The Bonny Island Massacre - S01 E02

Story 11 months ago

The Bonny Island Massacre - S01 E02

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

Yvonne was the only child of the Ngegwu family. The Ngegwus were like royalty in Port-Harcourt, they were the richest family in Port-Harcourt, with stronghold in the oil industry. It was an understatement to say that Yvonne was the richest girl under thirty in the whole of South-South. But Yvonne was not the kind of person who saw wealth as a privilege. She always felt that anyone who approached her for friendship was doing so because of her beauty and her family’s status. Whenever she organized a party, people lobbied just to be invited to the party, they believed if you were at her party, you were the in-crowd. People came from as far as Lagos just to attend her parties.

It was the reason; Femi was the only friend she really trusted. He had no romantic designs on her, even though she wished he would, and his family was as well off as hers, so he didn’t need any favors from her. Mira was her friend because she liked Mira. There was this tenacity in Mira that she loved, and she was ready to help Mira anyway she could.

Some celebrities had invited her to star in their music videos, but she always turned them down. The only time she had been on television was for the advertisement of their company when they just started, two years ago. Her popularity made it easy for Coveteur to become a household name within two years despite being headquartered in Port-Harcourt, unlike their competitors who had head quarters in Lagos and Abuja.

As if Femi was reading her thoughts, he walked into her office, with the idea of an office in Lagos.

Femi: “Yvonne, I am thinking it is about time we opened a Lagos office” he said sitting crossed legs on the edge of her polished glass table.

Yvonne: “Femo, we are just two years old, and as much as I appreciate our tremendous success, I still think it is too early to expand” she retorted, signing some documents on her desk.

Femi: “Would you still think that way, when I tell you that Daisy Advertising is coming to Port-Harcourt. You know that glass building we are always talking about, just before Waterline? That is where they are buying” he said and watched as the color drained from Yvonne’s face.

Daisy Advertising was owned by a woman named Daisy; she was 45 years old and had been in the industry for a long time. However, Coveteur had come out from nowhere and was getting all the big clients, so she had declared war on them. One time she had sent a spy who came to Coveteur under the guise of seeking employment. The spy was good in bringing up good advertisement ideas that their clients loved and they had put him in charge of the big accounts. But he had sabotaged all the deals and they lost half of their big clients. Things had gone bad for them and they didn’t understand why, until Femi had stumbled on the spy talking to Daisy on phone. He had put a private investigator on him and caught him on camera giving sensitive documents to Daisy when they met three times a week.

After ousting him, it had taken them doggedness and their connections to get them back to the top. Now Daisy was back, in their backyard. Yvonne swore to herself, that she would throw Daisy out, Port-Harcourt was hers alone.

Yvonne: “I will send her packing. She wants to fight dirty, let’s do that” she said with determination in her cat-like eyes.

Femi: “Darling, I know that look, please don’t go into the gutters with Daisy. Our work will speak for us, we clambered our way up, from among thousands of advertising companies, and we will still take over from Daisy with hard work, not with dirty tricks.” He implored.

Yvonne: “Who said anything about dirty tricks?” she asked with a wry smile. She had perfected her plans in her mind, and she knew just what she had to do. She also knew who she needed to help her.

Femi: “We have to take it to her in Lagos” he insisted.

Yvonne: “Our location had never stopped us before, it is too early to expand” she said with finality. They were both equal partners, but Femi was used to her rigidity when she was sure about something. Most times she was right, so Femi had learned to trust her judgment.

Femi: “Yes mum” he said sarcastically. “What are you doing after work?” he asked, after a while.

Yvonne: “Planning my forth coming birthday” she replied, her eyes on the mail she was sending to Mira.

Femi: “With Mira, no doubt” he quipped and Yvonne did not miss the underlying note of disapproval in his voice.

Yvonne: “What is up with that? Why do I feel like you don’t like Mira? You guys used to be close; I even thought you had feelings for her. What happened?” she asked, as she clicked ‘send’, and turned her full attention to Femi.

Femi: “ I just think you should be careful around her, she has this hunger in her eyes” he said absent mindedly, his eyes having a faraway look in them.

Yvonne: “We all have hunger in our eyes because we all long for something. Mira always longed for success, so she can change her family” she defended her friend.

Femi: “What do you long for?” he asked, and Yvonne lowered her eyes, using her long eyelashes to shield her eyes from Femi’s gaze. She had a secret to guard.

Since she was little, she had always felt like no one really loved her. Her mother told her she had fallen pregnant with her when she was not ready to have children. She was at the peak of her modeling career, and her pregnancy had made her fall behind her peers. By the time she was delivered of her baby, her body had changed and no matter what she did, that body which got brands running after her was gone, and in its place was a very curvy pear shape that the industry was not open to, at that time. Yvonne always felt like under all the love her mother showered on her, there was resentment for ending her career. Her mother was now the most powerful woman in Port-Harcourt owing to her chain of stores across the country and abroad and her hold in the oil and gas industry, but she always reminded Yvonne that she left modeling because of her.

She had dated guys who always ended up asking her for jobs and contracts at her father’s Oil and Gas Company. She always gave and gave, and when they had nothing to collect from her anymore, they always left. She was that girl who was beautiful but always nursed heartbreaks. So, if there was one thing Yvonne longed for, it was true love. But she was not ready to tell this to Femi.

Femi: “Can you spare me an hour out of your busy schedule; I want us to have dinner at Asia Town. I know how much you like Chinese. I want to ask a girl out and I need moral support” he said looking intently at Yvonne.

Yvonne: “You are going to ask a girl out?” she asked, with arched brows, as her heart rate quickened.

Femi: “Yes I am. I am scared she will not accept, we have been so close that I am afraid I have been friend zoned” he replied.

Yvonne thought of what he had said, and came to the conclusion that Femi wanted to ask Mira out. Here she was thinking that Femi had issues with Mira, not knowing that he was falling in love with her. She was happy for them, but she could not deny that her heart was breaking. She guessed that she had carried on a relationship with Femi in her head, believing that Femi liked her and in time would come to love her. But it was wrong; she felt she had misread him. She looked away so he wouldn’t see the shimmering in her eyes caused by unshed tears.

Yvonne: “Happy for you guys. I really need to work now, see you in the evening” she said curtly. Femi blew her a kiss and left.

When he was gone, Yvonne looked up and whisked away the teardrop that was threatening to fall, with the tip of her finger. She braced herself for a new Femi because she was sure that Mira would not allow him be as close as he was to her. She made a decision to put the interest of the company first and not allow her broken heart interfere in her business relationship with Femi.

Question: Who do you think Femi will propose to, and what effect would it have on the three?