Chapter 3. The dress

Tina boarded a motorcycle leaving her admirer behind as he watched every shake of her curvaceous butt. Without saying a word he touched his cheek as he saw her vanishing. He cursed from inside that she didn't stop to talk to him.

With no time, Tina found herself at the gates of the media company. A black Mercedes sprinter was coming out of the gate. It stopped right in front of her. To her surprise it was her Idol Moha who lowered the car's window. Tina wanted to jump but to her surprise Moha called her by her name.

"You are the new journalist isn't it?" Moha asked.

"Yeah I am." She responded 

The day before he wasn't at the office. She was clueless of how he found out her name.

"Welcome on board, great to have you in the team." He said as he waved at her then accelerated the car taking the sharp corner ahead at a cheetah's speed.

Tina didn't believe it, she passed through the guards at the gate. At the parking lot she noticed a brand new Land cruiser Prado GDJ150. 

She admired to have one like that in years to come. Due to her love for Land cruiser she found herself walking to it. She wished a cameraman could pass by and take her a photo. If she had her old smartphone she could have just taken a selfie with it but that was not possible as it slipped from her hand into the pit latrine sometimes back. She hoped to get her salary earlier that she could get herself a new one.

She touched the bonnet of the car, the siren made noise everywhere, she ran away from it. 

***

That day they had to go out with Javan. They had to cover the story on drug trafficking that had been going on for a long period of time. Javan had initially done some research thus he had clear protocols for the day.

He first took her to a bar downtown. The place was noisy than milling factories. Cigarette smokers filled the air with their concentrated smoke. Passing through those slums made Tina choke severally. 

"Hey are you not used to this kind of environment?" Javan asked as he walked in front of her through the small corridor.

"Am getting used to it." She said as she hurriedly followed him.

"What a nice but?" A man with rasta antagonized her as he released a cloud of smoke in the air. 

They entered the bar, Javan when straight to the counter and ordered for a drink. It was a Smirnoff guarana with a five point five alcohol by volume. 

They sat at a round table at the back of the hall. As they drunk, a middle aged man joined them. 

Two weeks earlier Javan found that man and paid him some amount of money and promised to give him more if he fetched him information of how drugs were transported.

"Everything is in this letter give me my money." The middle aged man was restless as he spied every corner to make sure nobody saw him around them.

"Relax I am not a damn cop nobody knows me here." Javan calmed him down.

He opened the later and found what the man had recorded in it. He had gave clear information of where the drugs are stored once they enter the city and how they were transported to their specific selling zone by the use of unregistered vans. 

It was severally claimed that politicians and wealthy business men were the ones who had ventured into the industry as it was deemed to be more profitable. 

"This was not part of our case," she started the conversation as soon as the man left.

"I know but in order to get those who deal with firearms you have to know more about those they supply to.. most of those who get the guns from the cops to terrorise people are in some local gangs. It takes time to know this thing." Javan explained before he released a narrow smile.

The two then left the bar. They went back to Javan's car who started it before slowly driving it along the road. 

"It is my fiance's birthday, could you please go with me to a boutique and help me select something good for her?" He asked her respectfully as he carefully kept twisting the steering.

She nodded in agreement with him. They arrived at a high end boutique. Tina saw every kind of dress that she had dreamed to own displayed there. She wished she had money to buy one for herself.

"Hello, welcome to Sobs boutique how may I help you?" A young beautiful lady asked politely.

"We are looking for a dress we would tell you once we see the one that pleases us." He responded to her.

"Which one do you think is better? she is of the same size as you." He turned to her.

"I think the pink one is good, every girl likes pink colours." Tina replied.

"It's her favourite though she has some of the same colour, do you think the light green is good?"

"What are you confused? That's not a colour for a girl."

The two continued debating on which dress he should pick. They finally agreed on a white one with a red strip at the neck. He paid for it as the saleswoman packed for him.

"I think the pink one would look good on you why don't you try?" He asked as he paid for the extra dress.

Tina was shy but all in all she wanted a dress. She took it and tried it on herself at the changing room. Wow! What an adorable dress that made her look gorgeous. She looked her self in the mirror and admired her beauty. She touched her waist as she tried to shake herself.

"What a gorgeous lady?" She said to herself as she walked out of the changing room.