The presence of Mr. President and the minister at the office courted the attention of the media and in no distance time more than a handful of them flooded the Saint Don Group’s compound, shooting flashes of camera light at the president and his entourage as they advanced to the entrance.
The president caught sight of them and heaved a sigh, wishing he could fight them off and avoid them from capturing this moment; for he found it shameful to borrow money from me.
“His Excellency,” the minister called in a mumble tone, “Be of good cheer. Mike Don would be considerate enough to grant us the loan without demanding for collateral.” he assured Mr. President, somewhere close to his ears as they got on the elevator.
Mr. President wanted to give him the cold shoulder but the wrath boiling in him wouldn’t let him even raise a wink perfectly. He cocked his eyebrow at him and averted his gaze from him.
“If that has been your prayer you had better continue to pray harder because I am not going to take it lightly with you if Mike Don should deprive us of our major source of income in the bid to access loan. Just have it in mind that I will impeach you.
The minister snorted and hummed in exhaustion. The thudding of his heart had doubled more than necessary and he looked forward to pleading with me to choose the acres of land as collateral.
“I would dare try to plead with the world richest man,” he sounded inwardly as he swallowed harder. He had never been so nervous.
He had a quiet ride on the elevator; feeling abandoned and left out as Mr. President molded a mean face with no intention of engaging him in any further discussion.
The moment the elevator beeped for them to walk out, the minister sighed and wished nothing was going to bring him to my company again.
Zion was the first point of contact they met and they were awed when he welcomed them with dilated smile and added, “You came right on time His Excellency. Your number tag is fifty. This is the visitors’ form which you must fill up before you meet with Mike Don. You may have to wait for forty nine visitors before you can go in to see the world richest …”
He had barely finished his word when Mr. President broke out, pointing at his head, “Hey are you okay. Do you realize who you are talking to, huh? Are you insane or something?”
Zion’s gaze morphed into scary blue; a thick vein popped under his brow and almost lashed out at Mr. President just same way he did. But he kept calm as light and hoped he could be unruffled for too long.
The minister queried yet again, “Hey, Zion or whatever you call yourself.” his gaze was on the ID Card which hung on his shirt, “I guess you realize you are with the number one citizen in Rio Hondo…”
Already varieties of camera light were falling on them from different angles as the journalist and paparazzi took ample time to catch graphic moment of the happening.
The minister continued at a slow considerable pace not yet initiated into shouting like Mr. President, who seemed to have been infuriated before now. “This is Mr. President and I am the minister for oil and gas. Please Mike Don is expecting us today for some business talk so if you don’t mind I suggest you usher us into his office or we would do that ourselves.”
Zion could perceive the wrath building up in Mr. President; it was evident in his jaw which kept waggling.
“Um honorable minister, I know who you are. I know this is my president but I am only doing my job as the personal aide to the world richest man, who happens to be the only number one citizen I know. He mandated me to make you both pass through necessary protocols before coming into his office.”
Mr. President’s face winced before he broke out, “Lies! Lies! Mike Don would not give such instruction. He is not that silly to give out such orders since he knows who I am. You are the one making such policies.” He bit his lower lip and gnashed his teeth, “But I know what I am going to do. After now, I promise you, you will lose your job…”
Zion dragged a thunderous gaze at Mr. President before letting his eyeballs wobble angrily. “How do you mean, His Excellency? What do you…?”
“Mr. Present barked radically at him, “I am not your Excellency. I can’t be the Excellency to a mentally deranged fool like you!”
Already a scene had been created and all eyes were on them. Journalists were busy flashing their camera light to catch graphics for their news.
The minister’s face steamed up in fury as he yanked out his fingers and almost pointed into Zion’s face, “I don’t care if your boss gave you such orders. if you don’t do the needful now, we are going to walk into that office ourselves …”
Zion shrugged confidently, “So be it, minister. The policy belongs to everyone. You have the will power to break it if you so desire. If going into his office without an official permission would gladden your heart I would want to see you do that…”
Zion was yet speaking when the minister swirled around and stalked away in the direction of my office. Mr. President followed suit. About making headway into it, a burly, hostile-looking, bogey security stood in their way and queried them with his what-the-hell face.
The minister grinned just as Mr. President did. He breathed uneasily and shot a frown at the security.
“Let us go in. we want to see Mike Don,” the minster sounded calmly.
“I am sorry, sir. Please where is your pas tag from Mr. Zion?”
“Pass tag?” Mr. President recoiled, “Do we look like visitors to you?”