by Emma Vikes
They’d caught my shade directed at Vanessa and I on the other hand, had gotten back at her for her rudeness earlier. I turned to see her glaring at me and my response only helped in vexing her more; I blew her a kiss.
By the time the lecturer had regained control of the class and scolded me in the after math, the seeds of hatred and bitter rivalry had already been planted in both of us.
And so it began; classes, assignments, tests, quizzes, the flames of competition continued to be fanned consistently. By the time we’d gotten to the end of that semester, I’d been certain I had defeated my pompous rival.
My friends had even begun announcing my GPA around campus as we’d all been certain that my GPA was the highest in class and probably in the whole freshman set. We’d gone around partying and celebrating the end of the semester when we began to hear whispers that I wasn’t the one with the highest grade in class after all.
Eventually we’d confirmed the rumours that Vanessa’s GPA had trumped mine with just 0.1. If it had been anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have meant a thing to me. But the fact that it was Vanessa had got my blood boiling. I’d immediately gone down the path of challenging all my results with my lecturers till my Dean had called me into her office.
In questioning me, she’d finally discovered that the reason I’d gone about being bratty to everyone was because Vanessa had gotten a higher GPA. She’d eventually succeeded in calming me down and telling me this was just our first semester. According to her, I still had other semesters to push Vanessa out of the top position so I should settle down and work harder instead of going around antagonising my Professors. I’d listened to her and gotten myself together. However, till the end of our undergrad programme, I’d continued to trail Vanessa. No matter how hard I tried, or how wide I read, my rival had somehow always managed to come ahead of me in class.
By the semester of our junior year, we’d turned from being bitter rivals into best friends. The change had almost been instantaneous after some certain events that had transpired between. The competition had remained, but the hatred had disappeared.
With my journey down memory lane over, I arrived at the bed and jumped in beside her.
“Boy, don’t you disturb me.” She threatened.
“Come on let’s take a break. Just thirty minutes and we can get back to reading. I just need to relax for a bit as nothing I’m reading is registering in my mental faculty at the moment.”
“Take a break on your own, Damian. Why must I join you?” She responded without her eyes leaving her laptop screen.
“Because if I take a break on my own, I’m going to sleep off. Talking with you during the thirty minutes will ensure my eyes stay sharp.” I answered truthfully.
“Fine!” She exhaled in frustration, causing me to chuckle. “Thirty minutes. No more.”
I laughed as she took note of the time and closed her laptop.
CHAPTER 2
Vanessa
CONVOCATION DAY ARRIVED in the blink of an eye.
I opened my eyes feeling a little groggy and disoriented.
“That’s it. I’m never letting Damian drag me anywhere again.” I muttered under my breath. A slight nudge and I felt him lying in bed beside me. He’d apparently slept over in my room again.
Only two weeks prior, Damian and I had had our eyes buried in our laptops and books; preparing for and writing our exams one after the other.
After our last paper, Damian had gone haywire about town as usual in celebration of the end of his exams. It had been his MO since our undergrad days; parties, alcohol and women, all in celebration of the completion of his exams. He’d always been the outgoing one, who was easily the life of the party wherever he went.
I on the other hand had retreated to my room to begin packing ahead of convocation. I’d already gotten a job offer all the way in Chicago and as such, intended heading back home the day after convocation. I needed to rest and have some time with my folks before I picked my bags and headed to Chicago to resume work.
Damian himself had gotten a job offer as well with a law firm in New York. The arrival of the news had contributed in no small measure to his partying and celebratory spree, which I thought was definitely getting out of hand this time. Somehow, he’d always ended up in my room after his nightout throughout the two weeks after our exams. He’d tried dragging me along on more than one occasion but I’d always found a way to escape.
Last night however, my luck had run out. He’d come prepared for every excuse I was going to come up with as he wasn’t going to leave for the party he was headed to without me.
“Damian Marshall, convocation is tomorrow. Shouldn’t we be resting and preparing for the ceremony?” I’d protested.
“You need rest just to get up from your seat and walk up to the podium and then back to your seat? Come on Vanessa. Stop trying to make silly excuses.” He’d countered.
“But I’m not making silly excuses. It is a valid point after all.”
“Oh really? Stop being a boring woman.”
He’d continued countering every excuse or reason I’d brought up. Eventually I gave up and conceded to his wishes to follow him to the party. One hour after he arrived at my apartment and I was being whisked out the door in heels and a purple gown that was too short for my liking.
We’d headed to the party where some of our course mates were already drinking and having fun. When I thought that the party was beginning to slow down and the night was about to be wrapped up, Damian suggested that we all head to the club. My protest was drowned in everyone’s screams of agreement and for the second time last night, I was being dragged along against my will.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I’d left him a message and slipped out of the club. I’d found my way back to my room and collapsed on my bed. I didn’t know when he’d come in, but he had come straight to my room and gotten into bed beside me.
