K.C Philips

Chapter Nine

The air was tight around the conference room. It was as silent as a graveyard. All eyes were focused on K.C and Fisayo, who happened to be staring at each other, both of them wordless. Jessica, however, stood in suspended animation.

Mr.Nebo was the first to speak. "Er, do you two know each other from....anywhere?" Fisayo, keeping her gaze fixed on K.C, replied, "Yes. We do."

"Welcome to BOG, Fisa-sorry, Ms Adegoke," K.C said as he moved his motionless right hand to grasp hers. She kept her eyes on him. Even after releasing her hand, they kept on staring at each other. All eyes remained on them both.

This time Jessica spoke. "We could like, get on with the meeting"

"Yes, yes please." K.C said, closing his eyes as he shook his head off Fisayo's direction. He returned to his seat but didn't sit down. He looked at Jessica, who was sitting beside him. He realised that she had been looking at him since; she turned away when his eyes met hers. Instantly, he felt a pang of guilt. Everyone was seated. He began to address them.

"I would like to welcome you all to today's meeting. I have been aware of this meeting since last month, December last year, where the CEO, my eldest sibling, informed me of his to-be absence today. In other words, this deal has been on my mind for a while now. At this juncture, I and the members of the board would like to know more about what we're stepping into." K.C sat down as Fisayo took the flopr.

K.C pictured Fisayo from a vantage angle. Her beauty, like Jessica's, had not faded. Rather, it radiated the more. She didn't seem to have changed much. The last time he saw her, she witnessed him beat her boyfriend, the same boyfriend that raped her, to a pulp. She looked vivacious at that moment.

She began, "On behalf of my organisation, Helping Hands, I would like to thank Beta Oil Group for making out time to give audience to our prospects. I am Oluwafisayo Adegoke, the founder and director of Helping Hands Foundation. Helping Hands began six years ago, three months after my National Youth Service. You see, up to that point, I had been plagued by the traumatic memories of how I lost my virginity at the age of 16."

That last statement attracted shocked faces in the room. K.C and Jessica were not fazed.

Fisayo went on, "Amusing, isn't it? After that night I was so broken, helpless and hopeless. The memories haunted me throughout my years in the university and in youth service. After my youth service, I met a man who inspired me to transform my pain and anger into something useful to benefit the lives of others who may have gone through the same. The result of that is what we know today as Helping Hands Foundation."

Mr. Melitus Nebo spoke suddenly without standing up. "So, Miss, you've given us the background. You'll now have to tell us what your organisation stands for and the position of BOG in Helping Hands' next venture."

Fisayo resumed in response, "Helping Hands, like the name implies, exists to give the young ladies between the ages of 7 and 16, who may have experienced a traumatic experience in the course of their lives, a new reason to live."

A female member of the board spoke up. "What are these traumatic experiences and how does Helping Hands give them 'a new reason to live'?"

Fisayo continued,"These experiences include rape, molestation, physical abuse, sexual harassment and cases of incest. A very large percentage of our victims come from the lower class. We take them in, listen to their stories, offer counselling, seek legal action for them and engage as many as we can in skill acquisition programmes, while they receive formal education."

K.C broke his silence. "Not bad, not bad at all. Now, how does my company come into all of this?"

Fisayo smiled at K.C, laughed a bit and continued, "We intend to expand our skill acquisition centre. This will obviously require public funding and we at the organisation are aware. Inasmuch as we are not after the profit, private funding is never enough. It is our wish for BOG to get involved. It's not your donation that really matters. Rather, it is the impact on these young girls' lives when they know that society hasn't forgotten them."