Jason tossed the towel he had used in drying his hair on the bed, glanced at the clock on the wall and let out a sigh. Tomorrow, it will be Saturday and he still doesn't know who Harlan Smith is. Not as if he can know him anyway. Cause, how is he supposed to find Harlan Smith? Go to the broadcasting station and tell anyone who cares to listen that he needs to find Harlan Smith? No. That would be the most insane thing to do.
He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. The few marks on his face served as a reminder that Harlan had almost knocked him out yesterday. He couldn't help but wonder where Harlan got his energy. He had been unable to defend himself yesterday because he didn't imagine that Harlan would think of fighting with him, talking less of having the guts to punch him.He shrugged off the thought of Harlan Smith and somehow, his mind went back to what Elizabeth had said the previous evening."Even if he wants to use me, I will gla"This is crazy," was the only thing Harlan could say before walking away from her.If she were not a robot, Harlan would have bet on anything that she is insane. He called Kelvin."Man, are you at home?" "Yeah. I am bored.""Let's hang out. I will come and pick you up," Harlan said and walked outside to his car.Some minutes later, he was pressing the doorbell by Kelvin's house. Kelvin was dressed by the time when he came out. He grinned at Harlan."Seems you got into a fight," he pointed at Harlan's head.Harlan rubbed his head, a sharp pain reminded him that he shouldn't be putting his hand closer to the wound yet."Yeah. Jason was at it again. But yesterday, I didn't allow him to get away with it. I got back at him.""The first time I will be hearing you say that.""Gotta act like that, guy. I don't get angry ea
"What the heck!" Someone exclaimed."I knew it!" The woman who had attended to Harlan and Kelvin earlier shouted."I knew he meant trouble the moment I laid my eyes on him," she walked over to him, giving him a look in disgust."I am sorry, I will get it fixed right away," Harlan said, desperate to leave the place."What are you doing with Harlan Smith?" The woman asked Harlan in a whisper.Harlan stared at her in surprise, "what do you mean?""What else does my question suggest that I mean? I know the other guy you came with is Harlan Smith, but I am yet to know what your relationship with him is. You are a troublemaker and anyone can notice that from the way you are dressed," the woman said, still keeping her voice low."I don't understand what you are talking about. I am going to get people to get this place fixed." Harlan said and walked briskly away.He was grateful t
Those words offered relief that Harlan had never thought they would be capable of offering.He unlocked the door and Jack opened it."Are you okay Sir?"Harlan nodded."I lost the man just as you drove away. I will get him soon. I am sorry that had to happen, Sir."Harlan smiled and waved his hand in the air."It's okay. Inform Kelvin that I am too busy to see him today. I will call him later in the weekend so that we can hang out."Jack bowed slightly and closed the door.He watched Harlan drive away. He let out a sigh. He has seen worst scenarios than this but he was worried about Harlan. He seemed too much like a gentleman for what might happen later on to him. The thought had him wondering if this is one of the many reasons why Mr Smith had hidden Harlan until now.Even though Harlan Smith had not been announced as Harlan Smith, things had started happeni
Jason's hand subconsciously held his face."What are you trying to say? That Grandfather is telling a lie?" Richard asked angrily."Dad...""Shut up. You idiot! Who is your father?""Hey, two of you should save us the stress of watching your silly scene. And you, Richard, stop pretending as if this isn't part of the plan.""What plan are you talking about, father?" Richard asked his father, anger written all over his face."Were you not not the one who came up with the plan of lying about not knowing Harlan Smith? I have known Jason since he was born and he has never lied. Don't make Jason take the whole blame now that you have been caught," Grandfather snapped.Richard turned to Jason and stared hard at him, "you see the disgrace you have brought on me, you idiot? When I was young, I didn't disgrace my father but now, it seems you are trying to pay me back for what I didn't do."
