Chapter Three

Nester sashayed into the advertising company where she worked. She smiled broadly at other employees who greeted her warmly. She was the Assistant of the owner and manager of the company.

She knew she was late to work on a Monday morning, so she  hurried into her boss's office. He would surely nag her. He  was the type that did not tolerate idleness when it comes to work. She wished she could get away with it this time as she always did because she was his favorite employee.

She was brilliant, gentle and hardworking. Plus,she was beautiful and also the best employee of the year. That made most of the other employees envy,adore and respect her.

Nester opened the door to her boss's office and walked in. He was working just as she had predicted. Such a workaholic! She smiled and tried to get his attention so she leaned forward on his desk and he gazed up at her and then back to his work, not minding the distractive shirt she was wearing which was advertising her cleavage. 

     "Nester, why are you late again? Is it because I don't always punish you?" her boss  asked, putting his pen down on the magazine on his desk and leaned back on his chair. 

     "Come on, Nath. Don't nag. I forgot to set the alarm last night. I'm sorry, okay? Nester pleaded seductively despite knowing fully well that he wasn't interested in her in anything more than a boss-employee relationship. She was willing to give it a trial. Not every man would be able to resist seduction. 

     "Fine. But next time, I definitely won't pardon your lateness. Mark my word," Nathaniel promised and continued working. He still had to find the perfect model to advertise the product he wanted to promote its sales. 

She nodded as he gazed up. 

    "How is the deal with Williams Modeling company?" he asked. 

     "They will probably give us feedback this week. I pray it's positive because the woman is picky, very picky in giving out her models to advertise. She has been choosing companies herself and now that we chose her first, I pray —," Nester was explaining but he cut in. 

Williams modeling company was the one he submitted his request for a model to advertise for him. He owns a manufacturing and advertising company. He produces and advertises for his and different companies' products like clothing, toiletries and so on. He just wanted to try out the service of the modeling company, not that he couldn't get the models, one actually, himself. 

     "I'll be positive. You can go and start your work now," he uttered and dipped his nose back in his work. 

     "Okay. I will see you later," she replied and went outside. She forgot to tell him something and was about to re enter his office when she heard him talking on the phone. She did not want to eavesdrop but she could not stop herself from doing so. 

"You should know that I really love this woman since I am pestering you so much. Please, find her. I beg of you," she heard him say. 

What? Was he looking for someone? And the person was a woman? It could not be that he was planning to marry her once he found her, right? That would be the end of her. She had loved Nathaniel ever since she started working for him three years ago. And even if he did not like her, her plan was to make him to. Now, she would not allow some unknown woman to come in between them and ruin her plans 

She would rather do anything in her power to make sure that would not happen. She turned around to leave but halted mid-way. Should she just hire someone to pretend to be who he was looking for? What if he recognized her? She would have loved to believe that but she knew that was never possible for her boss. Her boss did not recognize faces, so there was no way he was going to recognize the woman she would hire. 

But what would she do after hiring her? She pondered for a minute and got the perfect answer to her question.  "Hi, I am glad to know you have been looking for me, but we can't be together. I have a man I am in love with and I am going to get married soon,but personally, I think your assistant is a great person. She found me because she loves you and blah blah blah," she muttered to herself and squealed in excitement.  

Could she have been smarter? 

***

       Lillian collapsed on her bed after showering. She was really weighed down with fatigue. She turned to her side and glanced at the man smiling at her from the magazine cover. He had changed a lot. And has matured too but what was she expecting? He was still handsome, though, and with the same sharp jawline. 

    She could not help but start wondering why he had not been looking for her. The fact that her mother knew him actually meant that he was close by. She should not judge yet, though. He could have been trying to look for her these twelve years. 

    She just hoped they would meet soon. There were a lot of things she had planned to do with him. She smiled back at the magazine . "I really miss you, Nath," she cooed and drew the magazine closer to herself and drifted to sleep. 

