2pm

Henry was sitting alone in the living room on

the three sitter sofa, he was occupied with

something on his laptop. He didn't quickly take

note when Tarasha walked in. His eyes were

still fixed to the laptop's screen until Tarasha

sat beside him.

'Hi' Tarasha signaled.

'Hey' he smiled back.

'What are you doing? I see you've been quite

busy since morning' She said, s.h.i.+fting closer to

him to peep into the laptop.

'Yeah, I've been trying to conclude some

leftover jobs. I have to give a report this

evening'

Tarasha rested back after finding nothing

meaningful to her on the laptop's screen.

'Well, I'll be leaving for the banquet by four

thirty pm'

'Oh!' Henry took a quick glance at his

wrist.w.a.tch. 'So you still insist on going?'

'Yes. I have to conclude the deal, that's what

I'm in Nigeria for'

Henry paused. He turned to Tarasha and

stared deeply into her eyes for some seconds.

'I have this feeling that I've met you

somewhere else before' he said, returning to

his laptop. 'Something in your voice tells me

so'

Tarasha chuckled. 'Maybe, in your dreams'

'Well, maybe' Henry picked an opened jotter

and stared at a phone number written in it. 'I

would have loved to come with you but I can't

stand coming in contact with that murderer

again and most important is this job that I

need to finish this night'

'It's okay, I understand. I've arranged for a

driver to take me there' Tarasha replied.

'Just be careful' Henry warned.

Tarasha smiled. 'Put your mind at rest, you

have nothing to worry about' she said. She

frowned as her eyes suddenly caught

something on Henry's jotter. It was the phone

number Cole had used to call Jubril Lawal and

act her father, Alexander Amaechi.

She stylishly moved closer to Henry and

placed her head on his shoulder, peeping into

the laptop.

Henry was surprised, she had not come close

to him like that for sometime. He inhaled

deeply as he perceived the soothing fragrance

from her body. She placed her hand on his

chest and ran it under his b.u.t.ton. He felt a

tickling sensation.

'I wish you could follow me to the banquet'

Tarasha said, looking into his eyes. She needed

something to distract him from finis.h.i.+ng the

job or else he'll be disrupting her operation

that night.

'But I can't' Henry replied, astonished, she

never sounded like she wanted his company

before.

'Can't you postpone this job and submit

tomorrow?' Tarasha pleaded.

'That'll be difficult, I already promised today'

'But you can tell them that you have some

thing to attend to tonight and that you'll give a

report tomorrow morning'

Henry took away her hand from his chest and

turned face to his. He stared at her with doubt

in his eyes. 'Why do you suddenly want me to

come with you?'

Tarasha looked away from him. 'I just felt like

I'll be needing your company'

'But you didn't feel like that before' Henry

said, taking the laptop off his lap. 'And you

said you'll be going with a driver'

'Yes, but I need a friend' Tarasha said

childishly and clutched to his chest again.

Henry let out a deep breath. He had been

looking for an opportunity to hang out with

her, could this be the right time? Was his work

worth postponing for her?

He was feeling strange about her request but

his desire to go out with her beclouded his

reasoning.

'You also said that it's a ticketed event?'

'I have an extra ticket already' she put in

quickly.

He let out another deep breath and wrapped

his hands around her. Tarasha felt deep

warmth within her, that was a sign that he had

fallen for her trick.

++++++

Dare drove straight to the car park as he

entered in through the gate of Orex

recreational centre. He parked in a good

position as directed by the marshalls and

spent some few more minutes in the car

before opening the door and stepping out. He

looked around for any sign of those he had an

appointment with. His phone beeped.

'In the garden' the text message from Afo

read. Dare locked the doors carefully and

looked around to locate the garden. He put on

his face cap and proceeded at once as he

located the garden.

'Mr Dare' a voice spoke softly to him as he

stepped into the garden. He turned to see the

person.

'Over there' the man said, pointing him to we

here Afo and Audu were seated. Dare walked

over to them immediately. He stood beside

Afo's seat for a minute without saying anything

or getting any word from his hosts.

'What's the plan tonight?' Afo finally asked.

'I should be asking you that question' Dare

retorted.

Afo smiled. He turned to face Dare and stared

at him without saying anything.

Dare took his face away from the gaze. 'All I

know is that she would be present in the

banquet today. You must find a way to take

her and make sure she leads you to the guy'

Dare spoke angrily and then paused. He

dipped his hand into his pocket and brought

out a picture. He threw it towards Afo and it

landed on the floor. 'That's both of them in

the picture, in case you don't recognize them

anymore'

Afo stamped his feet angrily on the floor and

got up as if to pounce on Dare, but he was

restrained by an unknown inner strength and

Audu's constant warning stare at him. 'Wetin

dey work you now, Dare?' Afo spoke angrily in

pidgin. 'No be today we don dey deliver for

you, why you con dey do like person wey no

know me before'

'That's what you'll say, what if I've been

already implicated by your silly mistake?'

Afo returned to his seat and remained silent

for another couple of seconds. He picked up

the picture and carefully examined it before

tucking it into his pocket. 'No worry, we go

handle the job tonight, we go carry the girl'

Dare cleared his throat and was about to walk

away when Audu spoke. 'Wait' Audu said and

got up from his seat. 'Why don't you let's

tweak the plan a little bit?'

'How?' Dare turned back, somehow interested.

'Trying to use the girl in tracing the guy may

not work, that girl seems stubborn and quite

difficult to handle' Audu paused and glanced at

Afo. Afo nodded in agreement. 'She may not

lead us to him'

'Oh' Dare exclaimed under his breath.

'I think we should drop her immediately' Audu

said. Dare and Afo stared at him in

disagreement. 'We'll keep the dead body in

the guy's house to implicate him' Audu quickly

addedto ease the tension. 'He'll never come

out of the trouble'

'Hmmm' a slight smile began to appear on

Afo's face. He glanced at Dare who was also

smiling and nodding his head as he reasoned

the idea.

'Sounds nice' Dare said, smiling at Audu as he

took a quick glance at his wrist.w.a.tch. 'I've got

to go now, please make sure the job is done

that way' Dare said with a note of finality and

walked away briskly.

+++++++++

5pm

'My driver is outside already' Tarasha called to

Henry as she stepped out of the bedroom and

walked into the living room.

'Okay, I'm ready' Henry answered from his

room. He came out to join Tarasha in the

sitting room few seconds later.

He stood speechless at the centre of the living

room as she turned to face him. He had never

seen such beauty emanating from anyone

else. Even with very little makeup, her fitted

short blue gown made her look more stunning

than all winners which the Miss World Beauty

Pageant had ever produced put together. He

let out a very deep breath as she stared at

him too.

As if he was aware that she was going to put

on blue, he also adorned himself in a deep

blue suit and a white inner s.h.i.+rt with a

b.u.t.terfly bow tie to complement it.

'Oh! I've been with G.o.d's most beautiful Angel

without knowing it' Henry exclaimed as he

moved closer to her.

He could inhale the attractive accent of her

perfume as he got closer to her. He placed his

hands around her waist and stared into her

face. She returned his stare as she placed her

hands on his shoulder.

Henry held his breath as his eyes met her

inviting lips, he felt her hold hers too. His

heartbeat increased, he could hear hers

drumming loud too.