Lady K

The office felt so cold. You could see the curtains move slowly with the wind from the air conditioner. She was really nervous. It had been thirteen years. Thirteen years since she last saw him, thirteen years since she was sitting across the seat he sat in, with her hands shaking uncontrollably on her thighs and tears lingering in her eyes, threatening to fall just like she was doing at that moment. She had been sitting down in the same position for the past five minutes, trying to figure out how to start. How to really ask for his help while the chubby man in a black suit and perfectly carved beards with a few white hair strands in front of her, kept staring at her. He gave her time. He gave her time to get herself together.

Lilian took a deep breath, slowly taking her eyes off the name glass on the table with the words "Barrister Fredrick Boyle. Truth law firm." She raised her eyes to him. If the tears were going to fall anyway, that was the right time. She had barely even touched the cup of coffee in front of her.

"I need your help." She told him. He listened, not even bothering to interrupt her. "I know I promised that I wasn't  going to show myself in front of you thirteen years ago but I-" she paused and then swallowed hard, her voice was shaking. "We need your help."

He exhaled.

"It's Kora." She continued. "She is in a fix. Some drugs were found in her possession at school."

"What kind of drugs?" He asked her.

"Cocaine and Nicotine."

He exhaled. She could see how disappointed he suddenly became.

"But she didn't do it." She said in Kora's defense. "You know the kind of a person she is. Kora has never owned those kinds of drugs in her life let alone used them. Someone in her school is trying to frame her and somehow, the NDLEA got involved. I thought I could do it on my own. I thought I could help her on my own but I can't do anything. My hands are tied. I'm scared and I'm about to lose my mind. You're the only one that I could think of. The only one I knew that is capable of helping us."

She held her breath for a second and then slowly went on her knees. At that point, she had no shame left, at that point, saving her daughter was all that mattered to her. Helping her daughter.

"Please." She looked at him. "I beg you to help us." A drop of tear fell from her eyes and then another one. "That school is her only chance. She's not that bright and so she'd have a hard time schooling somewhere else, and if something like this gets on her record, she would never be able to graduate from NAUN or any other school. It could ruin her life. I can't let her end up like me. I can't let her future be like mine. You're the only one I can run to. You're the only one that knows who she really is, you're the only one that cares about her besides me." She sniffed and then cleaned her eyes.

"You were his best friend and his lawyer. It means you know all the people he knew. You have his connections. You can help us. Help me and I promise I'd never show my face in front of you again. I'd take her and we'd disappear just like we did eighteen years ago. We won't ask for anything else. I'd never tell her who she really is. I'd never tell her who her father is. I won't tell her she's a Richards. I won't tell her anything. I'd keep my mouth about her real identity shut just as I've always done."

She bowed her head a little bit.

"Please Fred." More and more tears fell from her eyes. "Help my child. Don't let her sleep in there. Don't let this affect her future I beg you. Just help us this one time, please." She started to cry again.

The man took a short while and then he exhaled. He slowly got up from his seat and then walked to where Lilian was. He bowed a bit and reached for her arms and with them, he slowly helped her up until she was standing on her feet again, not letting go of her for a second because he knew that the moment he did, she was probably going to fall again. She looked so pale, like she hadn't slept in days. Like she didn't have any strength left in her. She didn't.

"It's okay." He told her. "You don't have to cry in front of me and beg me like this." She looked at him, she had tears all over her face but she managed to keep her eyes on him. "Before my friend died, he made me promise to always take care of you and Kora and that means it's my responsibility to take care of issues like this." Lilian sniffed. "I'm going to make some calls. Kora would not sleep in the custody of the national drug law enforcement agency today. She'd be free to go home with you this evening."

Lilian let out an exasperated sigh. She was so relieved, so relieved to hear those words come out of his mouth. She held on tight to him for strength.

"You don't have to worry about anything anymore. I'm going to take care of this."

"Thank you." She whispered to him. "Thank you so much, thank you."

