Forty Four

Chapter Forty Four

“Ms Lewis, the lawyer is here.” Jane said as she popped her head in at the entrance to Jennifer’s office. It felt good to be back, and Jennifer was happy that nothing had been altered in her office. Even though the right place for her to be at that moment was her dad’s office, but Jennifer was way comfortable in hers, so she decided she will operate from her office, reserving her dad’s for meetings with the board members.

“Let him in Jane. And uh… don’t forget ask each departmental secretary to do the compilations of all the staff we have indicating their qualifications and level. Don’t leave out the other branches too.” Jennifer said, looking up from the document in her hand.

“Sure, ma’am.” Jennifer looked back at the files that pointed out the architectural projects their company was supposed to work that was ignored while Francis was on the seat.

“Ms Lewis, nice to see you back to working.”

Jennifer smiled, getting up in courtesy. “Mr Roberts, pleasure to see you again. Please have your seat. So…”

“I came with the divorce letter.” Jennifer raised her brow in realization. He had called her the day before to let her know the letter was ready. “Francis has signed it, your signature is all that is left.”

Jennifer felt that pain in her heart again but she ignored it “Okay, can I have it?”

He opened his briefcase and took out the file. He passed it to her and she opened the white file. Looking at the end of the letter, she saw Francis familiar signature which was awfully long and jargon-ish. Smiling sadly as she recalled how they once made a bet on whether she would get his signature or not. She lost the bet and had drive him round town for two days. She read through the letter, trying hard to push away the voice that was telling her to not sign the letter. After she had read through the conditions involved, she signed the letter, regretful that her story with the man she had loved had come to such aa terrible end.

The lawyer collected the file from her hand a she stretched it to him. He checked it and when he ensured that she had not left anything out, he nodded, putting the file into his briefcase.

“Uh… what about the PI we hired to check Hannah’s claims?”

“Unfortunately he has not found anything as he said yesterday when I called him. Apparently, Hannah did a good job trying to hide her true personality. But don’t worry, he is a pro at his job, even if it takes a year, he will get something.”

Jennifer exhaled. “I hope so. It won’t be a good thing if I turned a blind eye to her claim. Alright Mr Roberts, thank you so much for everything.” She got up, adjusting her gown which had folded up before stretching her hand for a handshake.

Mr Roberts got up and received her hand. “It has been a pleasure working with you.”

“Till next time.”

“Goodbye.” He said and left the office.

Jennifer exhaled loudly, slumping into her chair. She looked up at the ceiling and began to take spins on the chair to take her mind off things. She had been working all morning and her head needed to cool down. She began to reason out which country would be a nice place for a vacation as it was sure that she would need one after everything was settled. Remembering that she had not called Charlie to give him the good news, she also recalled that Mark and Silvanus were leaving Bahama that afternoon. She took another spin to face her table and she grabbed her phone to check the time. It was almost one which meant that their flight was nearly one hour away.

Closing her eyes as she remembered the conversation she had with Mark the other day, she reasoned whether to just stay in the office because she was not certain if she could handle facing Mark especially after the hurtful statement he made.

‘I thought we were having fun.’

Jennifer felt anger starting to build up inside her. Immediately she called herself to order, she needed her mind in one piece in order to do her office work well. Deciding that it would be better to spare one hour to say goodbye to the people who saw it fit in their hearts to help her, she got up and grabbed her phone.

‘I am just saying goodbye, that’s all. It shouldn’t be hard to face Mark at all.’ She thought, trying to convince herself.

“Jennifer, are you there?” She heard Amanda’s voice from the other side.

“Yes. I am coming out now.” Jennifer grabbed her bag and one of the files on the huge pile that she had been working on before the lawyer came in. After ensuring she was not forgetting anything, she left her office.

“Look at you, looking so gorgeous. Mark would regret saying those words to you when he sees you.” Amanda gushed as soon as she stepped out.

“Oh please, I look like I have been working on hundreds of files.” Amanda shook her head disagreeably and told her they needed to get going to the airport.

