"Morning Ma. There's a big meeting today," Nma's assistant, Gloria, greeted her as she walked with so much pride to her office, the heels of her red Prada shoes clacking hard on the floor.
Everyone maintained decorum as she passed, only silent murmurs of her cunning and ruthless attitude could be heard. The reason she was up the corporate ladder.
"Remind me what it is again", she replied, shoulders high and face focused on her phone. She was tapping all along while her assistant followed behind. She got to her office, dropped her bag on the table and sat down. The. She got back to her phone.
"It's the presentation against Tolu that will determine the promotion"
Nma looked up, now interested in what her assistant was saying.
"Okay, I already know about it. Is that all?" She said with a smirk on her face.
"Yes ma'am" Gloria replied turning to leave but at the door, she stopped and said in a calm voice
"You can leave now".
With that, Gloria walked out the door.
Just as she left, Tolu walked in with a smile on her face "Hey girl!"
"Hey," Nma replied, looking up from her phone. To see her friend Tolu walk in and take a seat.
"So I just want to get this out straight. We might be up against each other, but whatever happens, I just want to let you know that there are no hard feelings" Tolu, her friend, was aware of how cunning Nma can be to climb the corporate ladder. Although she had prepared so well for today, she still wanted it to be a fair fight for the promotion.
"Sure! It's all business, dear," Nma said with a funny smile on her face.
"Nma, come on, you know what I mean", Tolu pressed further, still not satisfied with her friend's reply.
"Why are you making it look like I'm the only office scoundrel here? Come on, you've helped me plan some of the games I play in this office, so you're a culprit too. You're where you're now because of me and my plans"
Tolu found words lacking in her mouth. Nma was right; one time, she had helped Nma plan to sabotage a business deal with another colleague just so that the deal would be given to Nma. She knew all the games Nma played to get to the top and never confronted her about it.
To her, she wasn't a snitch and wasn't going to stand in between her friend's growth. Little did she know that one day, she'd be up against Nma for a crucial promotion of her life. Now she was scared Nma might want to play tricks to get to win.
"And I'm grateful all I'm saying is this fight should..."
"T baby, come on. You've got my word; it's a fair fight," Nma cuts in. Assuring her with a huge smile on her face.
"Alright see you at the board room in one hour," Tolu said, standing up and walking out of Nma's office
"Got it," Nma replied.
A few hours later, the boardroom was swamped with tension. Nma had just finished her presentation with a loud applause from the board members. Confidently, she sat down and watched as her friend Tolu stood up, ready to give her presentation.
Tolu tried turning on her laptop, but it wouldn't come on. She clicked and clicked but the screen remained blank.
"Are you sure you're ready for us? Because we're ready for you?" a hoard member asked.
"I'm so sorry. My laptop.... uh, it... just wouldn't come on," Tolu stammered, wondering what exactly could have happened.
"For a promotion as important as this one in your career and you aren't not showing that you're ready for it." The board member continued with a cold look in his eye.
"It's now clear who the promotion is fit for." Another member said looking at Nma. "Congratulations dear". He added with a smile.
Tolu stood there frozen, looking from her laptop to her friend and the board members. She knew Nma had promised to play fair and square, but somehow, she felt Nma had a hand in her predicament and was going to find out.
A few days later, Tolu walked into the technician store where she had sent her laptop for repairs. Still mourning her loss to Nma. She got to the counter and immediately the technician saw her he said
"Madame, I've been trying to call you. It wasn't normal what happened to your laptop, someone must have tampered with it" he said, lifting his face from what he was doing
"What do you mean?" Tolu's eyes lit up.
"Okay, so I tried checking the battery and everything was okay. The problem wasn't from the battery or the screen. I decided to hot boot it to know what was going on. And to my greatest surprise, an app was installed on your laptop, and that shut it down. I deleted the app and everything is fine now." He explained. He stood up and walked over to the shelf where he had placed Tolu's laptop and handed it over to her
"So are you trying to say that someone had installed an app that killed my laptop?" Tolu replied, switching on her laptop and it came up immediately.
"Yes ma'am"
Quickly Tolu paid him and walked out of his shop. She already knew who was behind it and was going to confront her. She couldn't believe Nma could do such a thing to her.
A night before the presentation, Nma had visited her at home. And as discussed, Nma asked if she could use her laptop to send an email as she had forgotten hers at the office. Tolu agreed and gave Nma her laptop with a clear conscience. That must have been when Nma installed the application.
She got to the office and barged in like a woman going to war.
Nma quickly looked up to see Tolu walk into her new office.
"Hi Tolu, I was just about to call you. Let's go have lunch" she offered, ignorant that Tolu had found out her secret.
"I begged you, Nma. Why did you tamper with my laptop?" Tolu asked, banging her fist hard at the table.
Realising that her secret was out, Nma said "I had to do what I had to do"
"So you admit that you did it? That you installed an app on my laptop the night before the presentation that shut down my laptop?" Tolu asked mouth agape.
"Come on Tolu. What are you? A baby?" She reclined in her chair. "The game is the game. No hard feelings, but I had to do what I had to do to get to the top," she added, apparently proud of herself and showing no remorse.
Suddenly, Tolu started laughing hard, and Nma wondered if all was well with her. "Then it's a mutual feeling. I just recorded our conversation". Tolu raised her hands to reveal a recorder. "Let's see what the board members have to say about it"
With that, she walked out of the office, leaving Nma terrified and out of words.
The board members fired Nma after they heard the voice recordings. And shamefully packed her stuff and left the office, escorted by the security.
Tolu, on the other hand, was awarded the promotion after she was given another chance to give her presentation and redeem herself.