CHAPTER 1

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

At De' Copa's

A young man in his mid twenties is seen in front of a bar counter, obviously drunk and mumbling some words to himself. His Attire looks fancy, he's on a blue flowery patterned shirt over black slacks and matching black oxford's on his feet.

UDO's POV:

"Sorry sir we just rounded up, the contract was given to someone else. Would you like to take up the head role for the Middle Class contract?"

" I regret ever having you as a Son "

" Udo I don't think I can go on with this charade besides i just found another..."

" Time is of the essence
I tried to teach you
But i might need some lessons"

I could hear the Loud lyrics of Mr WizKids Essence being played from those loud sea-piano speakers, drawing me out of my thoughts.

This time the crowd was already in an uproar, signalling that the song was really well known.
"Well what can i say it's Mr WizKid of course"

Each person trying to out-sing the other, "Typical Lagosians"

I suddenly felt dizzy, noticing the now crowded VIP spot, which was really rare. Each person seemed to have an identical twin, the only thing which was odd was that each one of the twins were floating in mid air"

" This is funny " I said out loud to no one exactly while laughing hysterically.

I directed my glace to the bartender who was also vibing to the song being played. Fixing my glance at him for sometime, obviously he also had his floating twin.

Gesturing towards the short glass in front of me to attract his attention

" Pou - uur Mee-ee Some More " i said in a stutter

" Oga you say wetin " he asked in pidgin English trying to recall the message which I had just conveyed.

I gesture towards the glass once again and he quickly understood.

" Okay you want make I give you more Shot-tts " he replied while stressing on the word shots.

I reluctantly replied by giving an unsteady nod in the positive.

" Oga-aa" he said with his two hands up in excitement, obviously trying to encourage this drunk man to get even more drunk.

But I couldn't care less

He's probably enjoying the huge tips which I had been giving him before now. "I thought to myself"

"Oga make I go bring another round you don finish this bottle already" he said as he zoomed off to get another bottle, leaving his floating twin behind.

I tried raising my hand to call his attention but my hand felt Numb. I gave out a hysterical smile to myself once again.

The Music suddenly got louder, giving me a terrible headache.
I could feel my head pound alongside the beat of the song being played.

I tried lifting my hands to hold my head which now felt like it was about falling off, But still my hand would not oblige to my will.

I suddenly notice a couple of ladies who had been directing mischevious smiles at me before now. Well I returned the gesture by smiling back.

Of course I'm a gentleman

The bartender had now arrived, i could notice he was rather a very dark skinned man in his Early thirties, had a round chin and was average in height. Probably a married man because he looked the part, though he also had a ring on"

To hell with that, everyone wears a ring these days

He was about pouring out the content from the Maciera Wine bottle into the short glass, when I heard a masculine voice which sounded familiar.

" Udo, why did you storm out of the office earlier? And when did you start drinking" the bearer of the voice asked.

I quickly recognized the voice, it was that of my best friends Leonard.
Though I had help recognizing it was him, his scent gave him away, a cocktail of Lavender and Roses.

What kind of guy wears a rose scent?
Well my friend here does

Before I could reply i felt his obviously damp hand drag me by the collar, I could tell he was drenched wet. He dragged me towards the exit door of "De' Copa's".

"Duu-de Lee-ave me be-ee" I said while stuttering in between lines and at the same time struggling to free myself from his Grip.

Though my vision was blurry, I could notice the surprised look on his face, probably surprised at my use of "Williams Shakespeare's" intuition.
I myself was surprised at where that came from.

"Have I been reading Williams work lately?" I silently asked myself

As we drew nearer to the exit I could see the portrayed frown on the face of the bartender. Probably sad that his Tip guy was being dragged away.

I couldn't feel my legs, even as Leonard dragged me out I leaned on his shoulders for support.

We stepped out of De' Copa's, only to notice there was a heavy down pour going on. It was raining heavily probably the reason why Leonard was drenched.

We were like 10 feet away from my Lambo which my driver had already brought upfront. " I guess as instructed by Leonard ". it actually saved us the long walk as we didn't get drenched or Rather I didn't get drenched.

