Chapter 3: Liar Liar!

Omotayo 

  "So the hotel is being sued by a guest who claimed to have suffered food poisoning?" I asked my secretary after going through the case file she tagged as urgent. 

"Yes, that's correct ma. Mr Davids had specifically asked that you take care of this case because he believes that when we win this case, we'd be adding one of the biggest hotels in Nigeria to our list of clients which is financially convenient for us," she replied and I go through the file again still wondering why dad had specifically asked me to take the case. 

  The case didn't seem like something too complicated or deep which were the only type of cases I handled but seeing as he didn't pick any other lawyer to handle it, means he had his reasons for entrusting me with the case and I had no choice but to comply. 

"Okay, find out more about the guest in question. Check her background, occupation and even her criminal records also check if she has any outstanding debts cause we could be dealing with a desperate fraudster. Also check the company's records for any similar lawsuits or accusations in relation to food poisoning. If there are previous records, we may have to settle for compensation," I instructed her and she nodded briefly before walking out of my office. 

****** 

I arrived at the hotel I am to defend and briskly walked in to personally find out how it all happened exactly. I actually thought the case would be an easy one but it seemed rather complicated because it turned out that both parties have previous negative records. 

According to Maria's findings, it turned out ALLEN HOTEL had been sued twice for food poisoning and the lady who sued the hotel had also been caught trying to defraud other organisations twice. According to her criminal records, she was bailed twice from jail for trying to scam a slot and also a restaurant by claiming the former had sold her a fake phone and the latter had served her cockroach as her meat.

--------

--------

Mr Badmus and I had exchanged pleasantries and judging from the way he spoke, he seemed like a really nice person. He insisted I don't speak to him formally since he and my dad were well acquainted. 

We sat patiently in his office with Mrs Joseph and her lawyer constantly complaining and ranting about how unpunctual the hotel director was since he was already ten minutes late for the meeting. 

About five minutes later, a familiar face walked into the office and to say I'm surprised would be an understatement. 

"It's about time!" Mr Badmus exclaimed and Tobi was quick to apologise.

"Sorry Dad, Lagos traffic," he replied with a smile and I'm even more astonished than I was earlier. So Tobi is Mr Badmus's son? Interesting. 

"This is Omotayo, the lawyer in charge," Mr Badmus introduced and when he turned to face me he looked just as surprised for a split second before hiding it with a professional expression. 

"Pleasure miss," he greeted with a slight nod before refocusing his attention back to his dad. 

"So now that he's finally here, can one of you tell me how this hotel will settle me for the pain I had to go through because of their carelessness and also for all the money I spent in the hospital," the accuser, Amarachi spoke up and I'd be lying if I said her words didn't irritate the hell out of me but she's lucky I'm very professional. 

"Unfortunately for you ma'am, there won't be any settlement happening here because from our end here, we haven't received any doctor's report that shows you were actually poisoned and even if you were, there's no proof that makes the hotel management guilty. I'm very sure you wouldn't want to waste your time or mine so how about we all walk out of here with both our heads high without any arguments or unnecessary settlement. Don't you agree?" I asked her patiently but wasn't surprised to see her lips curve into a sly smile. 

"Do you really think I would accuse such a prestigious hotel without having proof to back up my claims?" she replied back with a question. 

"And did you also really think I'd think so? Let me make this simple for you madam Amarachi, drop your lawsuit peacefully or I will drag you to court for defamation and attempted fraud. Do you really want to test me?" I asked her through gritted teeth but this time her lawyer spoke up instead. 

"Is that a threat Miss?" He asks. 

"If you feel it is a threat then that would be solely from your point of view because I was merely giving a warning. If you continue with your false claims, I'll publicly embarrass you," I re8ply with a smirk and she frowned. 

"You should know better than to threaten my client with such petty words, Miss Davids. You and I know this isn't the first time a guest suffers food poisoning because of their carelessness and all we're asking for is compensation for the health damages and the temporary fear my client had to live through thinking whatever she ate might have cost her life. So how about you drop the pettiness and let's talk about settlement," her lawyer demands and I stay quiet for a while. 

The meeting was interrupted when Mr Badmus's secretary walked in and quickly asked to speak with him. She whispered something in his ears and handed him a tablet and I smiled confidently seeing that my plan must have gone well. 