He nodded.

"Get yourself together. I wish we could chat a while longer but I'm afraid I have a few clients to attend to right now. They should be here in a minute and I wouldn't want you to meet them. At least not yet. Now is not the right time. When the right time comes, neither you nor Kora would have to hide in front of them anymore. You wouldn't have to run away anymore. When that time comes, you should tell Kora who she really is. But for now, let's just focus on protecting her first and getting her out of that place."

Lilian nodded. She believed him. She had known this man for so long to not trust anything he said and if he said he was going to get Kora out, that was exactly what he was going to do.

Knock!

The door opened slowly and a lady walked in. His secretary. They both turned to the woman.

"Sir," she started. "You have a six thirty appointment with Mrs Richards and her daughter. They just arrived. Should I let them in sir?"

Lilian held her breath, she cleaned her eyes quickly. She knew she didn't want anyone to see her in the state she was in.

"Yes, of course." He said with a smile on his face. "Lilian was just on her way out."

"Okay sir." The lady waited for Lilian at the door. She was supposed to usher her out of the room. He slowly turned to her.

"Just be patient for a few hours. Go back to Kora and wait for my call." He told her. She nodded.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you so much Frederick."

He nodded. Lilian turned to the chair hurriedly and picked up her bag. She knew she had to leave and the faster she did, the better for her. She hurried to where the secretary was, cleaning her face as fast as she could until there was no tear left. She walked out of the room first and then the woman followed after her until they got outside. She froze the moment her eyes met Amanda's who was sitting right beside Racheal on the waiting bench outside. Amanda raised her eyes to her slowly too and it made her really nervous. She looked away quickly, and then started to walk away again, trying to hide her face away from them as hard as she could.

"Mrs Richards," Oma turned to the lady, and then Amanda slowly turned too, giving up on staring at Lilian as she walked down the hallway as fast as she could. The lady smiled at them. "Mr Fredrick would see you now." She told them.

"Mum." Oma called Amanda as she slowly got up. Amanda turned to her quickly.

"Oh." She got up too.
Oma squinted her eyes.

"Are you okay?" She asked her.

"Did you see that woman that just came out of the office?" She asked her.

"Yes why?"

"Does she look familiar to you?"

Oma shrugged her shoulders . She really didn't have an idea on what her mother was talking about.

"Come on." She told her. "Uncle Fredrick is waiting." Oma walked into the office first while Amanda slowly followed after a second. Fredrick on the other hand, was trying to take deep breaths the moment they walked in.

"Uncle Fredrick." Oma hurried as fast as she could towards him, stretching her hands so she could take his the moment she got close. He smiled brightly and then squeezed her hands.

"Oma," He turned to Amanda "Amanda."

"It's been a while. I'm hurt you haven't even tried to reach out to me since last week."

"I'm sorry." He told her. "I've just been occupied with work."

He turned to Amanda.

"Please have a seat." He gestured to the couch beside them. Oma hurried to sit and Amanda joined her. Fredrick joined them after a few seconds.

"I was surprised when my secretary told me you had booked an appointment to see me." He told them.

"We came for the same reason we've been coming all these years." Amanda started.

"Mum wants to try to convince you, again, to pull the date for the reading of my father's will forward." Oma added

"It's been over six years now. What's the point in having to wait any longer when we already know what the content in the will is. We know Oma gets the company. My husband asked you to read his will when Oma turned eighteen. She turned eighteen two months ago. What's the delay?"

Fredrick smiled a little bit.

"Mr Richards asked me to give you all his will or rather, read it to you on the twenty first of September this year, after Racheal turns eighteen. And I'm sure Twenty first isn't until a few weeks. I'm sorry but you'd have to be patient till the exact time."

"But why do we have to wait any longer?" Oma asked him. "What's so special about that date anyway? What's so special about having to wait two more months when you can just read his will to us right now. I mean, we all know who he left his company and everything else to."

