Gowon's POV

9:30am

Gowon couldn't get a direct flight for them to Ibadan, even with the Abuja linking there was no return flight for the same day (but he is not telling her about that), the only way she could fly there and back was on a chartered jet. However, she has ruled out private jets.

She is so difficult! he was super stressed that morning.

He went out to his balcony to smoke first, he has not smoked for about two months now because he is trying to quit. He started by abstaining for a week, then two weeks intervals then a month, this is the longest he has gone without smoking, he was doing great before this triggering situation. Although last night, he was also tempted to smoke just one because of the stressful situation Bode created for them.

Bode got an impromptu US Government job yesterday. This is something he suggested to him just last month he didn't expect him to secure contracts for them this early, sometimes he underestimates Bode's global long legs (Connection).

When he told him they were not ready and there were not enough Men on ground for the job he was like "Then withdraw the Bakare girl's men nau, they are not doing anything there". Bode then went on and on about how the job is an opportunity for them to lock in the US Embassy as a client and how they had to take the job.

Long story short sha, he spent the whole of yesterday under pressure strategizing on how to pull it off. He wanted at least 10 Men for the job; they were to escort the US Government official to Abuja for some official visit. MJ and Isa actually left for Abuja early this morning to join the team and they should be back in Lagos by 6pm.

Even if the men were on ground sef, interstate travel (By road) comes with so many preparations and arrangements. They need to establish contact with Policemen and Soldiers along the road on checkpoints, get real-time traffic situation etc. why didn't she give them enough notice FFS!

And then to top it all she has even announced her plans to the whole world, he stared at the huge 'Come join us'-banner on her website inviting the general public to the tree planting event on his phone.

So basically it's not even a private event, and it is taking place in a remote forest outside Ibadan and everyone is invited......even 'Killer herdsmen' and 'unknown gunmen (UGM)'. Seriously, sometimes he feels like it is intentional like, she wants to give them Headache, she knows what she is doing.

He wanted her to fly there so he could send the new recruits to get her from the Airport and back, he could not put her on a highway with them, he doesn't trust them enough for the task and he doesn't know them on a personal level the way he knows the men he assigned to her. Most of these new recruits joined the Company this year, and they are still in classrooms, learning criminal psychology they have not even started field training it is going to take them another 6months to be ready for something like this.

She is not going to fly to Abuja first and back to Ibadan, it is ridiculous even to him. He had to go with her because If he does not go with her, he is going to spend the whole day smoking and freaking out.

**

While waiting for her in the car he checked the duffle bag of arms in the secret compartment to see if his kit was complete then took one handgun out and placed it in the glove compartment.

He didn't need to arm himself too much he brought his armoured G63 for the trip, it has a BR 6 level of protection; bulletproof even for the baddest assault rifles out there. UGM and Killer Herdsmen will need an RPG (Rocket Launcher) to stop the car or penetrate it.

He watched her with full concentration from the inside of the heavily tinted car as she walked towards his direction, she was carrying the same bag she had with her the other day, another 'eco-friendly' canvas tote and a green rubber farm boot. She was wearing a green cabal tee (AGAIN) with sneakers.

She always looks so simple and laidback yet so striking, he read on her website that she only buys 'Sustainable brands' (whatever the fuck that means).

Wait is the swimwear from the other day from a 'Sustainable brand' too? He doubts if it is, that one was too sinful to be environmentally friendly in any way, the way-

She snapped him out of his thoughts by opening the front passenger door and he panicked as she hopped in.

"Can you please sit behind" He asked and she frowned.

"Why?" She glared at him

"Because..."

You are very distracting to me and you will draw unnecessary attention to the car.

"Because you are a Principal and it's safer for you back there" He said confidently. There's actually an element of truth in that.

"I can't sit behind! i want to enjoy the views, what's the point of going on a road trip if I can't enjoy the views?"

"This is NOT a road trip," He reminded her. This is a risky, last minute trip they are going for, unprepared (security wise) by his standards.

"Sitting at the back is not part of our security protocol," She said as she continued settling in ignoring his protests "I can stay wherever I want Gowon" She smirked as she threw the tote bag and her boots behind.

The fact that she knows that but 'forgot' to inform them about her upcoming interstate travel strengthened his suspicions (That she knows what she is doing). It annoyed him a little.

