“Are you sure you don’t want to come over?” Kevin asked me. “I really need to sleep. I have to be up early tomorrow. I’m working at a breakfast event,” I replied. They were not very good reasons but honestly, I just wanted to leave his company. We were chatting in the lobby of the hotel where I worked. His company was having its annual retreat there. “You are being so uptight, why?” he asked. I wasn’t sure what to say but luckily for me his assistant walked up to us and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and excused himself. “Still hitting on you, I see,” Kevin’s assistant, Kwesi said. I nodded and watched his boss walk away. Kwesi giggled. “Have you tried telling him you are not interested?” he asked. “I have. I even mentioned his wife and he said that was his problem not mine,” I replied and Kwesi laughed. Then he said, “These rich men are so greedy. Anyways I have to go now, he’ll probably be needing my help to find the next available lady for him,” I shook my head and set off to leave the hotel. I clocked out and went to my apartment. I couldn’t wait to lie down on my bed and sleep.
When I got to my room I heard loud singing coming from the shower. I was sharing my room with a friend, Stella. Stella came to Accra to look for a job and needed a place to stay so I let her crash for a week. “Don’t shatter the glass with that frog voice of yours oh,” I teased and sat down on my bed. “You look terrible. Are you ok?” she asked. I shook my head as I took off my shoes. “Fighting off a married man trying to lure me to his party all day has drained me,” I replied. Stella laughed and it reminded me of Kwesi. “I don’t know why you people think it’s funny. His personal assistant Kwesi laughed the same way when I told him too,” I said. Stella rolled her eyes. I knew her stance on this matter and wasn’t ready for a lecture this time. “If it’s the Kevin guy who owns a bank then you are really being dull. What is one night with him? Isn’t he in his fifties? He won’t even last very long,” she said. At this stage, I decided to tune her out and just ignored her. “Anyway, your loss,” she said rubbing some cream on her arms.
After my shower that night I don’t remember much. I pulled out a donut to eat but was too tired to finish it. I left the half-eaten donut on the side of my bed and dozed off in my bed. When I woke up the next morning I looked under my pillow for my phone but it wasn’t there. I looked out the window to try and gauge the time. That was when I remembered my shift was in the morning and my watch on the table said it was getting late. I dashed to the bathroom, had my bath, dressed up at lightning speed, and left my apartment without my phone. Stella wasn’t around which was pretty strange. She usually slept till late in the morning. As I locked up I looked for my phone in my bag but it wasn’t there either. I was minutes to being late so I rushed out.
When I got to the hotel I noticed a lot of police cars parked outside and many people gathered in the hotel lobby. I was just about to ask what was going on when someone grabbed my hand. I turned around sharply to see who it was and it was Kwesi. “Come with me now!” he said and pulled me away. I did as he said and followed him to a corner of the hotel next to the washrooms. “You are in trouble. What happened?” he asked. I wasn’t sure what to say because he had a ghostly look on his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear my alarm for some strange reason. Did my boss come looking for me?” I said. I put my hand in my bag to look for my phone. It wasn’t in my bag. “What?!” Kwesi said after staring at me for a while. “Kevin Branson is dead,” Kwesi finally said and my jaw dropped.
To be continued…
