Restless - S01 E117

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Restless - S01 E117

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 117

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June 5, 2016

12:25PM

El Deols, Anthanna.

Sheila stepped out of the car without waiting for her bodyguard to open the door like he does usually. She was dressed in an emerald green gown which stopped just slightly above her knees. She had golden coloured high heels on and a handbag of the same colour.

She proceeded to the entrance of the house with the bodyguard following behind. She was about to climb up the balcony when she heard her phone ringing in the bag. She smiled and made no attempt to take it out. She knew Adrian would be the caller and believed he was calling to find out if she had gotten home from church.

She walked straight to her room and dropped her bag on the footstool beside the bed. She sat briefly to take off her shoes and kept them aside. She got up to turn on the socket for the air conditioner and used the remote control to increase the intensity.

She was about to start taking off her clothes when her phone began to ring again. She realized it had to be someone other than Adrian this second time, as Adrian wouldn’t have called her back so soon.

She turned to her bag and took out the phone. The caller was the head of security officials at the SheiDev firm.

She stared at the phone in surprise for some seconds, wondering why the man was calling her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had spoken on phone with him.

“Hello,” she answered the call with a note of uncertainty in her voice.

“Good afternoon Miss Sheila,” the man sounded frantic. “Ermm… there was an explosion at a part of the office about thirty minutes ago, we’ve been able to put out the fire and we’ve invited the authorities. I just thought I should let you know.”

“Explosion!” Sheila exclaimed with a frown on her face. “What could have caused an explosion at the office?”

“We are not sure of the cause yet miss, but we’ve invited the security officials and they should be able to tell us the reason.”

“Alright, I’ll be there very soon.” Sheila heaved a sigh.

She ended the call and took in a deep breath, wondering what to do next. Calling her Dad was the first thing she would have done, but he was out of town and he was yet to call her with a new phone number.

She hurriedly walked to her shoe rack and took out a sandal. She began to put on the sandals but stopped on sa second thought. She took it off again and decided not to rush.

She took off her clothes and changed into more comfortable one – a shirt and a trouser. She sat at the edge of the bed and dialed her bodyguard’s phone number.

“Hey! We’re going to the office right away, so get ready.” she said briefly.

She dialed Adrian’s number after. He was the one whose call she had missed when she was walking into the house.

“Adrian, can you meet me at the office in thirty minutes time?”

“Uhm… What are you going to do at the office on a Sunday?”

“I just got a call from the security head, he said there was an explosion at a side of the building.”

“What the bleep!” Adrian exclaimed. “I’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“Thank you,” she ended the call and put the phone beside her. She put on her sandals quickly and got up.

She took out her second phone and picked the first with her car keys before hurrying out of the house.

____

Unknown time,

Texas, United States.

“Here’s it sir, it’s already activated and you can make calls with it right away,” the man explained as he handed over a pack of sim card to Emery Jack.

“Thank you,” Emery Jack said and watched the man turn away. He closed the door of the room and walked to the bed.

He sat and began to fix the new sim card in his phone.

He had arrived the United States the day before with two of his aides, and had been lodged in a hotel. Three rooms were booked, one for himself and one each at either sides for the aides, leaving his at their middle.

The hotel was booked for by his hosts who had also come to receive him at the airport. The journey from El Deols to Texas was a long one and they had to leave him to rest on the day of arrival. The business discussion was scheduled to begin the day after which was the current day. Emery had two more hours to prepare for the first meeting.

He turned on the phone after fixing the back cover. He waited for it to finish booting and the first number he dialed was Sheila’s.

“Hello Dad,” Sheila sung in a tone which made Emery detect she was distressed.

“Baby,” he squinted his eyes. “What’s up with you? Is everything alright?”

“No Dad, I’m at the company now. There was an explosion at the back side,” she relayed.

“Explosion? How is that possible?”

“I don’t know Dad, there possibly was an error in the electrical connections.” she answered.

“How serious was it?”

“Not too serious but it affected two offices at the third floor and cleared the below areas at the lower floors,” Sheila answered. “The authorities are here to check it already.”

“What? That’s serious,” Emery shook his head. “I’ll also make some calls now to ensure that every thing is done properly to check the building.”

“Thanks Dad.”

“Yeah, hope you’re doing well.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Please , stay safe baby. I’ll call you back after getting in touch with some people in El Deols.”

“Alright Dad.”

He ended the call and shook his head in surprise, wondering what could have caused an explosion at the SheiDev company. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he was sure the right authorities would be able to answer the question.

He opened his contact list and dialed the number of one of his close aides. He gave instructions for the aide to contact some top government officials on his behalf and inform them of the situation.

He got up to prepare for his meeting after the call.

___

16:40PM

El Deols, Anthanna.

Sheila stood with Adrian by her side, watching from afar the affected areas of the building. The explosion was not too severe but had brought down a very small part of the four storeyed building.