Some days later. Harlan was in class, the lecturer had left on the note that everyone should check the school group chat for the group they fall in respect of the research they were to do on a topic."With the invention of new technology, what is the future for information law? Are we, legal scholars, going to have a chance or will it be high technology CEOs who would define laws we have to live by?" The lecturer had said."The group that comes up with the best piece will win a trip to vacation — you guys will be the one to choose where you want that to be. And, any group that wins, the participants already passed this semester's exam. If you fall into that category, you have nothing to be scared of, as marks will be awarded to promote you to your final year in college," the lecturer had said."There are three hundred and six students in this department and I have divided you all into thirty one groups. Make sure to locate your group and sta
"You remind me of Maria. She amuses me a lot everyday."Hell, who the heck is Maria? Elizabeth could feel somehow as she wondered if Harlan already had a girlfriend. She knew Harlan Smith cannot be her boyfriend, but seeing him have that damn cute smile on his face because of some girl made Elizabeth sad. "Oh, really?"Harlan smiled again, "seriously, there was one evening when she told me something very funny. My first thought was that she is insane, but you know, that can never happen."Elizabeth smiled uneasily. He mentioned evening. For a guy and a girl to be together in the evening means their relationship has gotten to an extent. She was sick of her own thoughts."Mind if I get you something in the cafeteria?" Harlan asked."Well..." She couldn't reject this offer. Since he already had a girlfriend, there is close to no chance of spending time with Harlan in the near future. She has to make us
Harlan's hand hung in the air."What is that supposed to mean, Roger?" Elizabeth frowned."Don't you see how he looks? You know the stuff about evolution? I don't know much about it but, he looks like some fore fathers. So outdated.""Hey, Roger. That isn't something pretty to tell someone you are meeting for the first time," Elizabeth scolded, but Roger wasn't going to take that. He walked closer to Harlan who has managed to put down his hand now."I don't like how you look," Roger told him.Harlan shrugged, "who cares?""I don't like how you talk too.""That doesn't have anything to do with the research we are to work on," Harlan said flippantly."Yo, man, do you know me?""I don't think so.""On the stage, I am Bobby. Still don't know me?" Harlan took a closer look at Roger. There is only one Bobby he used to hear of, and that
"You're brilliant and I admire that." Elizabeth finally found something reasonable to say.Harlan smiled in relief. He had thought she would tell him that other than the fact that he was Harlan Smith, nothing drew her to him."We will see in two days time," Harlan said as she waved at him.He smiled at her. The car soon pulled away. Harlan thrust his hands in his pocket and walked to his car. Jack opened the door for him and he got in."Anything about the guy on my trail?" Harlan asked as Jack started driving."No news."No news means good news.He checked if he had messages on his phone. There was one from Madame A. A couple of ones from the group chat.He checked the one from Madame A first.'You can trust Elizabeth.'Harlan replied 'okay'.He checked the group chat and realized that something interesting was going
"The award of the best student in this graduating set goes to… before I call his name, I would like to add that he is the most handsome guy I have ever seen on earth —because I see a lot of things in my imagination. Combine his handsomeness with his being a genius and you have…" "Harlan Smith!" The audience and the graduating students shouted, completing the MC's sentence for him. Harlan came on to the stage, dressed in an academic gown. "Hey, Harlan, where is your cap?" Mr Healy asked in a whisper as he was about to hand over the prize to him. "Mrs Smith is wearing it," he said. "Now, you have to snap this picture without the cap," Mr Healy pretended to sulk. "Even with that, I still stand out," Harlan said and smiled. Mr Healy smiled and handed him the prize as camera light flashed on him. The MC called on Mr Healy to give his speech after prizes had been handed over to students that merits it. Mr Healy was given a standing ovation as he stood up from his seat in t
Harlan dropped the envelope containing all the cards on the table. On the same table was his car key, his ATM card and a note which read: goodbye. Thank you.He remembered the exciting feeling that he felt on the day Mr Smith gave him those cards. He shook his head quickly to get rid of the thought. This isn't time to be emotional. He just cannot forgive his parents for what they did. He had always hoped that his father would never have peace, just look what happened. All these while, he had been Harlan Smith without knowing it.He opened the door and went outside. He only took four clothes and a extra pants. He would start from scratch and go back to living the life he used to live before Mr Smith came into his life.The light in the compound made it a very beautiful sight to behold. The first time he had come here, he had almost thought he was imagining things. Funny how those days had passed really quickly."Sir, where are you going early in the morning?" Jack asked as Harlan was
Harlan almost choked on his food. He grabbed a cup of water and drank from it. She made a tsk tsk sound. "You are just like your father. Your face is flushed.""I am eating mo… Mrs Smith!" He almost called her 'Mom'."Does that mean you are studying law?" She asked."Yes. I am in my final year.""Wow! I can't wait to wear your graduation cap."Harlan found himself laughing in between eating. Throughout the rest of the day, he and Mrs Smith were discussing. She told him about her perfume company about how much she loved what she was doing. Harlan found out that she was a very easy going person. He had missed having her in his life all these years and he found himself wondering how great life would have been if she had been part of his childhood days.Later in the evening, Mr Smith came back home and the first thing he did was to turn on the television. The case had been a really fast one. Harlan would bet that everything was possible only by Mr Smith's influence. All the people that
