Waking up groggily from my odd sleeping angle with a pounding headache, I took in the state of my room and eyed my laptop on my bed. I remembered using it last night to look up the name 'Jide' on the internet.
Found out the dude was strange because he was African. Those ugly barbaric set of people, Grandma had made me believe.
Nothing happened last night between us. He gave me a curt glance and sauntered away. Like he was not afraid of me. Like he had risen from the ashes. It unrattled me. I was ready for a challenge of words, like we had at our first meeting but none came.
I climbed out of bed and wondered where this banging headache came from. I searched in my bedside drawers for a bottle of Aspirin and swallowed three. I was not sure I could make it to work today. I did not feel too well.
Looked like the party had a huge effect on me. I hated those functions. I had to be on my toes all the time, even when I was a kid.
I picked my phone and laid back in bed. Sending a quick text to Cassidy, I ordered her to arrange all my meetings in a teleconference and find her way to my house by eight on the dot. I had checked the time before checking my mails and working on some reports. It was six fifty-seven am.
How did the Stone family cope with all these international businesses? And to think we were expanding rapidly. I had always been in awe. Being the CEO was definitely not a child's play and I had trained my whole life for it.
My chief maid walked in and was surprised to see me in bed with my laptop. Normally, I would have called on her to prep me for work as soon as I was awake.
"Good morning, Miss?" She greeted me.
I punched in on the keyboard and gruntled in reply.
"Would you want to get ready for work?" She enquired.
"No. I am not going to work today. I do not feel too well. Relay that to Grandma for me," I told her.
She nodded and turned to leave.
"And if my personal assistant, Cassidy arrives, show her to my room," I instructed.
"Yes, Miss," she replied and exited while I continued to work.
Aunt Joan stopped by thirty minutes later, holding a tray of toasts and coffee.
"How are you feeling?" She enquired.
I nodded, eyes still fixed on my laptop and maneuvering the cursor on the screen with the touchpad. Aunt Joan removed the laptop from my laps and replaced it with the tray.
"You should eat. We have sent for a doctor. He would be here anytime soon," she informed me and I nodded, taking a slice of toast.
She kept her head at an angle, studying me. "You need to nod less and voice out more with me. It is unnerving to decipher what goes on in that pretty head."
I smiled, "There is nothing to decipher. I am fine. It is just a disturbing headache."
She smiled fondly at me, "You have never been a fan of parties."
I nodded. They tended to usurp my energy. My eyes raced to the door when I heard it forcefully open.
"Are you playing games?" Grandma's stern voice boomed.
I cowered in fright, "N...no. I really do not feel too well."
"Were you drunk last night?" She interrogated. "Did you get drunk so you would not be in the office? You think this is horseplay?"
I shook my head vehemently, "It is just for today, Grandma. I promise to be fine by tomorrow."
Her eyes turned to slits. "So it is a prank."
"Mother," Aunt Joan massaged Grandma's shoulders. "You need to relax."
"Relax? Do you know what happens to all our international businesses if the CEO is absent for a day?" Grandma asked, her eyes still on me.
"We know, Mother. That is why she had been working on her laptop before I arrived with breakfast. She is working from home," Aunt Joan implored.
"Oh," Grandma relaxed. "Good. Dr. Albert is on his way. You must not be at home by tomorrow."
I nodded and she left, banging the door. Aunt Joan was by my side in an instant, massaging my tensed shoulders.
"Breathe," she cooed.
My chief maid entered at that moment with Cassidy, who wore a blue dress. I was still in my pyjamas. I shrugged Aunt Joan's soothing hands away and composed myself immediately.
"Thank you, Aunt Joan. I can handle the rest from here."
She smiled at me. "Do not stress yourself too much." She reminded me. Getting to the door, she told Cassidy, "Take it easy on her."
Cassidy rolled her eyes but whispered loud enough for me to hear. "You should be telling that to her. I am so scared she will be so grumpy now she is unwell."
I scowled while Aunt Joan laughed heartily.
"Take care of her." She told Cassidy and to me, she instructed. "Be good to her."
I grunted as she and my chief maid exited.
"Do not just stand there. We have work to do," I bellowed at her.
She frantically walked over to my bedside and sat on a nearby stool.
"What do I have for the day?" I inquired, sipping my coffee and not offering her any.
She read off her tab and I nodded. My chief maid returned with another tray of cookies and tea.
"Tell Aunt Joan this would do for me. I do not need another," I told the chief maid.