        The following morning, Lillian woke up and went into the bathroom to get ready for the day's work.She got dressed in a long sleeved shirt of color white to match her shoes and a yellow skirt with a black and yellow handbag. She sat before her dressing mirror and fixed her face. She did her brows lightly and applied her Iman earth dark powder. She straightened her eyelashes with mascara and then looked at herself clearly in the mirror and smiled. She left her lips untouched. It was pink enough to cover for any lipstick. 

Even though she was kind of sweating as a result of the heat, she couldn't wear any sleeveless clothes to work or the inscription on her arm will be revealed. No one knew of the tattoo at work other than her mother. Not even her best friend. And the tattoo was bold enough to be seen from afar.

Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder if Nath had been doing it for a long time before doing it for her, even though his was not a machine based one,it was still as perfect. 

She was not used to the heat at work. There was AC, anyway. She only wears other kinds of clothes in her mother's house. 

Grace had found out about the tattoo when she was in secondary school and had gotten injured during one of her sport activities. Lillian had been rushed to the hospital and her mother had been summoned and had been there when a nurse had taken off her sportswear to change her into the hospital gown. 

Her mother had been shocked but kept mute till Lillian came around. That was when she asked her how the inscription got to her arm. She had been so furious at her daughter. 

Lillian smiled as she remembered that day. Her mother had threatened to go to her father's neighborhood and arrest Nath, but she had cried and begged her not to. It took her several days to beg her mother before she yielded. 

She just hoped her effort would not go to waste. 

She walked downstairs from her room and met her mother in their luxurious living room. "Good morning, mum," she greeted. 

   

   "Morning, dear. How was your night?" Grace asked, in her office dress of a long and free black skirt and blue shirt with a bag and shoes that matched her skirt. 

"Twas great, mum. What's for breakfast?" 

          "Bread and tea."

"Okay,"she said and went to the dining room. She knew her mother prepared their breakfast because she just felt like doing so. She knew her mother. She would never prepare breakfast even if she woke up late. She would only nag and ask her to come downstairs and prepare it. She took a slice of bread and put it in her mouth for a few bites. She carried the mug of tea and poured herself a cup,gulped it down and rose to her feet. 

       "Let's go, mum," she said and her mother nodded and headed outside. She looked at her mother and smiled. It was obvious she had already eaten. She was old already and ought to have retired, but her mother was a stubborn workaholic. "Mum, I'm riding with you," Lillian mentioned. 

"Okay, but where is your car?" her mum inquired. 

       "It's been with Kamilu, our mechanic, since yesterday. He should be able to bring it today," her daughter explained. 

"Okay. Hop in and drive. I gave my driver the day off," Grace informed. 

           "Alright, mum,"Lilly replied and got inside after controlling the gate to open with its remote and drove outside the compound, then waved her palm at the gate and it closed. 

    " When do you plan on visiting the idiot?" her mother initiated a conversation as soon as they got on the road. 

   "Who? Which idiot are you talking about?" Lillian was confused since she had no idea who her mother was talking about. 

Her mother hissed. She was certain she knew who she was referring to, but she was too stubborn to admit it. "I am talking about the idiotic fool who wrote that stupidly crazy thing on your arm —" 

"Mum!" Lillian exclaimed. "Nath is not an idiotic fool." 

"Oh, sorry. I forgot he's a foolish idiot," her mother hurled angrily. She still could not know why her daughter was not angry toward the boy. Well, he was a boy to her. How could he be so heartless? What if something bad had happened to her daughter? 

The boy was lucky enough that she had not met them at home when she had gone there personally after her daughter begged her not to arrest him. Only if they had not relocated, then he would have known the stuff she was made of. 

"Why did you give him the contract when you don't like him?" Lillian inquired. 

"I haven't given him yet. Still considering. And mind you, I like his business style. Business is business and  personal things will remain personal. They should not get mixed up or so many businesses will crumble to pieces," her mother explained. 

"Thank you so much, mum. That's why I love you," Lillian tantalized. 

Grace smiled. "I know you love your father more, so shut up and drive," she said with jealousy written all over her and that made her daughter laugh her intestines out. 

*******