The affected place was at the left part of the building, specifically the restrooms and the offices at both sides.

Some officials were carrying out the necessary checks while Sheila and Adrian watched on. Some of the SheiDev staffs had also come around on hearing the news of the incident and they stuck close to each other after greeting Sheila, discussing in low tones.

“Miss Sheila Jack,” a man putting yellow overalls and head gear walked towards Sheila. He was the head of the officials inspecting the building.

“Sir,” Sheila and Adrian turned to him. “Have you found out what could have cause the explosion?”

“From some of the material fragments found there, the explosion with that kind of force and sharpness could have only been caused by an explosive device.”

Sheila raised her brows. “What do you mean sir?”

“I mean an explosive device was planted there,” the man stated plainly.

“A bomb?”

“Something like that, but only of enough intensity to have the effects it had.”

“But why and who would plant a bomb there?”

“We don’t know for now miss, the police officers would have to carry out more investigations,” the man said. “For now, we’ll ask that no one goes in there until we’re sure it’s completely safe.”

Sheila let out a deep breath with her mouth making some sound. “Dad will be so troubled to hear this,” Sheila said, turning to Adrian.

The man who had come to give them a report was already leaving but turned back again.

“We got the message from your Dad thirty minutes ago, and we’ve also sent a report to him.” The man said.

Before Sheila could talk, her phone began to ring. She took it out to check the caller and saw it was her father.

“Thank you engineer,” she said to the man before turning to answer the phone call. “Dad, have you gotten the report?”

“Yes baby, please I need you to leave there right away. Just go home and rest and I’ll handle everything from here,” the man said.

“Okay Dad, I’ll leave now.”

“Good, you can always get a report from them and you would be called when you’re needed to be there.”

“Alright, I hope you’re getting your business deal done?”

“Yeah, I have a meeting in thirty minutes time.”

“Oh! We’ll talk later then, bye.”

“Take care baby.”

Sheila locked the phone and kept it in her pocket. She raised her gaze to Adrian, who was already staring at her.

“I’ll just go home to rest and wait for further reports,” She said to him. “We’ll have to close the office for now.”

“I see,” Adrian took another look at the building. “It’s okay,” he turned with her and they began to walk towards the gate. “You can always call when you need me, I’ll be available.”

“Thank you Adrian,” she smiled.

They walked past the other people slowly, answering and returning greetings from some of the company’s staff around. Sheila gave some instructions to two of the staffs before walking out with Adrian.

Fifteen minutes later

She was already halfway to the house when she got a call from the head security officer of the firm again.

“Hello,” she answered in a low tone.

“Miss Sheila, the engineer wants to speak with you.”

“Okay, let him on.”

“Ma’am, you may need to come back now. I just tried to reach your Dad and he’s not in town, you need to be here to see this.”

“Oh! Okay, I’ll be there in few minutes.” Sheila said and hung up.

“Turn back to the office, there’s something new I need to see there.” She said to her bodyguard who was also driving her.

She dialed her father’s number, it rang and wasn’t answered. She tried a second time and it still wasn’t answered. She remembered he said had a meeting the last time they spoke. He surely would call her back after the meeting.

The bodyguard soon took the next turn and they were on their way back to the office building.

___

Texas, United States

Emery picked up the hair brush to straighten his hair and then took another look of himself in the mirror. He smiled as he now looked perfect.

He looked smart and young in his black suit. His handsomeness and the strength in his body could make him pass for a man in his late thirties.

He turned to pick his phones on the drawer when he heard a sound at the door.

He turned back quickly and he saw some movements of the lock. He was yet to make any move when the door opened and some men in black began to step in.

A total of five of them stepped in and closed the door. All dressed in suits just like Emery but they had dark shades covering their eyes. They all their guns pointing at him.

Emery stared at them, wondering what was happening and what they wanted.

“Gentlemen, what can I do for you?” He asked in a confident tone, raising his hands slowly in the air.

None of them spoke immediately. Emery began to scrutinize their faces one after the other.

One of the men dipped his hand into the breast pocket and took out an ID card. “We are from the SBI and you’re under arrest for illegal entrance into the country and smuggling in weapons.”

“What?” Emery was shocked beyond words. He got distracted when his phone began to ring. He turned the screen up and saw that Sheila was the caller.

“You’re not allowed to answer that call,” one of the men said to him when it was obvious he was contemplating answering the call.

“I’m here on a business trip, I need to talk to my hosts.” Emery retorted.

“You’d be allowed to contact them when you get to our office,” the man replied.

Emery heaved a sigh and then proceeded slowly towards them with his hands still in the air.

They opened the door and allowed him step out first before following him. Emery got out to see his two aides already outside with other men like the ones who arrested him.

_____

El Deols, Anthanna.

Sheila stood at the same spot she had been on with Adrian an hour before then. Her bodyguard was standing at some distance behind her. She had sent someone to tell the engineer that she was back.