She opened the visor to use the mirror then started applying a little bit of make-up, as he drove out of the estate.

"You are only going there to plant trees right?" He asked before she will say she has somewhere else to go.

"Yeah, why? Because I'm doing my makeup?" She asked him absentmindedly as she struggled to line one eye with a pencil, he stopped the car on the side of the road for her to finish before she will stab her eyeballs.

"Why are stopping? I am going to be late," She said but he ignored her.

"We are shooting a little vlog for the event, to show our donors what we are doing with their money and to attract new donors. Can't be caught unfresh because I am planting trees" She said jokingly and he chuckled.

Aunty you are still going to be excruciatingly beautiful even if you're covered in dirt. He thought to himself.

"Also,.... I'm single, my next Man could be watching" She added as she dabbed her lips with the tip of her thumb and smacked them then smiled mischievously.

For some reason this made him flustered an uncomfortable considering the fact that he has been watching her underwater films. Is she unto him? Wait, she just confirmed she is single!

"Are you married Gowon?" She blurted out of no where.

"Urrm..Nope" He answered dryly.

"Girlfriend?"

"Wait why are you asking me-" He looked at her hesitatingly. He didn't want to answer that, he didn't want to expose himself as the hopeless single pringle that he is, who happens to be crushing on her, hopelessly.

"Never mind" She smiled then changed the topic as they continued their trip.

"Do you have wipes?" She started rummaging through her bag again for something to clean the stain of the lip colour on her thumb.

Before he could answer her she opened the glove compartment and was greeted by his little friend that he kept there earlier.

"Why do you have a Gun! WTF" Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

He didn't say anything.

"Do you even have a licence for this? Is this legal?" She closed the compartment quickly and wiped her hands on her Jeans as if she just touched poison. She looked like she was considering moving to the back, to get away from the gun.

LOL she is going to faint if she sees the bag of sophisticated rifles in the secret compartment under the back seat.

But why is she even overreacting? Her Father's bodyguards carry concealed weapons. What did she think they were using to protect her from unknown GUN men and co? Pepper spray and Magic wands? Or is she just terrified of guns?

He decided to tease her a little.

"That's actually for you," He said seriously.

"You're joking right?" She wasn't falling for it.

"No I'm serious, if anything happens to me, use that to protect yourself" He smiled.

"Okay first off, I don't know how to use a gun so if anything 'happens to you' today then I am done for, so nothing better 'happen to you'" She laughed.

"I cannot die today" She continued, "I still have a lot of things to do for my beloved planet and I have not had enough sex in this lifetime...with this body" She said with a straight face.

At first he didn't get the joke but when he did he laughed hard. Funny enough he had a colleague who used to make that joke a lot when he was in the DSS. They were in their early 20s back then and the guy would be like; 'I cannot die today, I am still a virgin'.

"When next are you planting trees again?" He asked her.

"Next month"

"Why are you doing this yourself you could have just outsourced this"

"The last guy I paid to plant trees in my father's hometown, planted cassava on more than half of the land," She said angrily and he bursted into laugher again.

"Well Yinka, people are hungry, literally hungry," He said. Who tree help?

"I know that, but it is unfair, I paid him for the job if he wanted money he could have just asked me. He did that because he thought I was never going to go there myself" She said sadly.

"This is why I have to do this myself and this time around I am working with people who actually care about the cause so hopefully no one will be planting cassava on our land"

**

Gowon wore his earpiece when he finally caught up with the new recruits and escorts (he had to hire from another Company) 15 minutes after they passed the Lagos border. They were moving in a very subtle convoy. This will serve as training for some of the new recruits.

He was listening to Oke's traffic update when she interrupted him again.

"So Gowon, where are you from?" She asked.

"My mother is Tarok, it's a tribe from a place called Langtang in Plateau state and my father is Fulani"

"You are Fulani?" She gasped. "Please don't kidnap me" She joked.

"Wow" He said, "I didn't take you for a bigot, you are full of surprises"

"I am just kidding" She chuckled.

"Yeah? That's what Bigots say all the time" He continued his backlash.

"Okay I'm sorry, I just wanted to douse the tension-"

"What tension?" Is he acting weird?