  "Okay fine, seeing as you are so eager to talk about settlement, why don't we talk about how you're going to settle this hotel for trying to defame them by targeting their previous weak spots? Or should we rather talk about the false medical reports you're presenting or better still let's talk about your client here," I said pointing towards her. 

  "Let's talk about this video of your client walking into a pharmacy to buy abortion pills the same day she visited this hotel…," I was talking till he rudely interrupted me. 

  "That's my client's personal life and you have no right to bring it up! I could sue you, you know?" He threatened and a dry laugh escaped my lips. 

"I'm sorry for intruding but as long as it involves my client, no information can be disregarded Remember, I gave you a chance to walk out of here but you chose to stay so deal with it and don't threaten me!" I yelled harshly, my hands unconsciously hitting the table and I could see both Mr Badmus and Tobi's surprised expressions. 

  "So as I was saying, Miss Amarachi overdosed on abortion pills and that was what drove her to the hospital, not food poisoning but in order to cover it up and also make good money from her condition, she paid a doctor to forge a report stating she suffered from food poisoning and then had the brilliant idea to blame the hotel for it. Am l lying?" I asked. 

If you're thinking the way I spoke is unconventional then you must not know me. Everyone knows I can sometimes be unconventional when I come across difficult people like her. 

  "You ought to be ashamed of yourself you stupid woman!" she hissed back at me and I rolled my eyes. 

"That is not the issue on ground ma'am. The only thing I am concerned about is whether or not you still want to be settled for trying to defraud a hotel that had nothing to do with your bad health?" I asked and she cleared her throat momentarily. 

  "I will only drop this because I don't want my personal business out there but I can assure you that this is definitely not over. I will make sure I get you for this, you this useless woman." She hisses angrily before walking out with her puppet lawyer trailing behind her. 

 "Wow! That was intense," Mr Badmus said.

"I'm sorry if I went out of the line Sir but if I had indirectly threatened to expose her like that, she would have dragged the case on just to avoid the embarrassment of losing," I apologised although I didn't mean a word I said cause I wasn't sorry. 

  "No please don't be sorry, I completely understand. I'm just wondering how you found all this out in less than a day," he indirectly questioned and I had no problem disclosing it to him. 

  "It wasn't easy but I asked my secretary to do a background check on her and I found out she used to be a fraud so when I dug deeper into her medical history, I found out she was once admitted for food poisoning about two years ago but when I got in contact with the doctors, I was told that was only a cover up for an abortion that almost took her life. So I decided to find out where she went before checking into the hotel and her husband told me she visited the pharmacy to buy painkillers for her backache, at least that's what she told him," 

 "But it turned out she bought abortion pills instead because she doesn't want to have children although her husband is desperate for one. I assumed that would be her weakness because I'm sure she wouldn't want her husband to find out and to avoid that, she'll have to drop the case," I explained and he nodded before turning to his son. 

 "That's a brilliant one, don't you think?" he asked him and he agreed, still avoiding eye contact with me. 

"Sir, may I know why the hotel's legal team didn't handle such a trivial case?" I asked him. 

  "Well, our legal team is on the hot seat right now with another hotel who seemed to have bought the same land place that we acquired a few years ago. So I decided against bringing them into this and I asked an old friend, your father, for help," he explained and I nodded in understanding.  

  "Well, now that my work here is done, I'll take my leave. It was a pleasure meeting you both," I said to him and Tobi but he seemed to be the only one listening to me. 

"Believe me Tayo, I'm happier to have finally met you. I'll love it if you can come over to my place for dinner sometime, it'll be my pleasure to have you. You can also attend my son's wedding in two weeks. Tell your dad I'll send him invitations," he said and I deadpanned. Did I just hear the word wedding?

"So Mr Tobi, you're getting married? Wow, congratulations," I replied, facing Tobi and trying my very best to hide my disappointment. 

 "Thank you so much," he replied plainly and I itched so badly to give him a tight slap. 

"I'll relay your message to daddy Sir. Thank you for inviting me. See you both soon," I give a quick bow of respect for Mr Badmus and quickly walk out of the office to avoid losing my temper. 

All men are definitely scum!