Most of the company’s staffs had also left after Sheila left earlier, only the security staffs and the inspection officers were around.

Soon, the head of the inspection team began to come towards her. He was holding his head gear this time around and had three others following him, they had protective eyewears covering their eyes.

Some men could also be seen stepping out from the building, though not coming directly towards them.

“Sorry for having to call you back Miss,” he began as he got in front of her. The other man stood by his sides. “We only observed after you left that…”

The man’s speech was interrupted by a loud bang. Another part of the building had exploded and this time caused a heavy vibration.

Everyone around was sent crashing to the ground as destroyed parts of the building scattered around and dust covered the atmosphere.

“Miss Sheila, are you okay?” Sheila’s bodyguard was quick to get up after the vibration ended. He quickly began for her amidst the dust and confusion around.

He was yet to locate her when something struck him hard on the neck from behind. He turned to see one of the men dressed in the yellow overalls behind him with a plank of wood. He was struck the second time but he managed to protect his face from the plank with his hands.

He caught the plank and tried to get a hold of the man but someone else struck him again from behind. It was difficult for him to see because of the dust covering the whole place and also getting into his eyes. He however still manage to get a hold of the man in front of him and sent him two punches in the belly.

He turned again just in time to dodge another strike of the plank from behind. He grabbed the second man by the belly and lifted him up. The man was still up in his hands when he had the cry of Sheila.

He slammed the man in his hands to the ground and quickly turned in direction of Sheila’s cry. He hurried in the direction even without seeing very clearly. He could sense from the little he saw that someone who forcefully trying to carry Sheila.

He still on his way to Sheila when a rod struck him from behind again. Another hit him on the chest from the front and he fell back. He managed to get up quickly but found himself surrounded by four men who all had rods with them. They began to hit him on his head and his body from different directions.

He fell weakly on his knees to the ground and managed to stay up for some more seconds. He grabbed one of the man’s rod and dragged him closer but was so weak to do any other thing. He fell face flat to the ground.

___

June 6, 2016

9AM

Bexford Ports Authority,

Bexford, Bethanna.

The authority’s environment was so busy that morning. The large tent for the reception could be seen at the open field. The program was yet to begin but some Bethanna hiphop music could be heard being played through the loudspeakers.

The dignitaries could be seen arriving the venue with their entourages as the press men and women welcomed them with questions, microphones and video cameras.

“Good morning dear viewers, it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for. The first ever Bethanna fully made water vessel – The Treak is going to be launched today. As we can see, several dignitaries have created time to grace this epoch making event.

The Treak started as a dream of five young Bethanna native engineers, and they began to build the components two years ago. Every of the component was built by the engineers with all the tools and parts made here in Bethanna.

The Treak is unarguably the best thing to come out of Africa in 2016. Many delegates from other countries are here, including Africans and dignitaries from the Europe, America and Asia.

The Treak has been thoroughly scrutinized by officials of the Bexford Ports Authority and officials from the Ministry of transportation and has been declared safe for transport.

Today, it would have the first trip. A trip to Oso where the ongoing flyover at Oso will also be inspected. Here, we have one of the officials at the Bexford Ports Authority, Mr Marlon Light.”

The video camera focus changes to Mr Marlon and slowly zooms to capture both of them.

“Good morning Mr Marlon, you are one of those who have worked to make this day possible. Can you tell us your experience in the process?”

“Thank you, it’s an honor to be part of an history making event. There’s no where in Africa where this has been done yet and it brings pride again to our great Nation. I and my team have worked to ensure that the vessel meets all the requirements of the Bexford Ports Authority for vessels traveling on the Bexford sea. We’ve also checked to ensure that it meets the criteria for human and freights transportation.”

“Wow! So, tell us what you think will be the experience of the guests on the ship today?”

“Well, the sections of the ship are designed to give maximum comfort to all the travellers. The speed is good enough and it also has all necessary facility required.”

“Thank you so much Mr Marlon, we’re glad to hear from you. We hope to see you again at the end of the event,” the reporter said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Marlon smiled back and walked away.

“The event is about to kick off and we’ll be airing it live. Please stay tuned. My name is Alex Win, and I’m reporting for Extra TV.”

FAST FORWARD — 9:40AM

“We’ll launch this mighty at spell of The Treak,” the MC of the event said to the attendees.

Over fifty people were gathered at the entrance of the ship, including journalists and security officials.

“I…2…3…Go!”

“T…H…E…T…R…E…A…K,” the people chorused and the chairman of the event cut the ribbon with decorated scissors.

The attendees followed with a round of applause and shouts of excitement.

The leader of the engineers led the dignitaries up the ship. They were followed by the other engineers, few reporters, the officials of the Ports Authority and some security officials. Other security officials stayed behind to prevent unauthorized entry into the place.

____

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