In the early days, Esaaba did not believe that she had any reasons to be worried about competition from Maureen. Martin had men­tioned that he had started assisting a young lady who was seeking to in­stall a small processing plant to sell fruit drinks. She had even offered some suggestions which Martin thought were useful. She suggest­ed, for example, that before build­ing the plant, she could enter into discussions with heads of boarding schools and tertiary institutions, to supply them with fresh fruit drinks which, she felt, would greatly enhance the nutritional status of the students. Fruits like pineapple, orange and pawpaw, for example, were abundant in some regions, and were either sold at ridiculously low prices, or considerable volumes rotted on farms because there were no buyers. With these schools as regular customers, the farmers would increase production, and Es­aaba would have created numerous jobs and improved livelihoods in areas where it mattered most. Mar­tin said he discussed this with her, but even though she thought it was very good advice, she preferred to start processing for sale, before getting into large scale supply of fresh fruit to schools.

But as time passed, she heard regular reports of Martin and Es­aaba spending time at the restau­rants, fast food joints and even night clubs. She complained a few times, but Martin assured her that there was nothing to worry about, but that in good time, the plant would be built, and he would not need to spend much time with her. At that stage, he assured her, they were just about to start mobilising various components for installing the plant. In about six months, it would be over, and he would be done with that project. But the re­ports continued coming in, so Esaa­ba bared her heart out one evening as she was seeing him off to his car.

 ‘Martin, I have never worried about your interactions with your clients, male or female. But this time I am getting worried. First of all, what kind of consultant spends time so regularly with the client, and why are you regularly meeting at enter­tainment spots? Don’t you care what these reports do to my feelings? And why are you spending so little time with me? I am not into consulting, but I am also in the construction industry, which you know is male dominated, so I also need your support. So now I’m demanding my share of your time. Stop taking that girl regularly to lunch and dinner. In any case, since when did you start enjoying pizzas and continen­tal dishes? And let me mention the important issue? How much did you charge the lady? Have you signed a contract with her? How much has she paid you? I want to see the contract you signed with her. I must tell you, Martin, I am worried about your rela­tionship with this girl. Are you trying to cancel the relationship we have built over the years? If that is your plan, then just let me know, and I will let you go, but if that is not your intention, then stop this strange behaviour now’. With tears running down her cheeks, she rushed into the house and banged the door shut’.

Martin shook his head as he drove off. He couldn’t understand what was happening. He certainly had not fallen out of love for Esaaba. That girl meant too much to him. Their relationship had developed natural­ly in the course of their senior high school and university days. They were comfortable in each other’s company. Their parents knew about their relationship, but always kept their distance, as if they knew that these were two intelligent people who seemed to be charting their own course with good sense. But he admitted to himself, Esaaba was turning his head in another direction, and he seemed powerless to do any­thing about it. She kept demanding to spend more time with him, and he could not check himself. Since meeting her, he seemed to have developed a taste for pizzas, even knowing the different blends avail­able in their favourite restaurants. One thing was certain. His attraction to Maureen was way too strong, and there was nothing he could do about it, at least for now. He would try to compensate Esaaba, but he couldn’t pull himself away from Maureen, just like that. It was not just her soft skin and her curves, but the passion with which she did everything. Her voice was something else. And to top it all, Maureen seemed to be happy just being with him, and that really tickled him.

However, he seemed to have realised that he was making one big mistake. He had only discussed pay­ment and the signing of a contract in the first few days after meeting Maureen. He had mentioned a fee range, and said that they could ne­gotiate a fixed sum, or he would be paid a percentage of the products of the company. Maureen seemed to prefer that, apparently since it meant she did not have to pay any money upfront. She always said that she was owed substantial amounts of money, and she was getting reg­ular contracts from upscale event organisers, so she had no problem raising funds to cover the cost of installing the plant. Moreover, it was a small plant, although the out­put was quite sizeable. She would upgrade over time.

The next evening, as she was getting down from his car, Mar­tin mentioned payment, casually. ‘Hey, Maureen, we never got round to sign the contract. And since I gave you the specifications on the equipment you have not discussed how the order is going. If we are thinking of installing in two months, the equipment must be on the high seas in the next couple of weeks, and we must think of preparing the site. This is a turnkey project, so we will be doing very little nailing and welding. But we must have a full month to install and test the equipment. And I need to be sure about the supplies. The production quantities must be programmed into the machines.

‘Martin, you have absolutely no need to be worried. Everything is on course. I am well prepared. Let’s talk tomorrow, shall we?’ she hugged him, kissed his cheek and was off. For the first time, Martin wondered whether there was actually some­thing to worry about.

By Ekow De Heer