"I mean....i know you are mad I didn't give u guys enough notice for this trip and I'm not sure what you had to drop at work to come down and do this yourself, I'm just trying to make the trip...worthwhile" She said.

"I am not mad at you Yinka, though it would be nice if you stick to our protocols but I am not mad at you. I am the one that sent your men away on another job so I have some blame to take in this too"

She nodded remorsefully.

"I am sorry I made that joke, really" She added again

"Its fine! I was just messing with you i knew you were joking, I get that a lot, especially in the southern part of the country"

"Really?" She smiled.

He nodded.

"I feel ya!, in the west my friends used to mess around and call me a terrorist in school when they hear me speaking Arabic on the phone with my Mum, like I am not even a Muslim but they didn't care I looked Arab so; Terrorist, end of discussion"

"Stray bullet" He chuckled.

"Yeah and then when I was little back when we used to go to the Middle East they call me 'slave' over there, you know most Arabs call black people 'Slaves'... 'Abeed' " She smiled.

He looked at her "Please tell me you removed one person's teeth at least" Because if anyone calls him that as a child they will catch this fist.

She laughed "You know funny enough they were not even trying to crack jokes and like most of the time they don't even know they are being racist or offensive when they do it because they genuinely believe black people are slaves or are supposed to be slaves. Even my own relatives do this, me and Segun were the 'slave cousins'" she laughed dryly but he was staring at her In utter disbelief, how can she even be chill with that?

"And then in Nigeria we have to deal with subtle tribalism as well, it is mild but it's there. We get the occasional 'Omo Yibo' treatment and then my Half Brother Dare is Aboki child.

"I am sorry you had to....have to deal with that" He said to her.

"Why are you apologizing for them?" She sighed "It's just ignorance once you understand that it is ignorance it is always easy for you to look past it and ignore or educate.....whatever positive action you choose" She said positively.

Honestly, he could relate he gets that a lot from both sides of his parents too so he gets it. But if anyone ever calls him a slave to his face the only education they are getting is 'these hands' even as a child.

He told her about his own experience with tribalism too, he actually comes from two tribes that hate each other so much even to date because of difference in religion, culture etc.

2:22PM

By the time, they finished gisting about racism, tribalism, religious wars and other random stuff they had gotten there.

The field where they were doing the tree planting was deep inside the bush, like he drove another 6-7 kilometers off the express on an untarred road to get to the venue.

"Is this where you wanted to drive yourself to? alone?" He asked her and the look on her face showed she herself didn't know the place was this remote but she just disguised.

"But i am not the only one going" She said guiltily.

"You know what I mean" He scolded her and she pouted.

The first escort car stopped by the express, monitoring all the cars coming in and leaving while the second car found a hilly strategic position with a bird's eye view of the cleared field. There were 4 men in the second car, watching them and everyone else attending the event. There were at least 30 People at the event.

He parked his car in a very visible spot and stood outside beside it. He called MJ and team in Abuja to get some updates. She told him not to worry everything was fine there.

When he finished scanning all the faces on the field his eyes fell back on her as he leaned against his car and crossed his arms over his chest.

She looked so beautiful and 'at home' in the middle of all the foliage and with her fellow tree huggers.

The first seedling she had to plant was for the Camera but she kept on messing up the shot because she couldn't keep a straight face, the Cameraman wanted her to carry on as if she didn't know she was being filmed, he wanted her to act all dramatic and dreamy while placing the seedling in the ground but she couldn't do it lol.
He has come to learn that she finds it really hard to act like or be someone she is not and he loves that about her!

The Cameraman screamed 'Cut' again for the umpteenth time and everyone laughed at her lol.

Hard guy that cannot pose for ordinary Camera, She is so cute. He chuckled subtly.

30 minutes in, he got a call from the guys that were stationed by the main express.

There was an incoming vehicle from the express and it was headed towards the them, the guys on the hill had their eyes on it but he realized it was time to arm up. He grabbed the gun in the glove compartment and slipped in his holster under his shirt.

She was not expecting any more attendees but they couldn't stop the car from proceeding because it was an open event.
He got out of the car then walked towards the untarred path to wait for the 'Unknown' car.

A/N: I did not edit this o please ignore typos i will fix it during the weekend.

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