HIDDEN AGENDA

Determined to fulfill a promise she made to Mr. Aaron, Tracy walked upstairs to meet Angelina in her apartment. Inside, as Angelina cut dead blossoms off the plant which was flowering next to the apartment window, there was a loud knock at the door.

"Coming...", she put the short knife down and hurried to get the door.

"Hey!" Tracy cheered immediately the door opened.

"Wow, what's the flashy looks all about? Going for date?" Tracy's magnificent outfit and makeup got Angelina surprised.

"You're my best friend, right?" In a soft voice, Tracy humbled herself.

"Uh uh, don't you start. I know where you're heading..." Angelina suspiciously glanced.

"Come on Angel, It's not what you think. How can I have money issues after showering me with three thousand dollars a few days ago!" Tracy giggled nervously like a child as she deviced a way to persuade Angelina into her hidden agenda.

"Then what is it?" Angelina wondered as she walked back to attend to her flowering plant.

"See how I've dressed, I request you to put on your best outfit and escorted me."

"..."

"Please....!" Tracy begged.

"As you can see, you found me busy with household chores. I wasn't home the whole of yesterday and I can't afford a maid."

"Don't you want to make some cash? I know you want...." Tracy improvised a convincing idea, since she knew her friend so well.

"Really! You mean there's a gig...? And then you beating around the bush...?" As a hustler who loved to make money, Angelina stopped to spray the plant.

Imagine standing infront of your closet, feeling a sense of excitement as you pick out your best outfit for a day; this is what exactly Angelina did. Little did she know that a series of dangerous events, including extreme distress was yet to set off because of her best friend's mentality.

"You're not an ordinary person Angel... All you're missing are the wings to fly. Look at you! Just anther Hollywood star."

"...."

"A chinchilla gown designed in tawny colour transversely stripped in black just like a tiger skin!" Tracy could hold her breath enough when she looked at Angelina's outfit details.

Further more, "For the white high heel shoes, the sunlight like yellow trousers and yellow blouse that loosely fit your body from the neck to the waist, you look tender and sweet like a ripe fruit."

Infront of the mirror, Angelina continued to silently and graciously appreciate Tracy's compliments as she photographically posed like a model, turning side to side and then rolling around in her new outfits. With a pretty smile, Angelina seemed proud of her looks.

"Uh uh..., your eyes shine well with the outfit. I suggest transparent glasses to those dark shades", Tracy pressingly advocated.

As the two walked downstairs from the apartment, Angelina had eyes openly seen behind transparent glasses just like Tracy suggested. Across the street parked a brand new white sedan. As Angelina crossed towards it, Tracy had a look of perplexity on her face.

"Angelina! A taxi is right there. Where are you going to?"

"A taxi! With all this elegance am wearing! Ooh, sorry I didn't tell you...! We're driving today." Angelina said.

"You hired a car?" In perplexity Tracy stared.

"No! Me and my fiancée bought a car", she said as she walked to the car.

As soon as she reached and opened the car door, "that gaze makes you look like a clown Tracy. Come on, cross the road let's go...." Angelina yelled.

While in the car, "do you think you needed a car?" Tracy wondered.

"Of course a car is important. Besides, I've alway wanted my fiancée to have a car."

"And, one of the reasons why I've accepted to leave home today, is this car!" Angelina said.

"So, what's our destination?" Angelina, with a proud gaze asked.

It being a modern technology sedan, as Tracy told the address, Angelina put it in the computer to get the directions. The routes to the destination perfectly displayed on the car screen and slowly, the car accelerated. The journey to Mr. Aaron's residence began.

However, Angelina is not aware that the adress she's driving to is actually Mr. Aaron's.

In a wealthy residential area, on the outskirts of the bustling city, the sedan slowly moved. Angelina and her friend Tracy enjoyed to view the beauty of mansions and fancy designs of rich compounds along the way.

