“I told you about Bestman‘s property development arm? I still can‘t believe my small renovation company was the beginning of all this. We were just lucky on this Public-Private partnership with the government. The contract runs into billions and will entail new property construction, management and servicing too. This is our biggest contract so far.”
“Did I tell you the press release by your company in the Guardian business section yesterday had a nice picture of you? City people had some pictures too.”
Edward smiled thinly “My life makes good copy, doesn‘t it?”
“What does that mean? I read it because I was impressed by the details of the transaction.”
“Oh I‘m sorry, just that a lot of people read about me in the tabloids and then take that as gospel.” There was surprise on Gladys‘s face and he continued. “I‘m sure you‘ve seen the gossip columnists who list my wealth and all the women I‘m seen with.”
“I‘ve probably not lived here long enough to see any of that. So you‘re wealthy?”
He missed the tone of light mockery in her voice. “Yes, I‘m very wealthy Gladys. I‘m not just the MD of Bestman Group PLC but chairman too. Apart from my business properties, I personally own three houses here in Lagos, one in Abuja and one in Kano. But that‘s not all, there are other investments too. What else do you want to know?”
If not for the bitter inflection in his voice, Gladys would have thought what an arrogant sod he was. His voice was literally dripping with acid at the end of that sentence.
“Let‘s leave that to the columnists Edward, I am actually more curious about your background. What was your experience growing up in an orphanage? And, Kano is so far away, are you still in contact with them or any of your foster families?”
“The orphanage is still there. I‘ve never visited and I‘m not planning to.” He snapped out before taking a deep swallow of his Chapman on the rocks.
She stared quietly at him but Edward could almost hear the cogs turning in her head. Edward felt like kicking himself; other girls were most times distracted by talk about his wealth. Otherwise, he still managed to avoid the topic of his upbringing without raising suspicion. Gladys was the last person he wanted to rub the wrong way.