1 THE SECRETARY

Chapter one

Dreamy McKenna

The alarm went off for the second time but McKenna was in no hurry to wake up. She was dreaming of the day she will meet the perfect man that will sweep her off her feet, her Mr. Perfect.

It was then her phone rang and she reluctantly picked

"McKenna, where are you?" Her best friend screamed at her on the phone

"I am on my way. I will be there soon, Ellie" she lied

"No, you are not because I just woke you up. Be here in 30 minutes Mk and do not put me in trouble" she said and hung up

McKenna exhaled. She really didn't want to upset Elena, Ellie for short. They have been best friends since forever.

People often wondered at their strange friendship, they had nothing in common except their love for each other. McKenna is the fun loving, disorganized, intelligent and carefree fashionista whereas Elena is the serious, well organized, brilliant and committed one who had the next ten years of her life planned but despite their differences they were perfect for each other.

McKenna made Elena's life fun and Elena in turn kept McKenna on track.

"Where is my shoe?"

McKenna said as she came out of the bathroom already dressed and brushing her teeth. She looked under her bed for the missing pair but it wasn't there and it was then she decided to check her kitchen, and found it inside the cupboard alongside her plates.

"How did you get here?" she asked the shoe

She ran a comb through her hair, applied light makeup and she was on her way.

She wasn't lucky because both the tricycle and cab decided not to show up as she stood my the road side and she was already few minutes late.

McKenna trekked to some distance and decided to stand along the road for a lift from a stranger. She stood beside the kiosk of the man selling recharge card and she was lost in her own head. For a moment, she thought about her life.

Her full name was Mckenna Omasirichukwu Chukwuka and she was born in southeast Nigeria. She was raised by her grandmother because her seventeen year old mother died giving birth to her, and her Twenty-something year old alleged father denied being responsible for the pregnancy. So, there she was stuck with a grandmother who blamed her for the death of her daughter.

As a child McKenna was independent. McKenna learnt as a child how to take care of herself because she knew that no one would do it for her but she often dreamt of the day her father would come to claim her and give her all the love she craved for but that never happened. So she consoled herself with the fact that one day she will find a man that would love her despite the fact she caused her mother's death and wasn't wanted by her father....Up till date she still clung to that dream because she knew that it was the only way a person could love her.

When she turned seventeen she enrolled for a diploma in business administration and as soon as she was eighteen, she took her belongings and left in the middle of the night. that was a year ago.

McKenna was brought back to the present when she noticed a car was moving backwards. She jumped inside the gutter to avoid being hit. McKenna took her time to examine the car and it was her dream car, the Bentley Flying Spur. She pulled herself together as a man stepped down from the car. He was breathtakingly handsome, tall, dark skinned and very well dressed. McKenna drooled over him and he was the perfect example of her Mr. Perfect. As he stepped down from his car, she pulled herself out of the gutter and she was ready to forgive his reckless driving. McKenna couldn't bear to be upset with him but there was just one problem, he didn't apologize.

"Excuse me, you almost ran me over" McKenna said confronting him

"Okay" he simply said.

He kept talking to the man in the kiosk trying to buy recharge card, McKenna was beyond mortified as she stood there speechless. She had dealt with people treating her like trash all her life but something about him made her hurt the more.

A year ago, she came to the city a malnourished charity case with low-self esteem but she had worked through all her issues and she did her possible best not let people get away with looking down on her.

''Excuse me that you are ridiculously handsome, rich, straight nose and a pair of .....' McKenna started but got lost in her world of fantasy as she imagined this prince coming home to her every day, telling her he loved her and fulfilling all her dreams. She watched his face, tracing his eyebrows to his nose and his ridiculously sensual lips. She was about to check out his chest when he got her back to the real world.

"Miss! Miss!' he called out to her while he rubbed his index finger and thumb together to produce a sound.

'Hmm… sorry, I kind of zoomed out for a while. What was I saying?" she asked innocently

'I think you were telling me how handsome I look' he reminded her with an expressionless face.

'Yeah… right, you have a pair of the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen and it is beautiful' then she became sad 'what a waste'

She concluded and started moving away when he spoke to her.

'Excuse me, what do you mean by what a waste?' the man asked her

"I mean you are obviously good looking. You just happen to have a brain of a goat. bye' Mckenna said and tried wave down a taxi and she was lucky when one stopped. McKenna almost jumped in joy before she heard him speak.

"Obviously your mother didn't teach you good manners. if not why will you be standing on the road like a crazy person looking for any guy to pick you up, use you and give you little money like the cheap prostitute you are' the man said out of spite.

McKenna flinched. She was deeply hurt and for the first time in a long time, she could not hide her hurt. She wanted to hurt him back, so she took a piece of broken bottle by the roadside and slammed it into his expensive car tire, puncturing it.