"I was told to give this to Miss Jones," she informed me and I cocked a brow.
"Oh," I said brusquely.
She handed Cassidy the tray and left.
"You would have that later. There is so much work to do." I told her, munching on a toast. "Did you shift all my meetings to teleconferences like I told you to?"
She nodded, "You only have two."
"When is the first?" I asked.
"By eleven am with Mr and Mrs Khoza," she told me.
I nodded, "What is it about?"
"We need to convince them to be associates. They have quite a large farm here," she said.
I nodded. I called my maids, had my bath and prepped for the day. Soon I was refreshed and Cassidy was done with breakfast. I led her through a door in my room to my study. Soon, we connected to Mr and Mrs Khoza for the teleconference.
My smile almost faded when I discovered that these people were blacks. Did Grandma set this up? I thought she hated blacks. But I remembered in one of her lessons, she taught me that we had to do anything for business; even if it was not what we wanted.
"Good morning, Mr and Mrs Khoza," I greeted.
They chuckled and greeted, "Good afternoon, Ivory. Your accent made our names sound quite funny."
I checked their time on my laptop. It was twelve thirty pm in Zimbabwe. Great! They are Africans too.
I cringed, "Okay? So Stone Culturist would love to associate with your farm."
The man nodded, "Straight to the point. We are willing to do that also."
I cocked my brow. That was easy. But remembering what Grandma told me about blacks, I was wary.
"Great. Do we draw up a contract then?" I enquired.
The woman giggled. What was so funny? "Not yet."
"We have a condition," the man announced.
"Okay?" I demurred in an uncertain tone.
"You have to work in our farm for a month. If the workers and manager approves of you, you will get the deal. If they do not, then we are sorry we can't go through with this," the man said.
What ridiculous nonsense was this?
"Lemme think this through," I told them.
"Fine. Ring us up when you decide," the woman replied and hung up.
I quickly found my way to Grandma's room. She was not there so I went to her study. I found her and complained to her about the Khozas' ridiculous bargain.
"As much as I do not like blacks, I think you would have to do it. For the company," she threw the bomb.
My heart fell into my stomach. My eyes widened in shock and my mouth hung open. So Grandma was really going to make me do this.
'I was not going to do this. I was not pushing through with this.' I kept chanting in my head the next morning as I rode to work. There was no way in hell I was going to work under someone and definitely not in a farm. Why must I take the brunt for the company? And why did those stupid Africans insist on having me do this? Why could I not just order a staff to do it? This was frustrating. I ignored everyone's greetings as I stormed into the building. I could see from my periphery how scared my employees were of my mood. Getting to my office, I banged the door shut. Cassidy was already waiting with some files but I ordered her out. I sat in my chair and balanced my head in my arms as they rested on my desk. Would these stupid people have told Grandma to do this if she was the CEO? Why would Grandma even agree to this shit? I could not do it, even for business. I grabbed the telephone receiver on my desk. "Send Miss Jones into my office right away." I ordered my receptionist
"Why are you back so early?" Grandma asked me sternly as I marched into the house. I had closed up work for the day because I was restless as curiosity was eating me raw. "We have got a problem," I said coldly, my fingers clenching on the file in my hand. She inclined her head in askance and sat up from her chair. I sat on the sofa opposite her in the study and leaned on my thighs. "Mr. Spencer is withdrawing his shares," I announced, my senses attuned to her every move. She remained unwavering. "What does he want?" "A reinvestigation on father's death," I replied. She flinched and rearranged her skirt. "Why does he want reopen old wounds? That case was closed three years ago." I sat up straight and gave her a scathing glare. "You see that is the problem. You say the case is closed but the police report says it went cold." I saw her shiver. It was a second reaction but it was there and I had noticed it. Her pupils dilated and she gulped. "That is nonsense," she evaded.
