Chapter two

Good luck" Hakeem muttered before knocking and opening the door. Kyrie went inside alone.

"Greetings, Mr. Roberts K." Kyrie's sweet voice resounded from a distance.

"Who knows me this well?" He asked smiling, but unsure.

"Your good friend, of course!"

"Yeah, I was right. That voice sounds familiar.

"Yeah… you know what? I love the energy in here."

"You do?"

"Hell yeah"

Now this is a no-no for Hakeem's super rich disciplinarian father. He doesn't like people swearing near him. And he forgot to inform her. Jeez! Now, what?. Outside the room, Hakeem placed his ear on the door waiting to hear when Kyrie would be ordered to leave.

"Hell yeah…Forgive me, I can't reach my eye glasses." He moved his fingers about the corners of the bed. "Remind me your name again."

"Kyrie!"

Mr. Roberts pronounced it exactly like her visitor did. "I don't seem to remember… but it's a nice name. My favourite basketball player in the NBA shared the same name as you. She was ruthless in the court. You don't dare." Now Hakeem walked back down the long hall way.

"Hahahahaha boy you were so into this player… I can imagine."

"Yes, most of the time, I watched her games from my office space, across my mahogany sizeable desk. But her best moments like when she won trophies, I watched with my late wife. We supported different teams, so occasionally we would bet on who would win."

"I'm guessing you won everything, with Kyrie in your team."

Mr. Roberts laughed deeply. "No, you win some and lose some. That's some life tough lesson."

"I agree with you."

"You said you came all the way. How long will you be staying with us?"

"A few days."

"hmmm interesting. We will see"

"Alright. I will grab a tusk of Whiskey outside."

"Alright, Kyrie. I will see you when I see you."

Kyrie closed the door behind her and breathed out.

In the living room, Coco informed her that Hakeem had driven out to attend to an urgent matter at work. She became unhappy.

"How did it go in there?"

She scoffed, "Well, I don't have any word for what happened in there." But why would he go just like that? We hadn't concluded the interview."

"Hakeem does as he pleases."

"Without considering the next person?"

"You might want to be careful with your choice of words. He fires like he hires!. Sit here and wait for him."

Kyrie dropped into one of the cushions carelessly. Before she knew it, she dozed off only to be woken by her reality – brokenness. She returned to her neighborhood later in the evening where she gambled and smoked some weed.

"Saw you in the rich white neighborhood… "What are you up to?

"Message. I went to deliver message. That's all"

"You guys didn't hear her. l knew she didn't belong here… knew you would, one day, leave. Let's puff to good life." One of the gamblers cheered her up.

So, she laughed that they were exaggerating things. She was counting the money she made for the night I the street when a strange number called her. It was Hakeem. He told her where to meet to conclude her interview. She hailed a taxi to the place. It was a strip club. She called Hakeem's line but he was not answering. She decided to walk in. She saw naked stripers dancing, entertaining men who threw money at them. Finally, she saw Hakeem seated in the VIP place. An unclad woman was on her knees in front of him. She saw everything. On seeing her, Hakeem stood up and asked that they move to the bar. At the bar, he ordered for two shots of vodka.

"Drink up," Hakeem told her after he gulped his down his throat.

Kyrie drank hers. "Again!" Hakeem requested from the bar tender. They repeated the first process.

"This is where I come to unwind sometimes after the day's stress."

"I see."

"Congratulations. The job is yours."

"wow. ..what can I say? Thank you."

She pretended to be okay. Kyrie didn't like the environment they were having that conversation, nor the whole liquor idea. But her opinion did not matter. Not when she was job hunting. She was starting to feel the side effects of the vodka in her veins, when Hakeem called her attention. " I said you are welcome." She smiled. "It is still a surprise how my father accepted you immediately. How? What did you do?

"My job, I guess."

Now Hakeem looked at her differently. Her short non- sleeve gown was quite revealing. He admired her body.

"Talking about your job description, part of what you will be doing is meeting my needs."

"Needs? Make me understand, sir."

"Yes, I have needs…if met I won't have to be here again."

"I'm sorry, I'm lost"

Kyrie walked away.

The following morning when Hakeem went to greet his father who was having breakfast, he asked to see Kyrie after describing how she had captivated his heart. He continued to call her his friend. Hakeem told his father that she was just another job hunter. He refuted the claims.

"I don't care, bring her here." First impression matters!

"I'm sorry we lost her. She is not coming back "

Mr. Roberts spat out the food he had in his mouth, flung the ceramic plate to the wall, it shattered at once. His forehead began to bleed. Maybe a particle of the broken plate hit his head.

"You are bleeding dad," Hakeem used his handkerchief to clean it.

"Oh… like you care! Just let me bleed to death."

"Dad, it is a small cut, please don't say a thing like that."

"Ok, I'm going to get her, You will see her."

Hakeem pulled up in Kyrie's neighborhood, in his Lamborghini car. He tipped a teenager to go call her since she wouldn't answer his call.

"Get into the car." he ordered when she came out.

"Not going anywhere with you." She raised a false alarm. "There's a kidnapper here… my life is in danger."

"Shut up and get into the car."

In one corner, were some mob- like on lookers, they started to gather clubs in case.