Sophia The First

48

Sofi's POV

Monday Evening

7pm

After the 3-week Executive training in New York, she flew out to Dubai to meet up with TY. She didn't even know they were planning to do a small yatch cruise party for her promotion. 

Bisola and Farrah showed up too that weekend. Osaze was not there but he did Dorime for her in absentia. (He said she is his Gee.) Her future Staff better not find any of those videos of them  'shaking their ass on a yatch in Dubai' online because they will just know she is cruise Madam.

She adjusted her formal work dress as she waited in Mrs. Alabi's home office, pulling it over her knees. The office is actually just a living room with a bookshelf and alot of sculptures. She has been waiting for 30 Minutes now since the time she arrived. Mrs. Alabi's PA called her last week to arrange her first mentoring session with the Billionaire. The woman only had open 1-hour time slots between 7-10pm on Monday and Wednesday. Lol she is such a night owl.

Sofi picked this Monday evening because her own week looks crazy already; she has to move into the new office this week and meet with a gas pipeline-operating firm in Bonny Island so she has to go to PH as well. She didn't even want to push it further before the woman will travel out of the country for another month.

She was a little bit nervous as she waited, not because the woman makes her nervous but because she didn't know what to expect.

"Good evening Ma," Sofi stood up to greet her when she finally showed up after 35 Minutes.

"Congratulations my dear" The woman hugged Sofi "You've earned this" She added as she sat on the couch adjacent to Sofi's.

"Okay we'll keep this short, I have 30 minutes," She said.

Haaaa it was supposed to be one hour nah.

"Where do I begin?" The Woman scanned Sofi's face. "First of all, forget everything they thought you in that fancy business school"

Ah!

"Nigeria is not a normal country. We are doing business in a Jungle, and what is the law of the Jungle?" She asked.

'Oh shit that's a real question' Sofi thought to herself. She raised her brows as she racked her brain. She has heard many 'laws of the jungle' from 'survival of the fittest' to 'no rules' to 'anything goes'. She decided to go with the least disturbing one.

"errm,...No rules?"

"Very close but that's not it, there are rules, just that they change every day" She said irritably. "So you have predict these rules on a daily basis to survive. You must stay 100 steps ahead of everyone, including the Government, especially the Government. But I am sure you know this already" She said seriously.

"Look, No Oil Major trains its people like Shell. You see Me, Deji and the others, when we started we thought we had all the skills and experience required to do business in this country. We thought we were prepared but we forgot we were Nigerians operating in Nigeria. This country humbled us"

She went on to narrate their struggles with the Banks, the Government, International regulators. Sofi has heard these stories like a thousand times from Chief but it was nice hearing it from Mrs. Alabi's angle too.

"You must stay strong and dogged at all times this is not a job for the weak"

Everyone keeps saying this! It is starting to feel like she is going for 'Squid games pro max'