Song of the chapter: Elastic Heart by Sia
...
Abena groaned in frustration and dropped the newspapers noisily on the centre table in her worn out mini flat that she shared with her step mother.
It was almost a week since the outrageous, yet tempting, offer by Mr. Ademi, and she had applied for every vacancy yet no one would employ her.
The hospital had called her the day before and gave her two weeks to meet up with the payments or they won't attend to the patient.
Every job interview she had gone for, the women looked down on her and the men asked her to sleep with them.
It won't be so hard if you just accept his offer.
This wasn't the first time a thought like that erupted in her head.
40 million naira.
That was the exact amount she needed to pay the hospital. After that, she would be free, and she would start over.
She stared at the vacancies on the newspapers.
Cleaner: 20,000 monthly.
Marketer: 55,000 monthly.
Teacher at nursery school: 35,000 monthly.
Driver: 22,000 monthly.
Personal assistant: 34,500 monthly.
It went on like that. It would take forever to pay up, and by then, the patient would be dead. She needed part of the money in a two weeks, or it was over.
As she picked up another newspaper, a piece of paper fell off the table. She picked it up, it was his card. Rumpled and all, but his phone number was there.
She had slapped him, true, but maybe he wouldn't mind. She dialled the number and decided to swallow her pride.
...
"She slapped you?" Joseph burst out laughing.
"It's not as funny as it sounds jare, you don't have to laugh." Tobi snapped but Joseph kept on laughing.
It was a saturday, and they were at the Quillox club playing a game of foosball in a private room.
"I love that girl! I told you shay. I told you it won't work. But you, acting all high and mighty, saying that no girl would reject that kind of offer. Next time, listen to your lawyer." Joseph chuckled, ignoring the deadly glares being sent his way.
"She'll call back." Tobi said confidently. "You'll see. And if she doesn't, I'm sure that there are other feisty, confident and beautiful women ready to do it." Tobi shrugged.
"That's why you picked her?" Joseph raised an eyebrow with a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Yes. I told you, I want a girl. And I want my daughter to be like her, with a lot more class of course." Tobi explained.
"You're such a snob." Joseph rolled his eyes. Tobi opened his mouth to reply but closed it when he heard his phone ringing.
He looked at the caller ID suspiciously before accepting it. "Hello... Yes, this is Mr. Ademi. Who's on the line?" He asked in in business like tone.
"Abena Omotosho. I'm sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell." He said rudely before looking at Joseph and flashing him a confident grin.
Joseph rolled his eyes but he still had a look of surprise. "Oh, I remember you now." Tobi smirked.
"Oh, you would like to accept my offer? Well that's good to hear. Although I have a few people who are also lining up for the job, I'll give it to you since you were my first choice." He lied smoothly.
YOU ARE READING
The Contract ✔
Romance"I know you only care, not because you love me, but because you love what is in me." She said and turned away, afraid of what he was going to say, how he was going to reject her. He hushed her and pulled her to him so they was no space in between, a...