Jennifer looked towards Jane desk. “Jane, please make sure to keep the office in order. I will be back in two hours.” Jane nodded in response.

“You sure are a busier a person now.” Amanda pointed out as they made their way out of the company.

“Well, I have to be in order to restore the company to what she was before and even better. Can you believe Francis approved ten projects, collected the advance payments made and kept them in some ‘safe’? It seems he was so determined to ruin this company.” Jennifer air quoted the word; safe.

“Why did you air quote safe?” Amanda looked her way as they entered the elevator. Jennifer pressed the ground floor button and the lift did its work.

“Because he kept them in a safe.” Jennifer sighed deeply, staring at her blurry image on the metallic surface of the elevator, trying not to be frustrated by the crazy things she had discovered since she stepped her feet into the company.

“If he kept them in a safe, where then is the safe?”

Jennifer shook her head. “I have no idea. And I don’t want to ask just anybody in the company where it might be, I cant trust anyone in this company as it is.”

“So, what are you going to do? Because if you eventually find the safe, you will need the pin or password. It might even require a finger print.”

“What else can I do but go and pay Francis a visit? I really don’t have a choice you know. If i don’t get access to that money, the projects can’t commence and if the projects do not start in the next three weeks, the company is at risk of getting lawsuits from ten different firms.”

Amanda made a ‘whush’ sound with her mouth and the elevator opened, as they got out, she faced Jennifer and asked, “Will you be fine visiting him alone?”

“I should be. I will be fine.”

“Okay darling, just be careful. “ Jennifer nodded and they both entered the car waiting for them in front of the building.

“Uh… Mr David are the guys already at the airport?” Jennifer had hired the driver whom they had hired his cab as a means of transportation.

“Yes, they are.”

“Alright take us to the airport.” He kicked the car to life and they were out of the company’s environment in no time.

The ride to the airport was silent to Jennifer’s delight. She was able to look out of the window peacefully, no thoughts attacking her heart with pain she did was trying hard to avoid. After thirty minutes of driving, they finally got to the airport.

“Okay, lets do this.” They got down and entered the airport, their eyes searching for the guys. Jennifer sighted them on a queue waiting to get their luggage checked.

“There they are. Hey guys.” She called to them, waving her hand to catch their attention as her and Amanda walked towards them.

“I was afraid we would miss each other.” Silvanus said, dropping his luggage to hug the girls, Mark looking away.

“I am glad we did not . It would have been a shame if I didn’t get to say bye to the wonderful people who helped me.” Jennifer said, smiling widely at him.

“Don’t start your emotional speech here please. We are not dying here.” Jennifer chuckled and faced Mark who looked her way at the same time.

“Hey Mark.” She said reluctantly, her voice coming out low. He nodded in an acknowledging way before looking elsewhere. Jennifer felt her heart drop but she immediately gave a cover up smile and faced Silvanus who looked at her apologetically.

“Hey Mark.” Amanda said distastefully also getting a nod from him. She huffed and reached for Jennifer’s hand, her eyes trained angrily on Mark who was looking forward.

“Please, extend my greetings to Charlie and Mark. Ben too. Tell them a huge thank you on my behalf. I will make sure to visit you guys one of these days.” She could have sworn she saw Mark’s face go pale, but she decided to ignore it.

“Okay darling. It is almost our turn to get checked. We will be seeing each other some other time. Do take care of you and make sure nobody tries any shit like trying to kill you.”

“I will try.” She moved a step back, Amanda too, and they both watched as their luggage got checked. After they had been cleared, they moved to the other side, Jennifer feeling once again grateful for having all of them in her life.

“It is a shame about Mark. I really thought he would make a good partner for you. But anyhow.” Amanda sighed, clutching Jennifer’s hand still.

Jennifer faced her friend and smiled at her. “Shit happens. Let’s go home Amanda. I need to treat myself to a bottle of wine.”

“Good plan.” And the both of them, hands still holding each other in a comforting manner, walked out of the busy airport.