The Elites

Chapter 12

"I just -"

"I honestly don't have the time for this." She cut me off yet again. "I have so many things to do, and I won't let you waste my time and slow down our business. You can order anything you like and you'd be attended to. Once you're done, See yourself out."

I froze. She didn't mean that. She couldn't have. How could she talk to me like that? How could she not even give me a chance to tell her how much I've missed her? How I've longed for her, for this moment the past years? I swallowed hard and then took another step so I could say something else, and just as I opened my mouth to speak, I watched her turn around and walk away from me.

How could she be so cold? Even after all those years? She hurried to the counter and then behind it, walking as fast as she could to the black door she had come out from earlier. I let out a soft exhale and then turned back to the picture on top of my wallet. The picture of her.

I took a deep breath.

Welcome home Jeremiah.
Welcome to Nigeria. I reminded myself.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

"Welcome home Sir Jeremiah."

I returned the smile the old man at the front of the door sent my way the moment I walked into the big house. At least that was someone that didn't need an ID to be able to recognize me. Adam, first man as we loved to call him. He was the mansion's head of staff and also the oldest staff as far as I could remember. It felt good to know that there was someone I had literally known all my life that hadn't completely forgotten my name or what I looked like.

I was only nine when I left the mansion, when I left the country for the states and I had never been back since then. Besides some minor upgrades I could see as I walked down the long hallway, nothing had really changed about the house I used to live in. I totally ignored the shiny, really long , spiral stairs that were a few paces in front of me. Not yet. I wasn't ready to go upstairs just yet.

"Welcome home Sir." A few maids bowed in front of me to show their respects, causing me to turn to them right before the three of them walked away as fast as they could, muttering some words to each other and chuckling faintly. I smiled.

Of course I knew they were excited to finally meet me. It was all over their faces. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had just pretended to walk to the kitchen so they could bump into me. I got a lot of that all the time.

"Jerry!"

I turned around quickly. There was only one person that called me Jerry all my life, so I knew exactly who I was going to find. I let out an exhale, followed by a really huge smile the moment I watched the man in a blue shirt, tucked into his plain black trousers, roll up his sleeves as he hurried towards me as fast as he could. Also someone else that recognized me. This had to be fun.

Manuel.

Yeah. I could never forget that face even if I wanted to. Manuel worked for my father. He used to be one of the poor children from my family's foundation before my father saw some sort of potential in him and made sure he had all the things he ever needed. A home, good education and a job at Benoil corporation as my father's personal assistant. Daddy trusted him with almost everything, so much that there used to be rumors while we were growing up, that he was father's illegitimate son. Others said he was the man father loved and trusted even more than his own children and I could see just why, especially since he was the one father kept in charge of my welfare in the states.

Unlike everyone else , Manuel actually got to see me grow from a timid nine year old to a nineteen year old world star, ex actor and an ex-model for Vogue. He was present on every birthdays, every graduation and of course, every endorsement, courtesy of my father of course. To everyone else, I was his responsibility, but to me, he was the older brother I wished I had. The older brother I wished mine could be. He was always there to fix all my mistakes when no one else was, My mistakes...The Mistake, so I didn't really miss him as I did everyone else.