IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS - Chronicle's of Imade (PART 1)

Imade slowly took the stairs in the beautiful complex that hosted one of the fastest growing law firms in the country. Working in the legal department at her her in-law's firm had been awesome but she wanted a change in gears for her career.
The thought of a law firm with full blown legal activities excited her. more-so, she had missed court proceedings, being a defense lawyer was life for her and she wouldn't allow the huge salary, and/or colleagues' respect plus the easy life- an attached driver with beautiful allowances, dissuade her from her dream. This was a challenge and she was going to take it.
"good morning" she greeted the receptionist and the other guests seated at the reception with a Nod "i'm here for the interview"

"okay, please take your seat"

she surveyed everyone around. There were other young promising-looking lawyers...one look at the light- skinned lady who sat from her far right, told her she would be a strong competitor. She stood to take the seat next the girl
"hello, my name is Tania" the girl smiled at her

"i'm Imade...."

"oh nice...when were you called to the bar?"

"last year..."

"that's young, i guess you know the directorate here needs experienced staff" Tania smirked

imade's mood dampened, there had been no age or experience restrictions in the advert placed online...whatever it was, she would scale through it. She thought
"i bet i would just have to try my luck then..."imade smiled

 "sure..." Tania replied 

The candidates went in and came out one after the other...Tania had just gone with confidence, from the look of her, imade feared for herself and other candidates.
Tania walked out with proudly set shoulders...."Good-luck girl, i know the job is mine already" she smiled as she walked towards the elevator

imade walked into the office shyly, the room seemed so big, she looked from one end to another, there were a total of five people in sitting..."welcome madam!" a feminine voice jolted her

"good-day..." she smiled to no one in particular

"you may have your seat" another man told her

"the man at the end of the table, didn't even lift his head he kept scribbling whatever it was on a piece of paper while a messenger took a cup of water to him..."that must be the director" she thought to herself.

Charles raised his head to drink from his glass of water, these interviews bored him, the young lawyers seemed to have an uncomplimentary air about them, he had interviewed eight people today and none of them were fit for the job, even the last girl thought she deserved his position because she was too experienced.
"my name is barrister Imade Obazee and  I’m an innovative lawyer with a year's experience in managing various aspects of the legal scope — from recruiting and  training to benefits — for  Brandon enterprise"

Charles was taken aback...first time a sensible person had walked into this office....he knew this lady would give him a run for his money...
"okay miss.....? go on"

"imade sir...." she cleared her throat as she answered the fine young man who had become interested in her--focus imade, you are not here to spot fine boys...whatever it is, land this job and move on!." I have spent the last year honing my skills as a lawyer for Brandon enterprise where I won several performance awards. I have also been trained by the 'O and O' law firm on jurisprudence and ethical legal concepts. Although I enjoy my current role, I believe I’m now ready for a more challenging assignment and the idea of this position really excites me."

"so miss imade, why are you leaving the Brandons'?" another man asked

"The Brandons' is not a law firm. This means my jurisdictions are limited...more so, i'd like to work for a full legal services firm that can expose me better to the legal world... i want to concentrate on being a defense attorney and this firm has the best defense attorneys in the country. I can work by bringing in my little experience while learning in the process since i'd be working with the best hands"

Charles was impressed... " take her" he scribbled on a sheet of paper and he passed it on to the head of human resources

"okay madam imade, are you married?" The HR asked ignoring the directive her MD had just passed across

"no i'm not" she replied smiling at another man who stared at her- you don't have to act ogle Imade! grrrhhhh. She gave herself a pinch

"madam, Ima--de, do you have an English name?"

"Sabrina, but i'd prefer you call me Imade...." she smiled again

"Sabrina you can resume work on Monday." Charles interjected, he was already tired...this session had gone on for too long

The HR threw her MD a look...Charles did things in a funny and strange way but she had expected him to allow her pass her message across in a more professional way
"okay Sabrina, you'd have to get used to the name, feels simpler than Im...a" miss Camille, the HR soon found her voice

"Imade...." She replied her

"okay, like the head of the chambers just said, you are to resume work on Monday... welcome to Charles Solicitors"

"thank you so much!!!"  she squealed... she never knew she would get this job."I'm so grateful and i promise to  maximize this opportunity..."

"it's okay" Charles said as he walked out.....whoosh this guy is fine... Imade or Sabrina, face your work... she tapped herself

"Barrister Charles, the HR excused herself and went after him, but i thought we should have taken the other girl,"

"Tania?"

