CHAPTER 26 – MAEVE''S DISMAY
Maeve was already dressed for the outing that she was supposed to have Wright and she was waiting
for him to return. She was already anxious and she was pacing in the sitting room.
“Not again Wright, not again” She soliloquized.
She looked at the phone in her hands “I have been calling you for like an eternity and you are not
picking up. But why don’t you just return my calls”
She continued to pace and speak to herself.
She looked at the clock on the wall “It is almost 5 pm. We are supposed to have this date by 2 pm
damn it” She spat.
She dialed Wright’s number again and put her phone on speaker. The call rang but Wright did not pick.
She threw the phone on the cushion. “I will not forgive you this time around Wright. F*ck you” She
cursed.
Riley entered the house with her friend Davina and the girls were surprised at the state they found
Maeve in.
Riley rushed to hold Maeve “What is the problem mummy?”
Maeve could only look at Riley without saying anything.
“Why are you like this mum?” Riley asked. “You looked so derailed. What happened?”
Maeve burst out “I was supposed to have dinner with Wright today, but he stood me up”
“Dad?" Riley asked. "Don’t worry mum, maybe something came up”
“Noting came up Riley. See it’s already 5 pm and we were supposed to meet by 2 pm” Riley replied.
“Rx mum, your appearance is terrible. Please take it easy” Riley said.
“I am so mad at him right now. This is not the first time he would be doing this. He alwayses up
with different excuses on other asions” Maeve narrated.
Have you tried reaching him?” Riley asked.
“He is not even picking my calls. I have called him severally” Maeve replied.
“Oh,” Riley eximed.
Riley felt so sorry for her mum and she wondered why her dad would decide to do this to her.
“Or maybe you should try calling him once again Maeve” Davina suggested.
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Riona, Wright, and Cindy have arrived at the restaurant and they are having lunch. As they slowly
devour their meals, they happily discuss Re Aid and the different encounters with the kids. The
atmosphere was lovely with different activities going on around them. Couples having good times,
childrenughing with their parents, the cool music ying in the background amongst other pleasant
sights made them chat away and lose track of the time or so it appeared.
“It is the smiles for me, dad, and their innocence. Those kids all have great prospects and even greater
determinations. You would be surprised at how focused and collected they are when you have an
opportunity to stay and discuss with them” Riona said.
“I do understand where you areing from Rio. I can still remember my encounter with Trevor
Daniels at the airport on the day of his departure. He reminds so much of my friends and ymates
growing up” Wright said.
“Your friends?” Riona asked. “You know you have not really told me much about your childhood dad”.
“Obviously I have not said much about that and believe me it was never intentional. Right now, I have
taken note of that and I would do that some time very soon” Wright replied.
“That would be great,” Riona said. She cannot wait to hear all about her dad''s childhood and family and
his friends too.
“You know, working with the kids all these years has given me the opportunity to understand humanity
better. They disy great potentials and I must confess that I have learned a whole lot from them”
Cindy said.
“It is the fulfillment for me. And also this sense of belonging that I get, the satisfaction that it gives me. It
just cannot bepared to any other thing in the world” Riona said.
“I sum that up by saying that humanity is the answer and together, we can make the world a better
ce,” Wright said.
They all agreed with Wright that humanity is all the world needed to grow.
“Dad” Riona called.
“Yes,” Wright responded.
“On behalf of Re Aid, I would want to formally thank you and yourpany for the great donations
you made for ourst project. It is Re Aid''s biggest project and without your goodwill, we might not
have been able to sustain the project” Riona said.
“I am happy that we could be of help” Wright replied.
“And concerning the project, how long is it going tost?” Wright inquired.
“For five years, dad. We are in the third year now. But we are already in discussion with some
organization that had indicated interest to take over from us after the fifth year” Riona exined.
“That is good. I think mypany would be interested in that” Wright said.
Riona was quick to decline his proposal. “Not yourpany dad. You can keep bringing in your
financial support but I would suggest you look for new projects to undertake. The goal of Re Aid is
to widen the horizon of charity and it will be against our principle to hand that over to apany like
yours that has all it takes to venture into novel projects”
“True you have always repeated that at every opportunity,” Wright said.
“So what other project are you looking into after this?” He asked.
“This current project had given us a broader view of humanity and charity. We are considering going
into other continents as we hope to do everything possible to elevate the living standards of the low-
ie earners” Riona responded.
“That is a very heavy task I must say” Wright replied.
“Yes and that is why Re Aid had since invested in profitable ventures,” Cindy said.
“For real? I never knew of that” Wright eximed.
“Dad, we know the magnitude of what we are nning to do. And we would want to start first before
seeking donations so we need a whole lot of capital” Riona exined.
“So what are these investments?” Wright asked.
“We invested in some multinationalpanies, dad. And I use at least seventy percent of mum’s
legacy for me for that” Riona revealed.
Wright was shocked and speechless. He stared at both Cindy and Riona and had disappointment
clearly written all over his face. He was more disappointed in Cindy as he felt she should have done
better to stop Riona from doing that. Immediately he recovered from his shock, he uttered “Cindy”
“I tried to talk her out of it Mr. Wright, but when I discovered that it was truly for a great cause I had to
give my support” Cindy exined.
He turned to Riona “Riona”
“Dad it was only a moment ago when we talked of humanity and how good it is to invest in it. When it is
time, I will withdraw my exact sum from the investments and leave the profits for Re Aid” Riona
replied.
“And what do you girls know about investment?” Wright asked.
“Dad, Cindy is a legal practitioner. There is no way we would make a bad deal” Riona replied.
Wright became more rxed. For a moment, he had almost forgotten who Cindy was and that she was
already well vested in everything that has to do with investments. She is one of the external solicitors of
hispany and her job is to give a due diligence report on any investment that thepany wanted
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to venture into and for the seven years that she has been doing this, she has never proven
ipetent.
“I am on this Mr. Wright” Cindy assured him.
“So sorry for my outburst. I actually was not prepared for such news” Wright said.
“It is okay Mr. Wright, I understand” Cindy replied.
“But then Cindy, I must say that I am not impressed. I know that you are the co-signatory to Riona’s
fund and for all these years you have been diligent in handling it. However, you should have informed
me before making such a big decision” Wright said.
“I am sorry for that. But Riona feared that you would insist on providing the money. She said she
wanted this to be her own decision, risk, sess, and the rest” Cindy exined.
Wright looked at Riona “Honey, no matter how you think that I would react to any of your decisions,
please tell me of it first before venturing into it”
“Okay, dad. I am sorry for not informing you before now” Riona replied.
“First thing tomorrow morning, I would have my ountant transfer the money back to you,” Wright
said.
“No dad, this was exactly what I was fighting against. Please allow me to grow on my own, let me take
these risks and bear the consequences please” Riona objected.
“There would be no need for that Mr. Wright. The investments are alling up well. We already have
our investment capital back, we can handle this” Cindy said.
“I will let you guys this time, but next time I will not be this calm because no matter what I am Riona’s
father and I should be aware before she enters into any contract no matter how insignificant you guys
think that the contract is” Wright warned.
“Okay dad, I would not repeat such next time” Riona promised.
“I would keep to your directives from now going forward” Cindy promised.
“So about the new project you mentioned, considering how huge it is, mypany would like to be a
partner in it. We can share the territories to invest in if you want” Wright said.
“We would be d to have you as our partner. And no we would be working together there is no need
to divide anything” Riona replied.
“Don’t forget to send in the details of the project as soon as it is avable” Wright said.
“I will do that dad” Riona replied.