"That's not how it works Oma. You of all people should know that it's an offense by law to do what you're asking me to do. Your father wasn't just my friend, he was my client too and it's my responsibility to make sure his last wishes are kept and since his last wish was to tell everyone about his last wishes on the twenty first of September, then that's just what I have to do to respect his memory. You should too."

Oma exhaled and then clicked her tongue.

"You grown ups are no fun, especially when you're lawyers." She got up quickly from her seat. "I'm going back to school. I still have a few things to do."

Fredrick chuckled as he watched Oma storm to the door, pretending to be really upset.

"That woman." He frowned a little bit when he heard Amanda's voice. He slowly turned to her. "The one that just walked out of your office, who is she?"

Not that it was any of her business.

"Is she a client?" She asked him.

"She's a friend." He told her. "An old friend." He faked a smile and then slowly got up from his seat. He walked to the coffee machine.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Bang!

I wished he had pushed the door open louder than that. Jeremiah took a long look around the room just as everyone turned to him with surprised looks all over their faces. He had just interrupted their meeting but he didn't care. He couldn't care especially after he heard what he just did. Christian was the first he saw and that was the only person he needed. He stormed towards the big table, his frown getting worse on his pale lips.

"What is wrong with you?" Christian rolled his eyes as he walked closer to the table. "Can't you see that we are in the middle of a meeting-"

Jeremiah banged the table once and it made them all shake. He stood there, right in front of Christian, glaring at him eye to eye. His eyes were so dull and his face had lost a lot of color. His sickness was beginning to get really visible now. Who would blame him? Anyone would be sick after hearing all the things he had heard.

"Why did you do it?" He asked Christian. Christian scoffed, a smirk appearing on his face like he already knew what Jeremiah was talking about.

"Jeremiah." The lawyer stood up to try and stop him before he created a scene in front of the Orjis

"What is going on?" Charles' mother whispered to her lawyer. He shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea either.

"Jeremiah." The lawyer tried to pull Jerry away. "Now is not a good time-"

"Why?!" Jeremiah raised his voice, pushing the man away from him. He wasn't done talking. He couldn't walk away, not without hearing Christian try to
explain himself first. He had his eyes with tears, glued to Christian who just sat in his chair comfortably without even turning to look at him. Christian grabbed his bottle of water slowly.

"Kora got arrested by the Nigerian Feds today. You knew. You knew why her mother was in that office and you called the Feds didn't you? It was you wasn't it? You got them involved. Why?"

Jeremiah was breathing fast and asking a lot of questions at once too. He needed to understand. He needed some sort of explanation. He watched Christian take a sip from his bottle and then close it right back.

"I don't answer to you." Christian told him. "I don't answer to you or anyone."

"You don't answer to-" Jeremiah's voice broke. "That wasn't your call to make!" He yelled at the top of his voice that you could hear him if you stood outside the room. "What happened had absolutely nothing to do with you! Why did you do it!" He yelled "Why did you do something like that? Why would you try to ruin someone else's life! Someone else's future-"

Christian hit his hand on the table, finally turning to face him.

"Because I warned you!" He yelled right back at Jeremiah. Finally getting up from his chair. The room was beginning to feel so hot. You could feel the heat even when you weren't standing close to them.

Was it always like this? Did they always fight like this? You bet that was all the Orjis asked themselves.

"I warned you not to get involved." Christian told him. "I warned you not to do anything that would make me get involved in your mess ever again. I had to teach you a lesson."

"Teach me a lesson?" Jeremiah asked him. "Did you do that to really teach me a lesson or did you just want to hurt me like you've always done? To make me pay like you've always done?"

"Both of you please!" Their lawyer yelled. "Not here and not now-"

"What if I wanted to do both?" Christian asked him, now they were both ignoring the obviously frustrated lawyer. They didn't care about those watching either.
"Huh?" Christian asked him. "What if I wanted to do both? What are you going to do about it?"

"Christian!"

Christian scoffed.

