Ola laughed, “Their problem is the ‗big fish in a small pond‘ syndrome. They‘ll soon be left behind, Ghana is forging ahead.”
“Anyway, this resort just kept getting better. We were lucky with the weather, especially on days we booked countryside tours. Otherwise we stayed indoors or used the cool swimming pools. The food was great - not that I liked everything they served - but there was a variety to choose from. Some of them I had never seen or tasted before. The drinks were all novelties. I mostly stuck to pina colada; Edward tried one called ‗Bob Marley‘ and almost got drunk.”
“Drunk or not, I know you had your wicked way with him. You bad girl…” Ola laughed.
Gladys joined in. “Nothing happened…but Barbados was just fantastic. I can‘t shout. I dragged Edward to this one club, and it was really rocking. We danced most of the night away.”
“No guessing what you did for the rest of it.”
The conversation continued in the same tone, with loads of laughs as the girls updated each other on their lives. Edward‘s business problem was pushed to the back of Gladys mind.
**********
Edward stood up, “Benibo please join me in my office.”
He was pacing when the lawyer came in and closed the door softly. “Talk to me.”
“I visited the stockbroker that handled the sale of Gladys‘s shares and he told me he got instructions from her to that effect. I saw the mandate myself. Those forms are not very all-inclusive but it was definitely her signature. She instructed them to sell the Bestman Group PLC stock at the highest price. They did exactly that and transferred the payment to her account. The officer was very cooperative; they‘re the same brokers for Kanayo your friend.”
Edward knew that already. He had taken her there himself when she wanted to purchase some shares and begin trading in the stock market. His stock gift was shifted to the same brokers because he wanted to fully show there were no strings attached.
“And you‘re quite sure that the mandate form is authentic?” He hated asking but had to.
“I would think so; there‘s nothing out of the ordinary. I have a copy of it here.” He passed a piece of paper to Edward from his file.
While Edward looked through it, he continued. “The stockbroker‘s office said it had been with them for over a month till the offer came to them last week and they made the sale.”