Repetition Compulsion

3.

Abimbola:

27-year-old Abimbola Blake sighed in frustration as he did another quick scan of the room filled with supposed young and upcoming professionals. All the candidates his eyes landed on looked either really drunk, really unlikeable, or unemployable.

He took a sip of his single malt scotch and then let out another audible sigh. As he did, he thought: "This is all my fault. I had the perfect candidate. I had her, but I took too long to make a move, and now she's gone. No doubt she has been recruited by one of the rival companies".

Being a young and upcoming CEO of a book publishing firm, Abimbola had a tendency to demand perfectionism from all his employees. He even had a criteria which he needed all his employees to fit before he hired them, no matter how big or how insignificant their role in his company would be. As such, even though Abimbola Blake was a very busy man, he would always find time in his busy days to scout employees and hand pick them all individually.

On this particular night, Abimbola was at a graduate recruitment function, and whilst he had had his eyes set on a certain candidate for a while now, he had looked away for a minute, and then he had lost her. The next logical option would have been for him to find another 'perfect' candidate. But Abimbola had spent years observing this one as she grew more mature and came out of her shell. So he knew he would never find anyone to measure up to her.

He took another sip of his drink and then looked around. He blamed himself for losing her. He had gotten to the venue extremely late and in his attempt to settle in so he could be in the right head space before he approached her with an offer, he had lost sight of her.

Deep down, Abimbola knew if he had showed up early to this event, like he always did with the others, then this whole situation could have been avoided. But he had had a very rough week, and needed time to distress before he headed to the function.

He loosened his tie and continued scanning his environment, in the hopes of catching a lucky break. But the truth was, even if another suitable candidate was staring him in the face, he wouldn't have recognized them. His heart was just not in it. He had had a life changing week, and all he wanted to do was go back to his apartment, put his feet up and relax whilst watching a soccer game. It had been a while since he had just kicked back and relaxed.

He gulped down the remaining bit of alcohol in his glass, and scowled as the alcohol went straight to his head. Despite all that had happened during the past week, Abimbola was determined to remain positive.

In the space of a few days, Abimbola had found out his company was in financial trouble, and needed saving. Luckily, he had managed to do just that by seeking the help of Babakar Gray and making him name partner.

Babakar was a giant in the industry, but he was not the easiest man to work with. Despite all that, however, what kept Abimbola going was the fact that if he worked hard enough and earned all the money his company had lost initially, then in a couple of years' time, he would be able to buy Babakar out of the company and have his life back. That was the ultimate goal.

He motioned for the bartender to pour him another single malt whiskey. He knew it would have to be his last one for the night since he was driving himself home. It had been a while since he drove himself. But Babakar was insisting on cutting down on company expenses, starting with Abimbola's spendings.

His face involuntarily scowled as he thought about the shame and the humiliation he had had to bear over the past week. One thing was for sure: Abimbola hated Babakar with his entire being, and even more than that, he hated the position that he was being put in. But he knew he had to do it. He had to do it to save his mother's company, his last remaining legacy.