Minutes turned to hours and hours turned to days. It was soon time to leave for the farm. I had to cancel my trip to Spain because Grandma said she would handle all the company business till I got back. I had not gotten any encouraging news from Detective Zane and Michelle yet; the case posed to be a harder nut to crack than I thought it was. The police had closed the case this time because Grandma had requested them to do so, saying it was a false call on my side. And even when I persisted, I was informed they would not reopen the case until there was a solid evidence on ground. "Your ride is ready, ma'am." My chief maid informed me while I enjoyed a cigar on the balcony. I wore a red polkadotted suit with emerald jewelries and and a gold studded eyebrow piercing. My feet were visible in my transparent heeled shoes. I nodded without sparing her a glance, watching as the guards struggled with five of my suitcases. I had never spent time out the house alone; it was either with my p
IVORYAfter I had met Mr. Kevin Ernest, the farm manager, and was told the list of things I was to expect here, Zala led me to the hostel. My guards and Cassidy followed me with my suitcases as we went out the 'OFFICE' building and into the brick building on the right. Mr. Kevin insisted that I discard my guards and Cassidy once I was done using their services. Zala led me up a flight of stairs and knocked on a door. A short ebony girl, who was dangerously curvy, opened the door. Her brown eyes smiled at Zala and looked at me in askance. "Hey Zala. What's good?" She asked, her accent strange. Again. Why could I not identify these accents? It was getting on my nerves. Was this what I would go through all the time? Listening to different accents hit me from every direction?"Everything," Zala replied. "You have a new roommate. Mr. Kevin's orders. He says to be nice to her."The girl leaned in the doorway and accessed me, then took notice of the people behind me. Her eyebrows shot up
JIDEHer laughter rang in my ears. I was quite surprised but it felt so melodious coming from the stoic cold girl I had met and heard a lot about. Everyone watched her and it was like the time had stopped to capture this moment. She looked around when her laughter died down and her blue eyes caught mine. She gave me a brief glance and returned her gaze to Kofi. I had to admit Kofi had won my admiration. He was just working her softly and penetrating quite easily. I was not sure I had such patience. I heard Makena snort beside me. "She has got the nerves to laugh." The white light bulbs above reflecting off her bald ebony head. "Kofi does know his skills. Once he softens her, we will deal with her," Kadin, a Moroccan teenage boy hissed. I shook my head in dissent, "Kevin said to be nice.""Does not mean we should be," Wangui interjected, spooning into her mouth. "We can't just let her go after what she has done to our home," Tumpale, a Malawian girl, gruntled. "We were not able t
I frustratedly kept scrubbing my hair, trying to wash off the mud from it. I needed to get to a saloon to get this done exceptionally but when I asked one of those beasts in the farm, a bucket of mud bathed me from behind. I could not get their mocking laughs out my head as I hurried out of the farm to the hostel. The incessant ringtone of my iPhone made me wash the foam off my hair. It was not as clean as a professional would have done it, but it was preferable at the moment. "What is it?" I growled into the phone, without looking at the caller ID. "What do you think you are doing getting cozy with those barbarians?" Grandma's icy voice cut through the speaker. I winced a bit like I was actually cut but replied calmly, "I do not understand what you mean." "You are all over the internet, Ivory," she growled in a calm voice. I rolled my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "What are you saying Grandma? I am always all over the net. Why are you making it sound like news?" S
"That was a dangerous prank, man," I heard Jide's voice filter through my subconsciousness."It was a grass snake. It is harmless," I recognized the voice of the boy with the snake. "She would not know that, Adel," I heard Jide say again. "That is what made the prank all the more cool," Adel chuckled lightly. "Not cool, Adel. Not cool. Do you know what might happen if Kevin heard a word of this?" Jide asked lowly. "Why should we worry about her? If she does not survive this, then she will realize that this place is not for her," I heard Makena snap. "Makena," Jide called. I heard her bed squeak and she almost yelled, "Acha. You sound like a man whose wife is sick. You should not worry about this brat.""She is human and she may terribly break down from all these," Jide cajoled. "Well, we will see that for ourselves," Wangui dismissed. My eyelids fluttered open and my vision cleared as the ceiling came into view. I turned my head slightly to see a number of people clustered in
JIDEKevin had made an urgent assembly this morning. We stood in the courtyard, watching him pace in front of the assembly for over ten minutes. Ivory was some distance away from him, glaring at everyone. "I am highly disappointed in every one of you," he bellowed, digging his feet into the ground to keep him from pacing any further. "Fourteen years of being the manager here and I have never...NEVER... gotten any case of theft and bullying. What changed now?"He paused before continuing. "I know a lot of us here have some form of grievances towards Miss Stone," he gave me a pointed look. "But it does not give anyone the right to treat her less.""She needs to feel less now she is here," a Namibian girl quietly snickered and her friends joined in. "If you are in possession of Miss Stone's emerald trinkets..." there was a collection of gasps at the mention of 'emerald'. "...do well to return them or you all are going to face the consequences. And it would not be funny."I heard everyo