Sharp Tongue

Episode 13

“How is the food?”
Eureka nodded with approval. Sheila made
‘thumbs up’ signal with her hand. John
smiled and worked on his meal. The food was
good. He would visit again with his wife.
“I am off to the restroom,” Sheila pushed
her chair backwards and got to her feet.
“Are you okay?”

She nodded and smiled at her mother, “I am
pressed.”

“Oh… ” Eureka returned her attention to her
half- eaten meal.

Sheila sighted a waiter and asked where the
restroom was. She followed his directions
and found her way. She used the toilet and while
washing her hands at the sink, some ladies
walked in chatting and laughing as if they
owned the place.

The three of them hung around the large
mirror and applied their make up.

“Have you placed your order for your
wedding gown?”

“Like yesterday.”

They all bursted out laughing.

“Like seriously, that was the first thing I
ordered for.”

“Way to go girl, in your shoes, I would have
done the same thing.”

Sheila watched them while drying her
hands. It was obvious one of them was getting
married.

They all looked a little bit over twenty if she
wasn’t mistaken.

“My father promised to give me every single
penny I need. All I need to do is ask.”
“That’s so cool. When it comes to a
wedding like yours, the banks must stay open.”
“Of course girlfriend.”

They gave themselves high fives. Sheila
shook her head and hissed. She won’t be surprised if they were all over-pampered brats raised by some money bags in the society. She hissed again.

The ladies stopped talking and turned to face
her.

“Did she just hissed at us?”
“Hell no! I hope she didn’t.”
One of them walked up to her, “You’ve got
something to say Dam?”

Sheila stared back at her, wondering
whether she should respond or walk away. Why waste her time and saliva? She hissed and turned to leave.

One of the ladies dashed for the door and locked
it.

“What is the meaning of this?”
“You are not going anywhere until you
apologize to us.”

“Apologize? For what?”

They all surrounded her, hands akimbo.
“Do you know who I am? Nobody hisses at
me and my friends and get away with it.”

She sized them up, from weavons to shoes.

Their hairstyles were bizzare, their outfits were
too clingy, making them look like sardines in a
can and their make up was heavy. They looked
like scary clowns. God! Some women will never
learn.

Less was more.

“Do you know who we are?”

“You made a big mistake tonight. You
picked on the wrong girls.”

Sheila started to laugh, she clapped her
hands and laughed hard. They stared at her,
wondering what had come over her.

” I know your types,” she waved a hand at
them.

“Over-pampered brats.”

Their puzzled gazes turned to angry ones.

“Do you think the world is at your feet?
From where I am standing, you are nothing but
lazy, dumb girls who cannot even brush your own
teeth.”

“How dare you?” One of them pushed her.
“Don’t you dare touch me!”

Another tapped her on the shoulder, “Look
here, I am Zidani Abubakar, the daughter of the
CEO of Allied Insurance, you are going to pay for
insulting us,” she dialed a number on her
phone.

“You have a very big mouth, we will show
you the stuff we are made of,” one of Zidani’s
friends drew one of her ears.

Her temper rose, if she loses it, she would
end up injuring them physically. Her parents were
outside, for their sake, she would try to stay
calm, but these girls were making it so hard for
her. “If you touch me again, you will regret it for
the rest of your life.”

Zidani and friends laughed at her.
“Look at this nobody.”
“My body guards will deal with her,” Zidani
eyed her.

---

“Sheila’s food is getting cold. What is she
doing in
there?”

“I hope the food did not give her a stomach
upset,” Eureka got up, “I will go and check
up on her.”

John sighed and watched his wife leave in
a hurry.

Eureka met Dorcas on her way to the
restroom.

“My one and only sister in-law.”
“Dorcas… ” They embraced, “What are you
doing here?”

“You are not the only one who likes Chinese
food you know.”

They both laughed.

“I am here with Imabong, his business
partner, a client and her friends.”
“Oh… okay.”