"I can't believe you actually thought I was going to let you get away with all the mess you've created. Someone had to pay for it. Someone had to pay in order for you to get your head straight. To bring you back to your senses and put you in your place. Teach you not to go around causing trouble just because you can, just because you can't get hurt. If you won't learn to behave, if you won't learn to do as you're told, then I'd just have to make you. I'd have to make you listen no matter what I'd have to do."

"Get her out of there." Jeremiah told him. "Get Kora out of there right now!" His voice was beginning to tremble. Christian scoffed. Like he was ever going to listen to anything he said.

Jeremiah turned to the man beside him.

"You're a lawyer aren't you?" He asked him. "You know how to get her out of there. You work for my family so you should know. Get her out of that place. Call whoever you have to call but get her out of there this minute!" Jeremiah yelled at him

"He would do no such thing!" Christian cut him off immediately. Jeremiah slowly turned to him.

"What?"

"No one from our family or Benoil is going to interfere in your problems anymore. If you want to bring her out of that place, maybe you should start doing as you're told. Maybe you should actually work, maybe you should actually do something about it."

Jeremiah pouted for a second. He could feel his temperature rising and his headache starting again. His lips were getting paler and his vision was getting hazy.

"Fine." He said. "I guess I'd just have to get her out myself."

Christian scoffed.

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"I'd take the fall for it." Christian frowned.

"What?"

"Didn't you say I can't get hurt? I'm going to say I own those drugs and I put them in her room. I'm going to take the blame for all of it. I wonder what's going to happen to Benoil when the world knows that the famous Ozors are drug dealers."

"Jeremiah." The lawyer told him. "It has not come to any of that."

Jeremiah glared into Christian's eyes. He could see how angry and irritated Christian was.

"Did you hear me?" He asked him.

"You wouldn't do something so stupid."

Jeremiah scoffed and then smiled for a second right after he pulled his phone from his pocket and then raised it to the air so Christian could see. He quickly pushed a few buttons and then placed it on his ears.

"Hello," he said. "Dean Donald?" He was talking to the dean of student affairs now. He actually called the dean. "I have a confession to make. I'd be in your office in twenty minutes- it's about the drugs found in Kora's-"

Christian grabbed his phone from him immediately and then ended the call.

"Are you out of your mind?" He asked him. "Are you out of your damn mind?!"

"You made me do this!" Jeremiah yelled back at him. "You did this! You give me no other choice. I am going to take the blame for all of it. Me, because Kora is someone I want to protect. Mine! Because I love her and I can't let you ruin her life like this. Hurt me all you want, hate me all you want for what I've done, for what I took from you but don't you ever hurt any of the people I care about. Don't underestimate my ability to protect them, I'd do anything!" He yelled. "Anything to protect them so please." A drop of tear fell from his eyes. "Don't try to stop me." Jeremiah pulled his phone quickly from Christian and then turned to leave.

Christian froze. Not daring to turn. He was still in so much shock from all he had just heard. He had never seen Jeremiah so upset before. Jeremiah had never talked to him that way before and it surprised him.

"Jeremiah!" The lawyer went after him.

Jeremiah halted. Inhaling sharply and placing a hand on his left temple the moment he felt a sharp pain pierce through the exact spot. His headache had gotten worse. Five times worse than it used to be and his vision was blurry. He was starting to see double of everything in the room. He barely had a clear vision of the door. He tried to brush it off. He tried to take a step again but he was numb downwards. He couldn't move his legs. He tried to speak but he couldn't. It was hard, really hard.

He fell to the ground with a large thud that made everyone jump.

Christian turned quickly.

"Jerry!" He ran as fast as he could to Jeremiah even before the lawyer did, bending over to where Jerry was and holding him, shaking him to wake him but Jerry didn't move a muscle. "Jeremiah!" Christian yelled his name again. "Someone get a doctor!" He yelled as loud as he could. His hands were trembling. "Someone get a doctor now!"