding.
“Its okay.” She responded.
“Do I call the lawyer?”
“No. They are right. I can’t keep up with any duties
as a director. I don’t think I can stand attending meetings and looking at his
face. Too many bad feelings right there, you know.”
“But your shares nko?”
“Well…I’ll retain my shares. It’s 3%. I’m fine being
a minority.”
Toju smiled, looking at her friend.
“You’re a good woman sha. I wish I was like you but
my blood is too hot.” Toju said.
“I know…aren’t you still getting twelve million
annually from Sule’s company?” Sule was Toju's ex husband.
“Yes ofcourse.” Toju said.
…
Lolade had just finished with the model she was
working on. She smiled as the photographer started to take shots. One of the
top tier fashion designers; Mimy of Mimmienne’s Couture had hired her to do the
makeup for her models for the Lagos Fashion Week. Lanre had helped get the
connection though. Mimy was his business partner’s wife.
“Are all the models ready now?” one of Mimy’s workers
yelled. Lolade had brought one of her staff to work with her. He was her best
hand. They weren’t done yet. They still had one more model to go.
“Almost, please.” Lolade said.
She had begun wiping
off the oil on the last model’s face when she begun to feel the tightening in
her stomach. She knew she couldn’t continue so she asked her staff to finish
up.
She hurried
to the rest room and threw up in the sink. She felt absolutely uncomfortable. Maybe
this was her first sign of morning sickness. She rinsed her mouth and then went
into the toilet to urinate.
Then she saw it.
She hadn’t exactly taken a pregnancy test. She had
still not peed on the stick she bought at the pharmacy the other day and she
had continued to postpone her visit to the doctor for a proper HCG blood test
because she’d been busy with a lot of weddings.
She was not pregnant. She was only late. By a month
and two weeks. And now her period had come knocking.
…
Lanre read through the letter that Joseph, the
company secretary had just handed to him. He was reading the letter for the
third time. He looked up at Joseph, confused and speechless.
“When did this come in?” Lanre asked.
“This morning.” Joseph responded.
“So what is the implication of this…?”
“Well, it makes everything easier. The better for
her though. She decided to resign as a director instead of being removed. We still
have two directors which is the minimum so that works fine. If you are bringing
in a third person make it someone you can have some level of influence over
though. They do not have to hold shares since the articles don’t insist on
that.” He said.
Lanre nodded.
“It’s okay. Let me think about it. I’ll get back.”
“Okay. Just hurry up with that so we can do the
necessary filing together at the CAC because until that’s done, she is still a
director on paper.”
“Thank you, Joseph.” Lanre said.
He looked at the slender and short man as he got off
the chair and headed for the door. He wondered at Joseph’s enthusiasm though in
getting Nike off the board. He wasn’t sure if he had personal issues against
his ex wife or if the man was just doing his job.
As Joseph shut the door, he took the letter and looked
at it again. Was Nike up to something? How come she gave in so easily? Was she
trying to get back at him in another dimension? A part of him felt the obvious
guilt and he felt bad for what he was putting her through. He didn’t mean to be
mean to her. But he didn’t want her to bring Lade back to Nigeria and he had to
get her to abort the mission because he was afraid.
Lanre was afraid and he admitted this to himself for
once.
He couldn’t bear to look at Lade’s face on a daily
basis. He knew it would remind him of how he had failed as a father and a
husband to Nike. He didn't have to remove her as a director from the company. she hadn't shown up at the board meetings because she had been grieving.
He knew it would haunt him of how he had reneged on all the
promises he had made to her many years ago at the church altar where he had
sworn to love her and protect her. Those promises he had made at the hospital
bed when she had birthed Lekan through a Caesarian section and she had to be
given blood because she had lost so much. He had sworn to never leave her and
to always be a role model to their children. She had told him how her father
had always been away on business trips and how she didn’t want her children to
experience the same kind of childhood. But he hadn’t been able to fulfill that.
He had to work…not because he had to but because he wanted to make a name for
himself…different from his father’s brand. His father had wanted him to work at
their energy company but he had preferred real estate. He had even tried to
persuade his father to incorporate a subsidiary that would handle real estate
section and he would gladly work within the family that way but his father had
disagreed with the idea, called the market saturated, and insisted that Lanre
would not be able to sustain for long.
He started to realize after Lekan’s death that he
had spent all his time attacking his father and his past while neglecting his
son and his future.
Nike did not deserve all he did to her. No, she was
not a perfect woman or a perfect wife. She was far from that but he had no
reason to hurt her the way he did. Maybe it was revenge and built up resentment.
He remembered the first time he had asked Nike to fulfill
one of his strange sexual fantasies. Nike had called him vile and beastly. She had
threatened to report him to his family if he ever brought up such disgust in
their home again. And Lanre had not been able to understand why his wife would
not want to have a three some. It wasn’t as though he shared any feelings with
the other woman. It was only fun…and meaningless.