I made my way to the passengers seat momentarily gaining support from the edges of my Red Lambo. Leonard insisted on driving.
Glad he did because I actually felt so dizzy.

"Okafor don't worry I'll drive Udo to my house, Take my keys drive my car to Udo's house, I'll be there tomorrow to pick it up". I could hear Leonard give some Instructions to my driver Okafor.

Leonard entered the car probably after giving his Instructions to Okafor, though I couldn't tell. Now he was about driving out of De' Copa's when I mumbled some words.

"Bro, why are there two steering wheels, let me have one" I could see Leonard give a mild smile but the expression on his face wouldn't say he was happy, he looked like he was about to give me an earful.

"Bro seriously how many shots did you have?
Just wait for your hangover in the morning" he replied

Everyone dreads what comes after being drunk

"Well I couldn't care less, I had to drown my pain somehow" I thought to myself this time already enjoying the cozy upholstery of my Lambo.

We were half way through the journey to Lekki GRA, wasn't too long till Leonard pulled up at his house after that I blacked out completely.

I woke up to the sharp scents of lavender and roses and glancing through the upholstery of the room I could notice two undoubtedly nice cozy couch which had two pillows ,each decorated with warm blue and orange oriental patterns.
A medium sized chandelier hung a feet away from where i laid. The interior decor was indeed lovely.

Yeah i had already noticed I was in Leonard's guest room

Yeah I know he has a very good taste
Well his my friend he ought to

I tried getting up, but I felt a rather sharp pain on my head
I let out a mild scream
"Ouch"

Turning over to the right side of the bed I noticed a pair of bulging eyes staring directly at me, which actually startled me.

"Dude, why the hell are you staring at me" I asked Leonard, still wearing the startled expression on my face.

"I guess that's how humans say thank you these days" he said sarcastically while handing me a glass of Lemon Juice.

"Drink this,it would cure your hangover" he added while I had begun gulping down the content of the glass.

Wow it worked really fast, the pain actually died down

"Thanks bro" I said

" I hope your ready for your Q and A session, because I really have a lot of questions to ask" he said while demonstrating with his finger.

I was about replying with an answer, when he cut in

" Why did you storm out of the meeting with the Agency? " He asked

" Bro, that wasn't a meeting, didn't you hear what the director said?, He said we arrived late, that the contract had already been given to some other company"

" But he offered us another opportunity " he replied

" Leonard you should know by now that I don't venture into contracts concerning the Middle Class Niche "

He was already giving me one of those looks

" That's not the only reason you went to the bar, what happe..."

"Bro I thought we had a meeting this morning" I cut in before he could finish his statement trying to avoid his question also.

"Yea-h but it's only Seven minutes past seven, the meeting begins by Eight" he replied

I was surprised that this was coming from him actually, because he's almost never late for any event. Trust this guy

"Bro, that's what made us loose the previous contract to an unknown company. Just wait till I find out the company that took the contract from me" I said while scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"Please send this to Okafor, tell him not to leave anything behind most importantly my tux". I said while giving Leonard the note which contained my attire for today.

Yeah I know, I'm pretty much specific with my dressing

"I'll have my shower now" I said while walking towards the bathroom

Stopping in my tracks, I asked Leonard who was already leaving the room
" How the hell did you find me yesterday "

He turned towards me and said

" I called Okafor and he literally gave out your after acknowledging the tone of my voice. You know I can be really persuasive" he said while giving out a Smirk.

° ° °

I'm on a black tuxedo over a black slacks to match, a plain white shirt made the look formal with a Brown Cap-toe on my feet.

Yeah I look nice right, yeah I know

Okafor really delivered effectively, It's unlike him though.

I opened my briefcase which Okafor had brought alongside my outfit for the sixth time. To ensure all the documents were in place

PS: I'm a really careful guy.

I hurriedly rushed down the stairs with my briefcase in my left hand. On reaching the ground floor, I saw that the Dining table had already been set. I rushed over to the table, reaching out for a slice of bread which I quickly stuffed into my mouth.