"That should teach you how to treat a lady right and yes, my mother didn't teach me good manners because she died giving birth to me, so you suck loser" she said and entered the cab and drove away and all he could do was watch her in shock.

JASON (the same morning)

Jason was already up before the six o'clock alarm he had set the day before went off. He went to his in house gym for his thirty minutes routine work out. Everything about his day was planned and he liked keeping to schedule. By 6:50 A.m, he had already taken his bath and entered his dressing room. Everything in his walk-in closet was arranged, from his ties to his clothes even his shoes were arranged according to color, their worth and the day of the month he was supposed to wear them.

Everywhere was quiet just the way he wanted. Jason thrived in serenity of his environment and liked his alone time to be alone indeed. It was why he cooked his own meal, cleaned his house and takes his clothes to the laundry himself. He had all the money in the world to hire a help but he chose not to.

Jason left the house exactly 7:45 A.M and he estimated he would be in the office before 8:30 A.M as he had an appointment by 9:30 but Jason wasn't as lucky as he was stuck in traffic and his airtime balance was insufficient. This rarely happens to Jason. He was rarely late and he always made sure he had airtime but he had been distracted lately and mostly because of the meeting he had with Elixir Yagazie. As he drove to work, he thought of his life.

He is Jason Ekoh-Yagazie and to the world he was the only grandchild of chief and Doctor Damian Yagazie a multibillionaire through their only daughter and child Elixir Yagazie popularly Known as the boss lady and her husband, Obidinma James Ekoh. People found it strange that he took both his paternal and maternal name hyphenating them but they found it stranger that his mother's name came last, therefore his name Jason Ekoh-Yagazie but everyone assumed it was because his mother was so much richer than his father and they weren't wrong. Jason would give everything to have that as his only problem but he wasn't so lucky.

He was brought back to the present when he saw a recharge card kiosk. Jason was so happy that he reverse to get airtime and he had to stop as he saw that the girl behind him wasn't moving away for him to park properly. Jason studied her from his side mirror. She was pretty enough, dressed to kill and was very much in immersed in her thoughts. She was dark-skinned and had a crazy like appearance. Jason hissed, he knew her type and he just got out of a relationship with her type - Bloody gold diggers, who wanted just his money and the fame attached to his name. They care nothing for him and caused him to adapt his play-boy attitude and so far it has worked for him- his money for their body. He only dates them for three months tops and he gently drop them for the next available girl.

He stared at her for some time as he honked again but it didn't bring her back to the present. Jason wondered what she was thinking about and he wanted to make her worries go away but after his last thought he became angry with himself. Why does he care? He asked himself.

Jason decided to take his chances to park so close to her and it was then she jumped into the gutter. He wanted to run to her to check if she was hurt but decided against it because the way she looked at him with longing as if she wanted to swallow him made him understand that she knew exactly who he was and she wanted a meal ticket.

"Excuse me… you almost ran me over" she said glaring at him, but he was already late and had no patience to start an argument with someone

"Okay" he simply replied as he went about his business of buying his recharge card but the lady didn't know when to quit and she made no attempt hiding her feelings.

"Excuse me that you are ridiculously handsome, rich, straight nose and a pair of ..." She described him as if he was a piece of paper cut out of a magazine and it almost made him smile. No one has looked at him with that much admiration. She stared at him mid-sentence forgetting what she was saying.

"Miss! Miss!" he snapped his hand bringing her back to the present

"Hmm… sorry, I kind of zoomed out for a while, what was I saying?" she blinked

'I think you were telling me how handsome I look' he reminded her and he thought she would feel embarrassed for describing him like an object but nope she continued.

'Yeah… right, you have a pair of darkest brown eyes I have ever seen and it is beautiful' then she became sad ' what a waste' she concluded and start to move away when he spoke to her

'Excuse me, what do you mean by what a waste?' Jason asked her.

"I mean you are obviously good looking. You just happen to have a brain of a goat, bye' she said and tried flapping down a taxi and one actually stopped.

Jason had been called a lot of things but never a goat and he was surprised because it took guts for her to tell him that, knowing that he could make her life miserable.

"Obviously your mother didn't teach you good manners, if not why will you be standing on the road like a crazy person looking for any guy to pick you up, use you and give you little money like the cheap prostitute you are'

Jason regretted saying that to her immediately it came out of his mouth and he expected her to say hurtful words to him too but she didn't. She didn't appear to be hurt by his words instead she took a piece of broken bottle by the road side and slammed into his car Tire. Well, she got balls and she wasn't a push about, Jason thought. He was so surprised he opened his mouth but no words came out.

"That should teach you how to treat a lady right and yes my mother didn't teach me good manners because she died giving birth to me, so you suck loser" she said and entered the cab and drove away and all he could do was watch her in silence

"Did this crazy girl just slash my car tire? Crap, I'm going to be late for my meeting" Jason said out loud, he then brought out his phone and dialed his best friend's number.

"Where are you?" he asked "come pick me".