I turned in bed to look at him and found a smile plastered on his face even in his sleep. The thought to kick him out of bed crossed my mind briefly; if only to wipe the smile of his face. I let the thought go however and decided to let him sleep on. He obviously had a good time.
I looked at him again and shrugged. I definitely wasn’t uncomfortable with him sleeping in my bed. We’d been best friends since undergrad and sleeping over in each other’s room had become a normal occurrence. In fact, only two weeks ago, I’d been the one sleeping in his room before our papers. We’d been reading together like we’d always done since our junior year and had only continued the tradition.
I remembered the first time we’d become civil with each other after two whole years of being enemies. We were having a test to prepare for in the first semester of our third year. I’d gone to the library to read ahead of the test which was scheduled for the next day. My plan was to stay there till evening before heading back to my room. I’d walked in and spotted an empty cubicle. As I walked towards it, the fellow sitting in the cubicle beside lifted his head.
It was Damian.
I’d almost turned then to begin searching for another empty cubicle, but the way he’d looked at me had fuelled my confidence to continue on towards the empty seat. I was definitely not going to back down just because the idiot had practically scowled at me. I arrived, pulled the chair and sat down before proceeding to spread my books in front of me.
Hours passed with both of us continuing to read without talking to each other. When the time I’d penned down to leave arrived, I began packing my books only to hear Damian snickering in his cubicle. Apparently, I’d been involved in a reading competition with him without knowing it and the fact that I was leaving first meant he had won.
My competitive side kicked in and I spread my books back on the table. I was determined to read him into the ground. We’d continued reading in silence with neither of us moving; not even to go the rest room. Daylight faded into night and still we remained in our respective cubicles.
Eventually, the librarian came rou
nd to make sure no one was left in the library as it was time to close up. I already had an existing relationship with her from how frequently I came to the library.
“Vanessa?” She’d exclaimed, shocked to see me.
She’d gone on to wonder what I was still doing there by that time and I’d gone on to explain that I was preparing for a test.
“Well we need to close now, so you would have to come back tomorrow.” She’d responded. “That goes for you too, Mr. We’re closing the library. You need to leave and come back tomorrow.” She directed the last part of her sentence to Damian.
She turned then and continued her rounds of the library and still Damian and I remained seated.
After what seemed like an eternity, he’d finally exclaimed, “This is ridiculous. We need to leave.”
“I’m not holding you.” I’d remarked harshly.
He exhaled then, stood up and began packing his books. It finally dawned on me that rivalry or not, he was right and we needed to leave. I’d stood up as well and began packing my books before something else dawned on me. I’d never been out this late before, always getting back to my room before 7 pm at the latest.
“Oh boy!” I’d exclaimed in fear as I began to think on how I was going to make my way back to my dorm on my own.
“Can I walk you?”
His question had come out of the blues. The fact that he’d asked when I’d just been wondering how I was going to leave on my own was even more shocking. I ignored him as I was still in bitter rival mode and continued packing my books.
“Come on, Vanessa. It’s late. The least I could do is walk you back to your dorm. We might not like each other, but I’m still a gentleman.”
I’d paused then to look at him.
“Don’t worry. We won’t even need to talk. I’d just escort you and we would be back to hating ourselves by tomorrow.” He’d continued.
I’d simply nodded and muttered something about him keeping up and not slowing down even though deep down, I was relieved that I didn’t have to walk alone at such a late hour. We headed out of the library and of course he didn’t keep to his promise of not talking while we walked.
By the time we’d gotten to the front of my dormitory, I’d been laughing so hard from his jokes that it was impossible for anyone to believe that I actually hated Damian. The rest they said was history.
We’d only continued to grow closer after that till we became best friends. We’d also begun reading together as well, first meeting up at the library and then meeting up at each other’s rooms when it was too late to go to the library. Eventually, we’d also begun sleeping over in each other’s rooms as well. In the blink of an eye, we’d gone from worst enemies to best friends.
I looked at his sleeping smiling face again and I chuckled. I remembered how shocked our friends had been when we had sheathed our swords and become buddies. It had really been one hell of a ride all these years.
And today, we had another milestone to mark together as best friends.
I stretched my hand and nudged him gently.
“Huh!” He grunted from his sleep.
“Wake up sleepy head. We have to start getting ready. We have a convocation ceremony to get to.” I responded lightly.
CHAPTER 3
Damian
Five Years Later...
I BURST THROUGH THE revolving doors of my office building, coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other.
“Morning Mr. Marshall.” The receptionist greeted as I headed straight for the elevator.
“Morning, Greta.” I responded simply.
On some days, I stayed and entertained a little chit chat with her but those were days I came in early. Today however, not only had I come in late but I needed to get to my boss’ office as quickly as possible.