"What crime did our parents commit not even to afford a full day meal by the time we grew up", Angelina felt some type of way when she drove past a young lady in the same age bracket driving a Lamborghini.

"Hey! What are you thinking?" Tracy seemed to be covered in a heap of thoughts that Angelina noticed.

"Since we got to the outskirts, not a single word has come out of your mouth. "

"Oh..! No. Actually I'm very fine. Just the same thinking. Why is it too hard for beautiful girls especially us to live in environments like this?"

"I believe Mucus one day is going to become as wealthy as the people in this environment. And our whole life is going to be epic."

"You actually believe so?!" Tracy wondered.

"No, I know so. Mucus has a vision. Only that he doesn't have connections yet but one he get one good connection, and his talent is given a chance, these houses you see in this environment will be cheap for us", with great anticipation, boldly and confidently Angelina told Tracy.

According to her gaze, Tracy insidiously subverted Angelina's words. However, she knew Angelina was so stubborn to entertain anything said against Mucus. In that, Tracy could not open her mouth to speak anything disrespectful about Mucus in Angelina's presence if at all she wanted peace.

"This is the address," at the see through gate, Angelina stopped the car.

"Doesn't seem like something is going on here!" Amidst the sentence, automatically the gates opened.

Tracy: "Guess it's better we find out from inside?"

Angelina: "Didn't even ask what the gig is like!"

Tracy: "Of course I'm that firend who always have your back. I've never misled you."

Angelina: "I'm forever grateful to have a friend in you!" Said Angelina.

Tracy: "Look... how money can make a compound long like highway."

Angelina: "My dream compound."

Inside, as the car moved on the compound runway towards the mansion, workers who were in gardens stood up straight to watch. Just like they always did, especially to new visitors in a celebrity's compound, they kept eyes on the car until it parked.

"Seriously Tracy, I'm not all heartedly here. I mean... like most of the gig you get for me in the city, I need to know the kind of gig that booked us here", On a serious note, Angelina desperately inquired.

Among the gardeners who waited patiently to see the arrived guests was the Mucus. With a sickle in his hands, he joined other gardeners to watch.

Since Angelina was already in Mr. Aaron's compound, Tracy's mission was half way fulfilled. She organised herself to say something to her. But, as she opened the mouth speak, suddenly, outside the car, a man and a lady were seen standing on both sides right at the doors.

Because of distraction, Tracy never said what she had to say to Angelina.

"Madam Angelina and Madam Tracy, you've been expected. Please follow us inside." As soon as they stepped on the ground, home ushers accompanied them to the entrance.

To Mucus' shock, the guests were people he very well knew. As he gazed stupidly in a shock, a sickle in his hand slipped out and fell on the ground. Anxiously, Mucus ran a few metres towards the mansion with scowled eyes on specifically his fiancée Angelina.

However, the distance between him and his Angelina was not favourable enough for him to be seen. Mucus' sudden conduct posed questions to fellow gardeners who looked at him with worried faces.

"Hey Mucus!" The supervisor shouted, " Are you out of your minds?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The supervisor asked aloud but Mucus, in silence, kept his eyes on Angelina. From a distance, he never blinked until Angelina and Tracy entered the wealthy man's mansion.

"Whats wrong with him?!" "What does he think he's doing?!" "Is he out of his minds?!" Fellow gardeners murmured worriedly.

In full apprehensive about his fiancée, Mucus walked vigorously back to the garden ground.

"Have you forgotten the rules?" Angrily, the supervisor attacked him.

"Am talking to you Mucus!" He barked.

Only for Mucus to give him a deaf ear and continued to walk vigorously on a jealously face. The supervisor's rage accelerated. He grabbed Mucus and squeezed him by the neck collar while he shouted;

"Do you want to make work difficult for me?"

"Anyone who steps on the mansion ground signs a death warrant... that was part of your briefing the day you were hired as a gardener here." The supervisor supplemented on top of his voice, fully raged.