Chapter 5: New Client.

Omotayo

"Maria please bring me Mr Morrison's case file again, It seems I missed something important." I order my secretary immediately she hands me my aspirin and she scurries away immediately. 

Every person in the office has been avoiding eye contact with me since the drama I created earlier this morning at the parking lot. It was partly suffocating but also another way I reassured my position as the no nonsense boss. 

Three hours earlier... 

  I hurried out of my car like a crazy woman trying to meet up with a scheduled meeting that started thirty minutes ago. I hated it whenever I wasn't punctual, it made me feel irresponsible and sick to my stomach. I blamed Ini and Lagos traffic for my misfortune. Ini had begged me to drive her to work because her car was faulty and Lagos traffic had the brilliant idea to be congested on an important day like this. 

I pick my pace and kept walking as first as I could turning a blind eye to the security men who greeted me and a few employees as well. My only aim at this point was making it to that meeting. Well that was my aim till my entire body collided with a stronger build and due to the unexpected crash, we both ended up on the floor. 

Our faces almost met but he's quick to move his face aside, something I was temporarily thankful for but now he's definitely going to hear me out. 

"Are you blind or what?" I yell immediately we both find our feet standing firmly. My question seemed to surprise him because instead of apologising, he furrows his brows in confusion. 

"I'm sorry but, shouldn't you be apologising?" He asks and you know that tick at the deepest, darkest part of your brain that makes that faint sound in your head almost like the sound of a working clock, well mine just exploded. 

"How dare you ask me to apologise when clearly you could not keep your eyes straight to watch where you were going? Does that sound sensible to you?" I ask angrily and he smirked. Wtf! He smirked? Oh, he's definitely not going scoff free. 

"Miss, let's just both apologise and walk away, I see no reason for the noise. By the way, you crashed into me and I tried to stop you but you were already too close and they was nothing I could do. Just be thankful I did not leave the way for you and let you fall on your own, imagine the pain you'd be going through right now." He blurts out with so much confidence and pride that irritated my spirit to the core. 

"Mr man, listen to me and listen good. The next time a lady asks you to apologise, you better just apologise. Also, count yourself lucky that I have somewhere to be or else? I would have personally dragged your sorry ass out of this building myself. Idiot!" I hiss angrily and I try to keep walking but he immediately pulls me back. 

"You know for a lady, your manner of approach is irritating as hell!" He spat out, sounding very annoyed. I was about to clap back but he quickly shuts me up and let's go of my hand. 

"Don't you ever speak to me the way you just did. It's not a very polite way to treat your clients." He adds with a smirk and I roll my eyes. 

"If my clients can't respect me in my own company, I'll happily show them the door. So don't try to threaten me with your mediocre words, it's of no use!" I respond with just as much anger. 

"Wait a second, Are you Miss Davids Tayo?" He asks unexpectedly. 

"Yes, that's me. And you are? Hold on, don't tell me. I don't care so leave!" I reply him and he stares back at me with contempt. 

"Bunmi, please tell the firm to change my lawyer immediately or forget about handling the case. I can't leave something that important to a nut case like her." He tells a tall man behind him, who I assume must be his driver or assistant. The man nods immediately, making me curious to know who the hell he was and why he wanted to change lawyers. 

"Who the hell are you and why do you want to change your lawyer? Also are you trying to indirectly threaten me with your case?" I ask and he scoffs. 

"Find out yourself. Let's go Bunmi!" He gives a short reply and immediately walks away. I wished so much that I had the same strength he had to pull him back and make him answer but I didn't and to avoid embarrassing myself, I walk away and that was when I noticed the pair of eyes staring at me. Some with disgust, some curiosity and the rest just looked unsurprised and bored. 

Three hours later...

It was later on I found out that the client I was rushing to meet up with was the same one I had an altercation with earlier this morning. According to Maria, he was attended to by my father and the managing director who happened to be my cousin, Tunji. 

The rumors had spread and when dad heard it, he was furious. He wanted to publicly shout at me but when I reminded him of his high blood pressure, he relaxed. 

It turns out the idiot's case was very important.

His real estate company has four estates in Lagos state and were planning on the fifth one till their idea and land was falsely claimed by a notorious chief who used his power and connection to rob others of their properties and even threaten them with thugs to back down. Despicable, am I right? 

The case was bound to be tough but it would have been a wonderful challenge for me and a plus one gold medal on my already successful career. Too bad I lost my chance to take the case and instead Tunji is in charge. I totally agreed with dad's decision since Tunji was undoubtedly the best lawyer in the firm, after me of course. 

"How's the best baby sister in the world?" Temi's annoyingly familiar voice booms through my office unexpectedly. 

"I was fine five seconds ago but your presence just ruined my day." I drawl in reply and he chuckles. 