I arrived at the elevator just as it was opening. I stepped aside to let the occupants walk out before stepping in.
“Hold the door, please.” I heard someone scream. Looking up, I saw my boss and another senior partner at my firm rushing towards the elevator. I held the doors open with the button to allow them in as well.
“Morning, Damian.” My boss said simply as the doors slid shut.
“Morning, Charlotte.” I responded before looking straight head.
My plan to walk in to her office and pretend that I’d already come into work but was busy on another floor had just been tossed out of the window. She, as a senior partner had no issue coming in at this time. I on the other hand, still a junior partner hadn’t attained the right to work on my own cases or even come in late.
“I didn’t anticipate your meeting with Richer Corp to be done so quickly. I wasn’t expecting you back at the office till midday.” My boss said casually.
I was confused.
I indeed had to stop by the office of our client, Richer Corp, a jet engine manufacturing company. A major airplane manufacturer who used Richer Corp’s jet engines on one of their plane models was suing them for a breach of contract. As a result, my firm was going to need to represent our client in court.
To be honest, if both parties had simply put ego out of the way, this case wouldn’t have made it beyond a conference room, let alone being on the highway to court. But as it stood out, both parties weren’t backing down.
However, Charlotte knew I hadn’t gone to Richer Corp yet and still she’d mentioned it.
‘Or did she think I had gone already?’ I thought as I spun around to look at her.
My confusion paled immediately when I looked into her eyes. There was a shade in them that suggested I should play along. Instantly, it all became clear. She was covering for me in the presence of the other senior partner with her.
“Oh yes Charlotte. The meeting was brief. All the other documents that we need would be sent by courier later today. I might have to go by their office again though. But I would first want to contact the opposing counsel to see if we could settle this amicably.” I lied.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the other lady nod. She’d eaten it all up. Charlotte acknowledged my response with a simple ok and continued talking to her peer. We arrived at our floor and got off the elevator.
“My office, Damian.” Charlotte said as she headed in the direction of her office.
I followed her closely behind till we walked into her office and shut the door.
“Thank you.” I said, expressing my gratitude for how she had covered for me in the elevator.
The truth was that there was a battle for who next was to be promoted to Senior Partner. All current Senior Partners were responsible for nominating one candidate that they felt deserve the promotion. This usually resulted in intense competition between the senior partners as they most often than nought, nominated their Junior Partner associates. They could also strike out other nominated candidates if the said candidate fell short.
Charlotte had nominated me. The other lady had also nominated her own associate. Seeing me coming late was definitely going to hurt my chances, as she could easily raise a strike against my nomination. Senior Partners striking out against other nominations wasn’t a frequent occurrence, but it definitely happened once in a while. That was why Charlotte had covered for me to avoid such an event.
“Save it.” She fired back as she walked to her seat. She didn’t sit down when she arrived however. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you walking into the office at this time?” She scolded.
“I’m sorry, Charlotte. I actually stayed up all night trying to figure a way out for the Sanders & Co case. I woke up really late as a result.” I responded truthfully.
Sanders & Co was another case of our clients that had been on our table since the beginning of the week. They were a meat coy and a number of their customers were suing them for an outbreak of cases of Salmonella poisoning.
“And?” She queried. “Did you find a way?”
“I think I did.” I responded. “I just need to check up on something to confirm my theory.”
She exhaled then as she took her seat.
“Damian! You’ve got to be careful. The Senior Partner position is all but yours as long as you don’t blow it. Or you aren’t interested in being a Senior Partner again?”
“I am.” I responded.
“Then please be careful. If for any reason you find yourself running late, you can always call me. Don’t let it slip up now, not after working so hard.” She continued her query.
“I won’t.” I promised.
“Good. So about Richer Corp. You might just have been talking, but you made an interesting point.”
“I did?” I asked.
“Yes. This is basically a fight of egos. If we can get the ego out of the way, we could very well find an amicable solution instead of heading to court. Go ahead and reach out to the opposing counsel without any individual from both parties present. I’m sure both of you would be able to come up with something.”
“Ok? And even if we are able to come up with something, how do we get both parties to agree to it?”
“Don’t worry about that just yet. Find the solution first. We would handle the clients when we get to that bridge.” She answered.
“Ok, Charlotte.” I responded.
“Well? Get on it then. Why are you still standing here?”
I smiled and excused myself from her office. I walked out and headed straight to my cubicle to make the phone call. I already knew the law firm that was representing the other party, down to the exact attorney that had been saddled with the case.
Sitting down, I picked up the phone and dialled the number of the law firm.
“Hello. This is Damian Marshall calling from Riley Stanton. I would like to speak to Mike Duncan please.” I said after the receptionist had answered the phone with the usual formalities.
“One moment please.” The receptionist responded.
