Finding Love
A Short Fiction
Copyright 2015 C. M. Okonkwo
Finding Love
Samantha resented her life, although she had everything that would make any young girl content. At twenty-five, she already had a good and well-paying job as a celebrity fashion stylist, and a lovely three bedroom apartment in the heart of Ikoyi, in Lagos. She shared the apartment with Ada, a recent graduate she had met at a fashion show. It was after the show that she allowed Ada to share her apartment, at least until Ada also got a good-paying job and a place of her own to stay.
All the things Samantha once loved — life in general and her job, were now gradually fading away. She actually didn’t have to work, because she was from a very wealthy family, and as an only child, her parents could afford to give her anything she ever wanted; all she had to do was to ask. However, she never asked because the only thing she wanted money couldn’t buy; she wanted love, she craved romance, she wanted a boyfriend. She wanted to get out of her single status and get into a relationship that Cupid would approve of. She had never been lucky finding an honest boyfriend, as it always seemed that the guys were more interested in the combination of her money and beauty, than in her brain and personality.
It was the morning of June seventeenth 2014 that Samantha made the decision. It felt like she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, because she didn’t feel like her usual lively self. She squinted her eyes as the sunray cut through her bedroom window and rested on her face. She rolled to the other side of her bed and checked her phone. It was 9.25am.
She was supposed to be at work by 9.00am. Her alarm must have gone off, but she didn’t hear it. It was one of the reasons why she felt that day wasn’t her day. She stared at her phone for a few seconds, there were about seven missed calls, but no voice or text messages. She unlocked the phone and checked who had called her. When she saw who it was, she gave the person an instant call back.
“You are late,” the person at the other end said.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Jean, I had a little trouble this morning.” Samantha stifled a yawn.
“I don’t care. I run a business and that’s what matters to me, not your morning trouble or whatever. I expect that…”
Samantha listened to her boss-from-hell lament. Mrs. Jean had never been a bad boss. She always looked out for all her employees, and her way of showing it was always amusing. Samantha could have laughed about Mrs. Jean’s lamenting as usual, but of recent, everyone seemed to be sent from hell to her. She was fed up. She listened as Mrs. Jean continued to ramble her complaint, then interrupted her mid-sentence.
“I quit!”
“What?” For the first time, Mrs. Jean didn’t mind that she had been interrupted.
“I said I quit. I’m done. Don’t expect me at work today or forever.” Samantha hung up before Mrs. Jean could say any other thing.
She heaved a prolonged sigh, placed her phone back on her side table and lay on her back, both arms and leg spread open. She closed her eyes and was trying to process what she had just done and obviously, the repercussions, when her room door swung open.
“Wakey-wakey.” It was Ada, her flatmate.
Samantha took a pillow and put it over her head. “Go away,” she said. Her voice was muffled. She almost added ‘flatmate-from-hell,’ but restrained herself. At that moment, she wondered when Ada was going to move out or if she ever would. “Don’t you ever knock?”
Ada smirked. She never knocked. “Aren’t you going to work today?”
“I quit.”
“You did what?”
“I quit.”
Ada bit her lower lip, wondering what in the world had made Samantha quit her job, at a time when jobs were difficult to come by in Lagos. Ada had been searching for a job for a while, and didn’t have the luxury or family connections that Samantha had.
“Why did you quit? Are you just going to stay all day or all week, or maybe even all month on your bed sulking?”
“I need a boyfriend. I need love. I need romance, and so far, my so-called precious and good paying job isn’t cutting it for me.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.” Samantha sighed again. “Jobs come easy for me, so I need to find a man first, then I’ll refocus on getting another job later.”
“Of course.” Ada rolled her eyes. “So what are you doing today?”
Samantha stood up and walked towards her window. She was in an apartment building of about fifteen floors and she was on the tenth floor, so she had a beautiful view of the area. One tall office building with ‘R.Rich Industries’ written on it was a few meters away from her building to the right side. On the left side, there was another building, a small one when compared to the R.Rich Industries building with just three floors. The ground floor had ‘Cake & Coffee’ written on it, the middle floor was a lingerie and accessories store, and the upper floor had ‘Chrissie’s Events’ on it. Even though the three shops had nothing in common, Samantha took in the lovely view, smiled, then turned to look at Ada.
“I think I would try out the cake and coffee place. I have been passing by it for the past two years and never stopped to know what’s inside,” Samantha said.
“It beats sitting at home and doing nothing, believe me,” Ada said, making Samantha laugh. “What time are you going?”
“Probably by 12.00 noon. I’ll just sit there for a couple of hours and read a book or play on my laptop, then come back home. Or maybe I’ll wander into R.Rich Industries and check if love awaits me there.”
Ada snorted. “Sounds like a good plan. But I have to go, because I have a meeting in a few hours and I don’t want to miss it. Hopefully, this one would bring the breakthrough that I need.”
Samantha smiled. “Good luck.”
“Good luck to you too,” Ada said. She pulled out her phone from her pants pocket and was dialling a number as she left Samantha’s room.
