CHAPTER 2

After high school I had highest GPA from the school and therefore I earned myself a full ride scholarship to Michigan States University where I studied business management. My college time was much easier and I made a few friends. There was this one guy who forced himself in my life despite me trying to push him away. Dylan fought hard to become friends with me seeing to it as I didn’t have any close friends and I was alone most of the time. He made me get coffees with him at the café around college and smiled and waved every time he saw me. Other than Dylan my life in campus was pretty much boring. After graduating, I later secured myself another scholarship to Harvard since I was the best student in college. I took my MBA at Harvard and still managed to finish school at 23. Due to my passion for drawing and fashion I decided to start a fashion company mainly to help girls who had issues with their looks and self-esteem.

My main aim was to help boost the confidence of girls me who had been through so much downgrade. My college life was somewhat similar to high but different in that I never got bullied and I actually made a few friends. We lost touch with most of my college friends after graduation but Dylan still stuck with me. You can basically say my life was boring.

“Ma’am…….. ma’am,” Laila calls.

“Kira ….Kira ,”I hear my name being called and I look up seeing Laila snapping her fingers in front of my face trying desperately to pull me out of my daze.

I snap out of my daydream and push back all those painful memories at the back of my conscious mind. Laila is my PA and also my other best friend since Dylan was far way taking over his father’s company.

“Oh…what were you saying LyLy,” I ask her to annoy her more than she already is. She hated it when anyone called her Lyly which is my nickname for her.

“Snap out of it Kira. I said your meeting will be starting in five minutes. Mr. Clement and his people are already in the conference room waiting for you.” She says angrily.

“Okay girl I’ll be there in a few. Lemme just take a breather then we’ll go,” I say to her. I hear her sigh then she heads to her office which is right next to mine.

Laila is my best friend outside of work but she is always serious when we’re at work. Since I didn’t want to keep her waiting any longer, I got up and headed to Laila’s office. I knocked and minutes later she came out with a note book to note down the minutes and notes on the meeting. I walk towards the conference room with Laila closely by my side and swing the door open. Everyone stands up on their feet upon hearing the door open as a sign of respect which I found odd but said nothing about it. Most people in the room stare wide eyed as I enter probably not expecting the CEO to be a young person and a lady for that matter.

“Good morning everyone,” I say to them as I head confidently towards my seat at the end of the conference room. Mr. Clements’s people start doing the presentation as everyone listens carefully. Laila is taking notes on everything going on. Mr. John as he had introduced himself seems very nervous but sees the presentation till the end none the less.

Soon enough the meeting is over and everyone leaves and Mr. Clement tells me that he’ll be waiting for my decision about their proposal to invest in their company. I feel so tired seeing as I woke up early in the morning and barely slept a night as I went through some document that needed my signature. I decide to head out for lunch. I pick the intercom and call Laila’s office and ask her to join me out for lunch since she has worked just as hard as I have.

“Kira,” she answers.

“Hey girl, I wanted to ask whether you want to go out for lunch with me,” I ask her.

“I can’t girl, I’ve not yet finished on the notes from the meeting we just had,” she says.

“Oh come on, you can finish that up later. Meet me at the lobby in a few. Lemme ring up the driver to bring the car,” I tell her.

“Ok babe I’ll be down in a minute,” she says.

“Hello….,” a voice at the other end of the line say.

“Paul can you pick me and Laila up, we are going out for lunch,” I tell him.

Paul is a very humble guy who I trusted very much. I had known him from my neighborhood back home. When I started my company I requested him to be my driver which he agreed to after a lot of convincing. It is not that I had a lot of money back then to employ a driver. I just wanted to give him an opportunity to earn some money to support himself and his family.

I picked my phone and bag up and headed to the elevator. I pressed the bottom floor and waited. Upon getting there, I got outside and headed towards the lobby to wait up for Laila. It didn’t take long for ly showed up a few minutes after and we headed towards the office exit. We find Paul already waiting for us and without wasting much time we head towards a restaurant close by the office. Despite being a famous person in the business world I always kept it simple and humble as I never forgot where I had come from. I loved meals made a Dom’s restaurant which ran way back since my high school days.

We got out of the car and headed towards the dinner and when the door pinged, all eyes were on us seeing us we were dressed in expensive suits and a few people recognized me. We ignored the gossip and whispers and took our normal seats at a booth in the far end corner of the dinner. I liked the table since it was hidden and did not attract a lot of attention and also had a glass window which made it possible to see the busy streets outside. Since we were regular customers, Mrs. Clare the owner already knew us and always gave us a wide smile. She was like a second mom to me and she loved serving us herself though she had waiters.

“What can I get you my dears? You want the usual or do you want something different today?” she asked.