"I heard about the stunt you pulled today and if you're wondering how, dad told mom and mom told me and asked me to come talk some sense into you. I refused but she played the 'you're the only son I have' card on me and I didn't want her to be sad. So that's why I'm here." He explains and I honestly could care less.  

"You could have told me over the phone and we'll both just lie that you spoke to me." I retort. 

  "Why would I waste such a perfectly good excuse to see my baby sister? Besides, I do think we need to talk. When was the last time we had a chat?" He says with a smile and I mentally groan. 

I love my big brother but the fact that he's about to lecture me was definitely not appealing. 

"Brother Temi, are you also going to lecture me? If yes, you can forget about chatting with me cause I've had a bad day." I tell him sharply. 

"I have a lot of work to do and using my only off day this week to lecture my sister is not on my to do list. So are you in or should I spend my day alone?" He asks pouting and after much consideration, I agreed to go out with him. 

"You're paying for everything sha." I warn and he chuckles in reply. 

*****

"Brother Temi, when is Simone coming back to Nigeria?" I ask randomly, putting a full spoon of rice in my mouth. His formerly happy expression turns sour, almost like I had brought up a bitter subject. 

"Don't know, don't care." He replies plainly, fuelling my curiosity. 

"Did you two breakup or what?" I ask. 

"I think it's obvious I don't want to talk about it." He tells me but if he thought I was letting him off that easy, he's delusional. 

"It's also obvious I don't care so you better spill it or do you want me to tickle it out of you?" I ask playfully and he raises a brow to dare me. 

"Are you really testing me? Oh, you think because we're in public I won't do it? Keep trying me." I warn him again and he laughs dryly. 

"I'll tell you but first you must answer my questions, if not forget it and change the subject." I knew exactly what he was trying to do but I wasn't falling for it. 

"Don't use that throwback scope for me please, better spill it peacefully or I'll make you spill the hard way." I offer my last warning. 

"I'm not joking either, talk to me and I'll talk to you. Agreed?" He asks. 

"Okay, ask whatever you want to ask but make sure it's a reasonable question." I say to him and he nods, taking his time to ponder over his question. 

"Why can't you let go?" He asks unexpectedly but I pretend not to understand what he meant. 

"Let go of what?" I reply, acting confused. 

"Let go of your past Tayo. You've never spoken to me about how you felt after the whole saga with Daniel and I wish you would. A huge part of me feels guilty about it because you knew Daniel through me and it hurts me to think that I allowed a good for nothing like him play with my little's heart. I also sometimes think you hold it against me and that's why you no longer trust me enough to talk to me. So tell me now, am I right?" He explains making me slightly uncomfortable. 

I pause to think for a while searching internally for the right words to say. Truthfully, I had nothing against my brother in regards to my failed relationship with Daniel. I agree I met him through Temi but I also remember Temi warning me not to fall to deep and take my time but Daniel had his way with words and his lies and promises clouded my better judgement so if anyone was to blame, it would definitely be me for letting my feelings think for me. 

"Just so you know, you're in no way responsible for what transpired between Daniel and I. I let myself be fooled and that's solely on me and as for why I never spoke to you about it, I guess I felt ashamed. It's embarrassing to talk about it and the stunt I pulled at the wedding doesn't help matters. I also thought you might remind me that you warned me and I wasn't ready to hear it, so I chose to avoid the touchy subject." I explain to him, carefully picking my words. 

"I don't think I would have done that. I still feel bad that while you were in pain and needed your big brother, I was too busy trying to set up a life with a woman who isn't even worth it and for that I'm sorry." He apologises and I'm quick to dismiss it. 

"Now tell me what went wrong with Simone. You two have been together for six years now, so what's happening? By the way, you need to explain to me why you've refused to propose to her." I ask and he starts with a dry laugh before breaking into guffaws. 

"Marry her? Propose to her? That's exactly what I've been doing for two years now and she has rejected me every time saying she's not ready yet. I'm thirty four Tayo and I don't plan on waiting for one woman for the rest of my life so here is what happened, I gave her a last chance to choose us or forget about us and she chose to forget about everything we've been through together for the last six years. She says she's not ready to marry and I give up cause I'm not stupid enough not to realise when something no longer has a way for me." 

  In my twenty eight years of knowing Temi, he has never sounded so angry and pained and for that I felt bad. He looked genuinely sad and I felt his pain cause I know how much he really love Simone. That wench had better not show herself in front of me ever again! 

"Should I set you up on a blind date?" I say jokingly to lighten up the mood and lucky for me it worked cause he smiled. 

"No thanks, I'll manage." He replies with a short laugh and I put my palm on his for support. 

"No matter what happens, you always have me so don't forget that bro." I say to him with a genuine smile. 

"I love you little sis." He replies and pecks my forehead. 

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Too cheesy." I cringe and he laughs hard and continues to repeat himself to irritate me.