“Are you here with John?”
“Yes… ”

“You two… Lover-birds,” she winked.
They both laughed again.
“We brought Sheila along.”

“Oh… I see,” her brows knitted in a frown.
“She left for the restroom a while ago… ”
“Really…” her frown deepened, “So did my
client.” They locked eyes and hurried to the
restroom. The door was locked.
“What in the world… ”

Eureka started banging her fist on the door,
“Sheila! Are you in there?”

Zidani and her friends exchanged glances.
“Cecilia go and open the door.”
One of the girls unlocked the door. Eureka
and Dorcas walked in. They saw Sheila
surrounded by three ladies.

“What is going on here?”
“This thing here had the audacity to run her
big mouth and insult me and my friends.”
“And she is going to regret it,” Cecilia
added.

Eureka and Dorcas exchanged glances. A
group of men in black suits came in.
“Good, your bodyguards are here,” Nkiruka
cheered.

“I want you to take this thing somewhere
and teach her a lesson. No one messes with
Zidani Abubakar.”

The men in black grabbed Sheila.
“What… What… Leave my daughter alone!”
Eureka stood in their way.

“Oh-oh-oh, so this thing here is your
daughter?”

Cecilia rolled her eyes.

Eureka faced the young women, “My
daughter is not a thing!”

Zidani and her friends burst into laughter.
“Take her away!”

The men grabbed Sheila again.
“Leave my daughter alone!”

“Wait… Wait… Zidani, let us settle this
matter without… “Dorcas eyed the bodyguards, “…

without involving them.”

She shook her head, “No… No… She must
pay for insulting me.”

John walked in, “What is going on here?”
Zidani ignored him and shouted at her
bodyguards, “What is wrong with all of you?

Take her out of here or you will lose your job!”
“If you touch her, you will all sleep in the
police cell this evening.”

Zidani and her friends glared at him.

“Who do you think you are?” She eyed him.
“And who do you think you are?”
She squared her shoulders and smoothed
her navy blue satin dress, “I am Zidani
Abubakar, daughter of the CEO of Allied Insurance.”

“And I am John Adams.”

Zidani and her friends dropped their jaws.

The Adams family were well known, not just in
Lagos, but all over Africa. She signaled to her
bodyguards and they walked out of the
restroom.

“I think we should take this outside, we
cannot settle this matter in here,” John led them
all out of the restaurant.

Dorcas began to sweat. Today of all days!
She dialed her husband’s number. They have
been planning Zidani’s wedding for several
months and they were supposed to finalize the contract that night. If all goes well, Zidani’s friends would make sure they planned their wedding too. So much money was involved. She and her husband had already set other things in motion. Oh God!

Help us God! They can’t afford to lose the
contract.

---

“I was in the restroom with my friends, and
this…

this… ” Zidani frowned at Sheila, “She
hissed!”

“And when we confronted her, she rained
insults on us,” Cecilia added.

“She called us unprintable,” Nkiruka eyed
her.

“You insulted me first, you called me a
Dam,” she pointed at Cecilia, “And you wanted me to apologize for hissing,” she eyed Zidani,
“That is so lame,” Sheila hissed.

Douglas and Imabong exchanged glances.

They hope they would settle the dispute and
finalize the contract.

“All right, all right. Zidani, let us go back to
the restaurant and forget this ever happened,”
Dorcas smiled at her.

“I am not going anywhere. Not until she
apologises,” Zidani folded her arms across
her chest. She doesn’t care if the Adams were
richer than her family, she would get the apology
she deserved.

“After all, we were not talking to her, why
did she hiss?” Cecilia stared at Sheila and her
parents.

Sheila laughed and clapped her hands.
Dorcas turned to her husband. They needed to do
something fast before the situation got out
of hand.

“Sheila why don’t you apologize to these
ladies?”

Imabong winked at her.

She should have known that her aunt’s
husband would take sides with the brats.