"I just wanted to check on you to see if you are getting it, Sir," the Cctv footage officer said. He could not help thinking the CEO had come to check on his girlfriend who had come here with another man.Harlan stood up and left. The footage officer stared at his back. The CEO doesn't seem to be in the same mood he had been when he came in. He shrugged.****Harlan found himself at the large field where he already went whenever he was overwhelmed. He had had a lot of surprises in the past six months but none of them has even been as shocking as this. He rolled on the field and faced the sky. He heard the sounds of birds nearby and wondered if he would have any problem if he were a bird.He replayed all he heard from some hours ago in his head. The conversation between Mr Smith and Mrs Smith. His father and mother… he closed his eyes. So all these while, he had those two people's blood flowing in his veins and he wasn't aware of it.He took his phone from where it was lying beside him
Harlan crossed over to where he had parked his car. He got inside and looked out through the window. In the next seventy two hours, he would be buying up all what the Alberts had. Through the help of Mr Smith, he had been able to refile the cases that the Alberts had been guilty of but had won. Mr Smith had told him how difficult that was, but he had not taken no for an answer.He took a deep breath and silently prayed that all these would be over. He had been able to get the victims of the Alberts and had convinced them that they would be duly compensated if they came back for their cases again.As he was about to turn on the car. He saw someone familiar pass him by. Mrs Smith? The fact that she was alone, with no bodyguard, made him more curious to know why she was at the hotel. He waited for some seconds before coming down from the car. He walked in the direction she had passed and saw her enter the hotel.When got inside, he could see the receptionist go pale as he walked toward
Harlan's phone beeped. It was his personal assistant from the 'where talent glows' calling. He answered it."Hello?""Is there any problem?" Harlan asked."Not really. Mr Richard Albert has been meaning to see you all these while. He asked for your number but I didn't want to give him until I asked for your permission first.""Tell him to meet me at the Jay Team lounge," Harlan said and hung up."Drive to Jay Team," Harlan told Jack."I checked into the company where you made your friend the manager, things have gone really wrong there. Lot of workers have quit," Jack said as he turned the car in another direction."So?""He has done worse things than you are aware of," Jack said."Whatever he has done to me is none of your business," Harlan said.Harlan searched for his personal assistant's number of the company where he made Kelvin the manager and sent him a message to call in the evening.Harlan had informed his personal assistant at the Jay Team hotel to make sure no one other tha
The Alberts were in a pensive mood as everyone of them sat in the family hall. Unlike the other meetings where there would be chatters before the meeting started, today, everyone was focused on the phone, reading the various posts on social media that had managed to circulate around in the last three days. "Richard, how many companies don't want to partner with us anymore?" Grandfather asked."Seventeen."Grandfather sighed. "Let them go." "What are the updates about those riffraffs?" Grandfather asked."The TV station where they went refused to disclose anything about their identity. I have met with the owner of the station but he isn't saying anything," someone said."I have a friend there but he is more clueless than we are about the matter," someone else added."I have checked into it but there is really no one I suspect to have done this among our business rivals," another person said.Richard felt a feeling that he had missed something out... Funny how he seemed not to have th
Another movie had begun on the television and they both watched it as they ate the pizza Elizabeth had ordered. She kept stealing glances at Harlan. She had a lot of questions to ask him but she didn't know which one to ask first. "Stop staring at me," Harlan said without taking his eyes off the television."Huh?" She blushed and looked away.She looked back at the television and reached out to take a slice of pizza. At that same time was when Harlan was going to take one too. Because he was looking at the television too, he grabbed Elizabeth's hand. He glanced at her and for some unexplainable reasons, her face flushed."Hmm, I need to get something inside," she stood up and almost ran to her room. She locked the door behind her and held her fast beating chest. "Darn!"Harlan is in the sitting room… Why the heck is she over-thinking it? She shook her head and turned on the light in her room. She glanced at her face in the mirror. It was flushed. "No. This can't be happening!" She
Elizabeth didn't know how long she had been staring at Harlan's picture on the poster that had been placed in different places all over the campus. In the poster, the pictures of the six of them that had won the competition were there. When Harlan and Roger wouldn't show up, herself, Jason, Cecilia and Adrian had taken the picture. Roger had sent his picture and she had given Harlan's picture from the ones posted on the group chat when the gossip about their dates first started. Some skillful graphic designer had managed to put the pictures of the six of them together. In the picture, Harlan was the only person that stood out to Elizabeth.She looked around to be sure no one had been looking at her. There was no one. She sighed.Her phone beeped. It was a message from Harlan... No, a message from Jack because he is the one with Harlan's phone now. She checked it and saw a picture of some guy in a suit and tattoo on his neck. Under the picture, it read : would you recognize me if you s