Read Jade: Chance Are Online Free by A. Akinosho

“I’m fine, Dad, didn’t know you would be up this late.”

“You know I’m the best bedtime storyteller,” he says as I watch my children climb on him. It’s a beautiful sight.

I spend a few minutes talking to Micah and Mira. They tell me all that they plan to do today. Micah looks more and more like his father and Mira acts more like him. Watching and listening to them reminds me how fast and hard I need to work so I can be out of here soon. My dad with them is always a joy to see. We say our goodbyes and I begin my work, until Orion knocks on my door.

“Mariam, I see you are in the grind,” he says, smiling.

“You know I don’t know when to stop once I’m in that mode,” I say, smiling; my team knows me too well.

“Come on, let’s get started. Lucy will bring our lunch soon.”

“Cool.” I close my laptop and we head to the conference room in between our offices.

Lucy brings our lunch, she’s the only one I trust with my food and always makes sure my food is safe. Orion shares the screen from his laptop. We eat and work, dividing the work into teams and mapping the process. Orion, as always, is the perfect project manager. We lay out the plan allowing buffers for time overruns. With the laid-out plans, we should probably be done in four months with glitches that should put us in five months.

With the plan carved out, I’m happy, I intend to beat the time and get things done quicker, with a little incentive to my team if we finish sooner than expected. That should get them working and we can be back stateside in time for Christmas.

“Let’s start working against the clock,” Orion says.

“You got it,” I say with a smile as I see a light at the end of the tunnel. We pack up and each head to our offices.

I notice the clock is after three in the afternoon. I can run out of here earlier than planned and continue my work at home. No one needs to know. I won’t use my driver. I’ll take a cab and text my driver at five to say that he can leave for the day.

I put my laptop in my oversized handbag and left my laptop bag. “Lucy, I’m going to take a quick break, I’ll be back soon. If anyone needs my urgent attention, please text me.”

I rush out of the building and hasten my steps. I head towards the lined-out cab. Getting into one, I tell the cab to take me home. Once I arrive at my building, I have a change of heart. Without getting out of the cab, I asked him to take me to the Barisha market. There are hotels on the market. My first stop is to buy a pair of cropped leggings and a T-shirt. I checked into a hotel close to the market.

In my room, I pull my hair into a ponytail and change into the comfortable clothes I’d just bought. I feel more like myself. I connect to the LaBelle server and begin my work.

I work till my laptop flashes that it’s about to shut down. The battery is fully charged. I try to override it but before I can, the laptop starts to shut down. The time is ten thirty in the evening. It is best I head home anyway.

I see all the messages on my phone. Lucy has texted multiple times.

Lucy@ 6:30 pm: “Mariam, Prince Naseer is asking for you and he’s upset you are not in your office.”

Lucy @ 6:45 pm: Prince Naseer won’t believe I don’t know where you are.

Lucy @6:55 pm: Prince Naseer is threatening to fire me … can he fire me?