He pulled out his drawer and searched for the last
wrap of his stuff. He grabbed his lighter and lit the end of it then he begun
to inhale deeply. He shut his eyes as he anticipated the absence from his
realities. Temporarily. He smoked some more.
The idea popped in his head. He wanted to have a
three some again. He didn’t know how Lolade would feel about it but she was
usually open to anything. He remembered she was pregnant. He had promised to
marry her, especially as he was no longer married to Nike. But a part of him
didn’t want to jump right into another marriage. He wanted a breather…for a
while, to get his life back in track. Especially with the tragedy that had
befallen him.
He left the office by 5.30pm. He didn’t care if his
staff smelt the strength of the weed on him. He got into the car and asked the
driver to take him home. They were to stop over at Victoria Island. He had a
delivery to pick up.
The delivery was cute. She was tall, light skinned
and protruded the right assets in the right places. She smiled and giggled a
lot. She was a little younger than Lolade…definitely under twenty one. The girl
sat with him in the back seat and he rubbed his palms on her thigh. His phone
rang. It was Lolade.
“Hey baby. I was just going to call you. How is the
runway thing going?” Lanre said.
“I’m okay. I’m coming home. I have to see you. I’m
so sad right now.” Lolade said.
“Oh Sweets. Everything is going to be
aaaaaaaalllright! Alright all the time. Okay?” Lanre laughed.
“Baby are you okay?” Lolade said.
“Uh—huh. I am. Come home fast and let me make you
happy, okay?”
“Um…okay. I’m on my way.” She replied.
After thirty minutes since they got to the house,
Lolade was still not back. He was tired of waiting for her and was thinking to
kick off before she came.
“My girlfriend would be joining us. You know that right?”
Lanre said to the other girl as he smoked his pot. His eyes were getting glassy
and red.
She nodded, giggling. She hardly spoke. Her beauty
did all the speaking for her.
“Can I smoke? Do you have gin?” She finally said
something.
Lanre laughed and passed his wrap to her then he
stood up to get her a drink.
…
Lolade locked the CR-V and walked to the front door.
She opened the door with her key and grabbed a bottle of cold water from the
fridge. She reached for the shelf where she kept drugs and took the sachet of
pain killers. Her period always came with a special kind of cramps. She swallowed
the tablets and climbed the stairs to go to the bedroom.
“Lanny!” She called. She knew he was home. She had
seen his car and his driver who had greeted her in a rather odd kind of way. She
wondered why he told her to come home quick. What was he up to? Or was he going
to propose? Maybe that was why he had been sounding funny.
She opened the door of their bedroom and the gory
sight left her mouth and the door ajar.
Lanre saw her and smiled, stretching out his hand
and beckoning her to join in the whorism.
“She’s here now. Sorry we started without you. I was….you
know…Come over.” He said. She saw the unfinished and burnt remnants of the
wraps they had smoked and the bottles of gin and vodka.
The flash back came instantly.
The flash back of when Mrs. Nike Akingbile had been
in her position, standing by the door, mouth ajar, seeing the gory details of
Lanre’s sexual fantasies with another woman. That woman had been her. And now,
she begun to feel what Mrs. Nike Akingbile felt.
*Please read, enjoy, drop a comment and share!
*Episode 6 Before Our Eyes
*fisayotalabi
Haba Fisayo do you want to kill me ? You know am gonna hound you for some more .wow .applaudise����������������������������������������������
ReplyDeleteLol Kemi thank u so much!
DeleteIn one word 'KARMA'
ReplyDeleteLol. Yeah, karma right?
DeleteWowza..in your face Lolade..in your face......kai men sha.mehn the beast is not worth a dime.
ReplyDeleteThanks fussy definitely a good Read.
I appreciate you
DeleteMotunrayo is so right. Karma! Karma!! Karma!!! I'm just pitying Nike; this entire trauma. Can't wait for the worst to happen to Lanre. Rubbish man.
ReplyDelete*Brilliant piece, Fisayo. Happy Easter to you.
My fellow writer thanks so much i really appreciate this.
DeleteWhat goes around comes back around...how I am enjoying Karma right now
ReplyDeleteFine girl Chichi loll
DeleteWow! And I chant WE WANT MORE!!! WE WANT MORE !!!
ReplyDeleteMore shall come! Loll
DeleteHe is just getting worse by the day. I really wished the divorce and affair was just a temporary distraction. Looking like he is getting past redemption.
ReplyDeleteWon't be nice if Nike suffers too much and then asked to forgive and forget and just accept him. It's better he just stops at only an affair (lolade) and stop all the threesome....smoking....
Y can't he pretend to still care for her by allowing her still maintain her place at the board