THE JOURNEY TO PARADISE

"Hey... sorry I'm late." Louisa smiled apologetically at her best friend Naa Larley as she took her seat.

"I can't believe you ordered without me." She complained, her tone light and playful.

It was their lunch break, and despite being very busy, successful women, with their own companies, they always met for lunch at their usual hangout, Jerry's...at least twice a week.

They had been doing this for almost ten years; you could even call it their thing now. There were sometimes hindrances, with the occasional lateness like today, but they never cancelled on each other.

Naa laughed. "When I called and you told me you were stuck in the lunch break traffic around the independence square...I thought you were going to break our ten year record finally; plus… a girl's gotta eat."

Louisa shook her head playfully.

For the next hour, they filled each other up with gossip and long talk amidst good food and wine.

Jerry's was truly the best.

Time ran out very fast and they soon had to go their separate ways. With a promise to call Naa as soon as she got back to the office, Louisa drove off.

She couldn't help reminiscing how she met Naa Larley. Most best friendships started out at high school usually with the most cliché introduction ever, but not theirs.

She was in the University of Ghana then at 18 years. A naive stupid girl who believed herself to be so in love with her boyfriend that she closed her eyes to all the signs showing how much of a lying, cheating bastard he was.

Naa Larley had been a victim of Charlie's unwanted advances and even though she didn't know Louisa personally, she had heard about her and felt it right to let her know what her beloved boyfriend was always up to behind her back.

Oh it had turned into a fight...a huge one. Louisa had been hysterical claiming Naa just wanted to come between a perfect love and Naa gracefully retreated. At least she had done her part.

The camel's back was broken when Louisa caught Charlie in bed with another woman and that was when the dirt washed out from her eyes. She had no friends...Charlie had been her everything to the annoyance of her once close friends. Only one person had cared to call her out on her bullshit. A perfect stranger.

That night, with no one to turn to...Louisa had found herself in front of Naa's door. She was going to knock but her courage left her all of a sudden. What she had done to the poor girl was so inexcusable that she didn't think she would be forgiven so easily. Hell, even she found what she had done unpardonable.

Just as she was about to leave, out stepped Naa Larley looking all dressed up.

One look at Louisa's face and she silently stretched out her arms and pulled the distressed girl in for a hug.

Louisa cried till she couldn't anymore and then passed out on Naa's bed.

The weeks that followed, saw Naa nursing Louisa back to health and by the time she had recovered, a beautiful friendship had formed.

A knock on Louisa's car window snapped her out of her reverie.

"Yes Boss....You make fine?" One security guard asked as soon as she rolled her glass down. It was then she realised she had arrived at her office.

She smiled. Yes Boss indeed. That name always got to her, as apparently, the position she held at work was initially one only held by men. It was like a dream, her very own paradise. Snapping out of her thoughts, she spoke out.

"Oh yes Baba. I was just thinking about something. I hope the family is doing great."

"Oh Madam, yes oo... Walahi ebi God. Take care eh. Continue to make all the small girl pikins proud."

Louisa couldn't help but giggle as she shook her head. Baba always had this way of speaking with passion, and that always got to her, always making her laugh and inspired at the same time.

As she made her way to her office, she couldn't help but feel proud. She always felt this way when she took a look at her company. Mensah and Associates. This was her own toil and struggle. Her legacy for her sweet daughter. She had always felt within her that she couldn't work for someone. She was too damn proud and preferred to rather give out orders than take them. This was why she had quit her old job at the former law firm and started her own company of course with the help of Naa Larley.

It seemed she was in a very reflexive mood today. She mused as she climbed the final set of stairs leading to the top floor where her office was located. The partners were all in this section. With a curt smile on her face, she nodded at everyone till she got to her personal assistant's desk.

"Hey Akua, any messages for me?" She asked.

The young lady looked down for a moment.

"You have only one call from Isabel's school ma'am."

"Oh okay. Please send me the Ampiah-Kwofi file in about five minutes. Thanks."

Closing the door to her office quietly, Louisa kicked off her heels and slipped into a pair of slippers she kept for when she was indoors. After settling into the swivel chair and silently spinning for a few minutes, she grabbed the receiver and dialed her daughter's school, playing with her car keys as she waited for her call to be connected.

What could have happened now? She wondered. Isa was a good student. An excellent one to be specific. She only hoped it wasn't an accident or something health related.

Before she could stress herself out some more, her call was connected.

"Hello...this is Louisa Mensah. What's going on? Is my daughter okay?"