“I have and will always believe that our youth are the future of this world,” she said, “our youth, like the little trees, need to be allowed to grow so that we can have forests tomorrow.”
“I am afraid we do not concur with you, you’re saying we should place the young and inexperienced in positions of power for our organisation to be successful, for our nation and the world at large to move on to a better society. I simply cannot accept that,” one of the men said. One after the other the old men around the table rejected her proposals and they were now voting her out of her own Company’s board.
She, Miss Chilambwe Musonda, had built this company all on her own and now this was the situation she had found herself in.
‘Wow!’ she thought, ‘What has the world come too?’ Some of these were men who advocated for development in their country, who had won the people's trust and were voted into power by the citizens of the country because they promised the said development. Witnessing them looking for ways for them to make more money appalled the ambitious Miss Musonda.
Her world was changing. While she had the power, she definitely had the will to use it. Finally speaking up she said, “I have heard enough. We will reconvene in five days for us to vote in a new CEO. As of this moment I resign my duties as CEO of the company. According to our rules and regulations this will also mean that I am hereby dissolving the board.”
She looked at her P.A and told her to make it official, which she did. Looking at the men seated around the mahogany table she could see that there were all happy to see this turn of events. It had been happening for the past two years and she had managed to beat it. Before she got into bed with politicians, she remembered, everything moved ever so smoothly. But now the game had changed, she was no longer running a private company.
If the men who sat on the same table with her were not involved in active politics they had someone in their pocket who was. All involved themselves in politics, all but one, Lloyd Mwaba.
She stood up and the meeting was over. Before she could take her leave, one of her sympathizers, an old friend actually, stopped her.
“Hey Chila, wait up,” he said.
Chila was what those she considered close called her. “It’s finally happened Lloyd, they’ve done it, just like you said they would,” she responded with a slight sob as they made it to her office. “I also said I had a plan for it go away.”
“It might not work out with the way things have turned out.”
“Sorry, to interrupt, madam calls are coming in, people want to hear from you yourself and there is already a bunch of journalists waiting,” said Miss Musonda’s personal assistant, Pamela.
“Oh Lloyd, what do I do now? I am done!” Chilambwe exclaimed her voice lacking its usual confidence.
She looked like she was about to faint. “Hey Pam, let them know that we will have a press conference tomorrow, as for the callers as usual she is not available and let her driver come out back. Stay with her at her home until I get there. Go now!” Lloyd Mwaba looked at Chilambwe now; she looked back and knew what he meant. They had such a connection that had been tested through time with people always failing to break it, actually they had been high school lovers but there choices in career separated them, later, however, while he was working and she was still in college the couple had reunited and eventually one thing led to another and naturally they had offspring, a son, but they never got married.
Later, they became influential people in their respective fields yet what was important to them was that they were also good parents. Their child was as brilliant as his parents and had the potential to be greater. While he never lacked a thing he was taught that life was never fair. His name was Gabriel Gilmore Mwaba.
Lloyd arrived precisely at 6p.m and met with his son who happened to be with Pamela.
“Daddy!” young Gabriel exclaimed while running to get a bear hug from his father.
“Hey there little fellow,” he said as he mocked to run out breathe as the young boy squeezed him. Lloyd looked at the little man in his arms. “Looks like you’ve grown a bunch of muscles.”
“I’m going to be strong daddy, so strong I’m going to have the world on my shoulders someday.”
“Sure youngster, just remember to be strong in here as well,” he said as he pointed at his head.
“I will never forget, you say it all the time I dream about it.”
The father laughed. “Now where is your mother?”
“Daddy, mommy says she’s okay but she not, she said she has to go to work in her office.”
“Okay, get back to Pam, and let me see if I can get your mommy to get better.”
He then left the boy for Chilambwe’s office, knocked once and got in. She was standing at the balcony looking at the stars with a glass of whiskey in hand when she heard him knock and turned to look at him as he ushered himself into her office.
She moved towards him and hugged him now truly looking for comfort from her lover, friend and confidant. She truly felt like they were married until she remembered that they were not, even worse she was the reason they were not married; always not ready she said. They were now in their late thirties and their son was only eight years old.
“Look at me now,” she sobbed, “they say life begins at forty and mine is over before I get to forty.”
“Hey, you know well enough that I wouldn’t let that happen,” he responded while pecking her softly on her forehead. They sat down on the couch, which also had the view of the stars.
“Right now I am willing to do anything to save my company and my political career. But any plan I come up with means I have to let go of one.”
“Well I told you I have plan and that is why I am here.” She urged him to continue with a sigh and so he did. “I know how you love making a difference in the community, why not allow someone you trust to focus on the company for you and you can focus on your political career making the difference in the community.”
“And who do you suggest that might be, you have turned down my offer time and time again…”
“I have had some time to reflect on that and I am willing to do so for you but only for the meantime. You know I am not into politics, one thing I do know is that it’s just too much of a dirty game. I am willing to buy into your company and stand in as interim CEO giving you the prospect of stepping up your game in the political area. We will have to clean the system, just you and I.”
“The two of us, what can we do?” she exclaimed showing a lack of confidence.
“I have the resources, and you need the time and until it is time not before,” he said shaking his head, “when we see that we are reaching our goal, then you can make drastic changes in your career.”
“And how do we do that?”
“That’s my plan.”
“Lloyd, I trust you, but right now you will have to lay out your plan for me and because …” Lloyd stood up and got one knee beside the love of his life.
“Are you being serious?” Chila exclaimed.
She was happy he proposed but his timing was preposterous and she said so.
“You haven’t even heard my proposal yet. Listen, all I am saying is make me the happiest man alive and I will do everything in my power to ensure that you make the difference you want to make. I am not trying to strong arm you into tying the knot with me, you of all people know I would never do that. ’m on my knee because while you become the woman you want to become I want to remind you who you really are and best of all when you get to change the world I want a front row seat and that is why I want you Miss Chilambwe Musonda, to be my…”
About half way through that speech she had started crying knowing that she needed all the support she could, she knew she wanted him so badly, his support meant the world to her. Therefore, right there in that very moment she decided one thing and convinced herself that he was right. She cut his speech with an astounding “Yes!” and they kissed passionately.
After some interminable sobbing she continued, “You were right Lloyd, politics isn’t the answer anymore, it needs more.”
He responded, “Frankly you look feistier when in action and I love that about you because it’s just so amatory. You just need to take one thing at a time and step up your game strategically. What you need is start playing politics like you would play your chess games.”
“I hear you”
“Well here you go.” He placed a ring on her finger and kissed her hand. She looked at the ring with tears in her eyes, “You kept it.”
“Of course, I did.”
It was her mother’s ring that Lloyd had been given when he was asking her father for permission to ask her to daughter to marry him. The same ring he had used to propose for the past six times and what do you know the seventh time was the charm.