***
Samantha sat at a round high table in the cake and coffee shop, situated strategically by a window that overlooked the door. She fired up her laptop, a saucer of cheesecake by one side of it and a large cup of cappuccino on the other side. The shop was just about empty with only three people in it. Other people had come in, but they ordered take-outs and left almost immediately. Whenever she heard the door open, she looked up to check who it was, then looked back down if the person wasn’t male, young, handsome and wealthy-looking.
She went on the Internet and started researching intently on the R.Rich Industries, not paying any more attention to the door and the visitors. She was so engrossed in what she was reading that she didn’t notice someone walk up to her and greet her.
“Someone seems engrossed in their research.”
Samantha looked up when she realised that she was being addressed. “Sorry, what?” She did a double take, then readjusted herself. “I’m sorry, hi. Did you need to sit?”
The dashing young man in a dark blue suit threw her a half smile. He pulled the chair right in front of her and sat in it. “This is my favourite spot. I hope you don’t mind.”
Samantha shook her head. She was flabbergasted and was short of words. She looked around her, checking if someone had read her mind and was playing a practical joke on her, but there was no one there. While she sat staring, a waiter walked up to the table to take his order. She checked him out as he made his order, ‘cheese croissant and espresso.’ He spoke clear English in a nice accent and was articulate. When he was done, he looked at Samantha and extended a hand to her.
“I’m Ramsey.” He smiled, and she shook his hand. “Ramsey Richmond.”
“Samantha is my name.” She wasn’t sure if she should add her last name, so she didn’t, afraid that she would sound too serious.
Ramsey nodded towards her laptop. “What are you working on?”
She laughed, then closed it. “Actually, I’m researching the company next door.”
“You mean R.Rich Industries?”
She nodded, shy, even though there was nothing to be shy about.
“You can ask me anything you want to know about the company.”
She raised an eyebrow, wondering why he would say that, then it suddenly made sense to her ‘Ramsey Richmond’ and ‘R.Rich.’ “You are not...?”
Ramsey smiled and nodded. “I guess, I am. I actually love the cheese croissant in here. I hardly miss it in the mornings at this corner, and I love having it with an espresso.”
***
It had been over a month since Samantha met the young, extremely rich business man and billionaire, Ramsey Richmond. He had fallen in love with her from the first time he set his eyes on her in the cake and coffee shop, and it was obvious that she had also fallen in love with him. But despite his many advances and constant wooing, she refused to give him a chance.
She played hard to get, although it wasn’t her intention. She had talked about Ramsey with Ada, and Ada had advised her to play hard to get so that he would work hard for her. She reasoned that if he really wanted her, he had to work hard. So the wooing continued each day until Samantha felt that Ramsey had worked hard enough and decided to give him a chance, and also give him her body — on a passionate night together in her apartment that neither of them was going to forget in a long time.
The day after the passionate night, Samantha woke up in her fluffy bed, all smiles, but Ramsey wasn’t there. He had already left, but it didn’t kill her smile. She stretched slowly, as she still smiled, and when she turned her head to the left side of her bed, she saw a bouquet of mixed flowers in a vase with clean water. There was also a box beside the vase and a note by it. She rolled over to the other side of the bed and read the note:
“Morning, Angel. I had to go to work and didn’t want to wake you up. I love you and I loved yesterday. See you later and enjoy your breakfast.”
Samantha smiled again and opened up the box — a portion of cheesecake and a large cup of cappuccino, just the way she liked it. She closed the box, then laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Memories of the night before flooded her mind, sweet memories that put her to sleep soon afterwards.
Samantha woke up suddenly when her phone rang. She immediately sat up in her bed and looked around briefly, wondering what had happened. Her curtains were open, and it was very dark outside, which meant that it was already evening and she hadn’t taken a shower yet or even left her bed. Her phone rang again, startling her. She turned to her bedside table and picked up the phone. It was her mother calling.
“Good...” Samantha paused and looked at the time on her phone — it was 7.17pm. “...Evening. I mean, good evening, Mum.”
Her mother sniffled. “Hello, darling.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No.” Her mother sniffled again. “It’s your father.”
Samantha cleared her throat. “What about him?”
“He has a condition, darling. Something happened concerning his empire and it took a heavy toll on him.”
Samantha didn’t understand what her mother meant. Her parents were wealthy, but if anything happened that would send her father to the hospital, then it was serious. “Where is he now? Is he at the hospital? Are you with him?” she asked.
“We are at home. His doctor just came and is looking at him now. I’m afraid. I don’t know if you—”
“I’ll be there, Mum,” Samantha interrupted. “See you soon, and please take it easy.”
Samantha hung up immediately, and before she went into the shower, she checked her phone to see if Ramsey had called or sent her a text message... there was nothing. That was odd. So she tried to call him to tell him what was going on, where she was going and ask him why he hadn’t called her since, but there was no answer. The phone rang out, and when she called the line back, it was switched off. She didn’t want to read meaning to it, so she just put the phone down, went to shower and get ready, then left for her parents’ house.
