Chapter Three

IRIS

Fury couldn't begin to express how I felt. I knew what I needed at that moment was a bottle of cold whiskey to calm my rattled nerves. Enyinnaya Amadi had chosen the wrong person to make his nemesis. 

The walk from his restaurant to my car was the longest walk I had ever taken or so it seemed, it was supposed to take not more than two minutes to get to my car, but at that moment two minutes seemed like two decades. 

"Ma'am did you get the recording?" Nelly asked with much enthusiasm as soon as I got into the car.

How could I bash the poor girls pride by telling her that her super smart plot to trap Mr Amadi was ruined by someone seemingly smarter, but then again, there was just no other option so I decided to just out with it.

"It didn't work, apparently he had a crisis management plan in the form of a person called Swift." Her brows knitted in utter confusion.

"I don't understand what you mean by that ma."  She said, but that wasn't necessary, as the confusion on her face was already enough to tell me she didn't, so I took the pain to explain my defeat more detailedly. 

"Chimoooo!!" She yelled out in shock reminding me of her Igbo origin and for a brief moment I smiled. Nelly was one of the most refined Igbo lady I knew in Lagos, however, when upset or in shock like she was at the moment, her Igbo part always came through. "I wasn't expecting him to do be that smart oo."

"Neither was I, else I would have held my phone in my hand instead of keeping it in my bag. So foolish of me." I lamented with my head bent in shame. At that moment, I knew if I was light skinned or a white lady, I would have turned pale from the shock of the whole drama. What hurt the most, was the fact that the whole thing played out in the presence of Enyinnaya's toyboys, that right there, was even more embarrassing.

"Don't blame yourself, we didn't know we were going to be dinning with the devil else we would have used a longer fork." 

"Yeah that's very true." We certainly would have done so, I, for one, would have threaded more carefully instead playing into his arms.

" But ma, I have to admit that this Enyinnaya guy is super cool, I mean who would have thought about that in such a brief moment? And how did he even guess what our plan was, is he some kind of ghost? Or perhaps he might belong to some kind of occultic group." Upon mentioning that he might belong to a secret cult, her eyes shone like that of a child who had finally been able to solve a difficult mystery. 

"Nelly, I don't think he is. He is just one smart guy. I guess it's years of doing business with various kinds of people. He sure is a badass."

"But how do you explain the source of his wealth? For a young man who is not even fourty yet I feel he's just too wealthy. Suspiciously so."

"My goodness, Nelly!" I exclaimed while laughing "you will not kill me with laugh. He's just one diligent business man, needless to say, he's ruthlessly so. I doubt he belongs to an occultic group, so get over the story that's playing in your head, okay?"

"Yes ma. Oh! We are at your home already" she said as we got to my six bedroom apartment in banana island. The beautiful duplex was a gift I got from my dad when I gained admission to study business administration in the university of Lagos. Apparently, he was proud of his first child and daughter who was going to succeed him in business.

"Would you like me to come in with you? Is there anything you would like me to do for you ma?" Nelly questioned in worry for me.

"I'm fine so don't bother about me and go home, get yourself a good rest, my driver will drop you."

"Ma?" 

I saw doubt written on her face "I'm really fine Nelly, trust me I am." I said so just to quench her worry, but honestly, I was far from fine.

"Okay if you say so" she said and obediently entered the car.

I watched them leave before entering my house. That was an unusual act even for a distraught me, why I did that still remains unknown to me.

"Kemi" I called out to the maid as soon as I got into my living room.

"Yes ma" she answered.

"Ready my bath, before that, pour me a glass of cold whiskey and bring it up to my room."

"Would that be all ma?" She asked, expecting more orders from her madam.

"Yes that would be all. I will be in my room."

"Ok", she said and left to carry out my orders.

The minute I got to the bedroom, I jumped on my bed where I lied sprawled for a while before sleep took me. Cold whiskey and a warm bath would have become an activity for another day had my maid not woken me up some hours later. When I asked her why she didn't wake me up earlier, she responded by saying she knew I needed rest and didn't want to stop me from getting it. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness, took my bath and whiskey before returning to my library to finish up a task I had been working on.  For me, it was going to be yet another long night, just like the night before it; when I had anticipated my victory. The victory Enyinnaya stole, even before it became mine.

"Enyinnaya Amadi! Enyinnaya Amadi!! Enyinnaya Amadi!!!  I will make sure you pay for this pain you've caused me." I soliloquized in my library just before taking  my sit and resuming my work.