……. You are not as smart as I thought you will be
(Rere enters the President’s office. She sees him talking to another man in his mid-thirties)
Rere: Mr President
Nate: nice of you join us
Rere: (walks to him) how was the meeting?
Nate: I want (pointing to the man in the office) you to meet Olumide Ariyo
Olu: (smiling) nice to meet you (stretching his hand to Rere) have heard a lot about you from the President
Rere: (ignores Olu and faces the President) will he fund us?
Nate: yes
Rere: (smiling) that is good news. We…
Nate: (cuts in sharply) not so fast
Rere: what is it?
Nate: he will only fund us on one condition
Rere: (smiles fade) he does not want the monopoly, does he?
Nate: he wants to choose the Vice-President
Rere: please tell me you said yes, Mr President
Nate: of course not
Rere: he does not want the monopoly, funding us in exchange for choosing the President, I think that is a good deal
Olu: (cut in) I don’t think so Ms Shapiro
Rere: (facing Nate) why is he talking Mr President?
Nate: he is talking because he has the right to, he is your co-campaign manager
Rere: excuse me?
Nate: he was the one who handled my first election into this office so I figured that two heads are better than one?
Rere: I have the other head already, he works for me
Nate: well I don’t know this other head, as far as I am concerned, Ariyo is going to be working with you on this election
Rere: is that so?
Nate: yes, it is
Rere: well, we will sort that out later (Nate walks back to his desk and Rere follows him to the front of his desk) you need to take this deal Mr President. It is not like you have someone in mind for the position (Nate looks up at Rere) or are you thinking of making that shaking old Vice-President of yours as your new VP again because he seriously needs to consider retirement
Olu: even if the President does not have anyone in mind for that post, this is a bad deal
Rere: (faces him angrily) I am talking to the President, how about you keep your opinion to yourself
Olu: well that is not going to be happening because like the President said, we are going to be working together
Rere: (chuckles mockingly) is that so?
Olu: for a woman who got more than half of the senate to vote for a bill, you are not as smart as I thought you will be
Rere: (with a scowl) you have definitely got my attention now, (Nate sits down and watch as the two argue) so tell me why you think the deal is bad
Olu: he does not want the monopoly that he has been lobbying for a long time instead he wants to choose the Vice-President. Think about it why will he do that?
Rere: you are doing the thinking, how about you tell me
Olu: Why go for a small monopoly when you can have the power. At the end of the President’s tenure, he will make the VP the president and then he won’t just have the monopoly on petroleum, he will have it on our mineral resources, our crops and on every fucking thing that Nigeria owns
Nate: we take this deal (faces the president) we are welcoming modern slavery to Nigeria
Rere: (faces Olu) like you said, I got the Senate to vote for an impossible bill, you think that I don’t know how shading that deal is?
Olu: you do?
Rere: of course I do but (walks back to the president) Mr President, I told you that you don’t have to fulfil every promise you make. You can keep stringing him on until you don’t need him anymore
Nate: he wants the deal on a damn paper
Rere: what?
Nate: he wants me to sign a legal contract about the deal
Rere: we will find a way out of it, I always do
Nate: Shapiro, I want you to work with Ariyo on finding a new sponsor
Rere: (in a loud voice) we don’t have time to find a new sponsor
Nate: well, find the time
Olu: she is right about that Mr President, we don’t have time to find another sponsor
Nate: Well, you guys are going have to find that time because I am not making a deal with Mark Malcolm
Olu: which is why I think we should go with Gexon Pharmaceuticals, am sure if we talk to them, they will be willing to sponsor us since they are old friends of yours
Rere: (in a loud angry voice) are you fucking kidding me, Gexon pharmaceuticals? The same pharmaceutical you had a dirty deal with
Olu: (confuse) what dirty deal?
Rere: well (talking sarcastically) the difference between this head (pointing to Olu) and my other head is that my other head does a thorough job and he told me about the dirty deal you made with them
Olu: what deal is she talking about Mr President?
Nate: (looking alarmed) we can talk about this privately
Rere: there will be no need for that because if you want Gexon Pharmaceuticals, I am out
Nate: we can talk about this like civilised people
Rere: just so you know, if you go with Gexon, be ready for Pamela Okonkwo because she is coming for you
Nate: (walking towards her) it has not gotten to that
Rere: oh it has, as far as the upcoming election is concerned, I got you to this position but now, you are willing to trust this person over me. Well, good luck with that but I am out (she leaves angrily)
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