THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

Tricia had been jobless for a whole period of two years, and life had not been easy for her. She lived alone, and that meant she had to take care of bills, take care of responsibilities, and even take care of her personal needs. You can imagine what life had been like for the 28 year old lady.

One day, luck brought something good her way; she got a job. And yes, a job that really changed her life for good. The privileges were good. Now with her new job, things began to look better for our friend. And as it is with most people who had kissed poverty before, Tricia became transformed, so much that people began to respect her.

Life had new meaning for Tricia. Everyday brought something to look forward to; new challenges, new opportunites. At this point in her life, it seemed like she had arrived. She aspired to improve "on the job", breaking new grounds. And she was doing a good job at that because she won the respect and admiration of her colleagues. But her colleagues were not the only ones who were intrigued by Tricia's performance.

Mr. Akinbade, Tricia's boss and CEO of the company, seemed to have been drawn to the young lady. Although he admired her dedication to work and her zeal to work even harder, he wanted something else from her; he wanted to take her as his mistress. Severally, he had made advances which she turned down. He also went out of his way to do things for her that would cause her to change her mind and agree to his proposal, but she politely refused his requests and offers. For Tricia, she would never go against one of her top principles; NEVER GET INTIMATE WITH YOUR BOSS FOR ANY REASON.

One fateful day, the worst happened that put Tricia in a tight corner. Just before she left for work, she noticed a strange smell coming from her apartment which she had just moved into six months after she got her job. She ignored the smell and made to leave for the office when she heard a loud "BANG"!!! The gas cylinder in her kitchen exploded, and in seconds, her apartment was on fire. Though she was lucky to escape being hurt, Tricia was broken. This was certainly beyond her, and she was so confused. She had lost everything to the fire, even the money she had withdrawn from her account to send to her siblings for their education and upkeep. As she arrived her office, her boss was the first person to confront her, demanding to know why she was 2 hours late, and then she let him in on the situation. Of course, you would expect any reasonable boss to show pity and perhaps, offer some form of assistance. But, Mr. Akinbade saw this as an opportunity to get Tricia to bend. He promised to get ready a new, furnished apartment for her, give her half a million naira, and get her a car to aid her movement. "Oh my goodness" she thought. This was an offer too hard to resist. What was she going to do? Damn the consequences and take the offer, or damn his offer and fight through this?

...............TO BE CONTINUED.

PS: What do you think Tricia should do? Do you think she would do just that in the next episode? I'd love to hear from you. Who knows, you just might be helping someone in a similar situation.

Yours truly,

Viv!!!!!