Richard frowned over the cup of coffee that was in front of him. He had asked for black coffee but the waiter had gotten him creamed offer instead. With one of his hands, he pushed the cup away from him.The waiter looked on, almost tearing up. “I’m very sorry, Sir” He said. “I was in a hurry and I mixed up your order with that of the lady who’s wearing a hat” He turned and pointed at a lady by the window. The café was gradually getting filled up as more people trooped in.“I can’t accept this. Are you bothered about the money? I’ll pay for it. Just get me the order I asked for”“Alright, Sir” The waiter exclaimed with relief and scurried away with the cup of coffee.“You handled that quite well” A voice said, breaking through Richard’s train of thought.He looked to his left at the iPad that was by the flower vase on the table.So, he had not hung up? He muttered under his breath. He had been on. A video call with Niko that afternoon. They had several things to talk about and this
The following day, Richard was woken up by a loud knock on the door of his room. He rolled over on the bed and picked up his phone which was on the bedside table; then, he checked the time. It was alm7 am and 7 am. The time for the first phase of the competition was 8:30 am.He dragged himself out of bed and stumbled towards the door and unlocked itHis lecturer, Mr. Hart, rushed into the room with a look of urgency on his face. His large, bulgy eyes blinked rapidly at Richard.“Do not tell me that you’re just waking up from sleep” He shouted, looking around the room until his gaze fell on the messy bed that Richard had just gotten out of.He frowned at Richard who still stood by the door of the room, wiping his face with the back of his hand.“Hurry, have a quick shower and dressed, Boy!” He urged Richard as he pushed him towards the bathroom.In slight confusion over the fuss that his lecturer was displaying, Richard was hesitant to go into the bathroom. Instead, he stood by the he
The morning sun was already out but it felt refreshingly warm instead of itchy as usual. Outside the hotel building, she stood by the wall, patiently hoping that one of the selected students for the contest would show up and give her directions to the conference hall where the talk seminar was to take place.She was grateful that she had picked up her glasses just before she walked out of the hotel room because now, the rays from the sun was already beating down on her forehead.Her phone rang and when she checked who was calling, it was Richard.“Hello?” She greeted.“Hey. Elise.” Richard said.“Are you at the conference hall yet? Where’s venue?”“Yes. I’m there right now. I called to find out whether you will be joining us over here. The venue is 133th Downing. It’s a large cone shaped building. It’s quite hard to miss”“Alright, then.” Elise said. She was about to hang up when Richard asked her to use an Uber down to the location so she wouldn’t miss her way or waste time on the ro
Richard was still wiping his wet hands with a small towel that he always carried about in his back pocket when he met Mr. Hart by the minibus. He frowned when he noticed that the two other students were not inside the bus. He was too drained and could not bear the thoughts of going back into the crowded hall to look for them again.“The others left” Mr. Hart announced before Richard had a chance to question the whereabouts of the students.Richard cocked an eyebrow and his frown deepened. “Left? Where did they go to, Sir? Did they go to the hotel”Mr. hart yawned. “The other students went for sightseeing. I gave them the order.” He rubbed his eyes and blinked at Richard. “ would you love to have a tour of the city too?” He asked Richard.Richard shook his head and walked around the bus to the other side. Then, he got in. He decided to stay behind at the hotel and prepare for the competition. Besides, he barely knew anyone in the new city that they had gone to.That evening, he had a l
Richard decided to get a bottle of water from one of the vendors that sold outside the hall. After he had just paid for the water, his phone rang, startling him a bit. He swiped across the screen of the phone and saw Niko’s caller ID.“Hello, Nik” He called into the phone, “Are you not inside the hall?”Niko was breathing heavily and he sounded very strained, “Richard, something just came up”Richard became alarmed and a cold wave of panic swept through his body. “What?” He yelled.“It is the company. I just received a bad call” His voice trailed off“Talk to me, Niko!” Richard said in a loud voice “What happened to the company?” His mind began to cook up possible scenarios that could have occurred in his company and he chose to ignore them, urging Niko to speak up, “What is going on?”“I don’t know. My assistant at the office, Kim, called me some minutes ago, crying and she said that I should fly back to the country as soon as I could before situations got out of control” Niko explai
The awards began and each of the students received a monetary reward based on their performances during the competition.Maria, the beautiful blonde girl that had tried to talk to Richard at the start of the competition turned out to be the first prize winner of the competition. She had gotten several medals and she stood with the available dignitaries in the occasion, alongside other winners, to take pictures outside the hall.Elise had been very tensed the moment that the moderator was announcing the results from the competition and as soon as Richard had been announced as the winner of the competition, she felt a warm feeling rush through her and she became giddy with excitement.That moment, she became proud of herself for being a student of her university as one of the top winners of the competition had come directly from her university. Due to the taking of pictures that happened after the results has been announced, Elise decided to explore the city. She had initially wanted to
The early evening rain had just ended when Richard arrived at the restaurant. The streets were wet and only a few people moved around with umbrellas because there was a light drizzle that still persistedThere was also traffic on the road as most office workers were now returning. Noise of conflicting car horns pierced through the night, mingling with the shouts and loud voices of the people on the street. Almost everyone seemed to be hurrying up to somewhere.The restaurant that Richard had dropped at had a set of glass revolving doors that opened up on its own. While staring at his wristwatch for the time, he walked through the revolving door and was hit by the cold air of the restaurant. Outside the restaurant was cold but he interior we almost at freezing temperature because the air conditioning units inside had all been switched on.He scanned the busy restaurant with his eyes and saw Maria. She was seated with crossed legs at a table in the middle of the restaurant. There was a
As soon as he arrived at the hotel, he went straight to the bathroom and had a nice shower. It had always worked for him. Whenever he felt really stressed out and he desperately needed to calm himself down, if he was at home, usually had a bathe.After he stepped out from the bathroom in small briefs—with his muscled chest, bare—he picked up a clean pair of shorts that he had left on the clothe railing earlier and wore it. Then, he remembered the call that he was yet to return to Elise’s father and, with a freshly made cup of coffee in his hand, he grabbed his phone and went to the swinging chair that was at the corner of his bedroom.He climbed into it and relaxed into its next. It was warm and almost dark inside the seat.A grown human could fit into the seat and it was sturdy enough to carry any weight as it was hung from two, strong iron poles that were connected to the ceiling of the room.The swinging chair rocked on its own each time Richard shifted within it. He dialed James'