“We are waiting,” Zidani began to play with
a strand of her hair.

“I do not need to apologize to anyone.
Seriously, they should be the ones apologising to
me.”

“You must be out of your mind!” Cecilia
moved
closer to her.
“It is a free world and I have the right to
react to situations around me.”

Imabong approached John, “Zidani is my
client and we are in the middle of finalising a
mega contract tonight.”

John slipped his hands into his jeans
pockets.

“Can you get your daughter to apologize to
Zidani and her friends?” He glanced at his gold
plated wristwatch, “It is 10 p.m.”

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His brother-in-law narrowed his eyes, “You
want my daughter to apologize to your client in
order to suit your business plans.”

“John… Look… They are all at fault. But you
know how sturbborn Sheila is. There is no way on
planet earth that she will apologize.”

“Why should she? These girls almost got
her beaten up tonight. Like you said, they are
all at fault.”

Dorcas watched her husband. She hoped he
could convince John to make Sheila
apologize to their client. Their multi-millionaire contract depended on how smoothly the dispute is settled.

“Isn’t she your sister-in-law? Go and talk to
her.”

Douglas turned to her.

“Imabong will settle this situation with
John,” she assured him.

Sheila and her mother watched Zidani and
her friends while they made endless phone
calls. She hoped they leave soon, the ladies were
irritating her.

“Come on John… ”

“Come on what?” His raised voice attracted
attention.

“Sheila hissing at them did not give them
the right to ambush her.”

“Fine… Fine… ”

“Why didn’t they ignore her? If they had,
this squabble would not have transpired.”

“Yes, I know that, but… ”

“It is quite late, I need to take my daughter
back to school before they lock the campus
gate.”

Imabong beckoned to his wife.

“Darling, Sheila, let us go,” John led his
family towards the parking lot.

“John, wait… ” She closed the gap between
them. “This is important to us.”

“I am disappointed,” he frowned at his
sister, “Is your client more important than your
family?”

“John, it is not like that… ”

“It is like what?!”
Cecilia nudged Zidani, “Your wedding
planner is related to the Adams.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Take a closer look and her and Mr.
John.”

Zidani looked at Dorcas, then John and
back at Dorcas again, “My God!” The resemblance was striking. “You are both related… ” She
pointed at
them.

They stopped talking and looked at her.
Douglas pulled Imabong aside.

“You need to do something fast, I cannot
afford to lose this contract over a mere girlish
quarrel.”

Imabong began to tap his feet on the
ground, he was at a lost for words.

Zidani beckoned to her friends, “Let us go
home,” she glanced at Douglas and Imabong, “The
contract is dissolved.”
Dorcas opened her mouth, but no words
came out, she looked at her husband.
“Get my bodyguards Cecilia, we are going
home.”

Cecilia hurried away.

Douglas approached Zidani, “Please, let us
settle this… ”

“There is nothing to settle. I cannot do
business with you… ”
“But why?”

She hissed and turned to her friend, “Go
after Cecilia and hasten them.”

Nkiruka headed off.

Imabong walked up to her, “Please, you are
taking a drastic action. This is a trivial
issue.”

“Really… Then tell her to apologize.”
John and his family walked away.
“John… John… John!” Dorcas called her
brother, but he ignored her. What kind of mess was this?

Zidani’s bodyguards arrived with her car
and theirs. She got in and they drove away.
“This is ridiculous… ” Douglas ran a hand
through his bald head.

Dorcas and her husband looked at
themselves. It was hard to believe that all their plans were running down the drain.

“I will call her tomorrow. I believe we can
still retify the situation,” Douglas hoped Zidani
will change her mind.

“I hope so.”

Douglas eyed his friend, “Where is your
faith?”

“Let us go home, It’s being a long day,”
Dorcas patted her husband on the back. He sighed heavily and they both walked to the parking lot.

He hoped Douglas will be able to convince
Zidani tomorrow.