***
Samantha drove quickly to Lekki Phase 1, where her parents lived, and it didn’t take her that much time. Luckily for her, there hadn’t been that much traffic on the road. She had tried calling Ramsey a few more times while she was in the car and he still didn’t pick up. She was starting to get worried. She didn’t want to panic, but the idea that Ramsey had gotten what he wanted and bailed on her hadn’t hit her yet. Ramsey had money, so maybe the idea of getting women who played hard to get was his own thrill. Before she entered her parents’ house, she called him one more time and there was still no answer.
Samantha’s mother was crying in the lobby of her father’s bedroom when she got in.
“Mum, are you okay?” Samantha ran to hold her.
“He’s in there.” Her mother put her face in her hand and shook her head. “I don’t want to see him that way. He is with the doctor now.”
“I’m going to see him.” Samantha walked towards the door, knocked and entered even without being invited in. Whatever it was that was wrong with her father, she knew it wasn’t that serious. Her mother had always been money conscious, so every little loss was always so dramatic and traumatic to her.
She entered quietly and saw her father on the bed quietly checking his blood pressure. The doctor was there and also quiet, paying close attention to what he was doing. Her father saw her, smiled at her and waited for the doctor to remove the strap from around his arm, then waved her over.
“My darling,” he said. “What a pleasant surprise to see you.”
Samantha smiled and sat close to him on his bed. “I was scared. I thought something awful had happened.”
Her father laughed. “Something awful did happen, and to be honest, I almost had a heart attack, but it’s surprising how I bounced back to health in little time.” He looked at the doctor who was still arranging his things to leave. “Your mother must have scared you.”
Samantha nodded. “She did.”
Her father laughed. “She’ll calm down when she knows I’m doing well.”
“I’ll be off now,” the doctor interrupted. “Remember to take your medication, and do not stress yourself too much for now. If you feel uneasy at any point, call my direct line, if not I’ll see you tomorrow for the three routine checks.”
Samantha’s father nodded at the doctor, and the doctor left. They could both hear him at the door being interrogated by her mother and asking what was going on. Her father turned to look at her.
“I heard you quit your job.”
“You always hear everything, and it was about a month ago.”
“I heard on the same day that you did, but I didn’t want to interfere. Is everything okay with you?”
Everything wasn’t okay.
“Everything is fine,” she lied. “But don’t worry about it, when I’m ready, I’ll take care of that. So what happened with your empire?”
“A tremendous amount of money disappeared from our accounts, and even a lot more from the empire accounts. We have already investigated in-house but haven’t found the thief yet. Someone is definitely behind it. Someone that has access to me, to your mother or to our home, and that could be about one thousand people. The person must have had access to a lot of codes and a lot of information. The theft has caused a serious domino effect in the empire.”
Samantha could understand that. After taking a few seconds to reflect, she asked, “So what are you going to do about it?” She hoped all the money wasn’t lost.
“We’ll have to keep our eyes open and watch carefully. The thing with thieves is that they never get satisfied. They keep coming for more until they are caught; if not by me, then by their next victim.”
As her father spoke, she looked at her phone again... still nothing from Ramsey. A text came in at that instant from Ada, asking her if she w
anted to hang out that evening. She didn’t reply because she wasn’t in the mood to hang out. Her new love hadn’t spoken to her in a whole day, conveniently after they had spent the night together, and her father was having a rather difficult time.
“So would you take up the offer to work with your father, ever?”
Her father’s voice woke her out of her thoughts. “No, Dad. Oil and gas doesn’t cut it for me.” She stood up, kissed her father on his cheeks, then headed towards the door. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
Before Samantha left, she talked a little bit with her mother, then sent a reply to Ada that she didn’t want to hang out, then called Ramsey again; his phone was switched off again.
***
Samantha woke up quite early the next day with thoughts of Ramsey in her head. He still hadn’t contacted her, and when she called him this time, his phone was disconnected. The number didn’t just exist anymore. It was the same thing that happened for the entire week before she finally concluded to herself that he had vanished. He had definitely found someone else, had left her and had moved on. She got out of bed and staggered to the kitchen to get a drink of water when she ran into Ada.
“Where are you going to all dressed this morning?” Samantha asked, surprised. “What time is it even?”
“6.45am.” Ada smiled. “I’m going for a job interview and I want to beat the traffic.”
“Dressed like that?” Samantha asked, with one raised eyebrow. “What kind of job is it anyway?”
Ada examined herself. Her dress wasn’t that bad, it was beautiful. It was a wrap round designer dress she had just bought. It was peach-colour and a perfect fit on her body. She also had high-heels on and a matching handbag to complete the look. Ada smiled. “It’s a bank job, plus I might be meeting up with a hunk later today after the interview.”
Samantha smiled, then remembered that she was yet to find her own runaway hunk. “I don’t know where Ramsey is.”
Ada blinked twice. “What do you mean by that?”
“He just vanished into thin air.” Samantha paused, not sure if to continue, but did. “I haven’t heard from him since the last night we spent together in my room.”