"yes... she seemed far experienced"

"i don't like her, she will usurp my authority someday"

"this girl is rather young in the profession"

"the more reason i chose her, she can be groomed, besides she has worked for the biggest enterprise there is yet, she could bring in a bit of some experience from there"

"okay sir...wise decision" the HR smiled at him

Miss Camille had a thing for him but women were not his problem. As a matter of fact, he cared less for any lady... this world was filled with Delilahs and he wasn't going to let himself trapped with a gold digger as a wife. The right one will come around- speaking of women, he had never taken a liking to any lady save the professional respect...but this girl said less and he had heard so much more from the little she had said. Maybe he was seeing much more potential than the others saw...or maybe it was his heart, telling him something else- he shook his head, walked to his office to pick his personal effects and he took the elevator out of the building 

He got in his car and turned on the ignition..."that should be the new staff" he muttered as he noticed her enter a waiting car. He took a sneak peek as he drove past the car- "it's a guy, see the girl has a boyfriend"  he told himself as he sped off upon seeing the two hug themselves...





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"Hey cupcake, how did it go?"

"fine..." Imade said as she hugged her sister....she always looked forward to Fridays. Since her sister got married, her parents allowed her visit the newly weds every weekend. Ese didn't need any help around the house, her husband employed a sufficient number of staff for that

"where's uncle Dave"

"he's upstairs...baby!" Ese called out

"you don't have to call him, i was just asking after him"

"well i wasn't calling him for you, i was calling cos i miss my husband"

"Wait, i thought you just came down from the same bedroom?oh yea..... this una love sef"

"taaahh... stop jealous!" they both rolled in bouts of laughter.

Dave held his wife on coming downstairs...."hello barrister" he greeted

"hi brother-in-law"

"how did your interview go?"

"the Brandons enterprise made way for me, they might call in though to confirm if i really work there though"

"It did? well, you shouldn't bother about that"

"nahhh i'm not bothered. My Brother-in-law is the CEO, i'm covered" she chuckled

"what law firm"

"Charles Solicitors"

"oh the new one making waves, heard the guy was appointed as Special adviser to the president on legal matters a while ago" Dave replied

"yea.. but his appointment was over since the last tenure. Oh good, and he's single too" Ese joined

"so?" Imade asked

"he could just be your Mr right"

"dreamer, i have someone i love" Imade snapped

"someone or a couple of persons?" Ese mocked

"okay, i'll see you ladies later...baby i'm meeting Tobias at the golf course...."Dave pecked his wife and turned to leave

"will you be back in time for dinner?"

"i will not miss dinner with you for anything in the world"

"i know..." Ese smiled

"okay sis come back here" Imade snapped her finger to draw back her sister's attention

"it's not my fault, i'm smitten!" she said blowing Dave a kiss as he walked out of the house

"whatever!"

"so,did you notice any good looking guys at the interview?"

"what is that, i'm more worried about Philip he hasn't been taking my calls"

"i thought the guy who dropped you was Philip"

"no that's Gauss...he's just an admirer"

"so are others, well, Philip might call, he's probably very busy with work"

"he hasn't called me for two weeks i'm bothered; i thought to share the good news of my job with him but he didn't take my call again when i tried earlier"

"hmmm that's sad though... maybe you should send him a message"

"did that severally he didn't reply"

"or maybe he's lost his phone, have you checked his office?"

"i don't even know where he works, he works from home though"

"imade, why won't you know where he works?"

"i don't know everything happened so fast...."

"wow, give it time, he might just be swamped with stuff, men are a lot to handle"

"yea..."

Deep down, Ese knew Philip had just shown the kind of monster he was, he wanted out but was too weak to speak up. She had suffered a lot of heartbreak before marriage but her little sister Imade wasn't the kind of woman who grew attached to a man, she always had several flings and saw men as tools- before Philip, her prayer had been for her to fall in love; but not to a heart-breaker. If this man left her hurt, he may have created a monster, the kind that would be set free to do terrible things to men. 

"Ese, my boss is frosh"

"for real?"

"yea"

"meaning, you could be interested in him " some sort of distraction from the demon- Philip would do

"for fun, maybe but for keeps, i doubt. Philip is the only man i have thought of in that manner. I hope he takes my call, i'm so scared of losing him"

"i hope so too....." Ese sighed as she silently wished Philip would call her sister

"by the way, officially, my colleagues prefer to call me Sabrina"

"hmmmmm, i wonder why we both like our native names"

"yea....i love imade...i wonder why she preferred the name Sabrina"

"hmmm your boss?"

