Under His Protection

The chocolate cookie was remaining, so, he took more and drank a cup of fresh juice.

“Jasmine, I still think you should go to a cooking competition. I have a strong feeling about it”

“Seriously? You believe I can win?” Jasmine asked a look of hope shined forth.

“Why not, how do you know if you would win or lose if you don’t try?” Cory said.

“I would plan towards it, I have always known you would support me”

Lisa could not believe her ears, was this some joke? A nobody Bodyguard was telling the boss what he thought of her? Unbelievable, maybe the boss was fucking him, no that was too gross to even think about it. She still looked at the cute clueless bodyguard with uncertainty they first met, she found him hot and handsome.

But she knew he was a broke ass, a poor poor church rat who had nothing to offer except his silly good-for-nothing looks. A girl does not need to stoop so low as dating a broke dude, it is the rule of the game, an unwritten but yet, important beyond every reasonable doubt, that a lady needs to find a Man who can take very good care of her not just sexually but materially.

She wondered how beautiful ladies who ended up with losers cope with their lives. Well, except the lady is rich enough to take care of herself and the broke loser she ended up with. Means

For girls like Lisa, rich men are the greatest asset a beautiful lady can invest her time in. Like a means to an end.

Cory watched as Jasmine listened to what everybody had to say, giving their old and new opinions about the preparations for the launch. He had already lost count of how many times she had picked up her phone to send a quick text to whoever. It had been over an hour since she turned towards him and gave him a faint smile as if apologizing for the long meeting. He wondered about the many other work-related things she could be attending to at the moment.

Cory didn’t mind, it was his job after all, all he was worried about was Jasmine’s health. He could see clearly that she was on the verge of a breakdown. This meeting was about the seventh meeting they were having within the last twenty hours, and also, the longest so far. He had been standing for over four hours, listening to marketing executives from Ghana and Tanzania, talk about consolidating the company’s telecom position by driving its innovation in Digital, Fintech, and data across Africa, paying close attention and not taking his eyes off Jasmine too.

He worried for Jasmine, it had been a long day already and most people in the room looked exhausted. He felt a little dehydrated too. What made him worry the most was that today unlike the many others before, Jasmine had left the house without breakfast. She barely took a bite from the avocado-egg toast and neglected the fruit salad. He had watched her eat a doughnut during the tea break but that was just about all she had. He glanced at his watch quickly and sighed silently, the time today seemed to be crawling.

The past week was particularly jam-packed and certainly the most hectic since he got the job. He had never seen Jasmine as stressed as she had been this last week. She had suffered multiple jet lags caused by the long hours of flying from New York to Kumasi, then to Dodoma, and Lagos before returning to New York to ensure distributors were ready and set to go. She barely had up to six hours of sleep in a day, for the past week and the only time she had to shut her eyes was when they were on the plane heading back home or leaving, time she rather spend getting up to speed with the status of the work been done at the Jasmine Grant Foundation.

The nights were the worst, her cellphone somehow never stopped ringing nor could she even put off her laptop for more than twenty minutes. Cory was certain that the last time they had a full conversation about anything that wasn’t work-related was the day they talked about her baking and the subsequent difference of opinion regarding her going into a cooking competition.

Cory is drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of Jasmine’s voice, asking about the progress in the advertising department. She was spent and he could hear the exhaustion in her voice. He missed how easy it had become to speak to her, it felt like they had not talked like that in forever, but of course, he understood why and wanted to do more than just stand by her all day long.

After thirty more minutes, the meeting had finally ended and Cory surveyed closely as everyone dispersed, leaving just Jasmine and Lisa behind, going through the finishing details of the meeting.

“Anything else?” Jasmine asked Lisa. Cory could see how she needed Lisa to say no.

“Yes, you have a meeting with representatives from Ziangzou our partnering advertisement firm in China, tomorrow morning by eight,” Lisa said closing the laptop and standing up straight, ready to leave.

“Oh” Jasmine replied with fallen shoulders, she was tired and she needed to shut her eyes.

“Everything is ready, I’ll get the files for you to see them on our way,” Lisa said before Jasmine gave a nod