Rushing out through the Mahogany door, I yelled

" Leo I'm leaving for the venue " I doubt if he heard me, because I had bread stuffed in my mouth.

I quickly walked briskly to the parking lot, taking out my keys which I noticed Leonard had dropped on the centre table inside the guest room. I opened the door to my Lambo, noticing that Leonard had already ordered for a Car Wash.

"Damn, Lambo's are nice when they are given a proper car wash"

I turned on the ignition, driving off almost immediately.

I soon arrived at Four Seasons Hotel, the venue for the meeting. It was a Ten minutes drive.

I quickly hopped out of the car, which I had dropped off at the parking lot. I handed my keys over to the Valet as I briskly walked down to Main Entrance.

Four Seasons was one the best out of many hotels in Lagos. Obviously it was a Five Star rated hotel.

I walked down to the Receptionist who greeted me with a smile, a rather weird smile.

She didn't ask me any questions, she just kept on staring at me

"Uhmm, I have a reservation here at the T-effiel house" I said

But still she kept staring at me

" I'm Mr.Udo Michaels, I'm here for the Joint meeting with Rosewood publications " I continued but yet no response.

"Hello" I Added at the same time snapping my fingers.

"Oh sorry sir, Here's your Name Tag and Key Card, it's the 18th floor" she said while handing me the key card still putting on her weird smile, this time it was broader.

I quickly collected the key card and walked down to the private elevator. I noticed she kept on staring at me even as I walked, till I was out of sight.

Yeah I get those kind of looks from the ladies,it was nothing new. But this particular lady actually acted weird

It wasn't too long till I reached the 18th floor, bringing out my key card I opened the door. I was welcomed by a rather cold air, I could tell the air conditioner was set above 17 degree's, there was a fancy round table at the middle of the room. The Walls which were painted blue had a nice pink blurby pattern. I could see a LED Plasma Screen at the extreme edge of the round table.

Yeah everything showed that this was definitely a Five Star rated Hotel" but yeah I've been to better, Well just saying though.

Well I think I rather came too Early.
I was about taking a seat at the left hand side of the round table over there at the extreme, when I noticed a rather mildly Dark skinned Young Lady seated directly opposite me.

She wore a corporate blue Michigan suit over matching Culottes. She had a pair of red Stilettos on her feet, Her hair was properly braided with a mixed blend of black and violet. ZARA was boldly written on her name tag.

Yeah I know she looks like she has a good sense of dressing and I must say damn pretty too.

She seemed rather too engrossed with something, because she didn't notice me yet...
I observed she was actually looking for something, I noticed as she scanned through her documents, her brief case also but still kept on searching.

"Where did I keep the documents which include the Confidential Agreements to this meeting" she muttered to herself but was rather too audible."

"Here you can have a copy of mine" I said drawing her attention, she seemed rather startled as to when I arrived.

"I always keep a couple of copies other than the original' I added

She kept on staring at me as if I was asking for something in return

"Don't worry, I'm not asking for anything in return, just trying to be of help. No Strings attached" I said trying to convince her..

She reluctantly collected the copy of the document from my hand

"Sorry but i don't accept favours, I'm indebted to you
Count it as a one time favour which I owe you" she said rather too casually.

What did she even mean by that?, I was just trying to be of help and besides it was just a document.

"How can someone be indebted to you for just a piece of paper" I thought as I stared at her.

I'm now starting to think that this hotel houses weird women, from what I've seen so far.

Weird Ladies Everywhere abi---LOL

What do u think about UDO's Intro into the Story?...

ZARA's Cheesy Statement was rather absurd right?

Do you think she is strange?---hmmm....

Find out as things unfold in the Next Chapter of "Finders keepers"

Hey guys it is I "MIGUEL"----LOL
Hope you guy Loved the first chapter of my Story....
Don't forget to vote, like and Comment
Feel free to invite you friends also...they are all welcome

I'm ever ready for ur Critics--take it Easy Sha....

Anyways Till Next time♥️♥️....it won't be long though
Yeah UDO says Hi...

Iyanuoluwa-Temi
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