"No the Hr but my boss didn't object to the name preference"

"Maybe he likes both names" Ese chewed on her snack

"nahhhhhhhhh....off to get lunch please...where's your chef, i want his famous nsala soup and semovita"

"please ask the chef to prepare the table for two"

"Aren't you on a diet?"

"no, Dave and i registered at a gym.....i can eat anything i want, in small portions of course but i'd work it out"

"deceit of the highest order...by the way, i saw your latest invention, my sister has a clothing line, i'm so proud of you"

"it's not just that, i recently joined the board too- I sealed off a deal at the Dubai market seminar i went for and Dave's stake upped so he asked that i join the board since most of the stakes are in my name"

"wowza, you should call your parents, they read the clothing thing off the news"

"well, i just spoke with them, our parents are proud of us"

"i'm really proud of you" Imade said one more time as she ran up the stairs

if Imade fell in love, all my worries would be over...she is too carefree, maybe because of the heartbreak she experienced in the past- none that she knew of, but she needed to mature and a stable relationship would bring that in view. Dear, Lord, bring the right man her way and help her recognize it. Amen

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Ralph cursed as he tried to park his vehicle properly. This street was narrow and the other vehicle owners parked haphazardly making it difficult for commuters to use the drive way... he could have followed suit but he was re-branding his life. Being a law abiding citizen was part of the package. He confirmed the safety of his vehicle with one last look at it as he used the remote key lock. sighing, he approached the entrance in quick steps

"welcome sir," the receptionist greeted him

"thank you, is my brother around?"

"yes sir he's in..." the slender receptionist smiled as she ushered him into the office.

"Big bro, you don't look like yourself" Charles greeted Ralph

 "its Katherine she's begun her madness"

"what madness?"

"she's insisting i make her a sole signatory to one of my major accounts- the business account"

"then say no"

"i can't; she's having my child soon and she has said if i don't make that happen, she will leave me with the child"

"then let her go"

"ha! Charles are you actually saying this right now? have you forgotten how many years of treatment i had before i could have this baby"

"hmmm....you have a point, but what if the child isn't yours?"

"Stephanie is everything but not unfaithful. I'm quite sure the child is mine, very sure; even my doctors confirmed a boost in my fertility"

"hmmmmm"

"so what do you want?"|

"i just need you to do something. I won't be able to do anything because she'd suspect."

"okay...we can make it a dual signatory account- you should have thought of that tho"

"yes, i did think of that but i just told you she wants to be a sole signatory to it. meaning i should transfer the owner ship to her

"now that's some gold digging move- how about if you transfer it to your unborn child, but the terms would be centered on the child living in your home till he turns eighteen"

"i don't understand"

 "you would have it legally stated that she can partially access the account when the child turns  six and fully claim ownership by the time the child is eighteen but at both stages, the child should be under your roof.... and if she refuses, insist you can only make the account dual signatory, i.e for you and her only"

"what about if she refuses?"

"then remain staunch...don't give in she doesn't have to know you care so much about her"

"hmmmmm.... i used to wonder why you decided to be a lawyer like me but i think i now know why...thank you brother"

"anytime....."

"by the way, why are you at the office? today is Saturday...when i called earlier and you told me to come around the office i wondered why you chose to work today"

"oh, i had to work today, i have a client to attend to personally. Plus, my new staff would be needing a few guidelines when she resumes on Monday"

"you employed a new staff?"

"yes...."

"i thought you just employed new staves a month ago"

"the chamber has grown and i need someone to sit in for me whenever i have double court sessions"

"that's awesome....i still can't believe you outshone me in this game"

"well, i focused on work.... women are a distraction"

"yea...but i know a woman who would have made me grow bigger...."

"Ese?"

"yes"

"well, you decided to go on a hanky panky ride with her "

"that's my loss..."

"i saw her in the news.....she's making big waves"

"Yes i'm really proud of her she's been attending several business meetings with stakeholders... that girl is so smart"

"well, her husband's gain. Hopefully, Katherine decides to give you peace"

"hopefully....please settle down Charles, you have grown so big you need to build your own home"

"i will when i find the right person..." Charles chuckled

"okay brother, i'll call you on Monday.....the bank manager should be made aware of this"

"okay bro....stay safe"

"ah....congratulations.....i like the new complex"

"thank you and we are working on the parking spot"

"you should...."


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to be continued.....