Let's Talk Business

Earlier.

“She’ll never know.” Mukisa asserted. To respect the late hours of the night and the nature of their conversation, they spoke in whispers. Mukisa couldn’t trust that Suubi didn’t have ears in the wall. Or everywhere else, really. And he had been unable to get rid of her when he wanted to, working as close as they did.

“Are you sure? Because we won’t be happy if something goes wrong. I believe you catch my meaning.” His ally from the other side said. 

It was starting to tick him off that they liked to second guess him.

“I’m sure.” Of course he was sure. Suubi had made her biggest mistake when she trusted him as the go-between for this marriage of convenience. The two fastest rising companies in the country would be under one umbrella. Suubi would love that. That money. That influence. That power. That esteem.

And he would hate every moment of it.

Especially the fact that he wouldn’t hold as much control as he had wanted. Not after all those false promises that fell away about him being the co-president and making all the millions she was quietly syphoning into her undisclosed accounts. She deserved everything that was coming her way.

“I’ve made every arrangement to make sure it goes off without a hitch. Best part of it all, she won’t suspect a thing.” He said with a sinister smile.

They shake hands to cement Suubi’s fate.

The black car at the end of the street is nothing out of the ordinary and the occupant in the bank seat sits idly scrolling through his phone, oscillating between photos of Suubi and photos of Barefoot, her company. 

“It’s mostly done at this rate, sir.” The door opened as the assistant slid in. 

“And do you know how we will get rid of the idiot once we have what we want?” Kazoba asked

“Leverage.” His assistant said as he handed over the flash drive with all the information against Mukisa. To be honest, Kazoba didn’t have any intention of a company merger through a marriage of convenience. Not that Suubi was not tempting. He had tried to win her over before. But that was before he was a big shot. Then he wasn’t worth her time. Now, he’s worthy of her future. Very forgetful and calculating if you asked him. Not that Suubi was. And it wouldn’t do for her to back out of everything now. 

Barefoot, though, was looking more attractive than Suubi. He wanted all the profits that it was raking in. And he wanted it without the owner. Even though he had proposed and roped Suubi into believing some nonsense about eternal love and concerted efforts to dominate a country. 

He sighed, “Then everything has been accounted for. Let’s see how it plays out tomorrow.”

Suubi woke up distressed even though everything was going right - blue skies, no electricity blackouts, no persistent migraine, her morning playlist delivering banger after banger as though she hadn’t chosen it. It was perfection! Also known as an invitation for trouble.

Mukisa came in early with coffee, more attentive than he had been in all the months leading to the day and that made her more unsettled. She could understand the aloofness, he was viewing this merger as a crisis and a flaw in his big plans. She respected that he was handling it well. She thought he would quit but he had been set on seeing it through. But this doting care? On the day of?

Away from his indifference, she understood that such people are hard to come by and she couldn’t wait after everything was signed to let him know that he would have all the shares he had clamoured for.

“Everything is going to go well.” Mukisa assured her as he handed her her coffee and did some last-minute executions on his phone.

“Did you talk to Martha? Is everything set up?”

“Yes.” He nodded into the mirror they were standing before, “I assure you nothing will stand in the way of your meeting.” 

“I know. It’s just…so many people said so many things on the climb up.”

“Empty words. As I assured you they would be.” He picked up the rest of his things off the side table and made for the door, opening it he looked back and asked, “Shall we?”

When she didn’t move, he walked back with the questions plastered on his face.

“I am unsettled about something. Did you look into him? Do you think he will hold up his end of the bargain?”

“Well, he is not the most honest man, but I don’t think that’s news at this point. However, he does seem to love you deeply. Why else would he go to such lengths just to secure your hand?” 

“Don’t you think all of this is a little too good to be true?” Suubi asked.

Mukisa said nothing.  

Present.

The other party delegation is late. Mukisa walks out to make a call, away from Suubi. 

He can now breathe easier away from her, moreso with the relief that the morning hesitation was properly nursed.

He has grown weary of trying to reassure her that today is going according to plan, that today needs to go according to plan. The more he reassures, the more his own doubts grow - is there someone who knew what he had gotten to? Had he not cross checked his bases, deleted his emails, had his calls in private? 

His phone call is dropped. 

Instead he gets a message: I know what you’ve been up to. The attachments highlight some of the sabotage plans he has made over the past 9 months.

Another one follows in quick succession: Playing the field, have you? with a draft of a contract he had not yet seen. It seems to be something Suubi had drawn up but never shared with him, where he stands to gain a whole lot more if the meeting goes according to her plan.

“Damn it.” He whispers. Now he has to help Suubi after investing so much time doing the opposite. But who is sending the messages?

Another message follows: Now you do things my way or walk away with nothing.

And he starts to sweat.

Kazoba doesn’t make it for the meeting. Such things are beneath him now. He sends his team so that Suubi can feel the humiliation, his dismissal. So that she can know how far below she is now that he holds a whole lot of power.

He wants her cowering around him. That will help him feel better, especially after walking around with that rejection that stung. Maybe because it had also been so public and social media platforms had been so encouraging of his pursuit.

There was a time when Suubi was everything. It’s a relief he has matured and outgrown such empty feelings. 

The wedding. The merger. He is as detached as can be. What does it matter if she doesn’t really love him or need him? Most of it was really just to prove a point to all the people who laughed at him on his way up.

Well, who’s laughing now? He smirks to himself and sips his tea.

He asks his assistant to call all the teams he had dispatched and report progress on the deals they were meant to secure. Most of all, the Barefoot team.

Suubi gets a message as she waits for the meeting to begin. She feels her anger rising with each ticking second. With it, her indecision grows. 

“This seems like the making of a mess.” She speaks to the empty room.

At least she hasn’t signed anything yet. And yes, some people have called her out about her commitment issues but what is the point of signing yourself to a bad proposition and a poor character.

Not the proposition is bad. Kazoba truly had gone out of his way to accommodate all her requests. She didn’t have so many qualms about signing Barefoot over. And he might not remember but they had talked about the company before it was newsworthy, turning heads and attracting leeches. So she was sure that he shared her vision for it. He had the means and she had the brains - as he had told her. A long time ago.

And despite his negligible flaws, he is a good character. She had liked him too back when he was relentlessly pursuing her. She had been talked out of it by well-meaning aunts, who sang of how she needed to cement herself, build her empire before she settled down. She had been pleased when life played it so that Kazoba was the man that came later as well.

All the facts seem to back this arrangement but for the life of her, she can’t explain why she is unsettled about the entire thing.

She decides to open the message and watches with widened eyes and bated as the two videos play out, showing the men in her life plotting dangerously behind her back.  

Later.

Once he stops wondering who is hell bent on blackmailing him, Mukisa will have options that he will obsess over for thirty minutes in the bathroom before he walks back into the meeting room.

He will sit incredulous at how well life is playing into his hands. He will receive a call from another team telling him how he has already acquired another business while he waits for Barefoot to get on board.

Suubi will make a few phone calls to try and get herself out of a situation her gut told her from the start was a bad move. The calls will discuss a quick back-door sale and her pending relocation to another country.