Chapter Two

Alice thought for a while, then got up from the stool. Her father's briefcase. It was in that briefcase he stored very important documents. She needed to find out what could have made him borrow such an amount of money without informing his family.

She opened the cracked wardrobe and took out the briefcase. It had dust on it and looked like it was abandoned. The padlock on it was rusted, and no one knew where the keys were. The only option was to break it.

She reached for a small hammer on top of the wardrobe. She hit it twice, and the briefcase burst open. The paperworks still looked new after all these years. She took a careful look at each of them.

Suddenly, a bright coloured paper caught her attention. It looked so much like the contract paper in the envelope. Alice looked at it for sometime and realized it was her father's copy of the agreement. She became more curious and searched through the papers more carefully.

Then, another paper caught her gaze. It was a letter from a foreign company. It stated that the ship conveying his goods to the state got capsized and everything was lost.

Alice couldn't believe her eyes. Her father actually borrowed the money to start up a business. She recalled that he slumped out of shock after he had received that mail on that fateful day.

"This was the reason", Alice sobbed. She didn't want her mother to find out about it or it would hurt her the most.

Nothing could be done. The debt had to be paid, else the man's son would take her. She was the only hope of her family. Her poor mother would probably die if he eventually takes her away.

Alice paced from one end of the room to the other. Her mother could only watch her, she couldn't say a word. She understood how hurt Alice felt, and wished she could help her. 

After what seemed like an eternity, Alice calmed down and pulled a stool to her mother's bedside. She took her mother's hand in hers and kissed it. "Mother, I'll work very hard to make sure I pay them back. Then everything will be fine soon".

Her mother stared at her. Alice was really strong. She prayed inwardly that things would turn out for the better. Since her husband passed away, life had been unfair to them. "I pray so too", her mother replied softly.

Alice looked out of the window. The sun was beginning to set, and the honking horns of cars on the street were faint. She realized they had talked for a long time, and she had to prepare dinner. She quickly got up and headed for the kitchen.

It was a smaller room at the far end of the corridor. At the left corner of the kitchen was a gas cooker with a seemingly rusted pot placed on it. At the top was a small sized shelf holding some foodstuffs.

Alice quietly walked in. There was not much food left on the shelf, and the month was just halfway through. She had almost run out of money, if not for little tips she got at the office, which were rare. She opened the shelf, only some pieces of crusted bread and flour were there.

Alice poured some of the flour into a bowl, no idea what to do with it. She thought of asking the neighbors for help, but no one wanted to help her because she owed a lot of people. Frustrated and angry, she threw the bowl to the floor and the flour was scattered throughout the floor.

Almost immediately, Alice's phone rang on the table. She was not expecting any call, hence the reluctance to pick up. The call ended, but the caller seemed persistent as she called a second time, forcing her to pick up the phone from the table. She looked at the screen, it was her best friend, Lily. They had not spoken in a very long time. 

"Lily", Alice said coldly. Her voice was low and dull, making it obvious that all was not well with her.

"Alice! You totally forgot me! How nice is that?", Lily asked with so much enthusiasm in her voice.

The line went dead for a moment, before Lily spoke up. "Alice? Are you there? I have so much to tell you, I've got good news for you. Will you be free tomorrow at four? We could meet at Jones' Meals and talk. Is that okay with you?"

"Jones' Meals at four tomorrow it is", Alice said and hung up the phone even before Lily could reply. She glanced at her wristwatch. It was half past six. Soon, the restaurant where she worked would be open. She needed to be there in time.

Alice took one more look at the flour all over the place and rushed out to prepare for work. Dressed in a short, black skirt and a light blue shirt, she picked up her handbag and stuffed her phone in it, with a little cash. It was almost the last money she had at that moment, hoping they would pay her after work.

She walked to her mother's bedside. The woman had fallen asleep with tears by the side of her face. Alice patted her hair, "I hope to make you proud". She left and shut the door behind her.

The restaurant was a stone's throw from their house, so she didn't need a taxi to get there. In a few minutes, she got to the restaurant. Music could be heard playing loudly from inside the building, and people kept trooping in and out. Alice was a bit surprised. This was not the usual demeanor at the restaurant, it was always quiet with few voices heard from the inside, and the volume of the music was never high.

Alice calmly walked in, and the blaring sound of the music almost got her deaf. She rushed into the workers' cubicle to drop her bag. A lady was there, searching through a bag at the far end of the room. She recognized her, she was the head of the sales department.

"Courtney", Alice called out to her with a light smile on her face as she walked to where she was.

The lady turned around sharply to see who it was. "It's you, Alice. You arrived in time", she asked, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

"Yes. Uhmm, is anyone celebrating something? I mean the music out there is pretty loud, and there are so many people", Alice asked her.

"The manager suddenly decided to host a mid-year party. It was impromptu, he couldn't reach out to everyone", Courtney explained, holding the bag tightly.

"I see. You look tense, is anything the problem?", Alice asked her, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh no, I'm very fine. Thank you", the lady put up a fake smile.

Alice turned around and headed to work. She was one of the salespersons, and she had to take orders from the customers. There were so many people today, and she got exhausted after a short time.

"Hey, young lady", a man seated at the VIP table called out to Alice. 

He was Oliver Owen, son to Don Owen, the njst feared and respected businessman in the town. She quickly rushed to his side, as the members of the VIP table were treated with so much attention and respect. 

"Good evening sir", she greeted, her head facing the tiled floor. Someone of her class was not worthy to look him straight in the eye.

"You're very pretty", he commended her, his eyes roaming around her body.

Alice thought the comment was harmless, as she received tons of it from people everyday. "Thank you Sir", she replied, her head still facing the ground.

"How about a night with this beauty? I'm ready to pay

any amount you request for", he said, reaching out to touch her body.